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

[conv67bdere]

Odds and ends . . .

Got some new abrasives in today, and heard that they work very well, but I thought I'd give them a try . . .



Here's the back of the quarter panel . . . not attached anywhere along the entire length . . .



So, now I've got another question . . . the white line shows the outside edge of the wheel, it'll hit the rolled in wheel well . .
Do I need to consider customizing the wheel wells to make the wheels fit better and nit hit the rolled in area ? Hope that makes sense . . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

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.

I'm going to look into doing it this way KB67Mopar . . . good idea ! ! ! Only the very bottoms are really bad - most of the rest is very solid . . . I'm going to investigate . . .

Thanks for the great idea . . . ( smile )

 

[747mopar]

Gotta agree with KB, seems a little easier to fix it by taking the extensions out of coarse you already know. Those clamps I'll be sending you will come in handy already haha. All they are is your standard forked welding claps (vise grip style) with a steel jaw welded on and a piece of 1/4" copper pinned to them. If you don't know already weld doesn't stick to copper and it is used as a backer for filling holes so when doing the spot welds you just clamp it with the fork straddling the hole and weld away. It holds the panels tight by holding it on both sides and with the copper backer you can crank the amps up and never blow a hole "works awesome".

 

[conv67bdere]

I'm such a newbie , , , Argh .. . . can't believe I did this . . .

Alright . . . I wasn't going to fill in all the details here, but I did what a newbie welder would do . . . here's the scoop . . .

You remember my battery box area, couldn't weld it so I changed it like this . . .



Well after learning the light under the welding trick, I put the light under this area and had to fill pinholes . . . they blew through . . . got pissed at wasting all my time so I cut the whole area out to replace it with a clean, flat panel instead . . .



So I started this last night and thought I was ready - got it in place, turned on the gas, ready to weld, the fit was not right - shut off the gas, worked on the fitment . . .

After a while, got everything fitted better, grabbed the welder and welded the panel in place ( with one small missing factor ) FORGOT to turnt he gas BACK ON ! ! !
I'm such a KLUTZ ! ! ! So here's the result of the "first" welding . . . wondered why the welds were darker and showing some black ( not trying to match GOONs engine compartment ) . . . ( smile )



So . . . just so I could get MORE practice . . . turned the gas ON this time and re-welded the entire panel . . . and did some initial grinding . . .



Another view of the same are . . . I'm really happy with the results ( the second time WITH the gas on ! ! ! ) I'm such a KLUTZ ! ! !



Still needs a bunch more grinding and clean up . . . BUT . . . I really like the final results ! ! !

Chalk 1 up to being a newbie ! ! ! ( blush ) ( ok, make that ANOTHER 1 . . . . )

 

[HYRDGOON]

Kahn I am sure you're not the first to make that mistake and you certainly won't be the last! Besides since you so badly want it black to match my engine compartment it was a smart move

Final results look great brother! Not get ready... Fer Grindin'...so you're ready FER RACIN'!!

 

[Propwash]

Looks good! Sure can tell you're digging the acquired welding skill. Who new it was so much fun making sparks eh? lol

 

[747mopar]

That flat panel sure made that inner fender look really clean, great job Kahn.

 

[kb67mopar]

Now its time to get one of these out with a nice small 60 grit disk and listen to the hum....

If you don't have one...you will after you try it! (no reccomendation on brands here, mine came from harbor frieght)

 

[conv67bdere]

...so you're ready FER RACIN'!!

GOON . . . you crack me up . . . thanks ! ! ! ( smile )

Looks good! Sure can tell you're digging the acquired welding skill. Who new it was so much fun making sparks eh? lol

I enjoyed it so much Prop . . . I decided that I needed to do it twice ( shaking my head ) ( sigh ) . . . ( smile )

That flat panel sure made that inner fender look really clean, great job Kahn.

Thanks 747 Mopar . . . got so frustrated - I chopped it out . . . but now I'm glad that I did ! ! ! ( funny how that worked out )

Now its time to get one of these out with a nice small 60 grit disk and listen to the hum....

If you don't have one...you will after you try it! (no reccomendation on brands here, mine came from harbor frieght)

Thanks KB67Mopar . . . I've got one of them, but only have 120 grit . . . gave it a try . . . WOW . . . need to get some 60 grit and try it out ! ! !

I also need some kind of water separator for the air line . . . that's for sure ! ! !

 

[conv67bdere]

Little bit of shop time - pin hole fixing and a little mini tub grinding . . .

Got a little bit of time in the shop tonight, had to work on closing up some pin holes in the new panel in the engine compartment. Then spent a little time grinding a bit on the big welds in the mini tub, to try and get them smoothed out a bit . . .

While working on them, I noticed this, and don't think I've show the view from inside the car yet . . . so here goes . . .

Driver side ( original ) wheel well from inside the car . . .



The new wheel well on the passenger side from inside the car . . .



Thought this was cool . . . a part number on the top of the wheel well ( passenger side )



And found this walking my dog up the driveway, he wanted to attack it . . . I'll let the black snake run off the copperheads !



Then . . . I saw a wild turkey in my backyard today too . . . I'll have to get that pic from my other camera . . . ( at least they worked better then my phone )



Titus was not too happy with him being in the yard and wanted out to go get him . . . maybe I should have let him catch my dinner ? ? ?

 

[747mopar]

Haha, Turkeys have been pretty scares around here this year (usually see groups of 50 in the field but this year maybe 2). As for your dog going after the snake................not good, I let my dog go after one just out of curiosity and it didn't end well at all. The second the snake turned it's head to look at me she snagged it up (mid body) and started shaking it until it's whole rear section went one way and it's front another way, she had about 6" left in her mouth "brutal". If you want to laugh your *** off get your dog to attack a toad (I really like toads), they let off some weird chemical that makes the dog look like they just drank a bottle of dish soap and they foam and bubble at the mouth profusely (hilarious especially when they're not smart enough to quit). On a good note the Toad wasn't hurt but my gut hurt from laughing so hard. Have you ever smeared peanut butter on the roof of your dogs mouth? Absolutely hilarious as well, trust me they love it but they'll sit there tonguing it off the roof of they're mouth forever and looking quite goofy in doing so haha.

 

[Ron 73]

Your getting it done and having fun to... cant beat it bud! Looking good, turkey dinner maybe to

 

[conv67bdere]

Your getting it done and having fun to... cant beat it bud! Looking good, turkey dinner maybe to

Hey Ron . . . Nice to see you back, haven't seen you around for a while . . . yes, learning, having fun, and plugging away at it ! ! !

 

[hunt2elk]

Are you living on top of a snake hotel, or what? Hate to say it, but you won't ever have to worry about me dropping by and over staying my welcome. Can't stand snakes for some reason. I can handle everything else, but not them.

 

[Ron 73]

Hey Ron . . . Nice to see you back, haven't seen you around for a while . . . yes, learning, having fun, and plugging away at it ! ! !

Thanks buddy, its been awhile, lots of things going on here. Im still doing the "plug away" but sometimes ya get side checked with life's way's, lol... workin it out and hope to get in hear more frequently!!! Keep on keepin on my friend!

 

[conv67bdere]

Are you living on top of a snake hotel, or what? Hate to say it, but you won't ever have to worry about me dropping by and over staying my welcome. Can't stand snakes for some reason. I can handle everything else, but not them.

LMAO H2E . . . Not really a snake hotel, but I'm in a pretty rural area, with a big wooded cow pasture that backs up to my house, and a lot of woods around . . . I've only seen (2) snakes so far this year, but with all the yard clean up that I've been doing ( clearing out all the underbrush in about 1 acre area ) I guess you're going to bump into them once in a while . . .

BTW H2E . . . you're always welcome to drop by . . . they're not really that frequent ( I guess I just tend to notice them ) . . . and I'm glad they're not copperheads.

Oh, I don't really care for them either

At least I don't wake up to find this . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Little bit confused on the spring relocation brackets . . .

So I wanted to work on getting the spring relocation kit installed on the passenger side, so it's time to do the math and layout.

Here's the brackets - very nice and very stout !



First, I bolted the original front mounting brackets, and transferred the bolt hole location to the frame with a socket:



Here's the mark on the frame rail - so I can check the new bracket hole alignment . ..



Time to get a measurement from the front - 1 7/8 inches . . .



And measurement from the top down - 2 3/4 inches



And the new bracket - from the top down - 2 3/4 inches . . . ( to the middle hole - it has 2 additional adjustment holes too )



And from the front on the new bracket - 1 7/8



BUT WAIT . . . look at where I'm measuring - from the face . . .
Now there is an extra 3/16" of metal that is going to be bolted to the face of the original mount.

SO . . . my holes have just been moved rearward by 3/16" ? ? ?

Did I do something wrong in my calculations . . . or I need to call US Car Tools and discuss this with them ? ? ?

 

[747mopar]

I think if you really want it perfect and they don't offer any assistance I'd cut the locating ear off and use the original hanger to locate it with a long bolt just like you did with the socket and move on. I'm getting a little impatient to see this thing go back together haha.

 

[Ron 73]

I agree with 747 on this one.. patience is a must on this stuff and tests come often sometimes i think were all nuts for doing these things lol... Oh and snakes are good for a lot of things but, ill watch from the sidelines myself!!

 

[conv67bdere]

I think if you really want it perfect and they don't offer any assistance I'd cut the locating ear off and use the original hanger to locate it with a long bolt just like you did with the socket and move on. I'm getting a little impatient to see this thing go back together haha.

Thanks 747Mopar - I thought about that as a "fix", but then it'll also move the tail of the bracket 3/16" forward and I wonder how it'll affect the fitment at the back of the bracket ? ?

Guess that could always be filled in with weld . . . ( I'm getting better with that too )