I wouldn't be satisfied with that inspection tag either. A professional should have been able to do a lot better.

The good thing is the old will never be near the new one the windshield so nothing to compare to. Unfortunately its one of those, "I know its not right so it will bug the crap out of me" things.

Totally see your point Rick. One would think that just things like font changes to make it exactly right for someone who does this for a living should be relatively easy changes. Beautiful car and congrats on the purchase and project of a lifetime.

and... We would have never noticed if you didn't show us.
You do amazing work sir !!!
Look forward to seeing the car at MCACN
Gary

Installed some small misc pieces last night and tonight such as the underdash insulation. Thanks to Mark P for supplying me with the templates to make the insulation as mine was beyond hope. What I used is not the correct material but it last better than anything else and does the job.

I also installed the right side vent assembly and dash pad. This IS the original dash pad and it cleaned up as good as NOS so I was very happy I did not have to locate one of them!

We also spend several hours sanding and polishing the original antenna and installed it back on the car. Looks much better.

I had installed the heater box cover several days ago and it again kept me awake. I used some grey rope caulking identical to what was originally used but was very unhappy with the results as they just did not match the original so I pulled the cover back off and this time used a tube latex caulk putting an excess on so that it would ooze out like the original. The old caulk looks black due to oil and dirt contamination but is very much grey when looking at the back of the original cover where it was protected. The new caulk looks white in the photo due to the flash but is actually a darker grey. With a little drying time it will match the original perfectly. This time it worked and I will be able to sleep tonight.

Inspection Sticker
 

Our car had a Kentucky inspection decal on the window dated 1970. In the interest of keeping the car's history intact I hired a company to make the reproduction decal. I worked very close with the gentleman who made it demanding an exact copy and he got it as close as he could. It is really not as close as I wanted it but I have not been able to find anyone else who can make them so it will have to do for now. I guess I am just a little pickier than most.

Rick,

I wouldn't be happy with that sticker either. Have you ever tried ECS in St Louis for stickers? I had good luck with them on a conformance label for my TA several years ago.

I use ECS for other decals and never thought to ask them might give that a try. Thank you.

Nice ooooooze on the heater box seal. Hard to reproduce and you did it well. Great progress as usual. Keep up the good work. Loving the thread. Phil

My Baltimore built 69 Chevelle has the same rear antenna but mine was broken right at the bottom so if you know if anyone had another let me know

I sent you a PM.

jl8z28 I sent you an additional PM.

Last night we worked on the hold off valve, master cylinder and lines. Some minor detail work left to do such as stamping the front brake hoses and adding the "S" clip to the lines. The clip that holds the lines to the master cylinder is natural steel and has the part number. The bolt that holds the cad plated bracket to the master is one that I have never seen before so it was reused. After coming across a photo from the disassembly I saw that the brake booster was held onto the firewall with nuts and NO lock washers so I need to go back and remove the washers.

The dash installation was not as easy as a 70 version in my opinion nor does it fit as nice. Many thanks goes out to Phil Woj for supplying me with over a page of step by step hints with regards to the best way to install the dash with regards to what goes in first followed by the next. After installing it I am glad he did it as I would have done it in a different order and it would have caused me major headaches.

The gauges were all rebuilt but the faces are original and only needed a careful cleaning. The dash still wears its original paint, only the chrome trim was redone. The tach and monitor were both purchased from members as our originals were in very bad condition.

I also included some detail shots of the radio mounting for those that might be able to use it.

Tomorrow the headliner will go in. Then the carpeting will be laid in, cut and seamed under the seats. Once the seaming is done the sound deadener will get installed and then the carpet. I am having the stencils for the PPG glass custom made and as soon as those are done I will acid etch them into the glass and install them and the door panels.

Where the master cylinders not painted black and then the machined surfaces would be natural? I know Camaros they were from the factory although it didn’t last no time. Just gaining knowledge.

My experience has been that they sometimes but not always put a flash coat of black on them. They were then machined on the front where the code was stamped as well as the two flat surfaces where the outlet lines were attached. I restored ours with a light flash coat of black and then machined the surfaces as can be seen in the photos. Our original hold off valve showed no signs of any paint on it so I restored it as such. I found no date stamping on either piece.

Today was headliner installation day. I usually like to stay home for these. LOL First thing people need to remember is to route their dome light wiring. Forget that and it will ruin your whole day. Cover the floor in padded blankets or towels as well as any part of the body that is exposed so no glue gets on it. I also cover the dash area.

From there it is really a matter of getting the headliner very warm prior to installation (hard in March) and to stretch it evenly, carefully and slowly. Make sure you use a quality commercial glue and NOT one from a spray can. None of them work. We use both a steamer and a heat gun to help remove any wrinkles and crease marks from shipping though laying it out in the sun before installation works best. Be careful with the heat gun to not apply too much heat. This will not only over stretch it but will gloss up the black headliner in the area that received too much heat. Caution must also be taken with a steamer to not get it too wet or over steam it.

We cut some used headliner side molding trim into many short pieces about 4" long to use as clamps when gluing. Office spring clamps also work well but do tend to get in the way. After everything is up and glued then I replace the pieces with the stock moldings to help hold everything in place but this cannot be done until the sail panels are in place.

I reused the factory insulation pad under the package tray as it was still in good shape and simply glued it to the replacement package tray.

The said panels are usually the worst. I always order mine as non glued pieces. I then slightly dampen the cardboard and place it gently roll it over a large piece of PVC tubbing to give it a slightly bowed shape. Then I let it sit overnight with a weight on the center and propped up on the outer edges to retain the shape. Once it has taken a set and has dried I then gun spray glue the headliner material to them. This will allow the sail panels to conform to the C-pillars without the headliner material bubbling due to you trying to curve them after they have been glued. During installation I glue Velcro strips to the face of the C-pillar as well as the back of the sail panel. This will then hold the C-pillars to the shape you made them in. Todays installation took about 3 hours.

Weather permitting, roll the car outside in the sun, close the windows and allow it to bake the interior especially on a very hot day. This will pull the headliner even tighter and remove any small wrinkles and creases not already removed. If you recovered you seats, have them in the car as well as the heat will do the same thing to them. Hope this was helpful.

Note: The black tape holding the intermediate wiring harness to the floor was only done so that it did not move around while we put the headliner in.

Looks fine and FINE Rick. Love the blow by blows! Thanks! :headbang:

Yowza , Fine work Rick..

Installed the shoulder belts, holders and coat hook then onto installing the visors and I remembered I still need a pair. If anyone has a set of original and mint or near mint visor pivots I will be happy to pay up for them as I do not want pitted ones.

Some excellent work on the inside....keeping the bar high Rick!
Poking holes in a stretched headliner is oh so nerve racking!
Nice to see the oem jute on the bottomside of the package tray also.

Great work guys. I would never in a million years even attempt to do a headliner....best to let the experts take a crack at it.

Thanks for the reply. It appeared in the photo to be natural finish. :beers:

It does look natural. I tried some different lighting and you can see a flash coat of black. I rarely ever see them fully covered in black (though they did) so I chose to just flash coat this one to give it a black tint so there was not as much contrast between it and the natural hold off valve.

Last night was the steering column and firewall mounting installation. I have included several original photos of how it looked and how we restored that area and the hardware.

The Quietride firewall pad comes with the pad that goes around the steering column just like the original though it does need to be cut out for the steering column, clutch rod and brake rod.

The speedometer cable clip was on the original cable but not attached to the firewall plate. When I tried to attach it, it would pull the cable up tight against the clutch rod so I left it off just like it was originally.

Oddly enough the accelerator pedal attachment bolts were zinc as I usually always find them black oxide on 70 Chevelles. Regardless we restored them as found. The accelerator pedal rod and retainer were both a dark grey phosphate and were restored as such.

Finished up the steering column tonight and installed the under hood insulation.

Notice that the steering column cover and ashtray are slightly duller than the main dash. This is normal and I see it all the time on the 70 Chevelles. None of these pieces were repainted, only cleaned thoroughly and reinstalled.

The rear seat divider was not perfect but was reusable and since it was the original I elected to use it instead of the wannabe reproduction. I do not like the looks of those when looking thru the trunk so this works for me.

Tonights project is to finish up the firewall forward wiring then onto the carpet and window regulator installation.

It's interesting your rear seat divider has the 2 large holes punched out Rick. My '69 sedan had that in excellent shape and the round holes weren't punched out. They were perf'd, that's it. Maybe a difference in the "cabin pressure" between the sedan and hardtop??

Virtually very 70 I have torn down had both holes punched and usually when I have looked in the trunk of any survivors (both 69 and 70) I can always see seat springs. I know this as I usually use that as an access point for my bore scope when looking for a build sheet.

I did check my files and Phil Woj's survivor does not have them punched. Hmmmm, I wonder if the Racoons had anything to do with mine being punched out? (seriously) I do not recall finding the cutouts laying in the car however...….

Damn, now maybe I will have to use that garbage reproduction. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

My Chevelle had the holes knocked out of the seat divider when I first got it with 19,000 miles on it. It's a Kansas City car though.

I can't think of a reason they'd be knocked out other than cabin pressure. Same reason they added the door jamb reliefs with astro ventilation. My sedan doesn't have astro ventilation so there's no need to equalize pressure.
I'll thumb through the Fisher manual later. Certainly could have been missed by some line workers.

Rick,

If your original divider board was punched out, I’d leave it. I just checked my file photos and my 4A car was not punched out. Maybe Grady can chime I with what his car has. I’ve seen them both ways on Baltimore cars. I don’t recall off hand what my COPO has. Will find out later.

Nice job on saving the package tray insulation. I did that on one of my cars and was surprised at how easy it was. You have to have good insulation to start with though.

You are really cruising on this project!

Very nice.

Phil

Both Grady's blue COPO and 300 are punched. He messaged me earlier. I decided many years ago that I would not restore our cars per popular vote or majority rule but rather how we found them if we knew for sure they were unmolested. Doing anything else messes with the history of these cars.

67-69 Camaros have a rectangular holes in the same area of the divider. I heard it has something with air being able to escape when people sit down ..Joe

Phil, we are making good progress but working nights and weekends is getting old. I'm hoping we can wrap this thing up in a month or two. Still need a few parts and will post a wanted ad soon. I just realized tonight that I believe these hoods use a rear V shaped weatherstrip across its entire width. That will not be fun to locate and the repos are nothing close.

Nice low mileage steering wheel.

Thanks so much for all of the pictures. There is so much detail going into this that no body would ever get to see if you had not posted pictures.

Even though it was low mileage it was not in perfect shape and I still sent it off for restoration to make it perfect. Expensive but worth it.

That was one of my main reasons in doing so, to help others with their projects. I love the behind the scenes stuff on these cars and love detailing them to the 9's especially in areas that are somewhat hidden. I am weird like that.

Before some hammer on me, there is a reason why my wheels were painted black. I purchased a set of day 2 take off wheels and tires from a collector who bought them from Vince Emmy. These came off an original COPO early in life from what I was told. I cannot confirm that however. Usually I always see Dove grey on the backs of these while NOS wheels are commonly black. The fact that these were very low mileage take offs from a COPO was the reason why we restored them in black. In addition, the YH's I had off the Maroon 69 Z28 which was totally original and had survivor wheels were also back on the back so that is what I did. Pictured in the stack of tires/wheels off that Z28.