Gray Man, Inc.

[DRIVEN]

He's always had some sort of side thing going on, as long as I can remember anyway.

The body is in such amazing shape and it's just a cool old build. 90% of what is being done to it is either preservation or restoration of what the previous old man built in the 60s. The other 10% would be considered era-correct concessions in the name of reliability. He's had at least a dozen '30s Ford cars and pickups but this is hands down the the best of them. I hope he hangs on to this one for awhile.

There's a couple other projects in the works but I don't want to officially announce until they've landed. We're waiting for a break in the weather for transport.

 

[DRIVEN]

Messed around with my Venza restoration today. Got the hitch installed. Found out one of the rear swaybar braces is missing for some reason.

I pulled a few of the rear interior panels to install the trailer wiring and found evidence of rodent activity. Since I'm borderline germaphobe, I pulled the rest. There was a ton of trash and shredded paper under the rear seat. I went down to the carwash and vacuumed everything I could reach. Then went home and cleaned everything with bleach and hot water. All the side panels and rear hatch too.

It all looked a lot better when I was done.

I had ordered a set of OEM all-weather front floor mats and they showed up yesterday.

I pulled the console to get access for replacement of an old power outlet. I replaced it with a 3A USB dual outlet they has a volt gauge.

The last thing I did was run the wiring for the trailer lights and the 110v power inverter. I ran everything down the passenger side rocker. The rubber bulkhead rubber thingy fought me with a vengeance. No possible way I could have reached it if this was a V6 car.

I just coiled everything at both ends. I ran out of time for the day. I thought I had a 50A relay but I guess I used it somewhere else. I have one on order so I'll finish the wiring when it gets delivered. It's almost ready to go to work.

 

[86LK]

Messed around with my Venza restoration today. Got the hitch installed. Found out one of the rear swaybar braces is missing for some reason.

I pulled a few of the rear interior panels to install the trailer wiring and found evidence of rodent activity. Since I'm borderline germaphobe, I pulled the rest. There was a ton of trash and shredded paper under the rear seat. I went down to the carwash and vacuumed everything I could reach. Then went home and cleaned everything with bleach and hot water. All the side panels and rear hatch too. View attachment 233316

It all looked a lot better when I was done.

I had ordered a set of OEM all-weather front floor mats and they showed up yesterday.

I pulled the console to get access for replacement of an old power outlet. I replaced it with a 3A USB dual outlet they has a volt gauge.

The last thing I did was run the wiring for the trailer lights and the 110v power inverter. I ran everything down the passenger side rocker. The rubber bulkhead rubber thingy fought me with a vengeance. No possible way I could have reached it if this was a V6 car.


I just coiled everything at both ends. I ran out of time for the day. I thought I had a 50A relay but I guess I used it somewhere else. I have one on order so I'll finish the wiring when it gets delivered. It's almost ready to go to work.

man, I really don't understand people who make a pigsty of their car and then live in/use it on a daily basis

 

[Supercharged111]

man, I really don't understand people who make a pigsty of their car and then live in/use it on a daily basis

Do you have kids? It's amazing the messes those little shjts can create below the surface.

 

[Texas82GP]

It's a little disconcerting seeing rodent activity in a car that new. It must have done some sitting.

 

[DRIVEN]

If I learned anything as a tech for all those years, it's that people are filthy savages. Rule #1 is don't leave anything edible in your car. I didn't take a photo of it, but on the driver's side at the bottom of the quarter panel behind the bumper cover is a plastic vent with rubber flappers. Most cars have something similar. Looks like a rat (judging by turd size) knawed in through there. There's openings in the rear structure for wiring to pass through that gives direct access to the area under the back seat. I don't think it/they were there long, just enough to eat dropped fries, a dipping sauce container, and shred some paper. It didn't look like a permanent home. Most of the detritus was kids' junk. I also found a paper envelope with a plastic window on one side that had 4 extracted teeth inside. The whole thing grosses me out but it's all cleaned up now.

I did find this little surprise near the access point though. I'm pretty sure it's fuel pump related. Those cheesy splices will be redone properly before this car makes any long trips.

Used cars are always a bit of a crapshoot. I bought it because it had the right combination of options, seemed mechanically sound, and it was cosmetically good enough for a work car, and the price was reasonable. There would have been no way of knowing about the trash under the seat without gutting the rear hatch. That's just not something most potential buyers do, myself included.

 

[Texas82GP]

If I learned anything as a tech for all those years, it's that people are filthy savages. Rule #1 is don't leave anything edible in your car. I didn't take a photo of it, but on the driver's side at the bottom of the quarter panel behind the bumper cover is a plastic vent with rubber flappers. Most cars have something similar. Looks like a rat (judging by turd size) knawed in through there. There's openings in the rear structure for wiring to pass through that gives direct access to the area under the back seat. I don't think it/they were there long, just enough to eat dropped fries, a dipping sauce container, and shred some paper. It didn't look like a permanent home. Most of the detritus was kids' junk. I also found a paper envelope with a plastic window on one side that had 4 extracted teeth inside. The whole thing grosses me out but it's all cleaned up now.

I did find this little surprise near the access point though. I'm pretty sure it's fuel pump related. Those cheesy splices will be redone properly before this car makes any long trips.View attachment 233342

Used cars are always a bit of a crapshoot. I bought it because it had the right combination of options, seemed mechanically sound, and it was cosmetically good enough for a work car, and the price was reasonable. There would have been no way of knowing about the trash under the seat without gutting the rear hatch. That's just not something most potential buyers do, myself included.

Yeah, that's all real bad for my OCD. It looks like you pretty much have it sorted. I'll bet it smells a lot better in there.

 

[86LK]

Do you have kids? It's amazing the messes those little shjts can create below the surface.

mine is 20 now and we never had anything like that

 

[DRIVEN]

Trailer wiring is finished and inverter is wired and installed.

I snagged a new in box OEM rear carpet.

I also cut out the wiring "repairs." Replaced the fat black wires with the correct color and gauge. Soldered and shrink -wrapped all the connections. I feel better about it now.

Supervenza is just about ready to rotate into duty, but I have a couple more items inbound.

In the meantime, I got the replacement XT225 engine all sealed up and painted. Hoping to get it swapped in soon.

 

[ssn696]

Clever way to bake the paint to full cure.