70 RR Fix-up

[70Fish]

Hey all, still kind of a noob here and finally had a chance to download all pics of this year's project on my ride.

The dash looked like hell when I got the car with a plastic cap cover over the dash pad, typical browned out instrument faces, abd some lovely silver paint around the bezel openings! Also, the heater box was out of the car when I bought it, and that looked like hell, too.

These are not chronologically ordered, but more before/after of each component so you can better compare what was and what it is now.

First up is what the dash cluster looked like before, and cluster/wiring harness removal.

Enjoy the pics!

 

[70Fish]

Steering column removed...

Main "Hot wire" from the ignition switch was clipped and bypassed. WTF! :angryfire: Check out how the poor paint applied to the column came off in hige chunks, too.

 

[70Fish]

Serious scope creep when I realized the windshield had to come out to get the dash frame out. Damned, all that because they tried to paint the top of it black while it was still in the car.

 

[70Fish]

Dash frame is out!

Lovely paint on it, eh?

 

[70Fish]

Dash frame strip prep and paint

Stripped the top of the frrame to bare steel, then self etching primer on top that was wet sanded before paint.

 

[70Fish]

Finally some black for the dash frame!

Looks way better than it did before, and the Cuda in the background, is where my handle came from!

 

[brandon64]

looks great man, keep at it.

 

[70Fish]

Ugh, the windshield frame on a covertible has these nasty foam seals that are attached with the worst adhesive known to man! You scrape it with a razor, and it just smears all over. Had to use a copious amount of goo gone to get it all off!

Man oh man, I love these southwest cars as the old original windshield had never been out of the car, and I was afraid of what I'd find in the windshield channel!

 

[70Fish]

Thanks Brandon, but there's plenty more coming up now so stay tuned!

While the windshield gasket was out, I wanted to make sure that channel was clean so I stripped out all the sealant and paint off the bottom of it just to make sure! What a royal pain in the *** to sand that channel down by hand without disturbing the green/black paint on top! Had to use these tiny pieces of sand paper and my fingers didn't feel too good after all that crap.

 

[70Fish]

Next on to the inside of the firewall

Removed all the old seam sealer, and prepped it for paint.

Shitty job to scrape all that old crap caulk out and the tar-like sealant...some of which I piled outside the car on the floor in the last pic!

 

[Propwash]

Looks like you've been bringing her back the right way vs. the cobble jobs she's had to endure before finding a home in your garage Fish. Real nice work indeed!

 

[70Fish]

Time for some Rust Bullet paint! ****, this took a long time to apply by brush!!

Had to mask off most of the car to make sure I didn't get that paint on it or else I'd really be screwed!

 

[70Fish]

Thanks Prop, this one stretched my meager skills quite a bit, and I'm like you in that if you're in there, go all the F in, and do it right!

 

[Propwash]

Thanks Prop, this one stretched my meager skills quite a bit, and I'm like you in that if you're in there, go all the F in, and do it right!

Amen Brother!......that's the spirit!:icon_thumright:

Great to see a car like that make it into the right hands!

 

[70Fish]

Time for the seam sealer! I used a combo of the tan 3M stuff in a tube, and their black rope caulk for the job.

Stay tuned for a lot more tonight as I'm posting pics and pounding beers...so if my latter posts are nonsense, please forgive me.

 

[70Fish]

Had a pint of enamel limelight single stage paint made up for touching up areas like the windshield channel. I masked off the stripes into the channel, and painted this by hand, and the stripes, too. Went into the channel just in case the windshield trim didn't fit flush against the body, it would look all purdee underneath! I'm a nut for details, I guess.

FYI the black paint is over the seam sealer, and areas that might see some daylight in the trim.

 

[70Fish]

Oh boy, these heater box resto's are a dirty job! You scrape the foam seals off, and poof, dust everywhere!

This will also be my first fiberglass repair as there's a freakin' hole in the sumbitch!

 

[70Fish]

Here's the driver's side box that I also restored...also filthy!

 

[70Fish]

Time to fix the hole in the box. FYI I riveted a piece of thick plastic on the inside it to reinforce the repaired area.

 

[70Fish]

New foam seals, new heater core and painted parts ready to go....FYI that heater core from YO is a bitch as the tubes don't line up well with the outer plate so I had to bend em to get them go through. Yes, I did test it afterwards to make sure it didn't leak.