Something new... Nah not really.

We went on vacation and encountered a bad alternator on our Ford Focus. Bought a new battery just to get down there, replaced the tensioner while there, had to have a tow dolly to get home. Thank God for Awesome-Inlaws. My last day off was spent replacing the alt. even though the test equipment said it was fine there was nothing else to replace. Everything else was new, belt, tensioner, batt. Cables are clean and tight, and the inline fusible link (most retarted thing I've ever seen - its put in there like an after thought). Anyway back to my car and purpose of this blog...

I have finished "restoring" my AC system, even bought more freon, but have yet to get to my buddie's shop and suck off the car.
AC system mods
New expansion valve, all O-Rings, Valve cores and caps, and drier.
Polished every hard line and the drier. (polished by hand with steel wool and then Mothers)
Ran Rubbing Achohol through everything, then a "professional" purge chemical.

If nothing else it looks good... the rest of the engine is dirtier than all heck - but hey it's progress. I've got to sand and paint (rust) a few more brackets up under the dash, then I can install/reconnect the radio and get some other wiring done.

Near future plans... some more dynamat extreme on the rear pillars and roof section, seem sealer on the roof supports, get the remaining tint off and repair the broken defroster lines... then I can retint the back and side windows, put in some fiberglass speaker boxes.... etc.... etc....

Here is the reality of 10 years of Florida Sun and rain. Not to mention multiple wax jobs and possibly over washing. I used to detail the mirage nearly every weekend. It looked great all the time... until I started slacking on it and now the damage is revealed...

Finally some Photos!!!

OK so I've had this for a while now but NO PICS... Well about a week ago my lovely wife snapped a few great shots of my car. I had to scale them down a bit so they would fit on here.

Ok, Ok, Ok, I know what your saying. No my car does not look that good. Thats my Mirage with a little bit of photoshop.

Here is the original un-touched photo, just reduced in size.