1969 442 Convertible Restoration Project
December 21st, 2012, 05:17 AM
#401
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December 31st, 2012, 08:32 AM
#406
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Thanks for the request Joe and Darrell. I've been picking at the car a little and have completed a few things. I'll try to post some photos later today or tomorrow. I've been busy with some family matters, planning for upcoming house projects and trying to enjoy the holidays.
Brian
Brian
December 31st, 2012, 10:48 AM
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Bryan, I think you may have been able to show that other shop a thing or two. At least you ask questions before jumping in if you aren't sure. They just plowed ahead with no regard to the work being correct or not. And in some cases, with no regard for the saftey of the driver. 
Brian
Brian
January 1st, 2013, 01:59 PM
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One of the projects that needed to be done was restoring the front air dam. The original one was pretty sad looking and what I first thought was primer on the plastic turned out to be the plastic itself. It seems the outer layer of plastic dried out, began to flake off and was chalky looking. The last photo I posted is of this original one. Just for the heck of it I bead blasted a section and the dead upper layer did come off.
Fortunately, I had another air dam from a parts car I bought about 12 years ago. And better yet, most of it was covered with undercoat. With a little careful bending, I was able to cause the undercoat to crack and come off in various sized pieces which revealed some very nice plastic. The lower edge of the air dam had this same dead, flaking plastic so I sanded that little area to smooth it out a little. I then gave the side that is seen a light sanding with 1000 grit wet paper and I sprayed it with SEM plastic/vinyl paint. The rubber from the original air dam was better than the parts car rubber so I swapped them out. I re-used the original staples but cleaned them up on the wire wheel on the bench grinder. I think it turned out fairly well.
Brian
Fortunately, I had another air dam from a parts car I bought about 12 years ago. And better yet, most of it was covered with undercoat. With a little careful bending, I was able to cause the undercoat to crack and come off in various sized pieces which revealed some very nice plastic. The lower edge of the air dam had this same dead, flaking plastic so I sanded that little area to smooth it out a little. I then gave the side that is seen a light sanding with 1000 grit wet paper and I sprayed it with SEM plastic/vinyl paint. The rubber from the original air dam was better than the parts car rubber so I swapped them out. I re-used the original staples but cleaned them up on the wire wheel on the bench grinder. I think it turned out fairly well.
Brian
January 1st, 2013, 02:17 PM
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I also got an email the Friday before Christmas that Just Dashes had shipped the A Pillar pads out and they completed them sooner than they expected. They arrived on 12/28 and I was pleased with the work. Now I just need to get new sunvisors and the interior will be complete.
Brian
Brian
January 3rd, 2013, 08:42 PM
#411
One of the projects that needed to be done was restoring the front air dam. The original one was pretty sad looking and what I first thought was primer on the plastic turned out to be the plastic itself. It seems the outer layer of plastic dried out, began to flake off and was chalky looking. The last photo I posted is of this original one. Just for the heck of it I bead blasted a section and the dead upper layer did come off.
Fortunately, I had another air dam from a parts car I bought about 12 years ago. And better yet, most of it was covered with undercoat. With a little careful bending, I was able to cause the undercoat to crack and come off in various sized pieces which revealed some very nice plastic. The lower edge of the air dam had this same dead, flaking plastic so I sanded that little area to smooth it out a little. I then gave the side that is seen a light sanding with 1000 grit wet paper and I sprayed it with SEM plastic/vinyl paint. The rubber from the original air dam was better than the parts car rubber so I swapped them out. I re-used the original staples but cleaned them up on the wire wheel on the bench grinder. I think it turned out fairly well.
Brian
Fortunately, I had another air dam from a parts car I bought about 12 years ago. And better yet, most of it was covered with undercoat. With a little careful bending, I was able to cause the undercoat to crack and come off in various sized pieces which revealed some very nice plastic. The lower edge of the air dam had this same dead, flaking plastic so I sanded that little area to smooth it out a little. I then gave the side that is seen a light sanding with 1000 grit wet paper and I sprayed it with SEM plastic/vinyl paint. The rubber from the original air dam was better than the parts car rubber so I swapped them out. I re-used the original staples but cleaned them up on the wire wheel on the bench grinder. I think it turned out fairly well.
Brian
Did a lot of what you had to do on the air dam. I reused the rubber part from my existing one, and grafted onto it a replacement platic piece. I saw an NOS one last year at a fellow CO'ers place, and noticed the finish was a lot more gray than I thought it would be, so I found a bumper paint (SEM Cherokee Black) that most closely approximated the color I remember it to look like. Came out so cool I used it on the radiator shroud - again, mine and the other used ones I had were toast and thought it was a fair approximation of the original unpainted color. Here's a few pics. Pardon the dust on it - it's been waiting for 14 months to put back on the car!!
Last edited by costpenn; January 3rd, 2013 at 09:04 PM.
January 4th, 2013, 10:59 AM
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Thanks Joe and that did turn out very well on your parts. Wish the air dam I was working with was as straight as yours. I tried to get rid of the waves in it but I didn't have any luck. Your car is looking superb.
Brian
Brian
January 5th, 2013, 11:40 AM
#413
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I have the same problem on mine , It's all wavy . Do you think heating it up a bit with some weight on it would do any good ? Like having the sun cook it all day or something .
January 5th, 2013, 11:52 AM
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Bryan, I suggested that to some guys I talked with when I rebuilt my air dam. Plastic needs to be hot for pliability. Once it's set in place it rarely changes form again. You could sure put the plastic in the HOT sun (at least 85°) to soften for an hour, then put some heavy weights on it. Leave till evening temps cool right down to 60's to see if it will have any effect. You might have to just get a good used one to replace the warped one.
January 5th, 2013, 04:05 PM
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Brian
January 5th, 2013, 08:41 PM
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Wow Brian. I just found this post @ about 6:30 this evening. It is now 11:30 and a six PAC later. I am in awe and feel so inadequate. Thanks for sharing this great build. Cannot wait to see th next post.
January 6th, 2013, 07:42 AM
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Brian
January 6th, 2013, 10:11 AM
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January 6th, 2013, 12:17 PM
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Bawdy work
Body at work
Body doesn't work (see def of 'aging')
I don't know - you'll just have to look them up.....
January 29th, 2013, 05:04 AM
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Great job Brian
January 29th, 2013, 06:08 AM
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. The woman is the only thing missing from the equation .
January 29th, 2013, 01:09 PM
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Joe,
Thanks for the interest. There are a few things to report but nothing much to show. I haven't been doing much with the car right now since it's been pretty cold in the garage and there's been a lot of other non car stuff going on that's been taking my time in other directions.
I did get a set of reproduction sunvisors from Vinyl Specialties in Depew NY and installed them and I must say they are very nice items. Also bought a set of reproduction rubber floor mats (thanks for the heads up on the sale Allan) and those are in the car too. With those items installed, the interior is done except for the brake and E brake pedal pads.
The owner and I had gone back and forth several months ago about the tires he wanted to use and he decided on redwall radials. The car has 15" SSII's but there was no wheel for a spare. A search several months ago didn't lead to another 15" SSII with the bolt on cap so it was decided to just use one of the 14" SSII's he had as the spare. So the (5) wheels were restored and I was waiting for the owner to buy and ship me the tires. Just before Christmas, he emailed me and said he changed his mind and he now wants correct RWL repop tires and he wants the spare to also be 15". I reminded him of the difficulty in locating one of these wheels the last time we looks but he wanted me to take another run at locating one. Long story short I was able to find a pair of wheels and they were bought and received. Two of his existing wheels had a little straightening done to them so now I think I'll restore these 2 wheels that I bought and place one of the straightened wheels in the trunk for the spare. Maybe sell off the other one that just had minimal work done to the lip. Regardless, the weather is not warm enough to do this now since I need to sandblast the 2 wheels, prime, paint the rear side black and the front sides gray. It's somewhat of a PITA but that's what needs to be done. That work will need to wait until the weather warms up to at least 50 on a regular basis. I still need to get the bumpers installed, give it a final buff and wax, install the various decals and start to clean it up. Once the wheels are ready I can get the tires installed and they get it aligned and the AC charged. Goal is to have it ready to go by April.
Brian
Thanks for the interest. There are a few things to report but nothing much to show. I haven't been doing much with the car right now since it's been pretty cold in the garage and there's been a lot of other non car stuff going on that's been taking my time in other directions.
I did get a set of reproduction sunvisors from Vinyl Specialties in Depew NY and installed them and I must say they are very nice items. Also bought a set of reproduction rubber floor mats (thanks for the heads up on the sale Allan) and those are in the car too. With those items installed, the interior is done except for the brake and E brake pedal pads.
The owner and I had gone back and forth several months ago about the tires he wanted to use and he decided on redwall radials. The car has 15" SSII's but there was no wheel for a spare. A search several months ago didn't lead to another 15" SSII with the bolt on cap so it was decided to just use one of the 14" SSII's he had as the spare. So the (5) wheels were restored and I was waiting for the owner to buy and ship me the tires. Just before Christmas, he emailed me and said he changed his mind and he now wants correct RWL repop tires and he wants the spare to also be 15". I reminded him of the difficulty in locating one of these wheels the last time we looks but he wanted me to take another run at locating one. Long story short I was able to find a pair of wheels and they were bought and received. Two of his existing wheels had a little straightening done to them so now I think I'll restore these 2 wheels that I bought and place one of the straightened wheels in the trunk for the spare. Maybe sell off the other one that just had minimal work done to the lip. Regardless, the weather is not warm enough to do this now since I need to sandblast the 2 wheels, prime, paint the rear side black and the front sides gray. It's somewhat of a PITA but that's what needs to be done. That work will need to wait until the weather warms up to at least 50 on a regular basis. I still need to get the bumpers installed, give it a final buff and wax, install the various decals and start to clean it up. Once the wheels are ready I can get the tires installed and they get it aligned and the AC charged. Goal is to have it ready to go by April.
Brian
January 30th, 2013, 09:31 AM
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great idea....
I was watching Graveyard Carz last night, and I kept thinking the similarities of Brians threads to what they are doing over there, I would say Brians work and Knowledge base is equal to that in the olds world and would also make a great reality/car show thing , I personally am sick of the 1 weel resto's, unrealistic time lines, loud pipes, loud colours, loud speakers, big wheels, big budgets, big ego builds which have become the norm nowadays, I must be the only one happy we are at the last 5 episodes of west coast customs, I like chips cars but it is really like ketchup on a bad dinner, at the end of the meal you still swallowed some awful sH%t LOL.... c'mon Brian, with all your other projects you also need to do a reality show.... maybe we can get the southern boyz, and the jersey fellas to be guests on the show, we can call it jersey sho' enuff LOL
just a thought....
just a thought....
January 30th, 2013, 10:56 AM
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I was watching Graveyard Carz last night, and I kept thinking the similarities of Brians threads to what they are doing over there, I would say Brians work and Knowledge base is equal to that in the olds world and would also make a great reality/car show thing , I personally am sick of the 1 weel resto's, unrealistic time lines, loud pipes, loud colours, loud speakers, big wheels, big budgets, big ego builds which have become the norm nowadays, I must be the only one happy we are at the last 5 episodes of west coast customs, I like chips cars but it is really like ketchup on a bad dinner, at the end of the meal you still swallowed some awful sH%t LOL.... c'mon Brian, with all your other projects you also need to do a reality show.... maybe we can get the southern boyz, and the jersey fellas to be guests on the show, we can call it jersey sho' enuff LOL
just a thought....
just a thought....
I appreciate the thought Eddie but I think you give me too much credit for what I'm doing. There's plenty of people who know far more than me.
I'm just saying...
January 31st, 2013, 09:47 AM
#429
Thanks for the update Brian.
Your client is right to go with those OE RWL repops. Nothing beats that look. Have a spare set of radial red lines or BFG's if you're going a lot of miles somewhere.
That comment about a lot more guys knowing more than you - you're either a really humble guy,or you dont get out much.
Your client is right to go with those OE RWL repops. Nothing beats that look. Have a spare set of radial red lines or BFG's if you're going a lot of miles somewhere.
That comment about a lot more guys knowing more than you - you're either a really humble guy,or you dont get out much.
February 24th, 2013, 03:45 PM
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It's been a little while since I did any work on the car mostly due to other demands on my time and also since it's been too cold in the garage for me to feel motivated to go out there. However, I did put in a little time on the car today and got the rear bumper out, installed the lights and license plate bracket and installed it on the car.
The repop tires also arrived about 2 weeks ago but I need to restore another 15" wheel that was purchased for the spare before I get the tires installed on the wheels. Just need the weather to warm up a little more so I can paint.
I started to work on assembling the front bumper and will try to get that installed soon.
Brian
The repop tires also arrived about 2 weeks ago but I need to restore another 15" wheel that was purchased for the spare before I get the tires installed on the wheels. Just need the weather to warm up a little more so I can paint.
I started to work on assembling the front bumper and will try to get that installed soon.
Brian
February 25th, 2013, 05:06 AM
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We've been stuck in the 30's for quite a while it seems and yesterday was finally in the upper 40's. The older I get, the less I like the cold. Brian
February 25th, 2013, 06:20 AM
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Hi Brian,
Went back to pg 1 today to review the outstanding job and realize how far you have come and all the work involved. You are truly a talented individual.
I also noticed the date on the first pictures. Is it correct that you have had the car since Jul 2006?
Thanks for sharing,
Paul
Went back to pg 1 today to review the outstanding job and realize how far you have come and all the work involved. You are truly a talented individual.
I also noticed the date on the first pictures. Is it correct that you have had the car since Jul 2006?
Thanks for sharing,
Paul
February 25th, 2013, 11:05 AM
#437
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Thanks Eddie.
Thanks for the kind words Paul and yes, the car has been here since July 2006. I have a full time job during the week (nothing to do with cars) so I only have the weekends and some evenings to work on the 442. But the time is nearing for it to go back to TX and that should happen this April or May. My wife has been very understanding over the last 6+ years and I have a lot of house work waiting for me. After that, it's time for a car project for me.
Brian
Hi Brian,
Went back to pg 1 today to review the outstanding job and realize how far you have come and all the work involved. You are truly a talented individual.
I also noticed the date on the first pictures. Is it correct that you have had the car since Jul 2006?
Thanks for sharing,
Paul
Went back to pg 1 today to review the outstanding job and realize how far you have come and all the work involved. You are truly a talented individual.
I also noticed the date on the first pictures. Is it correct that you have had the car since Jul 2006?
Thanks for sharing,
Paul
Brian
March 3rd, 2013, 01:02 PM
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I got the front bumper installed this weekend and the fit is very nice. Took a little time to get it adjusted and to install all the support bars. I also pulled it outside for a few pictures. It's cold (upper 30's) and windy here today and I'm looking forward to some warmer weather.
The car needs a good cleaning but it still looks pretty good. Still need to install the wheel opening moldings, the side view mirrors, the antenna, the wiper arms, wheels/tires and undercoat the rear wheel houses.
Brian
The car needs a good cleaning but it still looks pretty good. Still need to install the wheel opening moldings, the side view mirrors, the antenna, the wiper arms, wheels/tires and undercoat the rear wheel houses.
Brian
