moparnation74
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Lol....Love that! I will ask if he is accepting applications....^^ Damn, nice place! Do you need a new son? Perhaps he would like a new grandson?! I'm up for adoption!
For the Love for my Father, My 69 GTX Restoration
- Thread starter moparnation74
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moparnation74
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If I could only take some pictures you would understand but at the risk of pushing daisies I have to refrain.....What X?
moparnation74
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Got back from vacation and now on my second vacation, the GTX!
Getting the headliner parts and related parts installed. If all goes as planned my headliner installer will be here to install everything this Saturday.
Below shows the difference between an original and a new dome light set. Settle variations between the two. The biggest difference is the the harness. It is a thinner gauge and lacks part numbers. The chrome housing is almost identical to the original and clips in the kit are different in size and lack the rubber coating. The lens cover is close but not close enough. So I will use the chrome housing from the new kit and all other original parts will be used.
Getting the headliner parts and related parts installed. If all goes as planned my headliner installer will be here to install everything this Saturday.
Below shows the difference between an original and a new dome light set. Settle variations between the two. The biggest difference is the the harness. It is a thinner gauge and lacks part numbers. The chrome housing is almost identical to the original and clips in the kit are different in size and lack the rubber coating. The lens cover is close but not close enough. So I will use the chrome housing from the new kit and all other original parts will be used.
moparnation74
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moparnation74
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The kit only comes with 3 clips and no plug. The original has a plug and 3 clips. Those clips attach on the roof rail inner portion in the specific slots and is routed as shown. The wire cover behind the kick panel was installed and here is a portion of the original tape. It is a thin paper tape 2' wide and was taped across the center of the sleeve. I purchased the tape from Frank Badalson and that will be put on towards the end of the build.
moparnation74
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Sail panel boards....What a pain. NOS is long gone and good used originals are impossible and I searched for a long time. If I ever do run across some I have all the hardware to replace if nescessary. My old ones were unusable. The new boards are made by REM. Overall, the main problem was the same clip retainer was in the wrong position. They are held on by double sided tape and easy to remove. So I had to reposition them and I resealed all 4 with gorilla glue epoxy. Headliner bows got painted with a zinc paint Eastwoods tank tone and the ends got the original colors replaced. Headliner has been laid out on the car for a week....
moparnation74
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Air grabber
Easiest way to remove this is to pull the hood off the car. The comes the scary part....REMOVING THE RIVETS! You have to be very careful doing this so you do not break the tabs or crack the housing. I drilled out the rivets until the started to spin. You do not want them to sing because they can possibly cut into the housing. Once drilled I take two putty knives, one thin and one thicker and I use the two to pry up on the head to eventually break it free. Slow process but had no problems.
Easiest way to remove this is to pull the hood off the car. The comes the scary part....REMOVING THE RIVETS! You have to be very careful doing this so you do not break the tabs or crack the housing. I drilled out the rivets until the started to spin. You do not want them to sing because they can possibly cut into the housing. Once drilled I take two putty knives, one thin and one thicker and I use the two to pry up on the head to eventually break it free. Slow process but had no problems.
moparnation74
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moparnation74
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While waiting on the headliner this weekend and a few parts on their way. I will be installing the Air Grabber unit. During removal the last step was removal of the scoops, then the center portion and the two side boxes. So first to go in is the scoops/vents. In 69 GTX honeycomb was an orange red and the roadrunners were red. Old emblems were replace with NOS ones and all hardware was restored except for the screws and stud nuts. Totally auto supplied stainless steel screws and RT specialties supplied the stud nuts. The gaskets are the correct grey color and are from DMC.
moparnation74
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Scoops installed and tomorrow in goes the air grabber unit...
moparnation74
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Air grabber restoration
My unit was sent to a gent by the name of Don Hall and part of his business is called Air Grabber Restorations. He is located in Ohio. This is not some TV restoration where they wash it down and just paint it. The two side boxes are completely disassembled by removing the rivets and replacing them with the correct ones. The doors inside of these are known to be rusted out and to check these the side boxes have to be taken apart.. My unit was in great shape and one of the best he has seen in awhile but it still had a hole and a crack that he repaired. If I didn't provide pics of those one would never know.
Don did a phenomenal job!
https://www.facebook.com/AIRGRABBERRESTORATION/?ref=nf
My unit was sent to a gent by the name of Don Hall and part of his business is called Air Grabber Restorations. He is located in Ohio. This is not some TV restoration where they wash it down and just paint it. The two side boxes are completely disassembled by removing the rivets and replacing them with the correct ones. The doors inside of these are known to be rusted out and to check these the side boxes have to be taken apart.. My unit was in great shape and one of the best he has seen in awhile but it still had a hole and a crack that he repaired. If I didn't provide pics of those one would never know.
Don did a phenomenal job!
https://www.facebook.com/AIRGRABBERRESTORATION/?ref=nf
moparnation74
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moparnation74
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moparnation74
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This is not some generic TV restoration...where they wash the unit and spray some paint on it and then claim they are they best...lol
Don's restoration are second to none and his work speaks for itself!
Don's restoration are second to none and his work speaks for itself!
moparnation74
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- Local time
- 12:51 PM
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- Maskachusetts
moparnation74
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Lol...Very true...it shrunk from the shock of high speed shiftingYou need reading glasses, it's 1 7/8"
moparnation74
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Today was not a good day.......was unable to install the air grabber unit. The center section on the passenger side you have to trim the seal so that it sits flush and has no binding. The last pic shows I did not trim it enough and I even went by the original picture I had.
I tested it on the front but not on the rear portion. So I put the rear rivet in and when I put the front on in I heard an unfortunate noise....WTF. It is on its way back to Don and I am sure he will give me an earful.....but I followed what I knew and what I asked people. It just was not trimmed down enough....
Every restoration has its up and downs no matter how careful or talented one is....I had my decompression time and to stay positive when it comes back that will not happen again...
Just now I got a call from Don and he will turn this out as fast as he can to get me going on my project...When I called this am his employee took a message and said he was on vacation. So apparently, Don checked in and his employee relayed my message and he called back. He thinks the reason why it cracked was just due to the age of the material. Furthermore, he said they normally do not crack there. That SPEAKS miles of what type of business he runs there, Thanks Don!
View attachment 413639
I tested it on the front but not on the rear portion. So I put the rear rivet in and when I put the front on in I heard an unfortunate noise....WTF. It is on its way back to Don and I am sure he will give me an earful.....but I followed what I knew and what I asked people. It just was not trimmed down enough....Every restoration has its up and downs no matter how careful or talented one is....I had my decompression time and to stay positive when it comes back that will not happen again...
Just now I got a call from Don and he will turn this out as fast as he can to get me going on my project...When I called this am his employee took a message and said he was on vacation. So apparently, Don checked in and his employee relayed my message and he called back. He thinks the reason why it cracked was just due to the age of the material. Furthermore, he said they normally do not crack there. That SPEAKS miles of what type of business he runs there, Thanks Don!
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moparnation74
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Hardware kit from Frank Badalson is a nice kit. The bolts are a little longer but has the correct head marking of "F". The clips are correct in the kit with the exception of the outer side box J nuts which I will add to this post later...
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