Heater box, do I dare chance?

[BeeKool]

That's not my bee, but I have one with the same interior only better (His gauges are yellow and lower plastics are too shiny, most likely used paint and not dye) ;) lol..

In that picture that car has the far gauge delete panel in it, and most likely with that n96 package, it would be hard to find a car that didn't have a tic toc, but I can't say for sure it was never done, My tx9 bee was a rallye dash car with radio delete, map delete, it was a stripped dash but still had a tic toc, that car was a rare build, stripe delete, black in and out, super trac pack car, bench seat, with 15" wheels. similar to this car with no stripe though. https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0117-269763/1970-dodge-super-bee/

But as far as what is wrong with that car heres a hint, it has to do with the seats, but its not the seats.

And that car in the mecum link also has something wrong with the hood, but its not the hood... lol, I can do this all day, my son hates when I do it, he says "enjoy the car, who cares whats not correct", I agree, and I in no way criticize for them for it, just fun to find whats different, its like mopar wheres waldo...

But Beekool, its not that much more work to get your interior mint, some paint, and a few tricks and it can be really nice.
And yes them soft uppers aren't for that car, cant see the entire thing but most likely charger parts. They sucked in a charger, lol.. I would lose them and paint them interior color. If they are medallion charger uppers they are worth something to someone if they are in good shape. Do you have hard panels for the back or soft? You should have bare doors in the front and hard panels in the back...


PS- a friend of mine has a complete 70 rallye dash all restored with tic toc new bezels, am fm, ash tray, dash pad, all black (no wood grain), I think he wants $2500 for it, he may take $2000, I never asked. He also has freshened up clusters with new faces, and tic tocs, he gets like $1000 for them but probably take $850, not sure but they come with new bezel too, that alone is $250, then $350 for tic toc, pretty fair price for a complete rallye cluster..

What does it cost to rebuild the cluster? Tic Tach and all?

 

[Superb Bee]

What does it cost to rebuild the cluster? Tic Tach and all?

Depends who does it and how far you go, concourse restoration with enameled faces liquid laid digits, all gauges done to perfection, and an original restored bezel with new vacuum metalized border, Maybe $1200 in parts and labor.
BUT, for a drive to the show car (that's what we call a driver that will win at a show but far from oe gold), I would do the thick decals(new decals on odometer too, have to buy from 2 different companies), new brake and blinker lenses, new bulbs, tested and adjusted gauges and board (not quite rebuilt, just good working ones, maybe repaired, but working), and Polished front lens, then all reassembled and retested...
I am going to guess most guys will get $400-$500 (parts and labor), then add $250 for the bezel, and that is using your 1970 cluster and gauges....

The other option is all new which costs around $1200 and you can sell your gauges, BUT they are not oem and I had a bunch of problems with them, (on scale), I used 3 fuel gauges, and 2 were bad in a short time, I used 3 oil psi and 1 was bad out of the box, speedos I used maybe 5 or 6 and never had an issue, nor did I with the volts. And I get the tic toc from charger specialties and never had an issue with theirs, I have heard others having issues with others but not sure if they are different or what? But the cs ones, never gave me trouble, I have one in my orange bee, its really nice.. Obviously you pull it form the dash and instantly know its not original BUT in the dash, its hard to tell..

To do a dash- instrument specialties (18 minutes from my house and I would say the best in the country, when you watch graveyard and see the dash arrive in the crate, that is him) charges like $7K in labor, with your complete dash and be prepared to wait for it, not gonna be back in a week, lol...

I know 7K sounds crazy but add it up, new gauges $1200, new buttons $150, new radio $500, New bezels with wood grain $1100, new lower bezels $300, new glove box liner $40, new harness $400, new map light $150, new heater control $350, new lock assembly $80, bolts, rubbers, bulbs, and hardware $200, glove box light $100, Reverse light $100, cig lighter $50, dash pad (steel core) $300, speaker $100, vents and hoses $120, THATS over 5500!!!! And you still have to do the work, blast the frame, ash tray, etc spray it all, build it, wire, it and all you have is new slap on parts, with a spray apinted ash tray, they don't spray paint anything over there, they plate the ash tray, restore all your original parts..
Man do they look great when they are done...

My hemi car had one from them, I have to say the factory couldn't have done them that nice.

 

[BeeKool]

I have two rally gauge clusters one is nice enough that I'm tempted to just try it, I would need to get a tic-tac because both are just tic toc. The other definitely would need an overhaul. The bezels can definitely be done at a later date.
Mainly I just want a rally gauge clusters w tic tac that works and looks good.
Car is already as far from its fender tag as one can get.
It's nice to have access to other people's knowledge
I'm off to find some rust bullet and clear coat.

 

[Superb Bee]

Are you putting msd? If you are then I would grab a charger specialties tac.

If you want to refresh your cluster that is easy..

I have some tips for you..
First the "glass" McGuire #17 and #10 cleaner and polish, I wont go into great detail like I normally do, but its easy to use, clean it with the cleaner, polish it with the polish, if there are scratches I use some 2500 dry to get rid of the scratches, then wet the 2500 and finish with 4000 wet. This stuff works on all your brake and marker lenses too... amazing stuff, sometimes hard to find..

Next I would get the decals from http://www.ebay.com/itm/68-70-Road-...989598?hash=item2a6b03115e:g:vCcAAOxyyUtScXnT I have his email somewhere, but easy enough to buy them on ebay. Them are nice and thick and really easy to put on, hardest part is taking off your speedo needle and its easy with this tool I made (get an old table spoon, cut a small line in the end of the spoons that the pin can go through it and use it like a rocking puller).

For the odometer rolls Amie at [email protected]
she sells the odometer rolls for $15 (they were on sale for $10 last time I bought them), and she sells the lens kits witht eh brake system lens the little green circles for the turn signals, for like $15, and she also makes some cool black half circles for the bottom of the needles, they bring out the needle nice..
I also bought my needle paint from her, not sure if they still sell it, but most of the time the needles are still bright, but if they aren't or you want a different color, she has them...
She sells faces too, but she used to only do white. I used them a couple times on protouring cars, and they are nice quality, but for anything you want to resemble original not going to cut it..

As far as the black decals go, if you ever tried the other kits, you will LOVE his kits listed above for $22, they aren't perfect like the little rivits at the bottom get covered up, BUT they go on nice, easy to deal with and you wont throw 3 sets away and beat up your neighbors wife in anger trying to get it done. They go on easy, stand up well, and look nice... Great for a drive to the show car...

Now that takes care of your gauges, lenses, and "glass", if you had a cluster that ran well that's all you should really have, I would definitely switch to led lights https://www.amazon.com/LUYED-Bright...018LUUON8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

that's a 5 pack I think I bought them in a 20 pack for $25, but they are normal 1895/57 bulbs but led instead...

Last would be your chrome knobs, I mean really no cheap way to do them, PG sells the kits for around $120 with all new chrome knobs and its worth it, because to send them out will be $250, lol..

If that is not in the cards for your wallet (I'm not saying you don't have $120, but I know how it is restoring a car, its expensive and that $120 can be better spent other places. I would buy a can of spaz stix mirror chrome (stuff isn't chrome, but will impress you).
https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Cle...42842&sr=1-1&keywords=spaz+stix+mirror+chrome
you don't put that over primer you put it over super shiny black
https://www.amazon.com/GLOSS-BLACK-...3080&sr=1-1&keywords=model+master+gloss+black

I clean the buttons, scour them with scotch brite pads so they are smooth, sand them, clean them with sem soap, spray them with sem 39863 promotor, then hit them with the model master gloss, let that setup and then spray the spaz stix chrome, coat them up nice and then buff them out with some soft cotton...

NOW, if you have to buy, sem soap, 39863, mm glass black, and the spaz stix, and a cotton cloth, and a scour pad, just to do your buttons, it wont be much more money to just buy new buttons, BUT keep in mind, the chrome paint will also do your heater control and anything else you need done, sem soap is great for washing your grills, bezels, kick panels, anyting plastic you want to paint that may have had armor all or silicone of any kind on it, and that bottle lasts a long time. And same with the sem promotor, its a big can so you can do an entire car with that can (all the plastic anyway, grills, kicks, pillars, bezels, seat backs, etc)...

Besides that stuff, I just use a can of electrosolve contact cleaner (I know they all say no residue, but this stuff means it), and compressed air to clean all the switches and gauges out, to test them I plug them into the gtx, lol..


So hope that helps you, all of them products will surprise you, the mcguires should have its own tv show it works so well on plastic lenses, the chrome paint is better than you will expect but still not new chrome obviously, it will look like 5 year old chrome or chrome on the interior of a Hyundai before they got expensive.

Good luck

 

[Superb Bee]

I can't believe no one can see what wrong with that interior in that super bee...

 

[BeeKool]

The rear panels evidently came from a 70 GTX
The front upper panel are from a Charger, but I like them. I can fit a refrigerator magnet in the spot where the medallion went. Silly as it sounds, I may repaint the magnet to better match the interior and leave it.
I also think that I'm going to make this car a seat belt delete. For the rear anyway. They are just a pain in the *** and an eyesore.

 

[BeeKool]

Now is the time to remove/clean/rebuild/pressure test the heater box and core, remove/clean/replace the under dash insulation, and remove/replace the wiper pivot seals. Detroit Muscle Technologies sells everything you need in the way of gaskets:

http://www.detroitmuscletechnologies.com/

For the heater bypass valve rebuilt kit I'd try NAPA. Classic auto air will sell you a heater control valve if yours is stuck (likely).

Bought the big Heater box over haul kit, firewall gasket kit, splash shields kit, and a few other items. About $375. Hopefully the core and evaporator are fine and only cost money to clean and pressure test.
Keeping this portion of the resto under $600. (Add that to the $1500 that the Vintage Air kit will cost, and the wire harness and other items needed.) And keeping this car A/C had better be worth it. Lol

 

[Superb Bee]

Its your car, that is the beauty of it, you can put refrigerator magnets where ever you want lol.. I would sell them pads and paint the door tops, and get steel panels for the back lol...

But in case you don't want to use the magnets, you can get decals made the correct size with whats called a jewel finish, or you can make them yourself just measure the sticker you want to use and buy the correct size jewel domes https://www.amazon.com/50-Pcs-1-25-...1486867791&sr=8-2&keywords=sticker+dome+1.25"

It really is that easy lol, I have a guy that will print you what ever color super bee you want what ever size you want, and then just put the domes on it, and you are done...

 

[Superb Bee]

I can't believe no one can see what wrong with that interior in that super bee...

Wrong door panels, the burnt orange car has bench seat door panels with bucket seats , 2 different door panels for the 70 coronet, one set for cars with buckets 1 set for cars with bench seat, bench seat has the vertical trim rods in them buckets have a different design no trim rods.

The mecum car has 440-6pack call outs on the ram air scoops, should just be the normal 440 callouts... the ones on there are 70-71 challenger 6 pack hood emblems... 70 6 pack and 4bbl n96 coronets came with basic small 440 emblems...

You guys are no fun with the trivia, wouldn't like walking around Carlisle with my group lol..

 

[BeeKool]

I got it partially disassembled today. Getting the blower off was tedious. I think my vacumn actuators are still good.

Also prepped my interior floorpan for the POR15 to be applied tomorrow evening

 

[Superb Bee]

nice, so far so good, no surprise tenants needing evicting is always a good sign, I once started stripping a rear seat from a 74 cuda, and I don't know why they didn't leave before hand but I got all the rings cut and put the seat back on a picnic table that gets used as a work bench when the weather is nice and no one is eating there, and as soon as I started pulling the vinyl off the frame, at least 3580 mice ran out of that thing, all on my arms and face... Well OK, so there was 3 of them (maybe 2 but they were big) and none came in contact with my skin, but man was I scared...

From then on I was always very very careful. I once picked upa rental car in TN, and opened the glove box to put the paper work in there only to find a live rat in there, I think we were both surprised about the same amount, the last renters left a honey bunn in there and he must have sniffed that thing out, I couldn't bring myself to rent a car, I ended up renting an suv, figured it was higher off the ground and I told them "my wife is kind of jarred from the experience can you check this vehicle very well for rodents", when the truth was I wanted it checked but didn't want to check it..

 

[BeeKool]

When I was younger we used to dry ear corn in a crib. Every July we would shell corn. Long story short. Use duck tape to tightly secure your pants legs to your ankles. Lest you invite unwanted rodents to scurry up your pants leg. I once saw a rat run up a guys pant leg. He reacted quickly and caught it before it got to his balls

There weren't rodents in the heater box, but there was a fair amount of fine silica sand from the blasting

 

[Superb Bee]

When I was younger we used to dry ear corn in a crib. Every July we would shell corn. Long story short. Use duck tape to tightly secure your pants legs to your ankles. Lest you invite unwanted rodents to scurry up your pants leg. I once saw a rat run up a guys pant leg. He reacted quickly and caught it before it got to his balls

There weren't rodents in the heater box, but there was a fair amount of fine silica sand from the blasting

That sucks, you need to get that all out of the car... When I used to have cars blasted a while back, I invented little blowout tools for spots that I couldn't get to ..

funny about the duct tape, one of my buddies used to work on a garbage truck (back when you had to pick the cans up and dump them in), I remember he said back then they all tucked their pants into their boots and their gloves under their sleeves. He said more than a few times rats run right up your back and down your front.. that would be my last day.

 

[BeeKool]

Got it disassembled and the insulation and gaskets scraped off housing. Tomorrow I will call the Radiator Repair guy (45 miles away) and see if I can drop the core and evaporator off.

 

[BeeKool]

Got all the advehisive, insulation and gaskets removed from interior of heater box housing pieces.
Tomorrow scuff and prep outside of heater box housing components for primer then flat black paint and clear coat.
Hopefully the heater box overhaul kit arrives and I have heater core and evaporator back from radiator shop by friday

 

[rrTor-Red]

Tear into it BeeKool and then, BeeKool

 

[BeeKool]

Primmed and painted the Heat box housing components. Then applied a clear coat.

Used Seymour MRO grey primer and Seymour MRO Flat black rattle can. Those are my go to spray paints for farm applications. They cover well and are durable.

 

[BeeKool]

Got the overhaul kit in the mail today.
Hopefully the heater core and evaporator are done no later than Tuesday.



What do I do with the motor? It turns good. If it works when I put 12 volts to it, all she good correct?

 

[BeeKool]

Got my overhaul kit from Detroit Muscle Technologies today.

Attached the Styrofoam and fiberglass insulation to their respective sides of the housing. Also attached the triangle shaped section in front of the blower motor.

Waiting for the evaporator and heater core to come back from radiator shop.

 

[BeeKool]

I got everything put back together.

I have a coup less of uncertainties.
First. There is a T in the vacumn line that connects to the back of the actuator that opened and closes the large door on the triangular part of box directly in front of blower. It appears to be a harder thicker type of rubber. Not sure if it goes through the firewall to vacumn canister. Or if it is designed to go to nothing

Secondly, there is a small partial hose coming from the plug. I originally thought this hose went through firewall to vacumn canister. Not so sure now. It doesn't appear to be same type of hose as the one in question above. So I doubt that this went to that.