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

[conv67bdere]

Been scorching heat down here, but I've made it a priority to get out in the shop and work on the car to make some progress . . . Working from the back ( inside ) the car and working forward, cleaning it up, applying the bed-liner, then painting ( in the widow to not have to scuff it ), and the moving on to the next section . . .

First the trunk area . . .

Then worked on the convertible top, tops of the wheel wells, then the back seat area, then the passenger floor . . .

Then getting the pain on the areas . . .

For not being a "painter" i'd have to say that I'm pretty happy with the results so far . . .

Remember, this is still on the rotisserie . . . Looking back into the trunk . . .

The back seat area . . . this turned out great ( in my eyes - that is )

And the floor of the cab on the passenger side . . .

Next, I've got to flip it back over the other way and work on the driver floor area and driver rear seat area a little more . . ..

But . . . it's progress, and I'm 10 pounds lighter on the weight due to this gawd awful HEAT . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Still got this un-normal heat down here, with the temps falling into the 80's this week ( we've been having mid to upper 90's )

But I still got out in the shop and worked on the car, and got the floor of the driver side done with bedliner . . .

Yesterday spent some time building this "protection" for my peach tree so the damn squirrels won't be able to get to my fruit and I can actually enjoy eating them . . .



Paint will go on the floor later today while the material can properly take the paint . . .

 

[Brandy]

Looking good Kahn!

 

[conv67bdere]

Got the painting done, just have not had time to post the pics . . . so here goes . . .

Once again . . . bed liner done . . .

Painting done . . .

And paint on the rear seat driver side done too . . . like the way this turned out too ! !

 

[conv67bdere]

One last section to get bedliner . . . the under side of the rockers to try and prevent rock chips . . .

Took them all down to bare metal . . .
Epoxy paint on the roughed up metal . . . let it dry . . .
then tonight was coat (2) of bedliner . . . thicken it up . . . Paint tomorrow . . .

The passenger side . . .

And the driver side . . .

Running out of things to work on the bottom of this car . . .

Next . . . think it's about time to put in the rear axle, front K-member, install the Magnum force front end components . . . and get this car on all 4-s . . .

 

[Brandy]

Looking great man!! I am currently disassembling mine so I can get to doing exactly what you are doing. Painting everything, undercoating, FatMat. Get the body work finished and get it painted.

 

[conv67bdere]

Tinkering around in the shop this weekend and stumbled on this "area" in the front windshield area . . .

You can see the area that was tacked . . . but the hole area ended up to be about 1" x 3/4" . . . get rid of the rot and weld in new metal . . .

And now it's looking like this . . .

How much more can I possible find on this car . . .

 

[Brandy]

How much more can I possible find on this car . . .

When you last expect it..BAM!

 

[Budnicks]

Looking good
I haven't looked in for a while now...
WOW, 128 pages now...

getting the front & rear suspension done/installed
& get it down on all 4's will be a serious boost
paint another great boost/motivation builder
all great incentives to get it running & driving

it should/will be awesome


Nice detailed & informative documentation of your build
I'm sure your build, has helped many too

 

[conv67bdere]

Getting work done on the rear suspension, have all the brakes back on the axles, need to get the drums painted, and working on the leaf springs

time to replace the 50+ year old rubber bushings . . .

First drive the old rubber through using the press . . . that worked pretty good . . .

the with a little struggling, out came the rest of the bushing . . .

Did this same procedure on both side and got it done in a decent amount of time . . .

Then there was the question of the metal sleeve in the eyelet . . . after some research . . . it had to come out . . .

So what else do you do . . . pound the sh*t out of it with a hammer and chisels . . . making progress . . .

It's actually moving . . . that's a good sign . . .

and low and behold . . . got one of them out . . . that's looking promising . ..

After a little more "persuasion" on the other metal sleeve in the other eyelet . . . got it out as well . . .

And the new poly bushings look like they're good to go for installation . . .

little lithium grease, and a little more persuasion . . . were all installed and ready to go back in the car . . .

Working on getting the car on all fours . . . which will be a great milestone ! ! !

 

[5.7 hemi]

Them outer sleeves can be a bitch! Good work!

 

[khryslerkid]

Looks very nice. Your heat has made it up here now. Hope it cooled off for you. If not you can take these temps back. Chryslers at Carslile is getting closer.

Keep up the great work

 

[conv67bdere]

Looks very nice. Your heat has made it up here now. Hope it cooled off for you. If not you can take these temps back. Chryslers at Carslile is getting closer.

Keep up the great work

Uh . . . yeah . . . no chance in it cooling down here in NC until maybe . . . October ? ?

Here's what I was sealing with in the shop tonight . . .

With that being said, was back in the shop working on . . . believe it or not . . . Actually INSTALLING parts back onto the car for a change ! !

Leaf springs are going back in the car tonight . . . this is a great milestone . . . front connection into the relocated leaf holders . . .

The rears will be done with the same Poly bushings, and the metal hangers that were Cerakoted a couple years ago are finally going on the car . . .

Both fronts attached, just need to be torqued . . .

Rears all attached and just need to be torqued . . .

Looks like the corner has been turned on this restoration, Magnum Force front K-member goes in next, the build up the front suspension, and this things is ready to go back on all fours . . .

 

[HawkRod]

Nice! On the return road now!

I'm sure you know, but just in case: make sure you are lubing up that Poly well so it doesn't squeak!

 

[conv67bdere]

So now on to the next part of the story . . . First had to get some touchup painting done on the bottom of the car, some bed liner that was missed being painted . . . and let it dry . . .

The the rear end had to be hauled out to the shop from the A/C comfort of the dining room ( worked on the assembly in the cool of the A/C ) . . . but that stupid rear end has got to be close to weighing about as much as me . . . so I had to use the hand cart to get it out to the shop, under the car, and in place to be lifted into place . . .

The hand cart in place . . . under the car . . . now for a little big time wrestling . . . ( oh boy ) . . . .

And the winner is . . . The Mad Scientist ! ! ! as the rear end is resting on the leaf springs now . . . WHEW ! ! !
( it was an EPIC battle - no video to share - sorry )

Meant to offer a little "trick" that I've learned for noting part on specific sides of the car..

On the springs, I marked the center stud that stick up to hold the perch.
- on the driver side - center punched a single dot
- the the passenger side - center punched double dots
Then . . . ( if you can remember where you placed the dots ) you can put them back in on the same side they were originally . . .

Got a thunder storm blowing through and a puppy dog that going out of his mind that I need to tend to . . . Grrrrrrrrr . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Continuing the progress on the car . . . and a lot of good things are in store for the near future . . .

First to wrap up the rear end install . . . need some color on the u-bolts . . . scuff them up, and shoot them with epoxy primer . . .

Hate that I can't paint the threads . . . here's the primer . . .

And then shoot the paint on over the primer . . . and after they dry they'll be installed . . .

Now for the surprise . . . look what I found in the 67 Belvedere today . . .
YES . . . the K-member has been bolted into the car . . .

Another ( little different view ) . . . this looks so cool . . . .

Which meant it was time to haul all the boxes out to the shop ( my Magnum Force front suspension )
Time to get to some building ! ! !

Looking like the car might get on all fours in the near future . . .

 

[HawkRod]

It's picking up steam now!!!

 

[conv67bdere]

More progress in the shop today . . . and sweating like crazy out there . . . got a fan on me to help out ( a bit ) . . .

Work continues on the building of the front suspension, but I've got a few bolts that I'm not happy with and I'm doing some swapping out ( actually re-purchasing ) of bolts to ones that I AM HAPPIER with - since it is going into MY car . . . here's some of the details . . .

The (2) on the left are with the kit ( and they will work ) but I don't like threads being in contact with the moving area - or in this case inside the bushing liner that will move ( I'm particular )
The (1) on the right is the replacement bolts I bought so it'll have shoulder on the entire contact area . . . I feel much better about this . . .
Also, see the blue protective sleeve - the new bolts that were purchased came with those on the shoulder and threads to protect them - that's impressive ! !

For example - this is another bolt that came with the kit to hold the bottom of the shock . . . don't like the thread in the contact area for the bottom of the shock, so I'll get new ones for this too.

From the top picture, the button head bolts are for the front of the LCA . . . it needs some clearance for the rack rubber boots ( pic later ) - but it was all threads ( and already replaced.
The new bolt was cut down on the lathe for a little more clearance, and the bolt has a built in washer, so by eliminating the washer, it gained even more clearance . . . works for me . . .

Since they were modified and installed, they were stamped with my emblem . . . BSH ( if you forgot - Brick Shit House )

Here's a pic of the clearance for the rack rubber boots . . .

The rack and the torsion bar sitting in place on the k-member

Pic of one side LCA from this front suspension . . .

Full pic . . . things are moving along . . . and it feels good to see the progress . . .

Unfortunately - realized that the under side of the fenders will become difficult to access if the suspension is all put together, so I'm thinking I'm going to have to take a step back and get some paint ( maybe some bed liner too ) on the current primer is in that location before this all goes together . . .

Let's just say I got a little excited and got ahead of myself . . . so I need to get this fixed . . . more later . . .

Nice! On the return road now!

I'm sure you know, but just in case: make sure you are lubing up that Poly well so it doesn't squeak!

YES I did . . . Thanks for keeping an eye out ! ! !

It's picking up steam now!!!

You noticed too . . . funny how "adding" parts to the car can do that to you . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Got the front end torqued down, and anti-seize on the parts that I need to keep moving ( or not rust together ).
Then grabbed the rear u-bolts that were dry and got them in place . . .

My hand made brake lines were done pretty good, no interference with the bolts yet fairly close for protection.

The perches do not seem to be sitting all the way down on the springs, my guess is powder coat in the hole on the bottom that I'll need to clean out, but it's all looking pretty good . . . Hope to get som paint on the wheel wells so I can install the front suspension - it's only got epoxy primer now and getting it painted after the suspension is in place would be a nightmare . . . so a slight little detour on the plans to make my life easier and then the rest of the suspension will be added . . . and get this car on all 4s ! ! !

Getting just a "little" excited about all the progress . . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Saw this at the gas station yesterday . . . thought, wow, a 66 Chevy II just like mine . . .

So it required a little close inspection . . .

And low and behold . . . it's even a 4 door just like mine . . . ( ok, kinda, mine is not a race car )

They have a nostalgia race at a track about an hour from me . . . might have to head up there and have a watch . . .