John S's Journal
Home Page: John S
Eugene, OR, USA
| Total Posts: 182 | Latest Post: 2026-03-25 |
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Been dealing with some health concerns with my better half and the GT was way down the list of priorities. Playing the waiting game for the health issues resolution and the weather has been good so I ducked out to the garage to see about cleaning up some stuff. Decided to clean up the Armstrong dampers that I pulled off my wrecked ‘70. Slow progress and tedious work without a parts washer but had enough time to get one of the front ones all cleaned up. Only 3 more to go. However, I did order a portable parts washer from Amazon that is supposed to show up in a few days. That should make the process slightly more enjoyable but it is still a PITA to remove 50 years of grease and grime.
On another note, the Bell stainless steel exhaust system arrived a couple of days ago and opened up the box today to scope out the goods. Looks good and I’m looking forward to see and hearing it down the road at some point.
Getting ready to put the GT up on stands and crawl under it to disconnect
all the things necessary to yank the engine and gearbox. All of the oily stuff under the car has preserved it but it’s going to be messy...
Saturday
The parts washer showed up on Friday so I unpacked it today and set it up outside under the carport. Decided to try Super Clean biodegradable degreaser so I poured some of that plus some hot water into the tank and tried it out on 3 of the Armstrong dampers as I had already cleaned one of the fronts with a drill motor and rotary wire brushes. I should have picked up one of these portable parts washers years ago. With a wire brush and the solvent recirculating through the brush attachment, I cleaned the other front and the two rear dampers in less time than it took to clean the first one. It’s not ideal but it doesn’t take up much room so it will do the job for a lot of small parts clean up jobs.
The dampers are ready for draining and refilling and the some paint. I’m thinking I’ll paint the arms with black paint and then a few coats of clear over the bodies but that’s for later.
On another note, the Bell stainless steel exhaust system arrived a couple of days ago and opened up the box today to scope out the goods. Looks good and I’m looking forward to see and hearing it down the road at some point.
Getting ready to put the GT up on stands and crawl under it to disconnect
all the things necessary to yank the engine and gearbox. All of the oily stuff under the car has preserved it but it’s going to be messy...
Saturday
The parts washer showed up on Friday so I unpacked it today and set it up outside under the carport. Decided to try Super Clean biodegradable degreaser so I poured some of that plus some hot water into the tank and tried it out on 3 of the Armstrong dampers as I had already cleaned one of the fronts with a drill motor and rotary wire brushes. I should have picked up one of these portable parts washers years ago. With a wire brush and the solvent recirculating through the brush attachment, I cleaned the other front and the two rear dampers in less time than it took to clean the first one. It’s not ideal but it doesn’t take up much room so it will do the job for a lot of small parts clean up jobs.
The dampers are ready for draining and refilling and the some paint. I’m thinking I’ll paint the arms with black paint and then a few coats of clear over the bodies but that’s for later.
Before and after cleanup
Much better- just a few spots to clean up
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