Where were we?
Lets see, where were we...? Oh yeah, one step forward, two steps back. And so it goes. We sanded and re-cleared the fenders and trunk lid for the '66 Mustang.
Glue weatherstrip to deck lid, install deck lid and align. (Check!)
Hang the front fenders, hood, and align.(Check!)
Install hood latch and grille support. (Check!)
Install headlight buckets, lower grille panel and grille. (Screech! Whoa, back it up)
What's this? The driver side headlight bucket assembly is not lining up to the brand new grille correctly - at all? It's way off. That front end collision skeleton in the closet is coming out. They repaired the hood but left the old grille and headlight bucket tweaked. Wonky! Careful measurements confirm the casting is badly twisted.
Reproduction parts like this don't fit well. 99% of all used originals are broken. We find an original bucket on Ebay, out of Texas, that's "not broken".
Wait a week....
It arrives but it is broken. Austin strips the part and makes repairs to the zinc die cast (potmetal) piece. Not easy to do.
The good news is it will fit and live in peace and harmony with the grille pieces - as it should. The bad? It must be primed and painted to match. C'est la vie.
The actual 'buckets' that the round headlamps go into. These have screw adjusters and a spring that allow you to aim them.
They were pretty crusty so they get bead blasted and re-painted.
The replacement healight bucket/extension assembly is test fitted. We kept the original horsey emblem, but the grille is new (and not bent out of shape like the old one)
The zinc alloy die cast headlamp bucket/extension. Commonly referred to as pot metal, the material was commonly used for various trim pieces. It's brittle and once bent, it has a tendency to break upon straightening.
The pieces will be painted to match.
