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

[747mopar]

You won't regret it Kahn. Sorry about the eye, eye injuries are the worst. I can sit and watch someone stitch me up, pull my teeth (while awake), endure back pains, etc but you touch my eyes and I'm a complete pussy haha. I remember when I was a kid watching my dad weld (he didn't know I was watching), that was the most agony I ever felt it felt like I had sand in my eyes for a day. Looks like you'll be getting those tubs knocked out in no time.

 

[conv67bdere]

Progress at the mini tubs . . . now I'm off to get more gas ( no, not from TacoBell )

Back in the shop this morning - Thank Goodness it's Good Friday ( I've got the day off ) so that means it's time to play in the SHOP ! !

Got a little bit done this morning, but ran out of gas ( not me, my welding tank ) . . . so I'm off to get some more so I can continue my

"assault on the 'Khan'-vertible"

Here's what I accomplished this morning - so far ( filling in the holes )



I cut the piece off the inner wheel well, and relocated it so it'll fill in the gap ( worked pretty slick ! )
Still got some grinding and clean-up left to do on the welds . . . ( smile ) . . . but it's moving along . . .

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You won't regret it Kahn. Sorry about the eye, eye injuries are the worst. I can sit and watch someone stitch me up, pull my teeth (while awake), endure back pains, etc but you touch my eyes and I'm a complete pussy haha. I remember when I was a kid watching my dad weld (he didn't know I was watching), that was the most agony I ever felt it felt like I had sand in my eyes for a day. Looks like you'll be getting those tubs knocked out in no time.

I walked out of the office thinking - " this was a piece of cake" . . . then I hit the sunshine, and the anesthetic started to wear off . . . OUCH ! ! !
I know what you mean 747Mopar . . . good news, it's feeling MUCH better this morning already ! !

 

[kb67mopar]

Its looking good my friend. Just remember when you get these tubs all done to run a nice bead of seam sealer everywhere you welded. You will find that welds are very difficult to get water tight and you don't need it rusting from the seams out.

But killer job so far. Glad your eye is feeling better. I've been lucky to avoid that so far but I do wear glasses all the time too. Sometimes I use the ones that seal to your face in odd areas....but even those aren't perfect and tend to fog...happens to the best of us!

 

[conv67bdere]

Filling in the last hole . . .

More progress on the wheel wells - and filling in the last hole in the front of the wheel well.

Got more gas, and got back in the shop to continue the work on the wheel wells . . . Here's what I've got done:

The last remaining hole that needs to be filled



The shape of the replacement part fabricated . . .



Then the test fitment . . .



Tacked into place - looks like it might work . . .



welded and initial grinding - got to get it cleaned up a bit more and it should be completed.



Now to finish filling in the rest of the gap over the rest of the wheel well . . .

 

[Herr_Poopschitz]

Great job. Rewarding seeing it all come back together, ain't it? Wait til you get paint back over it all...it was like good sex to me.

 

[747mopar]

Agreed, looks good to me. Looking forward to when you start putting this together "should be pretty wicked".

 

[conv67bdere]

More Miti-tub Manipulation Managed

Back out it the shop again this morning, thanks to the rain that decided to push through today. What else is there to do ?

Bsck working at the mini-tubs . . . Here's what I've gotten done . . .

First - the next section to attack, back inside part of the mini tubs . . .



New metal tacked into place . . .



completely welded in place . . .



Second piece also installed above the first piece - making good progress . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Trunk hinge support jig-saw puzzle solved . . .

Couple of months ago I cut off the trunk hinge support from the inner wheel well and "guessed" at just "how" the thing was going to move and get put back together when the mini tubs were completed . . . wasn't sure just how difficult is was going to be . . .

My guess was pretty close, and now my passenger side trunk hinge support is back in place on the car:

For comparison - here's the driver side and it's original attachments (left) . . . new mini tubs ( right)



Another view of the drive side (left) . . . and the new mini tubs ( right )



Still got the holes from the trunk to the wheel well to get filled in . . . but it's getting there . . .

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Great job. Rewarding seeing it all come back together, ain't it? Wait til you get paint back over it all...it was like good sex to me.

Thanks Herr_Poopschitz . . . YES, it is very rewarding to see things finally coming back together instead of apart ! !

I think it may be a year before I get it into paint - so I'm going to have to wait a "year" for it to be "GOOD" . . . UGH ! ! !

 

[conv67bdere]

Doubling up on the Belvedere and the Shoe Box today . . .

Finally got started on replacing the original hood hinges on the Belvedere this morning - and as I suspected, I'm going to have a "whole lotta fun" with the re-alignment of the hood with the new hinges in place.

But, as a little teaser, here's what's going on now . . .

The original stamped steel hood hinges on the car . . .



Comparison - side by side of the old and the new hinges . . .



The new hood hinge replaced on the car ( still working on the alignment )



Another view of the new hood hinges on the car . . .



Not too sure how much "fun" I'm going to have with the alignment of this things yet . . . Oh boy . . .

 

[usaroadrunner]

wow, khan those hinges are a work of art. those mini tubs you will have no problem stuffing a monster of a wheel tire combo. just looked at a new viper it had 345s on it. they were "UGE'....so big the H fell off. lol i think they would fit in yours with a different rim of course

 

[747mopar]

What happened to the pics? All I see is boxes.

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As soon as I hit post Walla all the pics appeared...........strange. Looks good Kahn, one thing down now on to the next. I really want to see what ends up in those wells.

 

[conv67bdere]

So sad to see this every day I drive home . . . old cars sitting and rotting . . .

Just about every day I go to work and home from work ( depending on the route that I take ) I may see these (2) old cars sitting in people's backyards and rotting away . . . I'm no expert form this far away, I can't tell what they are, or what kind of shape they're in . . . but I just hate so see them sitting . . .

Here's the pics . . . the first old car . . .



And the second old car . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Fixing up a mess up . . .

When aligning the inner wheel well when reattaching it to the frame rail, I lined up as many of the markers as I could, and thought that I had done a pretty good job of getting everything squared away pretty well for the mini tubs . . . well, all but one little area inside the car . . .

You'll see by the levels of the two pieces that I'm off by a good 3/4 of an inch or more . . .



so I made a guess at a couple rough cuts to assist me re-aligning the tops of these two pieces . . .



welded in the missing piece in the fender well between these two parts . . .



But my guess was not enough to solve the misalignment - so the piece had to be cut off, a pie slice removed, and re-attached . . .



Cut and tacked the remaining parts back in to their places . . .



Some additional welding and a little grinding to see how everything was going to look - and I think this is going to make it all work.



Couple more pieces of metal welded in the gap between outer and inner - and I'll have this mini tub wrapped up once and for all ! ! !

 

[kb67mopar]

Are you sure you haven't done this stuff before? I think in your past life you were a metal worker and have welding wire in your veins from childhood. I can't wait to see it all cleaned up and primed! It will look pro.

 

[conv67bdere]

Mini Tub on passenger side almost done . . . more progress . . .

Got the complete gap in the mini tub welded in place tonight . . . just got the trunk connections to complete now ! !

Here's what it's looking like . . . got the front seam redone . . .



got the full gap filled in - need to go back and look for pin holes . . .



Another pic . . .



And yet another pic . . .



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Are you sure you haven't done this stuff before? I think in your past life you were a metal worker and have welding wire in your veins from childhood. I can't wait to see it all cleaned up and primed! It will look pro.

Thanks KB67Mopar . . . thanks so much for the kind words on my welding ( I'm working at it - LOTS lately ) . . .

I've got to try and measure up to the likes of YOU and all the others on this site that make it look so easy ! ! ! ( smile )

 

[roadrunnerman]

The work you are doing with those wheel tubs is something "I" would never attempt to try. Not because I will keep my cars close to original, but I know I don't have the skills that you are showing in accomplishing this build.

 

[747mopar]

Now that's a wheels well, looks good Kahn.

 

[a68postcar]

love a vert, I do.

 

[Propwash]

Nice work Kahn! Tough job trying to puzzle together something with that many angles/shapes. Job well done.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Man you're hauling @ss Khan! I'm gone for a weekend and come back and the mini-tubs are done and looking great! Keep it up and the whole car should be welded up by Sunday right? :icon_thumleft: