Hot Rods Yes it’s still Possible.

Killer story good luck with it

 

Dash is painted. I let the metal flake flash about and hour then wiped it with acetone. It flattens out just a little which is perfect. Did the same on all of the window moldings etc. now it all goes back I. Lol.

 

Mitch, the dash looks great. I look forward to seeing the interior back together.

 

Thanks. Not bad for dupli color engine cast grey/ aluminum cast. Wiped it with acetone fast after an hour to flatten some. To my knowledge- and that's limited- there were no metallics at the time.

 

8 inch rims will clear. Clean and some paint. Centers are decent. No rings. With engine and trans front will set a little lower. Look pretty much like I remember in 80.

 

Dash cluster and column back together. Lesson /note to self. Those 3 screws for the turn signal mechanism / indicator location and lock only go so far. If you don’t undo the harness clips before you set and tighten you get to solder the wires back to the terminals. Hey it’s all good. It soldered back in easy. And touched up a few while I was in there. Had to figure out how to hold and solder.
Column went together nice. Gotta find that little sleeve that goes under the steering wheel hub so I can get all that slack tight. I can barely feel it but I want it gone. I’ve seen some that had a spring /and some that had a sleeve/spacer. Gotta look in my inventory and see if I have either or. I can always make one.

 

Steering wheel on for good I hope. Need to clean up grip/padding again. Got the felt stapled to the inner quarter window molding. Got to ge the window track in quarter windows now. Gotta make a decision to de rust and paint the old Balklamp tach mounting cup or just remover rust and clear it.I’ve been told they are not that hard to come buy.

 

The tach cups are easy enough to find but the face bezel won't be part of it, so if you buy a new cup the face is going to look even worse. Try scraping the housing with a clean new razor blade (like taking a sticker off of a piece of glass) and then going at it with chrome polish, I've had good luck cleaning stuff that looked like that with that method. If you use SOS on it it'll just take the little bit of chrome left with it and chrome polish alone will just gum up the rust. I bet a lot of it would come back.

 

Quarter windows felts and channels all back in. Bad news. The front track tab/roller broke off with the two tiny welds /rivets when I did the final adjustment.
I’ll mask the glass and use my mig welder quick and least amount of heat.wet rag it and hope for the best. Did this on my 56 pick up years ago. Let’s hope it works.
Yes it means I have to pull the drivers quarter back out. Could be worse. At least I get to work on something I like.

 

@Mitchell Rish, the same thing happened to me on the quarter window roller. Pain in the butt because you have to pull it all apart again! Your plan to cover glass and quickly spot weld worked for me. Good luck

 

Same thing on my '57, I had a couple of those roller tabs broken off, plus my sashes were pretty rotted, ended up cutting up and welding together a few 4 door ones and relocating the tabs to the correct position. Takes almost nothing to snap those things off.

 

Roller /tab welded back on. I used a few tacks. I didn’t want to smoke the glass. I used a wet rag ASAP after the weld. It appears to be stiffer than the factory rivets. Gonna finish this Pepsi and then it’s going back in.

 

Quarter window back in and functioning. I installed the inside garnish molding just to see /make sure the felts/etc fit and we’re as they should be. Good to go. Now I will finish one more spot where the shock mount in the floor board needs work. Then clean up again and start headliner I think. I’ll do the inner panels /then look for and mount seats.
I truly considering pinning the quarter windows. They don’t roll completely down any way and this would let me keep them in excellent condition and keep anyone from messing with em. I could always pull the pin if needed.

 

I left the handles off of the rear quarter windows in my '57. The windows work, but the tracks from the donor I used are so rusty you really have to guide them with your hand, and I have no real reason to wind them up and down, so I just left the handles off. If I ever really needed to open them it's easy to stick a handle on without a clip and do it.

 

Finally finished the trunk floor repairs. The factory shock mount hole /etc was damaged badly and when Wes ran the car he welded shock mounts to the frame so they are no longer needed. I cut out the damage which was a lot worse than I thought on the passenger side. Welding through the factory undercoat crap didn’t help but it’s finished. I’ll grind/prime/coat when I start coating /painting /prepping the inside /floors.

 

Found a few bottom half body bushings that were cracking. Found some anchor bushings in inventory / used a one inch drill bit and counter sunk them. They were a little taller which I like and it also let me leave the bottom on them unlike the factory. They tightened down really well.

 

Got me a new driver I think. Check him out. Straight out of the box he has good taste.

 

Does anyone make a booster bucket seat?

 

Great job you are making steady progress. Keep at it bro

 

Where the heck have i been??? first i heard of this car. If you get ready to move it ,my truck knows the way to your house!!

 

That would be pretty cool a racing booster seat. B. A . This is the car that really started it all for me as a kid. As in the actual car.

 

Bumper hitch is headed to Ohio to Glass Thames Doug. apparently he is the only race buddy I have that has managed to do the impossible dream.
Daily driver /Race car/tow vehicle all built into one.

 

Need a really good rear photo of a 57 210 etc. I am struggling on the final adjustment /position of my rear bumper. I have the center section replaced finally. Apparently mine has a mind of its own. I want the lines /edges as good as they can be but I would really rather not slot the brackets /frame holes to get it. Is there a trick I don’t know about or do I need to install with all bolts lose and the tune the ends as I go. Post em up and tell me any tricks you know. Round one goes to kicking bird. ( what I have named this thing). The more I adjusted the more I realized this ain’t a piece of square tubing and a level and tape measure doesn’t guarantee it looks right even if the numbers match side to side. Asking for help guys. Gotta be a more direct way.

 

Ok got it pretty close. As close as the factory was when it rolled off the line anyway. Didn’t have to slot anything but I did use a couple of ratchet straps and loosened the end wings and set them. The tag light bezel needs some love/and I need to install it , but I haven’t used the scotch bright /clr/and tin foil on the rest of the bumper either.
I does how ever have the look I want for the rest of the car.

 

That's actually quite good rear bumper alignment, they're notoriously bad. I think I got one corner lined up nice, tightened up one frame bolt, and then used the jack on the other corner to twist it into shape like a big torsion bar, it was a real bear.

The old bumper really matches up to that car well, and looks great compared to the peeled off one.

 

Indeed it does. Thanks for sending it my way. Will use the tin foil trick /little more clr and then buff. Repaint the black spots under the delete panels. And wipe it with acetone so it fades a little.I’ll ad the new lenses /bulbs and call it done.

 

Dad bought a new Belair Sport Coupe and kept it 7 yrs. I don't remember the bumper fitting that Good, Great work!

 

Did a little wire brush work and paint work on the front bumper brackets. Supposed to get a couple of days warmer weather. Might get the front bumper corners swapped out before the rain hits Wednesday -Thursday.

 

Front bumper ends changed out and back on. Have to realign every but it’s pretty close. Also have the infamous fender brace brackets etc bolted up also. Just beat the rain. Getting there.

 

Better hitch than one I had on wagon.. Thx..