My 1967 Belvedere Convertible Plans and Restoration (aka - Mad Scientist Build)

[kb67mopar]

you think you have it bad, its dark up here by 5!

I had that same problem with my leaves falling all at the same time, I cut them up with the mower and then used the lawn sweeper to pick them up. Makes for a lot less trips if you mulch them a bit.

Been spending all of my time prepping the house for sale...its amazing how much stuff you can accumulate.

 

[747mopar]

Clean up leaves? I must be lazy, leaves fall, snow falls, I don't see the point in cleaning it haha. Wow, I'm envious of your latest purchase "sweet". I can't wait to upgrade to a 6 speed and haven't even got it on the road with the auto yet. Should be a blast.

 

[conv67bdere]

Clean up leaves? I must be lazy, leaves fall, snow falls, I don't see the point in cleaning it haha. Wow, I'm envious of your latest purchase "sweet". I can't wait to upgrade to a 6 speed and haven't even got it on the road with the auto yet. Should be a blast.

Thanks 747Mopar . . . I'd love to have a 6-speed too, but I got a really good deal on this Tremec 5-speed so it's going in ( for now ). As for the leaves, spent all day getting the front yard cleaned up "most of the way" . . . and you're so right, next weekend I'll have to do it all over again with the rest of the leaves ! ! ! ARGH ! ! ! Haven't even gotten to the backyard yet ! !

I may just have to reconsider and change to the 747Mopar method ! ! ! ( SMILE )

- - - Updated - - -

you think you have it bad, its dark up here by 5!

I had that same problem with my leaves falling all at the same time, I cut them up with the mower and then used the lawn sweeper to pick them up. Makes for a lot less trips if you mulch them a bit.

Been spending all of my time prepping the house for sale...its amazing how much stuff you can accumulate.

I stand corrected - it's dark here by 5 too ( forgot how bad it is this time of year ! )

Yes, it is amazing how much "stuff" one can accumulate . . . why do you think I needed more storage in my carport ? ! ? ! ? ( sigh )

 

[Ron 73]

"I stand corrected - it's dark here by 5 too ( forgot how bad it is this time of year ! )

Yes, it is amazing how much "stuff" one can accumulate . . . why do you think I needed more storage in my carport ? ! ? ! ? ( sigh )"

I wish they would have left it the way it was! lol, i liked the extra light of an evening.. I forget why the time change, the reason they started it way back when...

 

[747mopar]

"I stand corrected - it's dark here by 5 too ( forgot how bad it is this time of year ! )

Yes, it is amazing how much "stuff" one can accumulate . . . why do you think I needed more storage in my carport ? ! ? ! ? ( sigh )"

I wish they would have left it the way it was! lol, i liked the extra light of an evening.. I forget why the time change, the reason they started it way back when...

Amen too that, I really hate the time change "daylight wasting time". You have to find the good in everything, for me it means nothing better to do than get in the garage.

 

[conv67bdere]

Amen too that, I really hate the time change "daylight wasting time". You have to find the good in everything, for me it means nothing better to do than get in the garage.

Oh darn ! ( SMILE )

Then it's off to the shop I go ! ! !

 

[conv67bdere]

Most of the leaves done . . . off to the shop for some "real" work . . .

So, after a day and a half I've got "most" of the leaves picked up - some in the backyard still need to be done, but who can see them.

So it's time to go to the shop and get some "real" work done . . .

First I continued with the removal of paint from the firewall . . .



Then on to trying to remove the trim from the front window . . . would like to take out the glass to get the dash out.
So, on a convertible, apparently things are a little different . . . open the door as follows:



grab and pull out the weather stripping as shown:



Underneath you'll find a set of screws that hold in the first piece of trim:
Note: the one on the bottom is a bracket that holds the bottom window trim in place.



The screws on the top are removed to get the first trim piece out of the way.



Pull this piece of trim out of the way.



And you'll find yet another set of screws - these hold the side trim in place.



Removing them will help in removing the trim - however, the trim is held in place by some "interesting" stuff that looks like tar and acts like double sided tape. This holds the trim piece in place. Also the side trim is tucked up into the top piece of trim. To remove you must get the sticky stuff loose and pull the trim up and down so that it'll come out of the connection from the top trim piece.

Here's a pic of that "interesting" stuff on the body and trim piece:



Here's a picture of the bracket that holds the bottom piece of trim in place.



In addition, I've moved my compressor from the garage to the shop so I can give that hand held sandblaster a test - hopefully this week. Need to figure out a way to "tent" off the area so I don't get media EVERYWHERE ! !!

Sorry for the blurry pictures - hope this helps the convertible people out there. Still got to remove the top pieces of trim, I'll document them too.

 

[Ron 73]

Great how to for the vert Mopar owners! That ""interesting" stuff on the body and trim piece" stuff looks like it may help hold it in place and also keep water out...

- - - Updated - - -

Congrats on the leaf removal! I do it the hard way, mow it a few times with the garden tractor! lol.. To many hear to think about it

 

[conv67bdere]

Great how to for the vert Mopar owners! That ""interesting" stuff on the body and trim piece" stuff looks like it may help hold it in place and also keep water out...

- - - Updated - - -

Congrats on the leaf removal! I do it the hard way, mow it a few times with the garden tractor! lol.. To many hear to think about it

Was a little surprised how much different it was then the hardtops - But I did finally find the trim removal tools, and I did get the chance to use it as the bottom front trim piece is held in place with the same type of clips - and I got it removed. That was quite the interesting task . . . no I've gotta see if I've got rot hidden under there ! ! !

Whooohooo ! ! ! All done with the leaves ( till next week ) . . . ( sigh )

 

[conv67bdere]

More work on front window trim removal . . .

Got back in the shop and got a little work done on trim removal - so I can get the front window out of the car - so I can get the dash out of the car. Now this is sounding like a giant jigsaw puzzle ! ! !

Now the interesting thing is - I've still got the top on the car, and it's in the UP position. I really need to get it removed from the car so that it's not in the way ! BUT, I have no place to put the top once i remove it . . . so it's staying as is for the time being. Until I can figure out a plan.

Back to the trim removal. The bottom trim piece on the outside of the window is removed the same as most trim. It has clips and you need the trim removal tool as documented elsewhere on the forum. ( I can add it here if needed ).

First you need to remove the sun visors, and rear view mirror - very simple, but here's the pictures:
Visor - very simple - 3 screws and they pull out.



Rearview mirror = 3 screws and it pulls out:



This screw is tucked in the top of the door jamb and actually holds the top outside trim piece in place.



These two screws hold the corner piece in place for the inside molding.



And one more screw down here at the dash area.



And last there are some screws that are between the visors and rearview mirror.



The I grabbed the trim, pulled the front of it ( near the window ) down and then pulled back and it came out
( my top being up was a little in the way) - but I still go it out.
The corner pieces came out with the side trim very easily.



The other pics showed the shape of the pieces - but here they all are together.



And this is probably the worst piece - as far as condition ( today ) . . . we'll work on that.



There's 5 screws on the top trim piece, got them out, but that tar/stick stuff is holding it down so I left it place till I can figure out what to do with it.

 

[747mopar]

I'll let you know how my buffer and the compound works out "I have a few rough chrome pieces too".

 

[conv67bdere]

I'll let you know how my buffer and the compound works out "I have a few rough chrome pieces too".

Thanks 747Mopar - I've been buffing them by hand for the last little bit - some of it cleans up, but the deep pitting will be "interesting".

Let me know how your buffing goes - I'll be interested to find out. May need to break out the buffing wheel myself.

Time to start learning some new "tricks" of the trade - I hope !

 

[conv67bdere]

Tried my hand at some chrome buffing . . .

With the rain falling outside, and the temperatures falling I decided to take a little time in the garage and buff on some of the newly removed chrome pieces from the car to see how'd they turn out. Some of them are pretty rough, and I'm going to have to do some more research on this buffing stuff . . . but I took a stab at it.

Here's a couple of the pieces that I worked on to let you see the difference - this is pretty obvious on the change:



As is the edge on this piece of trim:



This piece turned out rather well - but the pitting is pretty deep - may need to decide what to do:



Here's a side by side of the worst piece so far . . . more research to find out what types of things I can do to help the process:

View attachment 151290

Yes it's better . . . but, it's got a long way to go . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

More polishing of parts . . .

Grabbed the rear view mirror and the sun visors to see how'd they'd polish up.

Not too bad - I think I can live with these:



Even the bases of the sun visors look pretty good - I think these will work:

 

[Ron 73]

Always nice to take a break from the metal work and do other parts that need done anyway. Those parts are looking real good! Even if you need replace the parts with better you will have the old to use until you can find them, big difference you made with these..

 

[roadrunnerman]

Those pieces turned out great for what you had to work with. If you had to get them any shinier, you would've had to strip them down and have them rechromed.

 

[conv67bdere]

Always nice to take a break from the metal work and do other parts that need done anyway. Those parts are looking real good! Even if you need replace the parts with better you will have the old to use until you can find them, big difference you made with these..

Got plenty to do - yes a break in the routine is always nice - Thanks Ron - they're okay - need to work on them maor and decide how I want to proceed.

Those pieces turned out great for what you had to work with. If you had to get them any shinier, you would've had to strip them down and have them rechromed.

Thanks Roadrunnerman - you're dead on with that - not too bad - will see how the rest of the car goes . . . gonna take another shot at them too.

Got time to try and figure out "what" I'm going to do and how I'll proceed . . . at least I know what I've got now !

Thanks guys ! !

 

[kb67mopar]

Personally I am not a chrome guy. I try to remove chrome when possible in most instances except things like bumpers and door handles. So I'd be painting all of those parts instead of re-chroming them. (but that is just personal opinion)

Once the rust spots are through the chrome I am not sure there is much that can be done to bring it back to full luster...I think you may need to get them dipped. I've seen some YouTube vids of people doing their own if you feel like starting your own mini chem lab.

 

[conv67bdere]

Those pieces turned out great for what you had to work with. If you had to get them any shinier, you would've had to strip them down and have them rechromed.

Thanks roadrunnerman - That's my concern with the state of this chrome - lot of money to get it all re-chromed. Not sure I want to get into that . . . I'm going to give this some thought . . . got an idea . . .

Personally I am not a chrome guy. I try to remove chrome when possible in most instances except things like bumpers and door handles. So I'd be painting all of those parts instead of re-chroming them. (but that is just personal opinion)

Once the rust spots are through the chrome I am not sure there is much that can be done to bring it back to full luster...I think you may need to get them dipped. I've seen some YouTube vids of people doing their own if you feel like starting your own mini chem lab.

KB - you're heading right down the path I'm thinking too . . . thinking of looking into powder coating it . . . got to do some research on it. Gonna shoot a PM to CudaChick and get some information from her on the topic.

Not up for a chem lab - that could get me in a whole lotta trouble ! ! ! I think I'll pass on that . . . ( grin )

 

[747mopar]

Personally I am not a chrome guy. I try to remove chrome when possible in most instances except things like bumpers and door handles. So I'd be painting all of those parts instead of re-chroming them. (but that is just personal opinion)

Once the rust spots are through the chrome I am not sure there is much that can be done to bring it back to full luster...I think you may need to get them dipped. I've seen some YouTube vids of people doing their own if you feel like starting your own mini chem lab.

Amen to that "I hate chrome". Polished aluminum or stainless "yes" chrome "no", I really don't like it for the simple fact that once it goes to crap your screwed unless you can afford to have it re-chromed. With stainless or aluminum at least you can sand or buff the bad out. One look under my hood and you'll notice "no chrome at all" just painted parts or natural aluminum which is the look I like anyways. Same goes for wheels "absolutely no chrome wheels ever".