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Thanks for the info on the rear dutchman panel. I have an original I will try and make work. Got the dash unit installed along with the fuse panel and heater box. Next up will be tearing down the front suspension and a good frame cleaning. Spo
With the dash completed and installed, plus all the wiring and heater controls, it was time to move on. Tore down the front end components and ordered all new parts with the stock rubber bushings. Cleaned up the frame and gave it a good wash-down. Covered it with Rustoleum Satin Black with a brush and then covered it with VHT Epoxy Satin spray paint. I used the same formula on my 64 and had good luck. Now comes the fun part of pressing out all the bushings and restoring the control arms. I have a long weekend, so I'll see what I get accomplished.
Steve
Getting ready to tackle this on my 64 as well. I still haven’t decided on what parts to use. Looking forward to see how yours goes. What shocks are you going to run? Are you replacing springs as well?
Original springs still seem to be correct height. I did a spring change on my 64 Cutlass and didn't notice much difference. I measured these on the 65 when it was still together and the stance seemed right. I will be using KYB gas adjust shocks for this ride as well. I like the feel with the stock rubber bushings.
SPO, Happy Easter to all. What is the type of green wrap your using to protect the areas you want to cover? Seems that it looks very easy to cover things tightly.I like the way your padded dash turned out! My F-85 dash was not padded just plain plastic, however if it were cracked I was going to cover it. Who makes those dash covers? I enjoyed restoring the plastic dash and instrument panel. I bought a radio delete panel and installed a Kenwood head unit in the glove compartment, honed out the cigarette lighter hole and installed a USB charging port.Your frame looks really good, mine was pitted pretty good, I opted to have it powder coated.
Happy Easter to you as well "TheRobski". The plastic covering is a low tack covering I bought at the Home Depot that is used for covering floors and such during renovations. I used it to cover the door panels in my Suburban when we would take the dogs so they wouldn't scratch the panels trying to stick their heads out the windows. It's great stuff and I find it forms and holds very well. My dash was also the factory hard plastic. I had my upholstery guy recover using the metallic red vinyl I got from TK-65. He added a thin foam padding to get a better contour. That material was very thick and hard to work with. I don't think he will do another for me! Hope you get the Golden Egg today. Be Safe, Be Well,
Spo
Hope everyone is well. Had some more time on the 65 this weekend. Completed the front-end rebuild and started on re-routing the brake lines. I switched to a dual master cylinder for safety, but they don't offer a rear brake line that is used for a 4 speed car, so there is some interference with the Z-Bar. Hoping to remedy this next week. Also repaired my original steering wheel and repainted to match the Metallic Red. Came out pretty good, all things considered. I think the next big job will be the rust repair of the rear window channel. Take Care, Spo
Upgrading to a Dual Master Cylinder- Do's and Don't's
Here is some information I wanted to share regarding upgrading to a dual master cylinder on an early A body. Because I've decided to stay with the manual drum brakes, I figured that the master upgrade was the best approach for safety. I ordered the In-Line tube upgrade kit they sell and installed early on in the restoration of the car. First off, the kit they sell is incomplete as you will need the correct collar and seal for the brake pedal push rod. The lines they provide with the kit look great but fit terrible. The 64-65 A bodies have the inner fender well very close to the master and the lines hit unless you re-bend them. The kit is also for an automatic car only and does not clear the clutch pedal push rod or the Z-bar (bellcrank). In-line does not specify this and just said it's didn't take a 4 speed car into the design when they made it. Since I had previously installed this and had many weird bend to get around everything, I figured I would address it again with the engine out. Here are a few before and after photos of the original install and now re-done. Steve
I used a product called Brake Quip, it's great made most of my bends with my hands or some sockets. Very forgiving material ( especially for a guy like me) and that made it much easier to ad a PB booster and plumb the tubing. The PB booster I believe it's 9 inch booster for 68 and up C-3 Corvettes. If you need to remove the drivers side valve cover for service it clears and just barely clears the 2 speed wiper motor . ..Just throwing ideas out there from past experiences. Your build is looking great a coming along...
The weather was good a month ago, so I started figuring out how I was going to remove the rear panel between the glass and trunk. All the other areas were good, but I decide to take it all out. I managed to extract a factory piece from a 65 my friend Gerald was cutting up, so I figured it would be better than an after-market piece. With much help and photos from "Therobski", I was able to find most of the spot welds and how to dissect it. I didn't want to have to work upside down in the trunk and I wanted the replacement panel not to have spot weld drill holes in the metal that was going back in. I took it apart in sections, and removed all spot welds from the top. I am at the point that I just need to clean up the sections where the pinch weld is and then I can fit the new panel. It's been over 100 degrees here the last 5 days, so I hope cooler weather this weekend will allow some work. Here are a few update pictures for this section.
Spo Donor Panel
I was able to complete the repair on the divider panel. It went really smooth once I removed the left behind spot weld nubs and cleaned up the donor panel. With removing all the factory weld from the top, I was able to drill holes into the chassis panels and drop the donor part into place. There were a few spots where the spot weld cutter went too deep, but I was able to repair these with the Mig. All rosette weld were then completed from inside the trunk and left a clean surface on the outside. I leaded up the pinch weld seams as best as they would take the material and will probably have to use a little body butter to make them look correct. All in all, a pretty easy repair for something I was dreading. Will get the glass reinstalled now and then move on to the engine and trans install. Steve
Yup. I hope it wasn't reliving a Nightmare. Was pretty straightforward once the old metal was removed. Here's a little sneak peak of the gauges going in. I colored matched a 60's bezel to the dash paint. Should look good in there. Just want to place them out of the way of the shifter!
Finished up the repairs and re-installed all the pins that were missing for the clips using the screws available online. Cleaned up the channel and painted everything to match the interior color. Going to make my own package tray from masonite and cover with the fabric I got from TK-65. Going to use the striped material from the front seats for the tray area. Was going to have the glass reinstalled, but will wait until my headliner gets installed to make it easier. I guess its time to start putting the engine and transmission back in. Stay Tuned!
Hi All,
Been a while since I posted up. Been waiting for my upholstery gal to install the headliner before I move on. She is supposed to come out next Saturday to do the install, but temps might be too high. As soon as she's done, I'll get the glass reinstalled, then on to engine and transmission install.I have been working on little things while I wait. Got the interior ready for her and sail panels, Installed the spark plug wire looms on the engine and set static timing. Hope all are well, stay strong.
Spo
Had a productive weekend. Was able to get the headliner installed thanks to my upholstery gal. She also changed out the back panels on the front seats to the correct material and finished off the package tray with the same material. A Big thanks to TK-65 for hooking me up with this material. Hope to get the glass back in soon and then install the engine and trans. Hope everyone is well!
Steve
Hello !
Things are moving at a fast pace! Just finished the headliner last weekend and was hoping to get the glass back in by mid-October, as my glass guy hurt his back. He gave me the number of another guy in the area that does classic car glass. Gave him a call Wednesday and he said, "Let's do it Saturday" I was shocked, most times its, "call me in a month and I'll see where I'm at". Had pretty much everything ready to go but was wanting on some trim molding clips. He said he couldn't do the install as they get bedded in. Found that if you search hard enough at Oreilly's they have them. 100 pack for $12.00 and they are good too, with a lot of bite. So the new windshield is in and original rear glass went back home. Stayed up till 2 AM last night fitting the chrome molding around the glass, so we wouldn't have a fight today. Everything went smooth. 2 hours for both to be installed. Ramping up for the engine and trans to go in next weekend! Hell, it might be driving before New Year's.
Cleared my schedule for a Saturday and set out to install the engine and trans as a unit. Everything went well and had them mated up with a new clutch and installed in under 5 hours. Not bad considering I was flying solo. Install went smooth, just a lot of up and down from under the car. Pretty much buttoned up all the finishing interior pieces and reinstalled and aligned the shifter. Starting on the engine wire harness and connecting the new gauge panel. More to come!
Had some time this weekend so finished the engine wiring, 3 gauge cluster hook-up and completed a circuit check. I wanted to keep the idiot lights, so I used a tee at both the water and oil senders to allow both stock and the gauge senders to be used. All circuits checked out and no shorts were found. Re-installed and aligned the Hurst 4 speed and installed the driveshaft and exhaust. Next will be all the engine bay sheet metal and core support. Will take a few weeks to get them cleaned up and painted before install. Hope everyone had a good weekend!
Big Daddy Spo
Thanks Rob. Just trying to get all the painted parts done before the weather changes. A little bit every weekend should be drivable soon. Spent 2 hours at DMV on Friday getting my Year of Make plates registered to the 65. Should look good wearing original black and yellow plates!
Steve
The black/yellow plates would be a cool addition...My F-85 started out from the factory a very very basic Club Coupe. No chrome trim, no seat belts, vinyl flooring, no rear arm rests, just a 330 with a heater and am radio..
what brake pedal pushrod and seal did you end up using? I am converting to disk front brakes with a duel master cylinder. The new master cylinder doesn’t appear to retain the pushrod the same way the factory did. Thank you
Hello,
I upgraded to a dual master Kit from Inline Tube. They didn't supply the seal and push rod, so I bought ones they offered that fit my application. Here are a couple of links from eBay for the parts. Since you are going with disc brakes, You will probably have to adapt depending on which master you use. Here is where I found the push rods and seals on Ebay:
I used the one above for the 64-72 that was $55.
Hope this helps,
Spo
Big Daddy, your car is looking amazing! Thank you for all the references!! I learned a lot about panels, etc!! Keep up the good work!!
therobski, I am looking at the pic of your interior showing the black dash and black bucket seats in Post #45. Can you tell me what those seats are out of?? They look factory. How comfortable are they??
Thanks!
Last edited by Mr Gadgets; Dec 3, 2020 at 11:47 AM.
Big Daddy, your car is looking amazing! Thank you for all the references!! I learned a lot about panels, etc!! Keep up the good work!!
therobski, I am looking at the pic of your interior showing the black dash and black bucket seats in Post #45. Can you tell me what those seats are out of?? They look factory. How comfortable are they??
That's what they are made for. The bolsters and the wide belts keep you snug. This F-85 build has a complete front and rear Hotchkis suspension ( including B-spindle upgrade) plus other goodies made for the track racing/cornering if you choose to get into A/C type racing...
Had some time over the holidays to start putting everything back together. I sent out the 1 year only 7025150 carb for rebuild and re-plate. Started to hang fenders and front sections to make this a driver. Got the carb back in December, full cleaned and polished, but no plating. They said there plating shop was closed by the EPA and didn't want to wait until they found another. Carb looks good, just would have liked to have it plated too. Got the engine tuned and running well with the new carb and also added some YOM plates I found for a good price. Weather has hit now, so I hope to have her ready for Spring.
Looks really great. I am sure you noticed that when they rebuilt your carb they replaced your original straight blade top screws..I learned that with my Muncie 4-speed rebuilds. If you want to keep the original bolts that hold it together, replace them before you send it out.
Yup, noticed that too. Since they messed up on the plating, I figured I could replace the screws myself when I figure out if I can have the local shop plate it.
Spo
