57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'

[Vic1947]

Thanks, everyone. Glad you've got your window problem under control, Scott. I'm not much of a carpenter, so better you than me!

I've been busy installing the last of the stainless trim as well as the EFI tank. Someone on the Tri-Five forum posted a couple of photos with some basic dimensions for the Fuel Injection emblem and flags for the front fenders. Like almost everyone else there, I was a bit bewildered by the factory assembly drawing, so I got out my dial caliper and scale and set about drawing the actual hole locations in my little CAD program. Once I had everything laid out I printed an actual size copy for both sides and used it as the template to center punch and drill the holes. Then as my buddy Jay said - it was pucker up time. However, in the end I was very pleased with the results.

The factory manual references using a curved surface to form the flags for a better fit. They really need it as the top and bottom edges stand up quite a bit off the fender. I didn't have anything handy to form it the way the factory manual showed, but I improvised. I placed a 1/8" thick strip of rubber in my box and pan brake and set the flag emblem on it and while holding pressure on it bumped it up a little at a time. Moved about 1/8" toward the edge and repeated. After about a dozen iterations, I'd created a nice curve that fit the fender snugly. The speed nuts that were included with the flags were too small (metric maybe?) so I used a 6-32 die to partially thread the posts for installation. The FI script came with the correct inserts so I was able to push the emblem in like it came from the factory.