Something for my dad

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Got the wiring all secured on the passenger side of the dash and threw in the new passenger door jamb switch.



For the first time in how long---the under dash lamps are fully operational.



I even got the painted dash cover thrown in.



Thats s far as I got by midnight. Will be back into it sunday afternoon and hope to have the dash done shortly after..

[1qwkfox]

Sorry to hear about your father , the looks amazing!

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Originally Posted by 1qwkfox

Sorry to hear about your father , the looks amazing!

Thank you...

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So I am cruising right along..

I got the wiring all finish up in the dash and fired off the radio and got music in the car (front speakers only right now) but I was happy to get that all done.



The rear speakers went nicely. I made a template and just notched the rear deck on each side of the stock location. Speakers went right in..

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So the next thing I wanted to tackle was the doors and windows. That took a LONG time to get everything done.

I started with getting the new handles put together and installed. I polished the lock cylinders since I was re using them and they are in perfect shape. I had to rework the lock rods though because they were not removed when don put the guts in the doors and they kinda got bent up--no biggie though and made them perfect. The doors open and close like they never have that I can remember.




After that I went to the windows. With the rear wing window you have to start with the forward window and go to the wing since one affects the other. It wasn't that bad but I had to remove the wing windows again so I had to start fresh with the adjustments. The hardest part was getting the wing window to not catch the upper edge of the main window as it opened. But I got good fitment but only time will tell once I water test everything.



This is why I had to remove the wind windows. The plate that the window slides on--of course totally covers the holes. But I got them both on---lookin good I think.



One thing I did get thrown a curve ball on. I went to throw the window felts for the front windows and damn---with the clips on the felts you cannot put them in with the glass there. So I found if you remove the bump for when the window is fully down the glass will drop just low enough to get them in. The hard part was removing the bump(wedge type retainer) without damaging it. Luckily I had 2 test doors to practice on.

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So since the outside/glass is done--time to dig out the new door panels. These went right on with ease. But the hard part was poking holes in it for the new arm rest's. But the doors look GREAT!





This part I was nervous about--cutting a hole in a brand new panel that had to perfectly match the hole in the door. But I was able to get it right on and got the remote mirror adjuster mounted up.

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So I started working with the front to rear wiring. Well the crap was really pissing me off--so I cut it all off and ran new wires,lol. Actually what happened last night I plugged the tail lamps in and one didn't work. They use a goofy connector and the wire was all old and very still with the insulation cracking in a few spots. So thats when I decided to just lop it off and start at the drivers side.



Some call it a mess--I call it nothing but fun.....



I am going to try a source new connectors for the tail lamps tommorow. I also have to figure out what was there for a plate lamp since it never had one but it was wired for one.

And I also got the rear done except the bumper and I have to jack the rear up so I can drill larger holes for the bigger grommets on the new backup lamps.

[JeremyH]

Nice work!!

[jason]

You're doing a great job, your dad is going to love it!

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Thanks guys. Not too shabby for a toy/chev guy,lol...

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I have been spending every second I can out in the shop...

So I found one of the tail lamp connectors bad (center terminal pulled out) so I can't finish the back of the car. But I was able to do the wiring for the speakers and gas tank sensor.





This is where I diverted from the stock location for the fuel sender. I origionally ran along the front side of the tank. I chose to run it across and down. I felt it would be less intrusive to getting bumped/hit when using the trunk.

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One thing that probably hasn't work in, well far before my dad had the car was the E-brake. I figured since early on I replaced the broken pull handle I figured we should probably fix that too. So I had my dad get the main cable. I ended up pounding the roll pin from the pull lever and pulling it out along with the wheel at the base. I did my best to polish/sand the moving areas. the pulley at the base was in poor shape but works and with the little use it will probably see it will be ok.



Got the cable in.



And I'll be damned--it works now. When I get the car off the ground to undercoat it I will have to actually adjust it--but it works..



Now here is one thing I am still fighting. At some point prior to my dad getting the car the tranny was replaced. It has a hurst shifter and I am not sure if thats factory or not. But there is no backup switch anywhere on the trans and I can't find any good info regarding it.

[crash]

Well so far there is one thing I have done I was not fully pleased with. I finally got the headdliner done and all the windlace ran where the headdliner is. It just didn't turn out perfect and at the very back concern against the rear window its not tight. Unfortunately between rushing to get the windows in to get it painted and my lack of experiance doing them it just wan't not anything close to perfection. I hope my dad is happy with it(its going to bug me). But it doen't look bad though--just not my liking..





I got the new sunvisors and rear view mirror installed. Let me tell ya talk about nervous poping holes for them. Luckily I saved the old headliner to help me with the hole locations. But they really turned out perfect.



My dad also got a new rear view mirror as the old one was trashed. The mount was also in poor shape but I found another one in the box of parts and after some polish work it too turned out really nice. So I can scrath that stuff off the list as done..

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Ok I got the new package tray cut for the speakers and painted. I really like how it turned out. But damn was it ever tricky to get into place due to the overlap of the rear window seal. But I found if I took paper and stuck it between the tray and the seal I then was able to easily work the tray under the seal then gently pulled the paper out--worked like a charm (still tough though). But I reworked the two mounting clips and its all good.





I also got the new shield behind the seats trimmed as needed (lower seat back screw holes and seatbelt holes) and got that mounted. So now I can scratch that stuff off the list.

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So I got everything I needed done and went and cleaned and vacumed the floor.









Time to lay some rug!!!! So this is where I quit for tonight and will hit it again early in the am..

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So got up early this morning and back to it. I started off the morning by getting the rear window felts installed on the rear inner quarter covers. I thought it would be a simple staple them on but of course the holes were in the wrong spots,lol. So it was a matter of drilling new "tiny" holes and then manually stapleing them on. I thought they turned out perfect and nice and tight.





This is one thing that still confuses me and I gotta figure out for the outer felt for the rear window. You can see the nothed holes for the reatianing clips but I can't quite tell whats supposed to be on the outer edge (closest). It almost looks like a rivat but its not.

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Now things are really starting to take shape...

I started by getting the back half of the carpet roughed in and then get the quarters installed. The quaters overlap the carpet so you gotta make sure its set in place where ya want it. I also had screws that were a tad too long so I had to shorten them up but they fit right in place nicely..



Then I got the new seatbelts installed and seat back (seat back overlaps the belts). I had to do a little work to the lower seat where the seat pops into the retainer (was not tight enough tension).



I was not sure how the fitment at the seat back to package tray was going to be but it turned out NICE.




But once that was done they turned out WONDERFULL. I had to stand back and just look at it. Now the car is looking like something.

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Then came the hard part---carpet fitment. It was tought to get it just right but the quality was pretty good so it went in and looked good. I had to only trim the outer edges where the upper rocker cover overlaps. But it turned out sharp and I got everything installed right down to the high/low beam switch.







So I just have to punch the holes in the carpets for the seat belts and I can finish the interior up.

Also here is the new seatbelts my dad got--he was really excited about these.



So early monday I should have the seats/belts in the car..

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Well my dad finally found the wheels that he likes.

"Ansen Sprint" wheels. Its funny because that exactly what I pictured the car to have before he picked them out,lol..

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Well I got home from the swapmeet and still had some energy left (more than I thought I would have,lol). So I finished popping holes in the carpet for the seatbelts and threw the belts and seats in and fully bolted them down. All I can is is "WOW" and "COOL".... I had also told my dad he needs to get some good floor mats for the car---he said "You mom already got me a nice set"...