The bottom edge of the windshield has been plaguing me literally for years. It was the one big unknown that still needed to be resolved. The glass shop was no help so it was back on me. The glass guy happened to show me this universal piece of rubber that fit well but was not an exact match. I ordered another Kaiser gasket so I would have enough material to make it work, but it wasn't looking good. I pulled out the universal rubber and gave it another try and it was looking pretty good. The next day I ran back up to the glass shop and got the chrome strip that fits in the channel. The problem was that it was about half the height of the Kaiser stainless. I got out my modified Vice Grips and modified them again so I could make the corner clips work. It's not perfect, but I think it's as good as it's going to get. I ordered a billet steering column kit off ebay to see if I could use it. None of the levers threaded in correctly, so I ended up using the GM stalks and retapped the knobs to fit. The turn signal switch looks way better. The old one was a combo switch with high beams and cruise control, so it was big plastic lever that just didn't match. I gutted it and put a rivet in it to hold it in the low beam position. Lots of work to make it look simple again. I then carefully reassembled the column with Rob's fresh paint. This was stressful because I already ruined one column earlier in the build and it was do or die at this point. Thankfully I remembered where everything went and it went back together nicely. The blue paint matches well, and I think I avoided the street rod billet column look or the junkyard GM column look. It would be nice if the knobs matched the Kaiser window cranks and dash knobs, those are more of a stepped design. I may make some to match at a later date but these are good place holders for now.
My father in law took some pics that I didn't get so I will look through those and see if there is any other progress to post. I don't have any pics of the trunk and I know he does because he pretty much did the whole trunk.
Really enjoyed reading the entire thread start to beginning today while I was "working." I have a number of questions, but one thing I was wondering, when you welded inside the car more recently were you worried about the outside paint? This is a question I've had since I have something I'd like to weld in my car but it's completely painted. Is your dash material a pre-pleated product?
John, if you are referring to the A pillar interior trim I actually welded that on the bench and took a picture when I test-fit it. I had a feeling it might look like I was welding in the car. I have made do with sheetmetal screws to fasten things like the window tracks that I would have welded before the car was painted. The worst I have had to do was trim some sheetmetal on the doors with a cut off wheel. For this I used cardboard and taped up the surrounding area and also had a friend help watch where the sparks were going to make sure nothing was damaged. I would recommend working with templates and doing as much work off the car as possible, then trying to screw, bolt or rivet the part in place. On the dash, there are earlier pics showing the pre-pleated vinyl, but I ripped that off and had a new dash pad sewn to match the seats when I decided to go all out with the interior. In retrospect I'm glad I did, I would not have been happy in the long run with the pre-pleated stuff not matching the seats.
This is one of my favorite contemporary customs of all time. I first saw it in HRM and had no idea it had a build thread on here.. The chassis and everything that's attached to it under the body may not be traditional but like they say, "Small block Chevy? Leave the hood closed." Your car sits low enough to fit in that adage. Ha. I think your Kaiser is one of the customs of our generation that will be remembered well into the future. As for me, I love it. I love customs that look good but drive fast too, like Farmer's Hemi Plymouth. I don't blame you for using the Caprice chassis. Those are great cars. Fast too. I drive a 2007 Ford Crown Vic Police Interceptor daily that I bought for a few grand. It's a great car and since it's a former Highway patrol unit, it goes down the highway pretty good to boot. I had thought about your build thread and if something unfortunate was to ever happen to my cop car that resulted in body damage beyond repair, then I would just tear the body off and graft on an '50-'60's car or truck and nobody would expect me to be able to fly by them on the highway. Keep up the great work. Looking towards to getting TRJ #54.
Are those bottom stainless corner pieces for your windshield trim factory Kaiser pieces, I'm referring to the ones in post #1085. Also, the bottom chrome strip, that is not factory but something you found?
The corner clips are Kaiser parts that I modified at the last minute. I took my Vice Grip forming tool that I made for the top center windshield clip and made it more narrow so I could make the curve that matched the universal chrome strip used on the bottom. Ordinarily the corner clips would be the same size on both ends. I had to make it transition from the larger Kaiser size to the smaller universal chrome strip size. And yes, that bottom strip is a universal weatherstrip with a chrome locking strip inserted. Not the most elegant solution but it's what I could come up with.
Nice, could you pm me a link to the universal weatherstrip? Also you seem like the man to ask... I'm running a GM steering column and I personally liked your bamboo-look steering wheel that you talked about the beginning of your build. Was that a factory Kaiser piece and would it have needed modification spline-wise to work a GM column? What's your e-fan setup too, single?
Sorry, no link on the weatherstrip, it's just something that the glass shop had laying around and he couldn't tell me what it was from. If you go back to the steering wheel build posts and look really closely you can see how I adapted the GM splines to the Kaiser steering wheel. I cut out the splined center from a GM wheel and made it roundish with a grinder, then I put it on a lathe and turned it down to a nominal diameter. Then I drilled a slip-fit size hole in the Kaiser wheel and TIG welded the splined part in from both sides. The diameter of the back of the wheel is also the exact same diameter as the GM column, which was a nice coincidence. It looks like it was meant to be and most people will never notice that those parts are 46 years apart yet they line up perfectly. Electric fans and radiator are from the Caprice, it's a dual fan setup that's controlled by the PCM. When I installed the Painless engine harness it deleted the factory relays and fuses so I installed my own using 30 amp relays and self resetting circuit breakers right on the fan bracket. The factory wiring was insufficient and problematic anyways. Now I have 8 gauge power wire running straight from the battery and two signal wires coming from the PCM. It's more simple and reliable now.
It took me a couple days to manage my way through all of this. But, it's a really great car.. You are a lucky guy to have all the contributions to this fine project.. Kudo's to all the HAMB members who helped out.. Truly a great collaborative finish.. -John
He may be a lucky guy, but he's also one of the most generous posters on the HAMB - going through how each obstacle was completed step-by-step is like giving a free how-to clinic to anyone who cares to spend the time learning. The trim forming vice grips alone are a brilliant idea that I keep locked away in my head for the day it comes in handy. Even if I hated the car (which I LOVE), I would still love this build thread for that reason alone.
Thanks fellas. I don't consider it luck, but rather creating and seizing opportunities as they come along. You have to put yourself out there and keep your ears open. I wasn't trying to scam anyone for free stuff, I was offering them a marketing opportunity. Josh told me he got a ton of work from this thread, and that was the idea. As people see the pictures and admire his brightwork, they will keep calling him. I'm very glad that it worked out to be beneficial for both of us. I think we were both satisfied with the outcome and we formed a great friendship too. I have learned with this project specifically, that sometimes all you have to do is ask and you might be pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I've had several people ask me how in the world I got Gene Winfield to paint the car. Well, I called him and asked!
Thanks for the kind words. I have come up with a short list of improvements now that I have gotten to put some miles on the car. I'll keep posting updates as I check these off the list. -Install baffled power steering reservoir to stop cavitation and hopefully quiet down the whine. I just got the new reservoir from Woodward yesterday. It has a nice design. The fluid enters the reservoir along the side wall so it swirls rather than creating turbulence, and it has to pass through a cylindrical baffle before it get to the pickup. It's also vented. The only bummer is the blue anodized fittings, so I will have those stripped and anodized black at a later date. -Run the exhaust out the back, but not visible, to keep the fumes out of the cabin. Right now it's cut off before the axle and turned down, but the fumes still gather under the car. I'm going to take it to a trusted local muffler shop with a four post lift so I can drive the car on the lift and let the suspension all the way down, then have them run the pipes. -Lower the front seats. This might take some work. The Thunderbird seat frames are a little higher than the old Mustang seats, plus they don't lean back as far, plus new foam on the seats, plus padding and carpet on the floor, plus the headliner taking up even more height, and now I'm barely fitting in there! I'm anticipating taking the covers and foam off the seats to cut and weld on the frames, then taking it back to the upholstery shop if I can't get it all hog ringed back into place. I wasn't completely satisfied with the misalignment of the pleats anyways. -Install front shocks and upgrade the rear shocks. I am running Slam Specialties airbags, and the rumor is that they don't need shocks up front since the bags are so stiff and the front of the ar is heavy. Maybe you can get away with it, but the ride isn't good enough to me. El Polacko pointed me towards RCD Classics, who have some really nice Bilstein's made specifically for bagged applications. I just need to figure out the shock lengths and packaging and get them on order. -Install rear seatbelts so I can put in a car seat. -Get temporary 12 volt heaters so I can bring the baby home in January. Yes we live in Arizona, but it was below 30 degrees this morning! Too cold for a newborn. It's important to us to bring him home in the car, but obviously more important that it is done safely.
-Get temporary 12 volt heaters so I can bring the baby home in January. Yes we live in Arizona, but it was below 30 degrees this morning! Too cold for a newborn. It's important to us to bring him home in the car, but obviously more important that it is done safely.[/QUOTE] Thats too awesome! What a story he'll have to tell.
Very Kool! I have been following your build for a very long time, and it is sooooo great to see the car get to this point! You should be very proud of yourself!!!
The Jalopy Journal
