Well the title is partially correct….Slow but Sure.  the “Sure” I am not so sure right now.  The “Slow” I am definitely sure about.   So here’s what has happened since my last entry.  A bunch of time consuming tasks have been accomplished and by photo you wouldn’t know I had accomplished the majority of them.  The headers have been connected to the engine.  This is what I call a Not Fun Job, but it is done. Then the new spark plugs were installed which for the most part weren’t hard except for a couple of them that required a loss of skin on the knuckles wielding the spark plug socket on the ratchet.  The radiator hoses were installed.  The rad hoses purchased today are not pre-formed ones. They are a straight flexible design.  It is getting harder to find the hoses that fit exactly as intended.  The heater core hoses were also attached and a plastic filler/air bleed piece was added to the top hose.  These were common place back in the seventies.  I had the old rad hoses but elected to not chance them seeing that they hadn’t seen any hot water action in over forty years.  They looked fine, but so did my radiator until it was filled and showed a leak somewhere under the bottom hose attachment.  I used to get such problems re soldered and they would be fine, but this radiator too has not been used for a very long while.  The old antifreeze that was within had turned to stone and I spent many flushing sessions with an air powered flushing system to clean it out.  I decided to order an aluminum three core radiator from Amazon instead.  I mean, how bad can a new radiator from Amazon be?  I will let you know after engine start up.  I then continued on my painting and detailing in the interior with the lower dash being my focus.  I etched the metal surfaces with a red etch pad and pre-cleaned before shooting a couple coats of black semi gloss paint on it.  I took the steering wheel pad off and degreased before scuffing and painting with interior gloss black paint.  When it was dry I had to re paint the silver accents that were originally silver.  I use a chrome paint pen that has a very fine tip.  You can use a brush if you like but I find the pen is steadier for me to use (check out in the photo gallery below).  I am still missing a metal bracket used to hold the factory am radio in place.  Both the parts car and this car were missing the radios and this bracket as well.  Someone is trying to corner the market on am Ford radios and brackets.  In most of my rebuilds I elected to install a new style stereo with amps and speakers.  I have since decided that this can be done in the future if needed.  These cars get out for a month a year at best.  I am trying to not make this task as difficult and expensive by leaving things as they originally were from factory.  Think of all the great musical choices I will have using am radio.  I actually have a cool am radio story that is close to my heart.  I was cruising outside of town in my blue 1968 Thunderbird and decided to turn the radio on. I couldn’t find a single station that would come in clearly. I forgot that it has an electric antennae that operates from the dash.  The antennae goes up for what seems to be a mile in height and then magically the stations come into listening enjoyment.  I parked the car and listened to a baseball game from Minneapolis Minnesota.  It was so surreal.  When have I needed a radio station to listen to a sporting event?  This was common place many years ago…..back when there was no such thing as internet.

I also sandblasted the front licence plate holder that bolts to the center of the front valance pan.  I found some Eastwoods aerosol paint called Alumablast and used that.  This can was over forty years old.  It was when Eastwoods had a Canadian catalog full of restoration tools and products.  Their products were always decent in quality and price.  I wish I could still get them as easily as I used to.  The paint was a bit thick and sprayed textured instead of smooth, but for what it was going on no one will notice.  I love using my products up instead of wasting them when they fail to spray anymore.  The cost of aerosol paints is nuts like everything else needed for these projects.   And speaking of NUTS!  I will end this entry with my carpet story.  About a month ago I was on Rock Auto looking to purchase my molded carpet set for this Cougar.  The company making this carpet is sold by many businesses.  It is called ACC.  I have purchased my last four carpet sets from this company through Rock Auto.  The shipping has never been bad.  I have paid around $70 for the box to get to my door.  Last month it went up to $140 and I protested by not purchasing it.  So the other day I checked again and the shipping now is $254.00. It is two dollars short from being the same price as the carpet set.  No freaking way am I purchasing that.  My carpet is the original carpet and shows signs of wear.  I will repair it and possibly spray it with dye to give it a better look.  I realize the price of diesel is high but this is one expense on my Cougar that can wait.  I can’t imagine how these companies are going to be able to move forward with the shipping increases.  It becomes a comparison between “must have” and “want to have”.  It is not a must for me.  The carpets are never fully in view  because I usually place large rubber mats over top of the foot area to protect the carpet.  I will make it work until the day the world becomes reasonable again.  Just a note:  engine start up is coming soon.  Once the radiator is installed and refilled and the distributor and wires installed, it will then be time for life to my Frankenstein.  It will be at that point that I will be able to ascertain the condition of the FMX transmission that has sat dormant in this car for decades.   It’s fluid was clear and red but I can only hope that it will work.  Likely a few gaskets and seals will be needed.  I have already purchased the pan gasket and filter and the torque converter seal was already installed.  I would not take a chance on that seal because it is a real chore to install a new one with the engine attached.  The transmission would have to be dropped down and with headers, the headers would have come off again to free up room to drop the transmission down to remove the torque converter.  If the transmission is not any good I will only be out the cost of that seal.  I am using the old fluid as well until such time that if all goes well I will change that out too.