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Rick: Great meeting you at the Nationals. I did this bass ackwards and heard your stories first, then went back and found/read your thread start to finish. Great job thus far! You and Troy are really shaming me into starting a thread on my '69...
Rick: Great meeting you at the Nationals. I did this bass ackwards and heard your stories first, then went back and found/read your thread start to finish. Great job thus far! You and Troy are really shaming me into starting a thread on my '69...
Looks an awful lot like nugget gold but not quite. Been following you all the way, great job, great write-up. You're almost to the finish line so stay the course - don't get excited and take a shortcut this close to the end !
Thanks for following along. The end is in sight but we are currently hung up on interior dye/paint colors. I'm hoping to have the dash and package tray areas painted next week so we can get the glass put back in. No shortcuts for sure.
Originally Posted by jharsh
Rick, Car looks great.
When the time is right I may need to get with John, he seems very knowledgeable, and a nice guy.
Thanks Jim. I hope you guys can do some business together. You won't be disappointed.
Originally Posted by Eddie Hansen
Rick just managed to read this from start to finish, ( twice as I was floored by turn of events) way to keep at it, and a gorgeous car!
It's been quite the ride. I'm glad I've been able to stick with it and maybe lend some encouragement to others in the same situation. Karma is a bitch and the seller of my car has a helluva lot a karma coming his way. BTW...I've been enjoying your build thread and think you do really nice work. Keep at it man!
Originally Posted by 65Delta
Rick: Great meeting you at the Nationals. I did this bass ackwards and heard your stories first, then went back and found/read your thread start to finish. Great job thus far! You and Troy are really shaming me into starting a thread on my '69...
Haha...Great meeting you as well. I just wish I could remember your name. Thanks for taking the time to read my thread and yes you should be ashamed of yourself
Honestly, I've been spending a lot of time with my new grand daughter. She's only going to be a little bitty thing for a short time and I really wanted to enjoy her. Something I didn't get to do with my own kids. Couple more weeks and then I'll hit it hard. Hope yours is coming along.
Eh... It's moving, but snails keep passing me at my pace. 😀 Fighting a control arm bolt right now, get past that then it's sandblasting the frame and get it painted or powder coated, then start reconstruction.
Take good care of the grandbaby, I agree they are only little once. I wish I had done more with my own kids when they were little. I can not believe, I have 20 year olds.😮
You'll be happy to know that I'm digging up pics of the '69 now so I can start a thread on her . My youngest turned 7 yesterday and I was taking the kids at the party for short rides in her. Didn't have a pony but the convertible was a good substitute...
Finally have all the interior dye work done so the dash will be going back in soon.
Since my car was originally an AC car that the P.O. switched to a non AC car I want to eliminate all the dash vents. AC cars do not have the adapter through the firewall that is needed to bring in fresh air therefore making the upper and lower vents useless. I have the center blank plate for the dash but I was wondering if they made/make blanks for the vents on each side of the dash.
Anyone know what the dash look like if you ordered the car with the heater delete option? Did the dash still have openings for the vents?
If you can find one, the dash pad from a post coupe w/o ac has no vents in it at all. Since the posts still had vent windows they didn't have the upper left & right side vents in the pad like the holiday coupes w/o ac had, plus it didn't have a center vent block off plate. It wouldn't be correct for a holiday coupe as they used the upper vents for additional outside ventilation, the kick panels have 2 cables,1 for the lower vents in the panels 1 for the upper ones in the dash pad. You should be able to at least get the lower kick panel vents working as the air for these comes through the top cowl screen on all cars whether it has a/c or not. The drivers side on a/c cars have a bolt in block off plate the covers the cowl vent opening behind the kick panel, the pass side has the bolt in vac operated air valve,both of these can be removed & you can use the standard non a/c kick panels. I posted a dash pic of my buddy Brian's '70 W30 post
Last edited by rob1960; September 18th, 2016 at 04:44 AM.
Interesting read, sorry for your hardships. You have made some tremendous headway. Your positive spirit is very refreshing. Can't wait to see the finished product!
You should be able to at least get the lower kick panel vents working as the air for these comes through the top cowl screen on all cars whether it has a/c or not.
Rob,
Are you sure air comes through the cowl screen on all cars? I shined a light in the cowl area and couldn't see it in the vent opening. I'll be at the shop tomorrow and look again.
Originally Posted by 70-442-W30
I demand more pictures. What's next after the dash? The color of this car is gonna shine on the street.
Bill,
Hopefully I get the dash back together tomorrow, pull the heater box out, start installing the firewall insulation and get the steering column back in. From there I'm going to fire her back up, throw in a seat and take her back to my shop. The new windshield was installed today and all new glass was ordered. The OEM glass I had was a little too scratched up for me so we are going with all new glass. I have been working on cleaning up misc. parts, sorting out trim pieces,painting small pieces and contributing to the Fusick's family's college fund. I'm going to burn that catalog when this car is done! I will take some pics tomorrow.
Originally Posted by Stefano
Interesting read, sorry for your hardships. You have made some tremendous headway. Your positive spirit is very refreshing. Can't wait to see the finished product!
Stefano,
Thanks for your comments. It has been pretty rough at times but this forum and words of encouragement from it's members helps a lot. I'm looking forward to getting the car back to my shop so I can get it finished.
Sorry to hear about your purchase. If it's any consolation I've been there. A couple of times. It seems I am always trying to turn my lemons into lemonade.
But it looks like you're getting it all sorted out. And your not giving up.
That's great!
I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures as your project moves along.
Thanks for sharing.
Sorry for being a slacker and not posting any updates. Thanks Jim for the nudge. I'll throw these pics out for now with more to follow. The quality of the pictures and the lighting are not that good.
Car is at the body shop and will have a few imperfections touched up tomorrow. Then It comes back home for some Dynamat throughout, audio system wiring, e-brake cables installed, finishing touches to the dash, carpet, package tray etc. Debating if I should tackle the headliner myself or have a professional do it. Seats will be reassembled and bolted in after the headliner gets installed.
Dash pad painted and installed
Misc. interior parts repainted
New windshield
All new date coded glass. Woked out a deal with the parts car that I bought. Glass ended up costing me $0. Score!
Sorry to hear about your purchase. If it's any consolation I've been there. A couple of times. It seems I am always trying to turn my lemons into lemonade.
But it looks like you're getting it all sorted out. And your not giving up.
That's great!
I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures as your project moves along.
Thanks for sharing.
Learning a lot through this process. Almost finished with this one and looking at some leads for the next one. It's coming up on two years since I started this build. All things considered I don't think that's too bad.
Kudos on the emblem placement, looks like you got the spacing on the fenders just right !
Thanks...Made a template from a factory fender. Still need to do the deck lid. Waiting on a guy to bring down a factory deck lid to make another template.
I am thinking the same thing on the gauges Rick, looking forward to the results.
By the way, it is about time you updated. Putting teasers in other people's post and leaving us hanging....Well, that is just not right. Lol. 😜
On your audio, are you going for a stock, hidden aftermarket unit, or something else? I am thinking of going with a stock radio that has been gutted and upgraded with modern components from this vendor. http://www.turnswitch.com/radio1.htm
Troy,
Just received the gauge housing. This thing is sweet. Of all the parts I've bought for this project, I feel this was money well spent. I couldn't wait to pop the gauges in when it showed up today at work.
On the stereo front....I have a kick *** Alpine system that I salvaged from my Avalon after one of the cams decided it didn't want to be in the engine anymore. I'm going to have Randy make another housing and mount it in my glove box. I'm also going to install an 1/8" jack in the gauge housing that will be the aux input to the stereo. My dash is uncut so I want to keep it that way and install a factory radio. I have an AM and a AM/FM to choose from. I considered doing the gut and upgrade on the factory radio but I have to stop spending money at some point. At some point I would like to have a factory radio outfitted with a blue tooth receiver. I think that's actually the way to go.
Troy,
Just received the gauge housing. This thing is sweet. Of all the parts I've bought for this project, I feel this was money well spent. I couldn't wait to pop the gauges in when it showed up today at work. They look good! I will probably go the same route. Although, I am thinking more of a vacuum gauge rather than the amp gauge.
On the stereo front....I have a kick *** Alpine system that I salvaged from my Avalon after one of the cams decided it didn't want to be in the engine anymore. I'm going to have Randy make another housing and mount it in my glove box. I'm also going to install an 1/8" jack in the gauge housing that will be the aux input to the stereo. My dash is uncut so I want to keep it that way and install a factory radio. I have an AM and a AM/FM to choose from. I considered doing the gut and upgrade on the factory radio but I have to stop spending money at some point. At some point I would like to have a factory radio outfitted with a blue tooth receiver. I think that's actually the way to go.
If they are basically in the same shape, I would save the AM/FM set up for the later upgrade.
I hear you and the money, the age old question when is it good enough?
Car is looking really nice. I envy where you are at with it.
Pulled these two push rods out last night. The ends on the rocker side have mushroomed and completely closed up the oil passage. Any ideas on what could have caused this?
The pushrods either had the wrong ball end or are too long.
Are you using stock rocker arms?
Rods are all the same length and the ball ends are the same. Using steel factory style rockers with roller tips. None of the other rods are damaged or show signs of wear. The motor probably has less than a few hours of run time.
Originally Posted by Troys Toy 70
Rick
Sorry to see your luck here.
IIRC, this is the same motor that was supposedly "built" before that had trouble. Do you know if there was any milling done in the heads?
Troy,
These are reconditioned E heads from Mondello's. Not sure if they were ever milled but I know John is a machinist by trade and would have taken that into account if they were. The only remaining part left over from that original "built" motor is the HEI distributor. Everything else was replaced.
Last couple weeks I've been driving around w no backseat and package tray I notice a ton of noise comes thru from the trunk and the wheel housings, when I dynamat I will be doing those areas too, I noticed you didn't do those areas do you plan too or is there a reason not to?
Last couple weeks I've been driving around w no backseat and package tray I notice a ton of noise comes thru from the trunk and the wheel housings, when I dynamat I will be doing those areas too, I noticed you didn't do those areas do you plan too or is there a reason not to?
I have jute insulation for the package tray and the divider between the trunk and cabin. I'm going to put Dynamat behind both areas as well. Not going to do anything with the wheel housings.
What a testimony to perseverance. I still cannot believe that strides you made from the start of the thread until now. Nice to see you kept it as a standard 442, even though you had most of the parts to make it a nice clone. If I'm not mistaken, your car will look like the one in the Oldsmobile advertisement for the W-25 hood. Keep us posted...
Put some more Dynamat in and installed the trunk divider board. Test fitted the rear seat, rear panels and ash wells. Also threw the carpet in just to see how it looked. Having fun with this part of the project.
Looking nice Rick, how much dynamat did you have to buy for the car? I still need to wait until I replace the dash on mine before I start putting it down.
Looking nice Rick, how much dynamat did you have to buy for the car? I still need to wait until I replace the dash on mine before I start putting it down.
There are 9- 2' x 4' sheets for a total of 72/sq feet. The price was good and shipping was free. I have one sheet left but I haven't done the doors or kick panel areas yet. Probably will need a little more to finish up. I did not use any in the dash area or the fire wall area. I used the factory style jute backed rubber type insulation in that area.
Installation is pretty easy but hard on the knees. Heavy duty scissors, sharp utility knife, tape measure and straight edge are all you need to install. If you have a small roller tool (like a wall paper roller) that helps smooth it out and safes your fingers from getting sliced up. I didn't use a roller but got several cuts from smoothing it down with my hands. The foil can be razor sharp at the seems. Cut the sheets down in manageable pieces. No reason to make it more difficult than it needs to be. It's not like you will see the seems when it's all said and done.
Spent some time putting in the radio, glove box and door, lighter, under dash gauges etc. Replaced the original gauge lenses. (Best $22 spent to date)
I've got everything electrical working except for the blower motor. The controls work and I have power to the motor lead. The problem is getting the lead attached to the motor. I can't get my hand in the right position to snap the connector on to the motor terminal. The fender stiffener that I insisted my body guy install is right in the way. He said the stiffeners are nothing but a pain in the *** and I think he might be right. If anyone has a trick to get the motor connected please share.
Also installed a trunk release button and got the power release lock wired up. The trunk light and wiring is installed and working too. I am looking for a under hood light(mercury switch type) if anyone has one for sale.
I'm real pleased with the colors and flatness/sheen of all the dash parts. Took some time figuring all that out but I think it paid off. Put in what I thought was a non working AM radio just for looks. Turns out it works great so I ordered and installed a new front dash speaker. Never thought I would be so tickled to have an AM radio in a car. Still trying to decide what to do with retrofitting a modern sound system in the car.
My buddy picked up a tilt steering column and will part with it for a reasonable price. I'm not sure I can stomach pulling everything back apart to install it though. It would need to be gone through and painted as well. Need to think a little more on that one.
I am really enjoying putting as much of this car together as I am capable of. I finally feel like I'm contributing to the restoration besides writing the checks. Hopefully when I retire I will have the health and resources to tackle more of the work that currently is over my pay grade.
Was heading to the shop today but now the Bengals are beating Pittsburgh so I might have to hydrate and watch the game for awhile.
August 8th, 2016, 07:12 PM
Thanks for taking the time to read my thread and yes you should be ashamed of yourself
