Creation of the Red Baron - Phase 1: Disassemble

[MikeFleming]

Here I will document the multi-year process of disassembling, cleaning, repairing, welding, modifying, painting and re-assembling my red car, aka the Red Baron.

It all started in February, 1984 when I purchased a new 1984 SVO in Medium Canyon Red Glow. The next day it went to my detailer. Then my photographer associate took it for an evening and came back with this famous pic:
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He parked it in the Los Angeles Century Plaza Hotel entrance (with manager permission) and used a 7 minute exposure time with a 4x5 large-format camera on a 100 Lb tripod. None of the people or cars passing by showed up in the pic.

[MikeFleming]

Here's some early pics of the dis-assembly and pictorial documentation of where stuff goes. Old, grainy pics. These should be self-explanatory. An E6 manifold was installed to mount the exhaust side lifting hook.
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[MikeFleming]

Assorted dis-assembly, inspection and documentation pics.
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[MikeFleming]

More pics.
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[MikeFleming]

Documentation pics of electrical connections, ground connections, etc. in the engine compartment area.
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[MikeFleming]

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[Raven855]

Perfect timing! I've been putting mine back together!

[MikeFleming]

Following the nylon fuel lines from the engine compartment to the fuel tank. The rail-mounted high-pressure fuel pump has already been removed.
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[MikeFleming]

More fuel line routing and mounting pics. There are three nylon lines: (2) 5/16" for fuel feed (under pressure) and return (not under pressure, hopefully) and (1) 1/8" evaporative vent line. between the vent/rollover valve in the fuel tank and the evaporative canister mounted in the right front outer fender well (or under the right front chassis rail).

The rear hard brake line follows a similar path as the nylon fuel lines.
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[MikeFleming]

Last of the fuel line routing.
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Pics of the plastic nuts that the front wiper area cover grill mounts. There are six of these.
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Rear hatch wiring. Note how the rear window defogger cables connect (there are associated notches in the inside rear hatch cover). Also note the internal wiring for the license plate lamps and the ground on the left side under the large grommet.
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The hatch harness leaces the hatch here on the upper left side o the hatch - through a grommet - and enters the chassis at the left side of the hatch hinge through another grommet. THis section of wiring must be weatherproof.
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Rear defogger ground wire. Note this is NOT a good place to ground without running a separate ground wire fom hrer to the chassis (otherwise those 20Amps of current flow back to the chassis via the hatch hinges).
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Inside rear hatch cover and associated insulation padding. This is mounted to the inside of the rear hatch by Phillips screws and those famous plastic tree thingies.
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[MikeFleming]

New acquisition: HO Fibertrends GFRP (fiberglass) hood. It weighs 25 Lbs without any hardware attached and finished in gelcoat.
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The hood to bracket bobbin holes are 6mm versus the stock 8mm ones. Need new bolts and large fender washers.
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The stock hood ground scraper. Not gonna be needed with the GFRP hood (would only scratch the paint - which is it's only job for steel hoods. Also note the bracket & screw holding the steel brake lines.
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Hood hinge mounting holes in firewall area. LOTS of rust. Will replace those nut plates between the layers.
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Assorted pics of the plastic mounting tabs the wiring harnesses are mounted with in the engine compartment. Most of the harnesses sections are taped to these tabbed thingies. They use the same familiar tree-like push-in retention into round holes in the chassis and inner fenders. Iirc LMR still sells repros of these.

Partularly note this pic. I will refer back to this one when we get to seam stitch welding the chassis and panels.
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[MikeFleming]

More loom mounts.
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Inspection of some engine parts. All items get labeled and stored in appropriately sized Ziplock bags, then dumped in to boxes. Note this part of the dis-assembly process is the most important as the order the car is dis-ssembled WILL NOT be the same order it is reassembled.

The following parts are after the cleaning process (usually walnut shell blasting followed by solvent tanking cleaning and drying). Early Essy aluminum flywheel (circa 1990) and a 9" Ford SVO Motorsports clutch assy. The aluminum parts come out nice and shiny after shell blasting.

Parts are then labeled, bagged and stored.
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[MikeFleming]

A couple pics of the electrical harness off the car (these two are a long way out of order).
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What lives under the headliner.
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Front dome light wiring and mount.
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Starting on the dash & console dis-assembly and removal.
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Cigarette lighter electrical connections.
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That infamous Overboost fuse.
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Dash upper mounting. Five bolts hold it in at the top - one on each side of the speaker in this pic. Black hex head with captive wide washer. Iirc 8mm hex head.
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[MikeFleming]

Removed rear inner quarter plastics and noting location of insulation and padding between covers and sheet metal. An assortment of open-cell and closed-cell foams. If you clean these, allow LOTS of time for them to dry (Arizona summers rule again!).
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Back to removing the dash. Steering column already removed.
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Center upper dash mounting bolt, loosened.
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Twenty years of crud accumulation in the AC ducting.
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[MikeFleming]

Now we move to the fuel tank and pump change process. This is removing a 190 lph and installing a 255lph unit.

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190 pump uses flat-blade pump-on electrical connectors.
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The 255 uses a plastic harness holder for both conductors. Also note the famous "S-shaped" hose we often refer to when diagnosing fuel system problems.
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Here I;m preparing ot solder (and heat-shrink cover) the wires between the mount harness and the pump pigtail. Note polarity is important.
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Chimpanzee hairdryer (aka heat shrink gun). This gets uses a lot in the upcoming electrical and EEC harness repair projects.
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Finished shrinking.
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[MikeFleming]

Pressure outlet tube on the fuel pump hangar assembly. Note how it tapers near the end? That's to make it easier to install the quick-connect fitting without tearing the internal o-rings. However it also makes the outlet hole smaller. I always shorten the tube slightly to just before the rolled taper at the end to increase the flow hole size (same thing on both ends of the fuel filter and pressure side tube o the fuel rail at the engine end). Make sure to smooth-file the needs so the quick-connectors can slide on/off without tearing the internal o-rings.
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Return line tube where fuel returns to the tank from the fuel pressure regulator side of the fuel rail.
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Instructions. Just in case someone wants to read them.
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The famous fuel pump check valve. The purpose of this valve is to keep fuel system pressure high for hit starts. Note it is AFTER the S hose.
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Capped to keep clean as this will be stored for a long time.
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S-hose and electrical connector to pump.
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Assembled bracketry and tie-wrapping of wires to bracket.
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Cap on return line dump tube. That cap helps keep *some* pressure on fel in the return line but freely opens when there is fuel coming back to the tank.
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Opening in the tank where the pump assembly goes.
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[MikeFleming]

Lube (use light engine oil) the o-ring and place it into the groove. Then snake the fuel pump bracket assembly int he hole and line it up properly. Lastly fit the locking ring and tighten it. I highly recommend using a brass punch to not create any sparks. Then connect the electrical harness. Bag and store.
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Interior pics past the inner panels and insulation.
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Behind the insulation under the side windows are some rubber-vinyl sheets. Note cutout where the front seat belt retractor mounts.
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This stuff has to come off to get to the sail panel mounting nuts.
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Rear light electrical harness.
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Removed sail panel.
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Where the sail panels mount to the body. Note the weather seal tape over each bolt hole. The nuts also have some butyl sealer on them on the inside.
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[MikeFleming]

More sail panel seals. Be sure to seal those holes to keep rain and car wash water from entering.
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A collection of retaining nuts for the sail panels. Clean the butyl off, blast them, label and store. 2306

Note small brackets that mount/retain the rear quarter window. The quarter windows are glued to the chassis using the same butyl glue as the front and rear windscreens. The electrical harness hanging down goes between the rear electrical harness and the hatch through an opening in the roof gutter left of the left side hinge.
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Note the rubber wedges under the quarter glass. Those hold the glass in place vertically while the butyl hardens.
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Removing the steering column. Remove associated brackets, wiring harnesses, etc.
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[MikeFleming]

More steering column removal.
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Column assembly on bench.
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Looking behind the dash at the assorted bracketries and wiring mess. That round horizontal brace attached to the left a-pillar is called the Shake Brace.
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it mounts the electrical harness-to-dash harness connectors shown here. Note the large black harness with the two white tie-wraps in the background. We're going to take that out soon.
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This shows the clutch starter interlock switch in the background. part of the pedal box group that we will cover later.
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The pink wire and connector (near bottom of pic) feed power from the electrical/dash harness to the power window wiring circuit.
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Don't recall what this wire does (black/white stripe).
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Four connectors between electrical and dash harnesses removed and disconnected. They need to be removed from the shake brace mounting tabs to be disconnected and since we're removing the electrical harness and the dash assembly, they are not be re-attached to the shake brace tabs.
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Another dash harness to chassis connector to unplug.
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Connectors that go between the electrical, dash and rear chassis harnesses. These connectors get stuffed into the a-pillar recesses and covered with that semi-clear cover. These cables feed power to the rear of the chassis including the seat belt warning sensor, the parking brake switch, the fuel pump(s) circuit, rear lighting, etc. The LARGE dark gray-ish cable to the left of the bundle is for the rear defogger circuit.
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Close-ups of the connectors.
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[MikeFleming]

Left side door switch. The left side uses a 3-wire connector (power, dome lights, key buzzer) while the right side only has two wires (no key buzzer wire). The red/yellow/black-lt blue harness is the one.
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The door switches thread in/out so be dure to allow for harness twist when removing/installing. It's possible to connect the harness after installing the switches, but it's a very tight fit with sharp edges.
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Dash removed. Note location of all those nut plates and the heater box wiring and vacuum lines. The harnesses running along the top just under the front glass are for the electric door locks and windows.
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This photo is a very good example of the greening that the era-specific (circa mid 90's) ACC carpeting turned. The floor mat is an original SVO charcoal gray while the replacement carpet changed colors only a few months after installation (and this area wouldn't get much sun).
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Shake brace and pedal box brackets.
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Electrical harnesses removed at this point.
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[MikeFleming]

Nut plate locations. Pedal and heater boxes removed.
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Master Cylinder booster mounting.
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Bracket on left side a-pillar where dash and shake brace attach.
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Shake brace on bench. Black box is the variable wiper controller.
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The famous "DO NOT DROP", aka Variable Wiper Controller.
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[MikeFleming]

Dash on bench. Lower right isthe headlight switch - remember that all SVOs need the 9-pin switch for the fog lamp circuit.
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Radio would go in the rectangular opening at the bottom. Black plastic tubes are for the defroster and AC vents in the dash.
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Glove box opening. Note vac line bundle and electrical harnesses (fan speed) that connect to the heater box.
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That large heavy yellow wire is for the rear defogger circuit. A VERY poor design, imho.
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Harness over the steering column hump. Note blue nut.
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Headlight switch rear view.
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Defogger ducts clipped to dash upper. having lots of empty bench space and several large, soft blankets is most useful now.
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AC and defogger ducting removed. Lots of rusty brackets.
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Reference pics on how the dash harness routes and connects to stuff.
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[MikeFleming]

More rear of dash after ducting removed.

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Under-dash Fuse panel on drivers (left) side.
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Relays, buzzers, etc. above glove box behind right-side fuzzy panel.
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Glove box light switch and latch striker.
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Support brackets coming off rear of dash.
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Where the radio and dash grounds connect to the brackets. The area where the lugs connect must be clean of paint and rust.
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Blasted brackets waiting for paint.
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[MikeFleming]

Brackets painted glossy black.
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Ducting cleaned and sanitized.
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Stripped dash after cleaning and paint in back side.
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Headlight switch. Note shaft release button on top of body.
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Spring-loaded button near center of pic is the shaft release button.
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Headlamp switch keyed hole in dash.
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Painted dash assembled with painted brackets.
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[MikeFleming]

Front side of painted dash with brackets and new switches installed.
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[MikeFleming]

Time to remove the electrical harness (the one that goes through the firewall on the fender side of the master cylinder and booster). The large wrapped bundle of wires. Unplug the assorted electrical boxes and don't forget the clutch starter switch. 2483
Fan Controller - remove from harness connector.
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if you have an 84, expect LOTS of repairs needed for this harness. An yes, I'm using the cherry picker to hold up the electrical harness in the engine bay. Seemed appropriate at the time.
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EEC Relay - well hidden behind the dash. Someone with very small hands and multi-jointed arms could reach this through the glove box opening - in theory. 2495
EEC Grounds to chassis (make sure there is no paint where the lug attaches to the chassis). VERY important connection.
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EEC Connector removed from EEC.
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Now onto the heater box removal and inspection. Three large washer nutplates in the engine compartment and that one long sheet metal screw (removed from inside) shown on the bottom right of the first picture. Also note the AC water drain tube outlet.
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[MikeFleming]

Heater box assembly on bench for inspection.
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Air inlet from cowl area.
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Heater core access panel.
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Lots of vacuum motors.
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Note AC water drain seal.
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Evidence of heater core leakage.
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[MikeFleming]

Note the vacuum line connection that goes to the check valve in the engine compartment. This is needed to operate the vacuum motors that move the heater box doors.
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Heater core exposed.
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Under heater core - shows temperature blend door and evidence of past heater core leakage.
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AC Evaporator core.
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[MikeFleming]

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Heater fan control resistor.
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AC Evaporator core.
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Heater core leakage. Note rust on bracket at bottom of "sump" area.
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[MikeFleming]

Repairing some broken tabs. Here I'm using the strong, hard 30-minute model airplane epoxy and carbon fiber reinforcing strips. Scuff, clean, apply glue, apply CF strip. more glue, let set. I discovered lots of places where tabs on assorted plastic parts had broken off over the years.
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On the the pedal box removal, cleaning, painting and re-assembly. Pedal box on bench now.
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Factory MIG wire. Sloppy, imho.
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The infamous factory clutch adjuster quadrant.
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Brake pedal pivot bolt.
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[MikeFleming]

Clutch pedal, shaft and quadrant removed.
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Brake pedal, pivot shaft & bushings removed.
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Cleaned, blasted, ready for paint. Shake brace, assorted brackets and pedals, 2575
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Lube and reassemble. Add new pedal rubbers.
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Add clutch starter switch.
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Brake pedal and new rubber.
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[MikeFleming]

Add the brake light switch.
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Now on to remove the EEC harness.
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The second small harness to the left of the large EEC harness feeds the rear defogger circuit. And it's all done wrong from the factory. Power comes from the electrical harness to the defroster switch in the dash. From the switch i travels out the right side of the firewall, around the right inner fender, across the radiator core, back along the left inner fender area, through the firewall with the electrical harness, then down inside the a-pillar, along the left inside of the interior to the left rear wheel well hump, then to a harness to the rear hatch. WHY didn't they just run it from the dash switch to the a-pillar, to the rear?? Could save saved 15 feet of #10 copper wire. Obviously a rear defogger was an afterthoght for 1984.
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[ChrisCurtin]

Glad to see you got a better camera ;)

Thanks for posting. I took a similar set of pictures taking apart my 84 Capri, but you took a few more angles that I did. That defroster wire had me scratching my head too as I tried to figure out why the harnesses in the engine were also connected in the cabin!

Keep it up!

Thanks,

Chris

[MikeFleming]

The "early" pics were taken in or before 2003 and there weren't any high-res digital cameras at a reasonable price then. 640x480 was the common resolution then.

More historical documentation coming.

[MikeFleming]

A few more EEC harness removal pics.
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Store and wait for the harness repair time to come around. EEC harness:
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Electrical harness:
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Almost empty engine compartment pics.
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Power steering cooling loop.
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Dead pedal removal.
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Dead pedal screw heads inside fender area.
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[MikeFleming]

Remove throttle pedal and steering shaft seal.
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Power steering cooler lower bracket.
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Upper.
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PS cooler loop on bench.
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PS hose clamp. Note it is a full-band clamp.
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PS rack fluid return tube.
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Note gentle taper to hose bib on tube end.
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Rack end.
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Tube end and full-band clamp.
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PS pressure hose rack end.
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[MikeFleming]

Speedometer cable removal.
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Master cylinder and booster removal.
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Hood latch removal.
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Windscreen wiper arm mechanism removal.
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[MikeFleming]

Remove wiper mechanism: Cover, nut, washer, spacer.
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Wiper linkage on bench.
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Remove rocker panel trim strips.
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Removing rear spats. There are also two screws underneath.
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[MikeFleming]

Showing how the power door locks and power window harnesses run across the top of the inside firewall - all hidden by the dash assembly. Round plastic harness clips mount into metal tabs on
the inner firewall.
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Location of the assorted nut plates behind the dash and in the shifter/console area.
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[MikeFleming]

A few more nut plates and harness mounting tabs.
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Dome lamp wiring harness. That covered harness that I'm holding is the dome lighting harness. It runs inside the right front a-pillar from the kick panel access hole to the inside roof area.
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Dome lighting harness connector. Plugs into the dash harness.
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EEC mounting bracket.
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[MikeFleming]

Disassembling the rear tail light assemblies. 20 years of dirt.
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Mounting stud with butyl sealant.
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Faded reflectors.
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Lense retaining clips and butyl sealant.
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Remove clips.
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Remove butyl sealant.
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Clean reflector bodies.
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Scuff and mask; prep for painting the reflectors.
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Test paint.
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Spray reflector surfaces. Nice and shiny now.
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Pardom my memory, I used either Eastwood's Almost Chrome aerosol paint (http://www.eastwood.com/almost-chrome-aerosol-paint.html) or a bright aluminum aerosol paint (also from Eastwood, but doesn't appear to be listed now and I didn't locate the can just now). When I locate the other can, I'll update this post.

[MikeFleming]

Remove stock hood safety latch, associated spring and release handle.

Clean, label, store. Only some of these parts will be re-used on the GFRP hood: the safety latch and handle only,
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[MikeFleming]

Document mountings & path of stock hard brake lines and the proportioning valve. The rear (far left in pic) line in the PV goes to the LF caliper under the chassis rail and above the k-frame. The front of the PV feeds the rear calipers while the rear of the PV feeds the fronts. MC comes at the top. That pinkish switch in the center top of the PV body is the brake fail circuit switch.
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LF hard line (with AN cap fitting installed).
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The bottom rear line from the PV goes to the RF caliper. Across the pinch weld to an access hole in the rear of the RF shock tower. The second line going past the pinch weld feeds the rear calipers. That line comes from the front lower section of the PV.
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A double-female brass fitting connects two tubes that feed the rear calipers.
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Hard line going to rear calipers.
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RF caliper tube with AN fittings installed.
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The line on the left of the pic feeds the rear calipers while the one on the right feeds the RF caliper.
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Coming out of the engine compartment and heading under the car to the rear.
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[MikeFleming]

Following the hard brake line under the car and to the rear. Some of the clamps are held with sheet metal bolts and some are large aluminum pop rivits.

This hard line follows a very similar path (although tighter bends in some places) as the three fuel lines shown earlier. And there are a few clamps that are shared between both.
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[MikeFleming]

I ordered a set of 304 Stainless Steel hard lines from Classic Tube. Here's some incoming inspection photos to see which lines are right and which need to be remade. Communication with Classic Tube was excellent when I told them which ones were wrong. I described one that was too long and the pigtail ones between the PV and the MC were completely wrong. I sent them my originals and they duplicated those and updated their templates. Turnaround time was only a few days.

Some pics of the new hard lines.
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Comparing old vs. new on the shop floor. My benches are too small and cluttered!
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The new ones sure look pretty when installed against fresh, shiny paint. Pics of that in the Post-Paint Reassembly and completion threads.

[Coney Warrior]

Mike, it looks great, please don't ever take these pics down, Im going to refer to them when I start tearing mine down and reassembling it

[Keasbey]

Damn I wished You posted this thread 1 year ago, it would have helped me with the resto of my 85.. with all the photos of the connectors behind the dash and all!!!

Btw, good job, you're doin very well. Wish I had more time back then to take care of all the little details like you do!.

[rodster]

Here I will document the multi-year process of disassembling, cleaning, repairing, welding, modifying, painting and re-assembling my red car, aka the Red Baron.

It all started in February, 1984 when I purchased a new 1984 SVO in Medium Canyon Red Glow. The next day it went to my detailer. Then my photographer associate took it for an evening and came back with this famous pic:


He parked it in the Los Angeles Century Plaza Hotel entrance (with manager permission) and used a 7 minute exposure time with a 4x5 large-format camera on a 100 Lb tripod. None of the people or cars passing by showed up in the pic.

Wow, great thread and I LOVE that opening picture!! Thanks for sharing! 3512

[MikeFleming]

I need to get back to these threads. Much more stuff to add

[Chalky]

I need to get back to these threads. Much more stuff to add

HURRY UP!!!! OMG, the suspense is killing me:):):)

[rodster]

I need to get back to these threads. Much more stuff to add

My head is still spinning from catching up on the info here already so pace yourself! ;) I might go into information-overload!

[MikeFleming]

Some pics behind the door panels to show where the assorted electrical harnesses go. This is on a car with both electric windows and door locks.
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3578