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

[747mopar]

That is the "look" that I was hoping for, but when I put the cardboard templates into the car and saw how they looked . . . I was not very happy about it . . . BUT, I still don't know exactly how the shifter lever is going to be positioned in the car . . . and it might allow for me to add a lot more angle to the face . . .

SO, this part might have to be left out ( at this time ) and then make a modification to the dash at a later date once I know how everything is going to align . . . and save my knuckles . . .

What I did and it may work for you too is made the angled part part of the console? You could make it bolt to the dash using studs that get nuts on the backside of the dash to make it fit really tight. If you start tinkering with a console make sure your carpet and padding is in first, that crap adds a good bit of thickness.

 

[conv67bdere]

Got a chance to get into the shop and get a couple things done so far this weekend . . . ( yeah, it felt GOOD ! ! !)

First . . . think I've finally figured out my E-brake cable routing . . .

The clip is not on the aluminum fitting, so it's not sitting true in the bracket
( cut the original bracket and welded it into my holder )
From there, you see it goes under the 5.7 Hemi cover over my original tunnel hump . . .

Then, further back, and under the rear seat, the cable comes back out into the passenger area . . .

And then it goes through the floor ( actually the back edge of the floor ) . . .

Here's a little better view of the cable routing . . . it's under the seat and should not be in the way . . .

And then under the car I'll finish up the attachment to the (2) rear brake cable that will be held by the bracket on the left . . .

Next . . . is the rear axle brake lines . . .

Made the "new" brake lines for the rear axle, they needed to be adjusted to fit the new 3" narrower rear end . . .
Here' the Driver side connection . . .

And then it runs over to the axle mounted T-fitting . . .

Then out the other side of the T-fitting, it runs around the differential housing . . .

Through the brake line clip and over to the passenger side connection . . .

Which has been routed and bent similar to the original lines . . . ( just 3" shorter . . . )

Feel good to get a couple things done on the car . . . finally . . .

 

[moparnation74]

Larry,

Your project is coming along nicely....Great Work!

 

[747mopar]

Got a chance to get into the shop and get a couple things done so far this weekend . . . ( yeah, it felt GOOD ! ! !)

First . . . think I've finally figured out my E-brake cable routing . . .

The clip is not on the aluminum fitting, so it's not sitting true in the bracket
( cut the original bracket and welded it into my holder )
From there, you see it goes under the 5.7 Hemi cover over my original tunnel hump . . .

View attachment 674949

Then, further back, and under the rear seat, the cable comes back out into the passenger area . . .

View attachment 674950

And then it goes through the floor ( actually the back edge of the floor ) . . .

View attachment 674951

Here's a little better view of the cable routing . . . it's under the seat and should not be in the way . . .

View attachment 674952

And then under the car I'll finish up the attachment to the (2) rear brake cable that will be held by the bracket on the left . . .

View attachment 674953


Next . . . is the rear axle brake lines . . .

Made the "new" brake lines for the rear axle, they needed to be adjusted to fit the new 3" narrower rear end . . .
Here' the Driver side connection . . .

View attachment 674954

And then it runs over to the axle mounted T-fitting . . .

View attachment 674955

Then out the other side of the T-fitting, it runs around the differential housing . . .

View attachment 674956

Through the brake line clip and over to the passenger side connection . . .

View attachment 674957

Which has been routed and bent similar to the original lines . . . ( just 3" shorter . . . )

View attachment 674958

Feel good to get a couple things done on the car . . . finally . . .

Every time I read a thread that says "where do you buy quality brake lines" I roll my eyes . Good for you for making your own and doing a clean job of it. Looks great.

 

[kiwigtx]

Every time I read a thread that says "where do you buy quality brake lines" I roll my eyes . Good for you for making your own and doing a clean job of it. Looks great.

I agree here Devin. Those brake lines look really nice. I know how hard they are to make and to get them looking right - I built all mine for my GTX, including threading on a newly made custom spring like original. Nobody ever knew they were not from an OE Vendor.

Coming along nicely Larry....keep up the good work.

 

[conv67bdere]

With all the darn rain in this weekend, and me not able to work on the firewood storage . . .

Went out to the shop and did some ( long overdue ) tinkering on the Belvedere . . . and it felt GOOD . . .

First . . . as DUMB as it may sound, this little tab was partially rotted away at the bottom, and I had to fix it . . .
( in the trunk where more than likely, NOBODY is going to see it . . . ( but it bugged me, so it's FIXED now )

Here's a pic of how it used to look . . . ( not all that great . . . )
if you look at the bottom of the brace you can see it's rusted out at the floor . . .

And now that it has been fixed . . . it looks like this . . .

The mini tubs in, in the trunk look like "patchwork-quilts" = and it's in the trunk again . . .
But, I really wanted it to look better . . . This is the passenger side, still have to get it done . . .

Here is the Driver Side . . . MUCH happier with the results . . .

Also doing a little bit or tidying up on the modification that was done in the trunk-to-quarter panel area . . .

Still got some cleanup and a bit more work to do ( and the Passenger side ) . . . but it's progress . . .

Like the way it' coming along . . .

 

[Paul Boucher]

Looking great! Yeah this rain stinks. 74 today and I think they are calling for snow this weekend. That's NC for you!

 

[conv67bdere]

And now for a little change of pace . . . let's work on a wire harness . . . for the 5.7 Hemi and the Dodge Magnum . . .

This is the "mess" that I had, and had to work on getting the ECU pulled out from the rest of the car . . .

There is the engine part of the wire harness - orange connector . . .

and the other part of the ECU connections - White and Black connectors . . .

And then there is the power box that goes up in the engine compartment
( not putting that under my hood - want it "clean" up there )
Still have to figure out what goes to what relays in the power box . . .

 

[747mopar]

 

[Paul Boucher]

There for a minute I thought you had some crazy Christmas Light set up!

 

[conv67bdere]

Working on a rotisserie for the Belvedere - really need to get some work done on the bottom of the car . . . Would like to have it on the rotisserie before the new year . . .

As it's going now, it "just might" be on the rotisserie today ? ? ?

Got the bases done . . .

The rear attachment bracket . . .

the front attachment bracket . . .

Now to try and figure out where the balance point is on the car ( and clean all the junk out from under the car - and in the car . . . GAWD ! ! )

Full pictures of the build are here . . .
https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopa...ace-rotisserie-for-the-shop-belvedere.164415/

 

[Brandy]

That whole parking brake lines routing deal is on my slate for the near future. Gotta bring them in to the center for the handbrake lever in the Audi console.
And don't even get me started on the wiring nightmares.....

 

[747mopar]

That looks like a great start on the rotisserie, you won't regret it! As for balancing it I don't know that it's super critical, I just stood back and looked at the car and guessed, worked out fine. The front bumper mount holes should be a close starting point, likely just below? The shells of these cars are amazingly light so it doesn't have to be perfectly balanced.

 

[conv67bdere]

Beat my goal . . . by a whole day . . . the Belvedere is now up on the rotisserie ! !

It's tight in there . . . just barely was able to close the garage door . . .

Now I have to get the seats out of the car and find a place to put them so I can spin it . . . and get started working on the bottom of the car ! ! !

 

[conv67bdere]

And . . . now I've got it up on end so that I can get to the bottom of the car and get started on my work . . .

Little bottom heavy - got my centers a bit too high . . .

 

[cpojohn3]

And . . . now I've got it up on end so that I can get to the bottom of the car and get started on my work . . .

View attachment 698534

Little bottom heavy - got my centers a bit too high . . .

Wow! Didn't know you had a concrete floor. LOL

 

[moparnation74]

Great job Larry!

 

[conv67bdere]

now with the car up on it's side so I can see the bottom . . . I can see all my "bad" work that needs to be cleaned up . . . ( gawd ) . . .

First on the list is this cross support for the bucket seats . . . it runs from rocker to rocker - and attaches to the frame connectors . . .

After I finished it up ( and my thoughts for what it needed to look like ) . . . I was never happy with it, but crawling on my back and working on it was not something that I was looking forward to doing . . . but now that it's up on it's side, the job now looks a whole lot more "reasonable" . . .

On the left side you can see the angle that I cut out of the bracket - and the right side as original . . .
I like the "new" look a whole lot more . . .

Weld in a piece of plate - grind and shape - and get . . .

Finished that "repair" already, and glad to have that OFF the list . . .

Yes - the pics are rotated so you can see how it will look under the car . . .


Think that this is a tight fit into the shop . . . look at the handle to the garage door . . .

It scrapes the base as it passes by and hits the floor . . . WHEW . . .

Wow! Didn't know you had a concrete floor. LOL

Really . . . Neither did I ! ! ! ! LMAO . . .

 

[Cranky]

Thought my shop was tight!!

 

[conv67bdere]

Figured out the center and balance on the rotisserie, so it now time to get a whole BUNCH of work done on the bottom of the car ! !

Got this done today . . . had shaved this from the passenger side, and not gotten to the driver side yet . . .

But on this rotisserie - it's SO MUCH easier . . . it's done now ( mostly cleaned up too )

Hopefully will be an eventful weekend on the car . . .