kitfoxdave

Eddie I Love your thread! Thanks so much for the Hinge refurb info! I have a box of them for mine plus all the repair parts... and now I know how to do it!
Thanks again Eddie!

Eddie Hansen

Lol thank you ryan

Eddie Hansen

No , I actually think it may have been replacedl the window channel had literally gobs of butyl, I cant believe it was factory, doesn't really matter either way I am putting an antennae windshield in, as I prefer the cleaner look, I did note that this car has oddities like the support brackets for the rear suspension also a 70 item I understand? Thanks for following along

Eddie Hansen

Thanks dave, I will be doing the drivers side this week I will take better pictures more step by step if it helps thanks again for the kind words

bigin1978

Eddie you're doing a fantastic job buddy! keep up the good work! we are all reading this. It's a big job take small bites.

Eddie Hansen

Thank you sir👌😀

Eddie Hansen

Here is the pics as promised, first picture is the wonderful treat found after pulling the windscreen, the holes are actually in the cowl piece that sits under the windshield channel !��

Eddie Hansen

More pics

Eddie Hansen

So I cut a new piece of metal and cut the crap out then tacked it in

Eddie Hansen

Here is the right pic

Eddie Hansen

More

Eddie Hansen

I finished grinding all the little welds then stripped the rest of the drivers side cowl, this piece gets hidden under the window channel, and is just for support and something to weld to,

Eddie Hansen

I think it came out ok

Eddie Hansen

Super clean cowl though

Eddie Hansen

As if the workload couldnt get any longer !!!; I decided it would be prudent to take the dash vent tubes out so they dont get damaged during welding, while I was there I might as well take out the speaker, and since the speaker was out i might as well take out the ashtray as 69442c gave me anever scene a ciggy brand new one , I planned to chage the harnesses so I might as well get them out of there , then the blower controls , then the whole damn dash I mean I might as well as I plan to paint the whole dash , upgrade the gauges, etc I might as well paint the underside of the dash too, shaking my head, not to mention with the heat from the compressor and this kind of day it was like 97 degrees in the garage, I had that nasty insulation pad falling apart, might as well change that **** too lol all the damn dust and stuff from all the grinding dropping down on me, itchy azz insulation lumps clinging to every open pore, im hot , im sweaty, and I am waiting for the mountains to turn blue for a well deserved cool one lmao . On the bright side I think im making great progress,

Eddie Hansen

So my lower window channel arrived from fusicks, im sure it is the same found everywhere, it is marked for a chevelle as was said , and the lower channel matches up fine, I needed some extra material in one spot but found a workaround, ill explain further when I post the progress pics. My 4 core top plate arrived from the parts place what a nice looking piece, and my lowercsaddles arrived from inline tube along with some stainless straight brake tube I needed to redo the brakeline from proportion valve to distribution box, lots of things going on lol.

Eddie Hansen

Well except for a few pin holes and some hammer and dolly work and some filler I'm done with the window channel

Eddie Hansen

Wrong pic lol

Eddie Hansen

I will tell how it was done when I can post more than one pic at a time, but basically it went on like my quarter panels and was butt welded to the original metal

Eddie Hansen

Got the window channel welding seams sealed with duraglass, I also had to put a small amount of filler by the piece that went into the dashboard, I just couldnt get between the brace and the sheet metal tried every trick I knew which isnt that many lol but it was just a skim really , anyway pics and write up tomorrow .....hey I heard that . Who knows someone may be doing this someday, I will say if you have any issues above the channel I highly recommend getting a nice donor piece , there is a brace that follows the channel that makes hammer work nearly impossible. Or put the channel in as is and then work the other area as separate piece? Who knows lol

Eddie Hansen

OK, to make it easier I uploaded the pics, so my channel arrived from Fusicks, very nice stamping, I am sure it is the one everyone sells, I know AMD and Dynacorp both make them, this one was marked keystone
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I checked it up in the car and it matched the original very well, it didn't have the area I needed where the rust went beyond the channel but I found a work around, there is extra material that needs to be cut off, in the area where I needed more metal, I flattened that metal and hammered it so I could have just one piece to weld in, in Hindsight I should have made two pieces.
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I kept hammering it till it was approximately the right contour, I was worried about distorting the channel, and also the curve of the dash goes in two directions front to back and side to side, I wish I had an English wheel and knew how to use it LOL...
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Eddie Hansen

So I fitted the replacement piece under the dash panel, I drilled out all the remaining spot welds, cleaned the area, and sprayed weld through primer on both the piece and the cowl, remember to grind the primer off areas that are going to be welded,
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With weld through applied
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I then put the channel on the car and used self tapping screws to hold the channel, I used my flanger punch to put holes every inch or so to plug weld onto the top of the cowl like the original, I do have a spot welder but no way to get it in there LOL

Eddie Hansen

I slipped the new metal under the old metal, so I will be able to cut both pieces at the same time, normally it would go over the top, but since I had that additional AREA to work, I thought it would be better this way, I am butt welding the two pieces together, the issue is there is a full width support strip right where the window channel is, so you have to be careful not to cut through that as well as it made it difficult to work the metal into shape I did the best I could, with my entire repertoire of cuss words used when banging my knuckles on sharp objects LOL
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so now the moment of truth, I used a cut off wheel and cut approximately 3 inches, I pushed the cut piece in, while using a small screw driver to align the two pieces and I zap the spot and cool with air, then cut a little more and another tack, then cool
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eventually you move along the entire length with just a few tacks, you are then able to pull the waste strip out from behind, I can not emphasize enough the importance of just a quick tack, and immediate cool down with air, this is curved so the chances of warping are less but still present, you can see the waste strip in the pic
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Then it is time to start filling in between the welds with more spots, move from side to side and cool after every weld


it starts to really become solid, and keep checking the alignment between the two pieces, use a small screw driver to ensure both pieces are level


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Eventually you get to the point of about a 1/4 inch between the welds, you want to take your cut off wheel and trim the tops of the weld, do not hit the panel , then you will weld three or four quick spots between the welds then cool and move down the other side of the cowl, etc


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I then took my cut off wheel and carefully cut the tops off the welds, there will be pin holes you will need to go back to etc, I am not a professional I am sure your welds will look better
[img]https://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv17/fastelectric/e9d9cf2c-c8dd-42c4-a645-5714e2017db3.jpg[img]


then I use a right angled die grinder and some 40 grit wheel to knock the welds down, be careful and move around from side to side you don't want a lot of heat





I then used duraglass to seal the seam, one day I swear I will learn leading LOL...


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I have some more sanding to do, then I will primer with epoxy primer, I had as I said to use a little more filler than I wanted to on the dash repair higher than the channel, but not horrendous, just a skim coat maybe 3/32 to an 1/8th at the thickest


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i'll post an update when its finished primered but as far as I am concerned another bite of elephant done!!


sorry bout all the pics, just some folks may want to try this.
I am not saying this is the best way to do it, it is how I did it right or wrong..LOL

Eddie Hansen

So I continued working on the windshield frame, cleaned the crud under the vinyl, cleaned all the channels, and did a little bodywork to the lower channel, finished it off with a coat of epoxy primer ( two part aerosol from Eastwood) before final filler. Over the weekend I took the hood off the roof of the car, LOL it has been there for quite awhile now. Anyway then I put power to the convertible top pump and managed to drop the top, first time in twenty years LOL, this allowed me to sand the top portion of the window frame. Anyway moving along, will post some pics later

Eddie Hansen

Well I found the right paint color unfortunately it only came in lacquer like the original paint, that paint held up fine for 40 plus years so I bought flat for the top semi gloss for the front and lower I also bought medium gold semi gloss as it was listed in the assembly manual. Before the color goes on I have been block sanding and using two part glaze trying to do the best I can, I also related some screw holes and dings in the lower dash where the old Skool gauge pod was mounted, I am pretty happy with the finish so I sprayed two coats of 2k epoxy over everything, there are two tiny little spots that will need a touch of glaze then I am going to shoot the DuPont lacquer primer , then the color, I know it isn't perfect but it's the best I could do here's a few pics

Eddie Hansen

First one

Eddie Hansen

I'll post more when I am behind a computer and load to a host anyway thanks to everyone still following along

ctosiflying

Better than new!

Eddie Hansen

Thank you sir 😀🍻

Eddie Hansen

Man oh man like I am spinning my wheels went to a new ppg supplier and was picking up some dplf epoxy primer got to talking and I told him the nightmare with the dash paint, so the guy spends nearly an hour including talking to factory and voila I have a pint of the dash color in single stage urethane damn lol
Shout out for Norwood auto parts in new brunswick

Eddie Hansen

Dplf 50 on waiting to flash woooohooooo ok it's just the dash but still lol

Oldsmaniac

When you get to a point that you are no longer pulling stuff apart and a item is at finish its a good thing! Put that part where it will rest permanently and its even better. Cool!

Troys Toy 70

The dash looks great! How much experience have you had with body work?

Eddie Hansen

Yes indeed, once this is done I can swing the motor in

Eddie Hansen

I am by no means a pro, these are the first quarters I put on before that it was all hammering dents, brazing metal etc I have painted a few cars in lacquer this is my first with epoxy and urethane , but it is done right no lap joints all but welded ground front and back thanks for reading

Eddie Hansen

Well I sprayed the dplf50 in gray very nice stuff so it seams lol pricey though and waited for it to flash said on hour on the tech sheet,

Eddie Hansen

Then I mixed up the single stage urethane I will use the lacquer I bought on the plastic pieces lol anyway color is exact waiting to see how the shine tones down, I may have to go get a flattening agent no biggie though at least it's urethane not lacquer

Eddie Hansen

Sprayed the front too, I used the upper frame to test gun, I'll come back and spray that cameo white in single stage this gets covered with Madrid vinyl in gold same as interior

Eddie Hansen

I went to the autobody store again and picked up the flattening agent, it worked great I scuffed the dash with 500 wet paper basically took all the shine off and then wiped it down with prep and tacked it, then mixed up the paint and te sprayed the top of the dash much much better! While I was there I picked up a satin ppg black urethane for the top of cowl , I am going to put my seam sealer on first thinking I will spray the firewall as well even though I have done all the work on the firewall and painted it already I think this will be a better product then the gm restoration black?

Eddie Hansen

After the flattening agent