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

[conv67bdere]

Me likey, your plans are going to make for one bad 67. I like the interior you posted, I used Chysler 300 seats that look a little like buckets and are really close in width (I widened them about an inch on each side). I would scour the junk yards, I had $175.00 in seats but of coarse I had them reupholstered as well.

Thanks 747 Mopar . . . I checked and they have about 5-6 300's at the local Pull-A-Part . . . no clue what shape they're in, people tear them up . . . But I really liked the way yours turned out so I'll investigate the Pull-A-Part and see what I can find. Front seats - not sure yet . . . still got time to look around . . . ( SMILE )

did you notice that the console has the hand parking brake too ? ? ? ? ? ( whooohooooo ! )

 

[kb67mopar]

I like the direction too, will be a pretty sweet grand tourer when you get done. (will be one hell of a grand tour when you come to visit haha)

What is your plan for repair of the wheel arch? New panel from somebody else or make it yourself?

 

[747mopar]

Thanks 747 Mopar . . . I checked and they have about 5-6 300's at the local Pull-A-Part . . . no clue what shape they're in, people tear them up . . . But I really liked the way yours turned out so I'll investigate the Pull-A-Part and see what I can find. Front seats - not sure yet . . . still got time to look around . . . ( SMILE )

did you notice that the console has the hand parking brake too ? ? ? ? ? ( whooohooooo ! )

If you decide to go that route on the back seats I'll worn you the hardest part is adapting the bottom portion to your floor. The 300s are front wheel drive meaning the bottom cusion sits flat on a flat floor with only a wire frame to hold the upholstery on. You'll need to build a frame to support it, I used 3/4 box tube with an aluminum pan and thenwelded the wire frame to it. It's quite a bit of work but I have pics of what it took, the other thing to consider is the seats I used were so tall that I trimmed the center down so I could see out the rear window. Just trying to give you a heads up but damn are they comfy. Good luck

 

[Ron 73]

It does sound like they can be a hard addition but hearing about these before the "comfy" part, and the looks sound pretty cool!

 

[Propwash]

Sharp Wheels '67. Gonna look pretty sharp. Digging your idea on the interior.

 

[conv67bdere]

I like the direction too, will be a pretty sweet grand tourer when you get done. (will be one hell of a grand tour when you come to visit haha)

What is your plan for repair of the wheel arch? New panel from somebody else or make it yourself?

Hey KB . . . This side I think I'm going to attempt to rebuild the wheel arch myself - due to the minimal rust - and I'll see how it goes . . . it looks like it's doable . . .

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If you decide to go that route on the back seats I'll worn you the hardest part is adapting the bottom portion to your floor. The 300s are front wheel drive meaning the bottom cusion sits flat on a flat floor with only a wire frame to hold the upholstery on. You'll need to build a frame to support it, I used 3/4 box tube with an aluminum pan and thenwelded the wire frame to it. It's quite a bit of work but I have pics of what it took, the other thing to consider is the seats I used were so tall that I trimmed the center down so I could see out the rear window. Just trying to give you a heads up but damn are they comfy. Good luck

Thanks for the information 747Mopar . . . I know where to go if I need pics on how to do this ! ! ! ( SMILE )

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It does sound like they can be a hard addition but hearing about these before the "comfy" part, and the looks sound pretty cool!

Agreed Ron - but why go this far and not take advantage of making the back seats look pretty cool, and make them more comfortable too ? ?

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Sharp Wheels '67. Gonna look pretty sharp. Digging your idea on the interior.

Actually Propwash - the wheels were only demonstrating the "deep dish" look that I want in the back, I'll fight with the design later.

Thanks - I'm hoping I can pull it off . . . I really like the looks of that interior . . . would add some "class" to my cruiser ! !

 

[BDL]

Very nice build. Subscribed

 

[Ron 73]

"Agreed Ron - but why go this far and not take advantage of making the back seats look pretty cool, and make them more comfortable too ? ?"

If it can be done, i mean made to fit and be secure, id go for it, your right, why not match it up so it looks correct, good question!

 

[conv67bdere]

"Agreed Ron - but why go this far and not take advantage of making the back seats look pretty cool, and make them more comfortable too ? ?"

If it can be done, i mean made to fit and be secure, id go for it, your right, why not match it up so it looks correct, good question!

Can you guess where I'll be Saturday morning ? ? . . . oh, helping a friend move . . . make that Saturday afternoon ? ? ?

My local Pull-A-Part . . . checking out back seats of cars . . . ( now that sounds really "bad" . . . ) LMAO

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Very nice build. Subscribed

Welcome aboard BDL - glad to have you along for the ride . . . ( smile )

( now I know I'm lyxdexic . . . when I can't even get BDL typed correctly and have to go back and edit it ? ? ) LMAO

 

[Ron 73]

Can you guess where I'll be Saturday morning ? ? . . . oh, helping a friend move . . . make that Saturday afternoon ? ? ?

My local Pull-A-Part . . . checking out back seats of cars . . . ( now that sounds really "bad" . . . ) LMAO

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Welcome aboard BDL - glad to have you along for the ride . . . ( smile )

( now I know I'm lyxdexic . . . when I can't even get BDL typed correctly and have to go back and edit it ? ? ) LMAO

Something tells me wherever you are someone will be blessed with a smile man and you'll go home with a big one yourself!! I hope you have fun!

 

[conv67bdere]

Something tells me wherever you are someone will be blessed with a smile man and you'll go home with a big one yourself!! I hope you have fun!

Thanks Ron . . . I try . . . Yes it's fun to make others smile ! ! ( smile ) It helps being a smart-alec to boot too ! ! ! ( snicker, snicker )

 

[Ron 73]

Sounds familiar, My wife says im the joker, yet sometimes i do go to far with the joking, but i figure its all in fun when dealing with family and friends so, like you said, it is fun to make others smile and laugh, without it, heck where's the song and dance fun we should be having!

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

You're moving right along '67! I'm sure you'll get that wheelwell lip sorted out in no time, and good luck at the pull-a-part! That type of interior would be bad@ss in your car!

 

[Ron 73]

X 2!! bad @ss for sure interior, With the back seat matching in it, With the top down or up, she will look impressive!

X 3!

 

[HYRDGOON]

Hope you had some luck today at the Peel & Whack... or Pull & Peel... PULL APART!!!!! that's it!!!! lol

 

[conv67bdere]

Hope you had some luck today at the Peel & Whack... or Pull & Peel... PULL APART!!!!! that's it!!!! lol

Hey GOON, I think you were closer with the other names you had . . . I think more of is as "TEAR APART", as they really hack those things up BAD ! ! !

Very BAD day there . . . didn't really see anything that really caught my eye . . . and the front fenders on one car ( I saw there a week ago ) that had really nice wheel flares was NOWHERE to be found ! ! So my visit went from bad to worse . . .

I did see some thing on a couple Chrysler convertibles, rear seat belt 3 point harnesses, pumps and cylinders that I may need to go back and revisit . . .

 

[HYRDGOON]

Sucks it was a fruitless day! Hopefully they get in some new rides soon that you can get to before the others! Any way to find out if there's a specific day of the week that they usually truck in the fresh one's?

 

[conv67bdere]

Sucks it was a fruitless day! Hopefully they get in some new rides soon that you can get to before the others! Any way to find out if there's a specific day of the week that they usually truck in the fresh one's?

They've got a "service" that will notify you when a specific car arrives that you must select - but a friend of mine did it and it seems like once it notifies you of an arrival, the service quits - so you have to keep updating the "service" - or maybe it's add it back into the list ? ? He never could figure out if the "service" even worked ? ? He'd go back there, and they'd have several new cars on the lot but he never got any notifications . . .

Guess I'll have to give it a shot and see what happens . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

No more procrastinating . . . time to dig in and fix it . . .

Well . . . as you can tell, I've been dragging my feet on the wheel arches, and I'd hoped to have had more welding under my belt before I started working on the parts that were clearly visible to the public. But, I need to get this done, so I can get back under the wheel well, and weld in the outer-tub wall, so that I can get to the inner tub wall and make some progress . . .

So I finally got up the nerve and got started ( and I'm scared SH**LESS ) . . .

Here's what I've got done so far . . . after I got out to the shop . . .

First I cut out the areas where the rotted metal extended above and into the flare part of the quarter . . .
( as I was cleaning up the metal on the back side, more bad areas appeared - I'll have to remove some more bad metal in other areas )



Then I cut the arch where the bad metal ended so that I had a line to cut to . . .



Then I cut away all the wheel arch where all the rotted metal "was" and tried to leave the best metal I could for re-welding . . .
( look at the first picture and you'll see that all the "bad" metal has been removed . . . )



Did some grinding on the edges to get rid of any rusted or bad metal and leave a good edge to weld to with the new metal . . .



And . . . my first attempts to start welding the metal back in to replace the missing pieces
( ok guys . . . YOU all make it look SO EASY . . . )



Got a long way to go, but I'm welding in small sections and trying to keep it all even as possible as I go along.

Also, this would be a very good time to cold roll the bottom lip, to give me even more room for my tires - that will be done too during this process . . .

 

[747mopar]

Glad to see your sacking up and getting after it haha. Wish we were closer, I'd be more than happy to lend a hand but it looks like your getting it just fine. Nice to see you back to work on the wheel openings and your new approach should leave you with the flare you wanted.