Originally posted Jan 15th, 2016
So, I bought the '79 TA clone to use as a daily driver while building my '72 Esprit. It stated life as a gold 301 Formula with tan deluxe interior and no options other than t-tops. It had been converted to a TA with nocturne blue ext and blue birds with black deluxe int. It looked ok from 10 feet away. Not great but not bad. I knew it had a few issues, but didn't care because it was just a kick-around car. I only paid $6k for it with a rebuilt 400.
The first issue was the backyard paint job; it's not horrible but had a few runs in the clear coat. Even though it has TA trim, it still had the Formula decals on the doors and a huge 400 badge from a 60's bird on the rear spoiler. The dash had been hacked for a newer stereo and had a half dash cover installed. All the trim had been changed from tan to black with what looks like spray paint. And every piece of weather strip was dried out. The first thing I did was change the t-top and door weather strips and that quieted the car down big time.
A year or so after I bought it, I rebuilt the front suspension and steering. Just a quick weekend project that wouldn't break the bank. That's where the problems really started. I noticed a terrible repair to the radiator support using angle iron, but I ignored it because this was just a kick around car. My '72 project got sidetracked by my Dad and brother's '55 Ford Vic. Then it got sidetracked by my Dad's '66 T-bird.
And now the '72 has been sidetracked by this car. The more I looked at the previous owner's repairs, the more I felt like I should just sell or part the car. Instead I decided to fix it. The PO managed to install the engine at an angle and askew. I know the engine should be offset to the car's center-line, but this something you'd have to see. I'm really surprised there wasn't any odd vibrations. The motor mounts were trashed and welded in. The rad support was rotted beyond repair. There's some collision damage to the bumper plate. The toe panels, forward floor, rear floor, and rear seat panel on both sides had huge rot holes with repair panels welded on top and slathered in ROOFING CEMENT! The wrong body bushings were installed in rotted out holes; this is the most surprising problem because I drove the car that way for almost 2 years in an extremely dangerous state without a clue to how bad things were.
So far, I replaced all the rot on the floor pans. I had to smooth the firewall because the PO bolted a remote oil filter through the gutter; it caused massive rot to the heater area. The upper cowl needed to be replaced and I had to fab windshield braces. All the body mounts and drivers forward torque box have been repaired and all the caged nuts have been re-caged. Thankfully the rockers are good! Next up is to replace the rear torque boxes.
These are my 'Birds:
