Over the course of the project I have been
collecting new parts that I knew I was going to need. Most of these came
from a catalog or eBay, but they will give an idea of what 'new' stuff is
going on the body and in the interior. Not pictured is the carpet, but
other than that almost all of the interior trim will be new:) The
body badges, grills, and all of the light lens are new as are all of the
engine compartment dust shields, hoses and belts. The entire vacuum
system is new including the headlight switch, actuators, and relays. The
old system was in disrepair and by starting off new I can eliminate vacuum
issues. All now has been labeled, boxed and put away. The
wife will be sooooooo happy!
Wiring Harnesses. From the
donor body I bought for the metal door sill supports I also took all of the
wiring. Even though the wiring is different many of the switches and
connectors are the same. I don't know how much this saved me when it
came time to put together the new harnesses, but it also saved me the
compatibility problem with aftermarket connectors. Many of the wires
have been replaced, especially on the rear and engine harnesses where there
were lots of modifications over the years and cracked old insulation on the
wires. The dash harness is mostly complete, but still needs to be
metered out to insure all repairs are in good working order. The
below pics are the before and after pics of the harnesses.
Front
Rear
Engine 
Dash
Not Complete Yet
Repairing fiber optics can be
tricky at best. You can 't just twist two cables together like
copper wire and expect them to work. In several place I found fiber
optics that had been pinched or broken and were in need of repair. First
I stripped about 1/2 inch of insulation from both ends to be joined.
Using a sharp razor I cut the tips off the broken fibers to insure clean
bright light. Then I took wiring insulation larger then optic wire and
wrapped them around the fibers being careful not to let the fibers overlap,
but rather stay about 1/32" apart. This would let the light end and
begin again in the fiber at the break. Once this is done tape the the
entire patch at least 1" past both ends and test before installation.
The Headlamp assemblies have been
completely torn down and rebuilt. Every screw, spring, nut, etc...
has been stripped, coated, painted, or replaced. The result should be
headlights that snap up and down and look better then they at the showroom.
Even the mounts have brackets have been stripped down to bare aluminum to check
for cracks prior to painting.
Here is an unsolicited
commercial: Eastwood's bolt and hardware black oxide coating is a
fantastic product! Rather then spending a small fortune buying new
hardware I can put a factory black oxide finish on the original bolts. I
soaks into the metal, very easy and has has a satin very factory looking
sheen. I recommend this if you have a pile of hardware to refinish!
click here for the link.
The rear deck hardware.
I have been looking at the rear deck leaning against my garage wall
while working on the body until I just couldn't take it anymore. The
rusted hardware had taunted me long enough. The rear deck glass is in
good shape, but as you can see the hinges all need to come off, get blasted,
and painted.
I took the hardware off and re-work it ahead of
schedule. There are almost 50 smaller parts not pictured. The
bolts, springs, and cable adjusters are getting a coating of black oxide
currently.
Below are some of the body
parts that are being worked or have been completed. The Steering brackets
and pedal assembly looked brand new when they were complete as did the
windshield pillar stainless trim. I soaked them in the parts washer for a
week and they came out spotless with very few flaws in the metal. They
buffed out to a near perfect shine! The Bumper Guards still need to
be sent to the plater, but in the mean time there were issues with the nuts that
were welded inside the 'cage'. The top nut cages looked good, but I
had to cut away both the lower cages to inspect the nuts. The left nut (I
feel a little silly typing this) had to be ground off and a new one will be
welded in its place. The right lower nut was in good order after a sand
blasting and re-tapping as shown below. Then you have the
finished product after the welding and grinding is complete -- good as new. The blower motor box cleaned up
and has no cracks or broken bolt holes. This will be painted with the
engine compartment later.
The front frame
extension was in bad shape. All 4 main bolts were rusted to the nuts
and all of the nuts had come free from the weld underneath - time to cut
them off. Two of the smaller nuts were missing from their
welded home and there were a couple of bolt holes that were torn open on
the corner. The frame extension, and some minor holes and pitting on
the radiator support were fixed with some welding and grinding, then
painted to look good as new. The tail light housings were cleaned,
media blasted and painted and look great as well! The door hinges
are off the door car and after blasting, priming, and adding new
pins and bushings they are in better shape than the originals so I will go
with them. The vacuum tank came from a '70 on eBay that met with an
unfortunately placed telephone pole. Two of the brackets had to be
fabricated, but after the paint it looks factory made. I can't tell
you how many parts have come from eBay!
