1969 Belvedere 4d restoration

[MJF_]

Here is my project, which I´m restoring. It was bought new for Finnish central banks director. He used it for commuting for few years, then in 1974 it was sold for gentleman who used it as daily driver until in 1988 my dad bought it. It's still pretty original, biggest issues are rust and thick paint which is cracking. Engine is stock 318 with 904 transmission. 8 3/4 rear with open 3.23 gears. Suspension has sway bar, 0.90 bars and HD leaf springs and brakes are 11" drums. These are only options, nothing more. Not even radio or anything else.
I drove it as a weekend cruiser through summer 2000, then it was partly disassembled and stored in garage. A couple weeks ago I decided that it was time to wake up Belvedere. I installed new ignition parts and rebuilt Carter BBD and drove it out. First I washed most of dust and bird poop, and now I'm in middle of grinding paint off to bare metal. This afternoon, I ran out of sanding papers, so I cut out old trunk floor. I already have full trunk floor and 3/4 floor panels. Little more cutting rusty panels and then it will go to sand blasting.

I am looking for rocker moldings which are missing and fender "Belvedere" emblems. These seems to be rare parts...

 

[roadrunnerman]

That's a nice looking 4-door.

 

[hemi*guy]

Great car, lottsa luck!!:grin:

 

[HT413]

Cool car. 4 door is a great way to surprise someone at a stop light!

 

[Ron 73]

Looks like a real nice project, please keep us updated.. Looking at the unibody where you cut the old trunk out, looks like a solid unibody/frame! Good luck with it, try putting up those pieces you need in the Parts wanted section, maybe someone here can help you locate them.. These guys are really good at help if you run into trouble.

"I am looking for rocker moldings which are missing and fender "Belvedere" emblems. These seems to be rare parts..."

 

[MJF_]

Thanks guys Rear frame is spotless, no need to weld anything but couple drilled holes. Front frame has holes at both sides, easy to fix. Maybe bad jacking over years :eusa_think: Floors are rusted from inside. Rear window channel had rusted and water came in trunk. At front, water came inside somewhere too.
I had wanted ads here some time ago, I have to try again.

Even I know its history pretty well, oldest photo is from 1991. I tried to ask previous owner and banks archive, but nothing was found. I got intresting papers from banks archive though. Monthly control books with mileages, repair costs etc I have gone through old picture albums from Helsinki from early 70's and found one picture. Is it my Belvedere, I don't know, but there was not many Belvederes here...

 

[MJF_]

I cut passenger side floor panels out. The end of crossmember was full of rock hard dirt and it was rusted through. A little suprise, but nothing big. At drivers side, I only cut front footwell, rear footwell looks ok (at least before sandblasting ) Also found some old pop-rivet patching from rear wheelhouses... Cowl ends needs a lilttle patches too.

 

[roadrunnerman]

Typical rust with these cars.It's amazing what you can do with pop-rivets and sheet metal years ago.

 

[MJF_]

Nothing really new here, received some new parts and still looking for some more. I´m kind of curious to make a cop car clone. What specs did those usually have? 383HP with HD suspension?
Just got my Sport Satellite from paint shop, I probably focus on that project for this winter. Maybe I´ll start new topic for that.

 

[Photon440]

Nothing really new here, received some new parts and still looking for some more. I´m kind of curious to make a cop car clone. What specs did those usually have? 383HP with HD suspension? Just got my Sport Satellite from paint shop, I probably focus on that project for this winter. Maybe I´ll start new topic for that.

about that new topic...please do!

 

[Dennis H]

Nice. On the 11" drums, they are adequate. I have them on my Coronet R/T. I upgraded them with praysedyno "brakes in a box. Heavier springs and better material on the shoes. Look into them first before someone talks you into a disc set up. Keep us posted.

 

[Basket case]

about that new topic...please do!

without question! and love the four door!

 

[TheSwede]

Terve Matti!
Thanks for sharing!

 

[MJF_]

Finally! Slowly starting to work with this again. Continued stripping paint layers. This time with heat gun. 4-5 layers is easy to remove with little heating. Red primer (factory?) and grey 80s primer has to be grinded.

Also found old video from vhs and converted it to Youtube Me driving with fresh drivers licence

[video=youtube;ApivLG22YC0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApivLG22YC0&list=UUqQoNFwRypw3IsuIPGz70KA[/video]

 

[MJF_]

Moved the car to a bigger garage a some time ago. Now stripping rest of remaining parts, rear glass, headliner, heater, wiring etc. Also found some more pop-riveting :angry1: Oh well, nothing major that little welding can't handle...

 

[ralphie361]

Here are the pics we talked about, sorry my phone was upside down! Hope this helps!

 

[MJF_]

This helps a lot, now I know what to look for

 

[MJF_]

Grinded all the pop-rivets from rear wheel housings, there were even more to found. Looks like I have to get at least replacement drivers side outer housing. It was way more worse than I expected.

Old trunk floor is now out. How would you install new full size trunk floor? It will not fit in from trunk opening. Should I cut floor in half or cut out rear of body?

 

[tallhair]

I'm looking forward to seeing your work on this cool 4 door. Enjoyed the pics and video

BTW the sway bars, HD springs, large brakes, and 8.75 rear are pretty uncommon on small block cars, let alone 4 door small block cars. What codes are on the fender tag?

 

[MJF_]

Thanks

HD suspension and brakes were usually ordered here in Finland. My 2dht small block Sport Satellite (which is imported from California) had 10" brakes, .88" torsion bars and no sway bar, I believe that was standard.
This is Lynch Road car, who wants to decode fender tag?


09120 177173 9AXXXXXX
865 583 080

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X9 X9 L1B B7
RL41 E44 D31 B22 003375