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

[conv67bdere]

Work on the convertible top drains . . . trying to re-route the drain . . .

I've shown earlier how the convertible top drains down into the quarter panel ( no wonder they rot out ! ).

So here's the plan for the drain re-route that I drew up earlier in the thread.

Original drain direction . . .



Cut out the end of the drain to re-route it . . .



Fit a piece of metal into the hole to stop the water movement . . .



Build a new pathway for the water to drain out into the wheel well . . .



I think it'll work . . .

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What's the plan for the bodywork, are you going to tackle that or farm it out? I like the plate, pretty cool idea USA.

Well 747 Mopar . . . I don't have very much experience with the bodywork, but I've got a lot of friends that are very good at it . . . I'm going to "try" and do it all myself, and seek out some help from my friends if needed ? ? I've gone and done everything on the car myself, so far, so I'm going to continue down this path as much as I can.

Please - tell me I'm crazy ? ? ?

 

[kb67mopar]

I know a cheap body guy but you may have to tow it up here

 

[747mopar]

Start doing your homework now because there are allot of options regarding materials and applications. If doing it yourself (bodywork) my biggest words of advice are once you've got it stripped and primed put the power tools away, DA, Pneumatic long board, etc. I always found myself taking to much off or sanding flat spots in the body when using power tools, doing it by hand forces you to take longer strokes :icon_lol: keeping it more even and saving time and material (I might just suck at it too). Second is a wonderful full proof way of finding all of your boogers "guide coat" do it to everything before sealing and painting. As long as you use long blocks where you can and get a feel for detecting bad spots you'll do fine, after all you are a computer geek. haha

 

[conv67bdere]

Great advice there 747 Mopar . . . and very easy for me to follow . . . I don't have any DA sanders nor Pneumatic Long boards . . .
So putting them all away is EASY - I'm done - I've already put them all away ? ? ? ( smile )

Just one more step in this learning process that I'm right in the middle of . . .

Yeah, but being a computer nerd - I can't throw 1s and 0s at the thing and make it right . . . gonna have to shape it one step at a time ! ! !

 

[kb67mopar]

I find that my patients for sanding is about none. I did small spots and even those I found challenging to get smooth and perfect. If I had a garage (when I started) I would have probably taken a shot at it to see how far I got before I felt like kicking it. But that just wasn't going to work.

My advice is to do a small spot, fender, door, something that needs some work but isn't going to cost an arm and a leg to redo. Try it, see how it comes out and make the determiniation whether or not the body work is going to be for you.

When I started researching it I found that getting all of the proper sanding blocks and materials to do this properly will be a little bit costly. So making a decision before investing in all of the tools is probably wise. It was an easy decision for me because of our family friend who does a great job and a super price. But that isn't typical.

Either way you decide the car will come out fantastic, its just a matter of time, money and patients!

 

[747mopar]

I find that my patients for sanding is about none. I did small spots and even those I found challenging to get smooth and perfect. If I had a garage (when I started) I would have probably taken a shot at it to see how far I got before I felt like kicking it. But that just wasn't going to work.

My advice is to do a small spot, fender, door, something that needs some work but isn't going to cost an arm and a leg to redo. Try it, see how it comes out and make the determiniation whether or not the body work is going to be for you.

When I started researching it I found that getting all of the proper sanding blocks and materials to do this properly will be a little bit costly. So making a decision before investing in all of the tools is probably wise. It was an easy decision for me because of our family friend who does a great job and a super price. But that isn't typical.

Either way you decide the car will come out fantastic, its just a matter of time, money and patients!

Agreed, I do the whole car one panel at a time because like he said it get's old quick but completing a panel per garage visit is rewarding. Another very important thing to take into consideration is humidity, it can really wreak havoc on your work. I've had primer bubble from moisture getting trapped and had to strip it all back off. "BUY A DEHUMIDIFIER" you won't be disappointed and it only takes a small one to do the job your primer, filler, paint, etc will cure quicker and you won't have to worry about it rust. You could always hang plastic on your walls to seal it up better too if that's an issue. Prep, prep, prep is the name of the game.

 

[conv67bdere]

Passenger side drain completed . . .

Got a little time to work on the Belvedere, and the passenger side convertible top drain re-routing . . . and got it completed.

Here's what I've done for re-routing the water NOT into the quarter panel . . .



From the top . . . water will now drain into the wheel well . . .



Oh, while working in the yard, my little buddy showed back up . . . he helps keep the critters away . . .

 

[747mopar]

Nice work Kahn, one of those things you just sit and look at and think "what the hell were they thinking". I like your idea of putting it where it belongs allot better, Well done.

 

[roadrunnerman]

I didn't even know the converts had a drain hole. I learned something new today. So, do we have a name for your friend?

 

[conv67bdere]

I didn't even know the converts had a drain hole. I learned something new today. So, do we have a name for your friend?

Well RoadRunnerMan, technically they "don't" have a drain hole, they actually drain all the water that gets between the top and the body panels into the quarter panel just in front of the rear wheels ( and we wonder why they get all rotted out here ) . . . here's a pic from my thread showing the "dump" ( post 493 in my thread )



So, that is the reason for my re-routing the water dump into the wheel well . . . and not rotting my body panels ( thought this car may rarely see rain ).

As for my little buddy - That's "your highness" . . . he's a King Snake, and he can stick around all he wants as long as he keeps killing the mice ! ! He's my friend.

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Back on post 494 I posted my idea on what I was thinking of doing for this drain . . . here's the design and the result:

.View attachment 185564

Not too shabby . . . I think it worked out well . . . ( smile )

 

[747mopar]

Indeed it did. I'm like you with the snakes, I've caught 6' long Black Snakes (I think allot like your buddy) around here and I always set them loose around my garage to kill them damn mice. We mostly have Black snakes, Gardner snakes, Ringnecks and Milk snakes which are all harmless unless you call a little bloodied hand harmful haha. Thanks for the help on the pic resizing too.

 

[Propwash]

Good to see your design on that drain all come together Kahn. Turned out pretty nice! Can't say I'd be sharing the same enthusiasm about your "little buddy" lol.

 

[HYRDGOON]

Oh, while working in the yard, my little buddy showed back up . . . he helps keep the critters away . . .

View attachment 185355

Careful Kahn I already know how this ends!

 

[conv67bdere]

Passenger quarter panel work . . .

Worked a bit on the wheel well, and closing up some of the Propwash Planetarium ( since he's the only on allowed to have one ( smile )) . . . and took a wire wheel to the passenger quarter panel to see what I had to work with . . . and it's not really that bad . . . here's the pics of the quarter . . .

The back . . .



The middle . . .



And the front near the wheel well . . .



Do I need to make my cut near the body lines, or can I cut the panel about 4-5 inches above the bottom to include all the bad stuff ? ?

My thoughts - since it's not really bad . . . cut it out . . . media blast it, weld in patch pieces, and weld it back into the car. The inner trunk extender will need some additional work to get it right too.

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Thanks for the help on the pic resizing too.

Heck 747 Mopar . . . I didn't do much but point you in the right direction, just like you do with me on this site all the time ! ! ! You figured it out.

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Good to see your design on that drain all come together Kahn. Turned out pretty nice! Can't say I'd be sharing the same enthusiasm about your "little buddy" lol.

Thanks Propwash . . . I'm happy with the drain results . . . should work out much better and protect my quarters better . . .

As for my like buddy . . . I'd much prefer him and the black snakes, then the copperheads ( poisonous ) that we have down here . . . the black snakes and the king snakes seem to do a good job of running them off ( I've asked them why - but no response yet ) . . . ( smile )

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Careful Kahn I already know how this ends!

View attachment 185639

LMAO GOON . . . it's been so long, I have NO IDEA how it ends ! ! ! LMAO . . .

 

[Propwash]

Do I need to make my cut near the body lines, or can I cut the panel about 4-5 inches above the bottom to include all the bad stuff ? ?

Personally I like to make my cuts close to a body line if possible. Main reason is the metal is tighter the closer you are, and less chance of warpage vs. open panel. That being said, you don't want to get to close where you have to worry about your old to new weld interfering with a body line. It can be a real PIA trying to properly shape any kind of body line/transition when you new weld lies in it. You also got to take a look at how much metal really needs to be replaced. If a body line is way on the other side of the panel, but the area that needs to be replaced is way on the opposite side, you may be going a bit overkill replacing a majority of the panel, when you only need to replace an isolated area. If I was in your shoes with what you got, i'd hug closer to the bottom to eliminate the rust, being its lives pretty low on the panel and is a ways from your body line.

As far as the snakes, I had a Water Moccasin latch onto my foot about 10 years ago. Silly northern kid living down south, bass fishing with Jesus sandals on. Painful experience. Damn fishing was going really well too! Anyways, since then snakes and I don't get along too well. lol

 

[kb67mopar]

I ended up cutting mine right at body lines but I am a bodywork noob too. From what I see I'd pull the inner quarter extension out and then only cut out patches of the bad metal keeping whats left as a shape guide. Yours really isn't that bad and looks like a few smaller patches would do it. But you need to get that quarter extension out to see what lurks under it. Moisture gets trapped between and causes what you see. You may find the makings of more holes behind it.

The bad news is they are a pain to get out...

 

[Benji]

Can water from the rotating tires be thrown against your drain and flow into the car?

Benji

 

[747mopar]

Personally I like to make my cuts close to a body line if possible. Main reason is the metal is tighter the closer you are, and less chance of warpage vs. open panel. That being said, you don't want to get to close where you have to worry about your old to new weld interfering with a body line. It can be a real PIA trying to properly shape any kind of body line/transition when you new weld lies in it. You also got to take a look at how much metal really needs to be replaced. If a body line is way on the other side of the panel, but the area that needs to be replaced is way on the opposite side, you may be going a bit overkill replacing a majority of the panel, when you only need to replace an isolated area. If I was in your shoes with what you got, i'd hug closer to the bottom to eliminate the rust, being its lives pretty low on the panel and is a ways from your body line.

As far as the snakes, I had a Water Moccasin latch onto my foot about 10 years ago. Silly northern kid living down south, bass fishing with Jesus sandals on. Painful experience. Damn fishing was going really well too! Anyways, since then snakes and I don't get along too well. lol

What he said, stay close to the body lines when possible and remove as little as possible. Those lower extensions are hard to see inside of to judge how much needs replaced so I would just cut out what you know is bad then you can get your figure in there and feel for more rust and just keep opening it up until it's all gone.

 

[conv67bdere]

Thanks Propwash, KB67Mopar, and 747 Mopar - I'm going to cut off as little as possible and enough to clear out the rot . . . the "good" news ( or bad news ) is the whole bottom pinch weld is completely rotted through and both the quarter and trunk extender are completely separated . . . so seeing up inside to figure out how much to cut off may not be that hard of a task.

I appreciate your input guys - it didn't make sense to cut it up "near" the body line when most of that metal is intact and solid.

Got my plan of attack - now to get to it and tackle the job . . . ( smile ) . . .

I know Propwash, "roll up your sleeves and get to it ! "

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Can water from the rotating tires be thrown against your drain and flow into the car?

Benji

Hey Beji . . . you asked the very question that I've been stewing on . . .
and trying to figure out how to prevent . . .
think I got a plan ( or an idea ) . . . but I'm all ears if you've got an idea too . . .

 

[kb67mopar]

Thanks Propwash, KB67Mopar, and 747 Mopar - I'm going to cut off as little as possible and enough to clear out the rot . . . the "good" news ( or bad news ) is the whole bottom pinch weld is completely rotted through and both the quarter and trunk extender are completely separated . . . so seeing up inside to figure out how much to cut off may not be that hard of a task.

I appreciate your input guys - it didn't make sense to cut it up "near" the body line when most of that metal is intact and solid.

Got my plan of attack - now to get to it and tackle the job . . . ( smile ) . . .

I know Propwash, "roll up your sleeves and get to it ! "

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Hey Beji . . . you asked the very question that I've been stewing on . . .
and trying to figure out how to prevent . . .
think I got a plan ( or an idea ) . . . but I'm all ears if you've got an idea too . . .

small rubber flap to cover the hole?

This is a picture from when I did mine. You can see the seem between the two parts. Its spotwelded underneath on a flange. I ended up using an air chizel to cut around the spot welds from the top (put it in the seam on the weld and gave r hell) and then welded it back up on the bottom once done. It made doing the quarter repair a ton easier and I could repair the extension in the shop instead of in the car.