1964F85

Hi All,

Here it is, the beginning of my 1964 F85 resto-mod project... "The Big O". Attached are the pics as it came home after the monumental and record breaking snow here in the north east. As you can see, I have some work cut out for me, but this car has some potential. It has 95,000 miles on it and was treated to a few new items by the previous owner. Stuff like brand new dual exhaust, new radiator & hoses, a new trans hard line... and a few other bits. My plan here is to make improvements to the car, but keep everything looking somewhat period correct. There won't be chrome valve covers, big polished intakes, or any other obvious "performance" parts showing. The car is currently a 330 2V, with the dreaded super turbine 300 trans. Eventually, I'd like to drop a hot 455/th400 combo in the car, but for now I'll go for mild bolt on's for the 330. I'll post progress pics as I go and I'm already finding things I have questions about for the group. Cheers, and enjoy the pix. Thanks, Mike

wjustinmartin

super turbine 300 - is that like the jetaway trans with the switch pitch converter?

Doesn't look bad at all - very good for $300; does it run, or is it currently a mystery?

2blu442

Thanks for posting the pictures Mike, it looks like a fun project! It has too many doors, but I kinda like the "more doors" and like wagons they are getting far a few between as not as many were saved when compared to 2 door models. John

1964F85

Hi,

Yes, 2blu, there seems to be a shortage of 4 doors in every make of older car. I think this body looks pretty sharp as a sedan.. some cars do look a bit ugly in 4 door form. I also did not get the chance to try and get it started, it "supposedly" ran before. After I got home from tech school today, I managed to coat the trunk floor with a POR15-like epoxy paint, fix the "always-on" tail lights [the kid-seller told me "he just could not figure them out!!" and gave up... All I did was thread in the plunger switch he bought as he wasn't screwing it in far enough to grab the threads in the pedal bracket.. **LOL**], I also greased everything that moved... doors close easy, hood and trunk glide smooth. I greased the 3 heater control levers at the dash and down at the heater box...[ the kid kept forcing them and complaining..] all fixed to effortless movement with spray lithium grease.. seen why the factory clock wasn't working while I was greasing the levers.. [the 12 volt feed wire to the clock was frayed and torn off...] easy fix. Replaced the mangled and collapsed ends of the battery cables. Removed the steering wheel to tighten up the turn signal lever that was flopping about.. all nice and tight now.. just simple stuff for now, but a big difference. I'll be reinstalling the stock AM radio in the dash.. thank god no one ever cut the dash up to install a "modern" radio!! I don't really listen to the radio anyway.. so if I find one, I'll install an FM converter and hide it up under the dash somewhere. I also have to remove the windshield washer motor and see why it doesn't work. Could just be bound up.. I might be able to free it up on the bench. As for the trans, I don't know if it is the switch pitch type or not, I don't know how to tell and I can't really do a function check without the motor running. I see the electric lever to the carb is disconnected, and the kid complained the trans wouldn't shift... I wonder why.. . The wrong carb is on the car and I'm likely going for an AFB 600 later. I'll attach more pix. Cheers!, Mike

2blu442

I figured I could get away with the "more door" comment as I drive a 1967 4 door Cutlass as my daily driver. The climate where I live is mild and we don't salt the roads. So the winter weather isn't as tough on it as the summertime sunshine.

Nice Dash! I don't even see any cracks in the pad! It looks like the door panels are also good. I agree, at that price I'd have taken it home too! I do have two ratty 1965 4 door cars I plan to use as parts for other project cars. If you need any parts specific to 4 doors let me know. I believe the doors and window regulators interchange between 1964 and 65. John

truthautomatic

sweet deal for $300, love to see how she will turn out. Hows the rust situation?

1964F85

Hi 2blu, thanks for the parts offer! It appears the drivers side front and rear doors are missing something from the bottom of the door glass. The previous owner removed the rear door panel and I can see there is nothing at all attached to the bottom of the glass.. he mentioned something about a metal channel that "rotted off", but I could see no signs of any way it was attached. The drivers window is also permanently down for now as well. It's got to be the same issue with it too. The regulator in the back goes up and I am able to sit the bottom edge of the glass on the roller to help hold it in place. Might you have a picture or a drawing of what it's supposed to look like? I'd be interested in buying the missing pieces from you if I need to.

Today I've got the battery up to full charge and tested the electrical items. Now the wipers go (!) and everything else seems to work fine; heater fan, headlights, turn signals, cig. lighter works too! , etc. It even tried to turn over when I turned the key, but I'm waiting to do that until after I get the oil changed. It smells like gas, as the young guy who had it must have cranked the crap out of it and flooded it pretty bad. Apparently, they had it running, but not too well... I found out why.. the vac. line to the dizzy was hooked to manifold vac, and there was an open nipple out of the carb. The vac lines were so hard and brittle, it surely was leaking. So I need to get that fixed up. The big vac. line from the manifold to the booster was rock hard and cracked at the manifold, so I need new line there too. No big... I also cleaned and regapped the plugs and hooked up the electric kickdown rod to the carb. There appears to be a broken nipple on a switch that sits on top of the manifold.. this has 2 wires going to the kickdown switch.. any ideas there? Should I unplug and remove this broken switch or permanently cut and cross the wires. I noticed someone else did the internal regulator alt. conversion, so I need to get rid of the regulator on the firewall... Without that, the firewall will be completely bare... no AC stuff to worry woth here.. it's 455 air conditioning.. 4 windows down at 55 miles per hour!! **LOL** More pix to come... As for the rust, truthautomatic, there is very little on the panels.. some at the rear wheel opening, but practically zero anywhere else.. this car even managed to avoid any shopping cart dings too! I'm kicking around a metallic cinnamon/brown colour... with the saddle interior. Any ideas? Sorry for the long post, Cheers! Mike

truthautomatic

Great to hear theres little rust, looks like shes sanded down pretty well already. get her some paint soon! Ive seen a 65 with in forest green which looked really mean, and i agree on the saddle interior, works well for my cutlass

1964F85

Hi All, Here's the broken solenoid I was mentioning in my last post. Perhaps someone recognizes this part and how I might be able to remove or bypass it. My friend tells me it is part of the "traction control" system, similar to his 66 Buick Skylark he had. He said it prevented the trans from downshifting if the windshield wipers were turned on. This unit looked as if it had a single vacuum nipple pointing straight up, but now it's broken off flush. Can I ditch this piece?

It turns out the carb is not correct for the car, and it looks to me like they swapped the original base onto a different middle and top section. Hence the crappy manual choke set-up. I can still see the metal piping coming up from the intake for the thermatic choke set up. This currently looks mighty ugly... but, the big question is how to adapt this electric kick down switch to an AFB 600 carb. I may he to get creative on this one... any ideas? Thanks, Mike

2blu442

Hi Mike
This coming weekend I'll try to get inside the doors and get some pictures for you of what the bottom of the window looks like.

I don't know about the throttle doo dad, (I've been told that's a technical engineering term) someone who knows this vintage better than I will have to speak up.

I believe the electric choke is just a matter of finding a place in the fuse box that's hot when the ignition key is on to run a wire to it. I've put on an electric choke in the past, but its been a few years so maybe someone else can help verify or correct this. John

1964F85

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply. That would be great if you could describe what I need or shoot a picture or two. Maybe you have what I need on one of them old junkers you have. Might you also have the "Oldsmobile" cast block letters that go on the front edge of the hood? Mine are missing.. I'd rather put the letters back than fill all those tiny holes. BTW... I put the stock AM radio back in and fired it up. It works great! Only one dash speaker, but it works for me, as I'm definitely not a big thumping stereo guy. Maybe I can find a drawing from a factory assembly manual on the broken throttle/solenoid thing. As for the heated choke.. I have to find the rest of the carb that has the correct casting for the heated coil/thing in the side. This carb has none of that stuff on it. I'm just going to swap over to an AFB when I find the right manifold for it. Today, I changed the gas-thinned oil and added a new filter. Tomorrow I'm going to try and get it started. Cross your fingers! Cheers, Mike

1964F85

It's alive!! I had a friend help me get the car running yesterday. I was surprised how quickly it fired up, as I was prepared for a struggle. The tank was dry and I crossed my fingers the pump and pickup part would still move. It looks like the cap and wires were recently replaced, and I know they had it "running" [not very good or for very long...], so that saved some cost. I had everything ready and I hit the key. It fired up after a few chugs and it wasn't too happy at first. The last time this car was inspected was back in 2004... Slowly it was waking up... there was some smoking out of the left bank of cylinders... none from the right bank. I checked for leaks and found the water outlet was seeping... no big. The oil filter needed a little twist to stop the dribble and the rest appeared dry. I found a major exhaust leak from 3 missing bolts in the drivers side exhaust manifold. The previous owner must have wanted to put on headers, but gave up instead. None of these details were mentioned when I was buying the car.. So, 3 bolts were replaced and the power steering was properly fastened at the front. I also re-attached the support bracket for the power steering pump. The new duals that were on it had to be hung properly, and that took some time. It did turn out very nice in the end but there were a few tricky spots. The mufflers on it are Thrush welded mufflers with 2 1/4 ends...[Flowmaster knock-offs], and some one decided to cheap out on the tailpipes and use 2" pipe there instead. So we had to make up "bushings" out of bits that would fit and then I welded the joint tight. Now that it's installed properly, it seems Tarzan could swing off of the pipes and they won't budge! That was one big headache out of the way. I must say it sounds pretty good. I am not into overly loud/droning cars, like my sons 5.0 with the Flowmaster 40's... so this is acceptable sound to me. With the car running, I took it for a spin around the big parking lot out back. The brakes are very scary, but the power train seems o.k. The Super Turbine 300 front pump was whining away like my old powerglide cars.. what memories. Now it's on to looking into the brakes and getting a few front suspension bits. Last thing I did was complete the alternator conversion by adding jumpers across the proper terminals.. now it charges and the GEN light is out. Cheers! Mike

2blu442

Fun! the first trip around the parking lot under its own power! So it had the new exhaust system on it when you bought it? If so, that's worth close to what you paid for the car!

I'll try to get some photos of the window stuff on one of the parts cars today.
One of the 1965's has a 2bbl carb, I'll look at the choke assembly on it. John

1964F85

Hi John, Yes the exhaust system was on the car, but all loose/slip fit and not really finalised. It was missing clamps and the tailpipes were flopping around in the larger outlet end of the mufflers, but we got it all buttoned up. The previous guy also installed a brand new radiator, new starter and tune up goodies. I figured the parts that were new could easily be sold to recoup the losses.. in the event the motor was shot. However, I'm planning on fixing it up and driving it instead.

The expensive stuff is bad on the front end.. the center link and idler arm. I'll have to scrape my pennies together to pick that stuff up. Today I completely refurbished the stock 2 barrel air cleaner and baked the epoxy paint on it on top of my garage wood stove. It looks great! Now to figure out how to stop the smoking on the left bank... something to free up sticking piston rings. The crank case blow-by is pretty bad. Maybe seafoam? or the "trans-fluid-down-the-sparkplug-hole-trick". Ideas on this?

Sounds good about the window regulator pics... Both my left hand windows are in need or repair. Any word on the "oldsmobile" letters for across the hood edge?

Take Care, Mike

doc

I like it.....'66 F-85 Deluxe Sedan is my "toy" - so I'm partial to the more-doors.

Looking forward to seeing progress.......I've had good luck the last two 330/Jetaways I've had (beat the snot out of the one in my old '67 Cutlass) so not all of them are bad. I do have a '69 350/350 combo sitting in the shop - just in case.

1964F85

Hi Doc, Good to hear the jetaway can take some abuse. I don't plan on giving it too much hell, but it sounds like these transmissions are like their powerglide cousins. I've seen PG's take a major beating and they still work... I've also lost many street races in an old camaro years ago on account of the huge rpm drop between L and D. I do favor the TH350 and I'm thinking about one of those if the 455/400 combo does not work out. The better gear spread makes the 3 speed a more streetable trans. Sounds like you have a sweet combo waiting in the shop! Cheers, Mike

1964f-85

Good to see another 64 get saved!

1964F85

Hi all, I've been sidetracked form my project doing some construction work on my garage, but I did manage to pop down to the u-pull-it to snag a set of seats from a late 80's Jaguar. These seats are in great shape and a similar colored leather to match my interior. I spotted these seats on a previous trip, and immediately seen the back height was similar to my bench seat. As luck would have it, the Jag seat is within an inch or so of the bench and has a classic style look. I think I'm going to remove the head rests, as older cars like this look rather odd with headrests sticking up and breaking up the lines inside the car. Kinda like a 55 chevy with high backs.. I made seat templates out of thin plywood to help position the final placement. I'm going to have to get a bit creative with the seat mounting, but I've decided to go with the threaded rod and black iron pipe spacer method.. I've done this before and it comes out rock solid. The console in the picture is from a 65 Pontiac 2+2 and the shifter is from the Jag-seat donor car. Once I replace the jag shifter ****/ears with a T handle, most won't know exactly what it came from. All the chrome on the console, shifter handle and seat levers blend perfectly with the 60's vibe. I'm going to keep my eyes open for a better drivers side seat at the yard... Removing it is seconds, as only one phillips screw/bracket hold it in.. **LOL**

Would you keep or get rid of the headrests? Please let me know! Cheers, Mike

PS ... The seats are not bolted in in the pictures.. The seats will be raised up a bit and leveled of course!

1969w3155

The seats don't look half bad in there, I would keep the headrests for safety reasons (whiplash).

1964F85

Yes, I was thinking about the whole whiplash thing last night. I suppose I could live with the headrests if they are kept the whole way down... [Of course I'm going to need them to keep my head upright during that rocket sled acceleration right? ***LOL*** !! Not! Don't I wish...]

Seriously though.. I guess I'll keep 'em. Thanks for the suggestion.

Mike

Eddie Hansen

I like the seats and the headrests don't really bother me, as much as the the holes where the headrests were would. I like what your doing!! one thing about swapping seats I kinda like the upholstery to match? so that said what did the rear seat look like and is it possible to get it to fit? perhaps with a custom back panel that couls also have space for your speakers or whatever?


nice job !!

1964F85

Hi Eddie,

Thanks for the compliments! I think I'm going to go back to the junkyard and measure the Jag rear seat. I'd like things to match as well... hopefully, my younger days of horrible mix and match are over... **LOL** I started to drill the floor for the pass side today, and maybe I can get at least one side in tomorrow. I'm still very pleased with the general style of the Jag seats and how well they blend in the Olds. I'll post pics when I get it finished. Mike

1964F85

I just spent some time re-doing the crusty valve covers and air cleaner housing. The valve covers were originally sprayed chevy orange, [over some grease or something..] but the paint came off easily with the wire wheel. I couldn't find real Olds gold, but I settled for that "universal gold" you can get at the parts house. I also cleaned the air cleaner and sprayed it orange as suggested by another member in another topic/forum. I baked all the parts after painting on top of my wood stove, so it really set up nice. It sure makes the rest of the under hood area look bad.. **LOL**. Now to find a 4 barrel intake and ditch the mis-matched 2 barrel that's on it now.. It's always something, ya know.. Next thing I'll need to replace is the stock leaky water neck. I found a good cast iron version and have it ready to go, but I'll wait till I get the other intake. At least the "made in China" cast into the outlet will be covered with the radiator hose end.. **LOL** Mike

Eddie Hansen

Mike good idea, quite possibly some of the door panel materials or parts from the door panels might be able to be used too!! worse scenario a company that makes panels such as http://www.1aauto.com/1A/SeatUpholstery/Jaguar

might actually be able to sell you enough material to do your old panels or have them done, ya never know.

squirtacious

I think the solenoid doodad is part of a cruise control. I cant tell by your pictures but my '64 vista has cruise, it's the only early A body I have ever seen with cruise. Does yours have the control panel on the lower left side of the dash?

1964F85

The seats are installed! They turned out rather nicely and are nice and solid. The only "adjustment" I might do is add about 1/4" shims to the rear seat legs on the drivers side. Once the rain stops I'm going back out to the boneyard and scope out the Jag rear seats... I might be able to get something to work, even if I "skin" (**LOL** skin the "Cat") the Jag frame and adapt it to fit my Olds stock rear seat frame. I have a feeling the front lower edge of the seat is taller on the Olds.. We'll see.

I got the 55 dollar HEI dizzy in the mail just yesterday, and it looks like a sweet part. I must say for the money it really looks good. The housing looks milled and has a mirror polish. The wires look sturdy and the cap has brass terminals. It even has an adjustable vac. advance can! You can't get too many stock replacement pieces for your own HEI distributor for 50 bucks, let alone the whole thing! I think the coil is close to 30, the pick-up about 25, cap ??. I'll keep yous posted on how it works out. I did need to pick up a set of HEI specific wires, but those were about 27 dollars. So for less than 100 bucks, I'll have a great ignition...

I was doing a bit of research on the jetaway trans and figured the broken doo-dad on the intake must be some sort of switch pitch microswitch to work the converter. With the key on, and all quiet, I can press the tiny button and hear something clicking in the trans. Now the thing to do is try and figure out which position is the higher stall setting and wire a small switch inside the car.... a "power and economy" switch, if you will. My daughters jeep has a cool switch, just like that in her old cherokee.. it's even lighted when it is in "power" mode. Maybe I can integrate one of those in there somewhere. [The picture I took keeps failing to upload.... ]

More to come, Cheers!
Mike

Clipperet

Mike, Looks good. I (almost) wish my 64 needed more. (It is getting a freshly built 330/Jetaway to go back to original). I have bought a 455/400 in hopes of scoring another F85 to do a mod. I think your find is incredible!

1964F85

Hi Clipper and thanks for the comments! I wish my car was a 2 door.. **LOL**. Yours looks very clean!

The 330 is about to double its breathing pleasure with the classic 4 barrel swap. I grabbed a number 16 350 Q-Jet intake from the not-so-local U-pull-it yard. I knew I had to go to the BIG one here in the state to score something like that. All the local yards are smaller and deal in mostly early 90's and up stuff. This intake came from a 77 Olds Delta 88 with a 350. The carb was already gone, so some of the stripping was already done. Me and a friend yanked it off in short order. I did pull an aluminum intake, only to find the hilarious 1.3 inch square ports... It was so cruddy I couldn't dig off the goop to see the 5A, until it was out of the car... what a joke... My friend told me to try and sell it on ebay, but I knew anyone who knows anything about intakes would see the small ports and get a good laugh. So, I ditched it under the hood of a Camaro... that will throw someone a loop! **LOL** I already have a big 800 carb waiting and I also picked up a new intake tub gasket at the parts house. I decided to block off the heat riser and maybe pick up a few ponies. I understand it may take a bit longer to warm up in cold weather.. but I'm o.k. with that. I see I may have to fab up some sort of anchor for the kickdown electric switch doo-dad... maybe I don't need it? I was thinking of adding a separate switch for the converter anyway.. We'll see. The ports on this look pretty good sized and it should be a big improvement over the 2 barrel! Only 23 bucks too! SWEET! I also made a block off plate for the EGR valve. Cheers! Mike

I'll have to try and upload the intake pics later... they keep failing...

doc

keep'em coming....my '66 is going to "share" a lot your ideas!!

ent72olds

Lookin' good! LOve the patina....the Jag seats look great against the woodgrain on the console! Keep up the "creative" work!

1964F85

Hi Doc and Erik! Thanks for the kind words. I'm about to install the 350 4 barrel intake, and I have a few questions. I've posted the kickdown switch debacle in the transmission section, but I'd like to add a few shots of the job so far. The intake came off easier than the removal of the distributor.. that was really "growed fast" **LOL** I got it out anyway... I was rather impressed with the size of the intake ports on my 330... and the 350 I got the intake from too, for that matter. They are bigger than the typical SBC intake ports I'm used to working with. Obviously, the 2 barrel was way too tiny to do any good. The 4 barrel intake should really wake things up. I went with a 350 valley pan gasket, as I really think it may be very hard to find the weird 5 piece set for a 64 anymore these days. It test-fitted perfectly. There will be a few other small fixes as well here to do. I discovered a bare wire had burned thru the harness and was sparking on the firewall seam... So, I'll be splicing in a section of good 10 gauge wire. It looks like it is connected to the main feed line from the alternator. At least I found it now, before I had some sort of meltdown on the road. Hopefully I will be able to eliminate the electrical box/rod thingy.. and simply use a jeep "power/comfort" switch of the switch pitch setting. Any ideas? Regards, Miike

therobski

I will be interested in hearing if changing the intake and carb makes a big difference. On the 64 330's the heads are the same it's the compression ratio that makes the HP difference between the 2-4 barrel 330's.

ent72olds

I did the switch on my '65 330, and it made a difference, but not so much that I was really satisfied...putting duals helped a little further, but hopefully the Toro 425 will give me what I need!

1964F85

The intake, carb and HEI dizzy is installed! I have to finish up things and get it dialed in, but at least the hard stuff is over. I had to extend the throttle rod 4" to work with the 4 barrel, and I had to fab up a suitable nipple for the heater hose connection in the back of the intake. The 2 barrel manifold had a metal tube pressed into it, so I made my own by using a 3/4" to 3/8" NPT adapter. I then screwed in a 2" section of 3/8" iron pipe, which just fits inside the regular 5/8" heater hose. It's not too pretty, but it got the job done.

I modified the stock air cleaner by removing the stock 2 barrel center hole/raised area and replaced it with a section of an aftermarket flat base 4 barrel air cleaner. I think it's shifted front about 1/2" total. I made an offset air cleaner stud as well. I riveted the offset base on to seal things up and I had to add a strip around the front where the two holes eclipsed each other. All of this mess is completely invisible once the top is on. I now have about 3/8" - 1/2" clearence at the cap with the top and wires on. Plenty of room to turn the distributor. The stock air cleaner to valvecover elbow still fits fine.

I had a time to find wires that fit right. Those "Exact fit" wires you get at the parts house are anything but an exact fit... I went with a set of MSD brand "finish it yourself" set... I even took the crappy crimp plates they give you and welded them into an old set of pliers, so now I can really get the ends right.

More to come... hopefully I can get it all finished and dialed in in the next few days. Cheers, Mike

doc

Keep it up....nice work on the air cleaner.

1964F85

Things are getting closer to completion on the Olds. I spent some time today detailing the dash and softening up the old leather seats with some deep conditioner. Things turned out pretty nice. I also turned out a set of cool looking lock ***** out of aluminum stock. I made these slightly larger in diameter than stock, as the plastic grommets in my doors long gone. At least with the larger diameter, they will not rattle as much.. **LOL**. I combined two styles in one **** here... [the "wedding cake" early /mid 60's lower part and the concentric "rings" of a late 60's style ****. I'm considering producing these if there is interest. New plastic "repros" are 8 bucks each for good ones... ] Thoughts?.. Cheers, Mike

P.S.

I Did go back to the junkyard and fully measured and compared my rear seat dimensions with the Jag. The Jag seat will not work out easily. It is back is too wide at the bottom and it tapers too much towards the top. The seat bottom is not thick/high enough and it has cut outs in it for the Jag wheel wells. I'd have to build up some sort of platform to raise it up to where it needs to be. So the jury is still out on how to finally take care of this.

Eddie Hansen suggested this..

"Mike good idea, quite possibly some of the door panel materials or parts from the door panels might be able to be used too!! worse scenario a company that makes panels such as http://www.1aauto.com/1A/SeatUpholstery/Jaguar

might actually be able to sell you enough material to do your old panels or have them done, ya never know."

I'll look into this Eddie, and thanks for the lead. I appreciate it! M.

ent72olds

Very cool *****! Believe it or not, I used a toothbrush and toothpaste on the center of the dash on my '65....worked mint! Like new....

OLD SKL 69

Looks very nice, I really like the seats too. Keep the pics coming!

1964F85

Just an update on my project... I managed to go to a local swap meet at Maple Grove Speedway with my son over the past weekend, and I was fortunate enough to find a set of 4 centre caps for my olds rally wheels for 20 bucks! They are not show quality, but they do fill the ugly holes in the wheels nicely. I thought spraying the wheel silver would look good, but I don't think so after seeing it finished. I only did one... I suppose it is supposed to be body color? I didn't get much else done, as I was fighting a stomach bug for the past week. It's gone today and I now can rest easy about heading up the Spring Carlisle this Friday or Saturday, with my son. Hopefully I can snag a rear window package tray and a few of the underhood/aircleaner stickers I was lusting after **LOL**. An armrest pad would be nice too... I seen some good looking ones from the aftermarket for as little as 25 bucks each..

I did have a question for the knowledgeable... Since I have 15" wheels on my car and currently, 205/70 15's on the front, it appears the tire is too tall to get any sort of camber back into the alignment settings.. the shims are completely gone and there is no more room to go. I was thinking I must drop down to a factory diameter tire or close in order to get any sort of adjustment out of it. Any ideas or what size 15" tire do I need to run to get the result? I'm going with 255/6015 on the back. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Cheers, Mike

1964F85

Just wanted to post an update as to the project progress. I made an interesting discovery today at the junkyard... My rear window was in need of the interior/perimeter trim set and I do not have the 100 asking price from one of the resto places. I did find a suitable alternative that looks close for pennies. I found the foreign cars use the windlace around their doors much longer than we did. There was a late 80's toyota tercel in the yard with the right shade of tan/brown as in my car. It was a joke to remove.. just grab and run... it peels right off. I knew it was going to be close. However, it is too short to make the window in just one run. I was able to grab both door lengths and I decided to make a joint right in the top center of the window. The windlace is just slipped on in the photos, but I plan on going back and using a bit of weatherstripping adhesive to get it up tighter and more uniform. This was sort of a test fit. I think it will look very nice once it is finally in place. I am very pleased with the look and also happy I found a solution for the ugly edge. [Not to mention 100 dollars richer..**LOL**].

Also included is a shot of the engine with the decals/stickers I picked up at Spring Carlisle. I know it's not the 100% correct set of decals for the car, but it looks good to me. I think I've got the valve cover sticker on the wrong side.. oops! Cheers! Mike