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.

[mongocanfly]

Very slick Vic...

[Ol Blue K20]

That looks and fits very good. SWEET!

[Lokin4AReason]

The silver and the chrome seems to blend in with one another . Nice combo . . . And good progress

[knomadd]

Looking good Vic! That color and trim combo are great!!!

[Vic1947]

Thanks, everyone! Got the windshield wiper kit installed over the course of the last couple of days. Posted an overly long-winded video on You Tube...

https://youtu.be/p5RY_WZ9aV8

[mongocanfly]

Great video Vic....nicely done

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Great video Vic....nicely done

Thanks, Greg, occasionally it's easier to post video than try to write up something.

I've been forced to re-engineer several components as I put things back together. Despite mocking up various sub-assemblies, I find I didn't think far enough ahead. When I installed the throttle pedal into the spot I'd prepared, it was too close to the O2 sensor. Had to drop that section of the exhaust pipe, cut it off below the sensor bung, rotate it about 20 degrees and then re-weld it. It's not that it took a long time, just that I hate going backwards and doing something over. But that's what happens when you modify these old cars.

Also ran into a different issue with the steering column cover. When I blew the car apart, I somehow lost the U bracket that holds the lower cover in place. I bought a replacement from one of the suppliers and thought I was ready to go. However, when I actually went to install it, I could tell it was nowhere near a bolt in deal. On the tri-five forum, I found a thread that partially described the problem. But in the end, I spent about a half hour completely recontouring the bracket to fit. I'm not sure why the aftermarket can't get this stuff right. Seems like it would take no more effort to build the forming dies for a proper fit than force the enduser to beat the piece to death with a hammer.

[Ol Blue K20]

Nice job on the video Vic. I just watched it, this car is coming out great.

[Low Elco]

Good Progress! Keep it up!

[67ChevyRedneck]

I haven't checked in on this in a long time... and WOW. Love it. I normally don't give silver cars a second look, but very very nice!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Nice job on the video Vic. I just watched it, this car is coming out great.

Thanks, Dale!

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Good Progress! Keep it up!

Hey Chip, talked to your Dad today and he mentioned you've taken on another project. Wish I had your energy!

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

I haven't checked in on this in a long time... and WOW. Love it. I normally don't give silver cars a second look, but very very nice!

Thanks very much, Jesse. As you probably know, I'd planned to liven up the silver by doing a two tone with a candy red. Didn't work out (time & money) but the silver works well with the Bel Air trim.

Revising things I thought were already done seems to be my lot in life here lately. I've been working on the dash, routing some wiring, installing the a/c ducts and etc. I have a number of electronic modules that need a home and they can't all fit in the old glove box space or under the console. So I made a list and divvied up the lot and decided to build the mounting plates for them. After installing the panel that goes in the glove box, I decided to mock up the console to determine a good location on the trans tunnel. It had been months since I last worked on the two piece console project and I knew I needed to trim some additional material off the sides where the Volt piece fits up against the box I built for the Alpine NAV unit and speakers. Much to my dismay, when I assembled everything, I immediately saw that the ends of the Volt console overlapped the opening for the NAV screen. I had no choice but to lop off the corners of the console. You can see the difference in one of the photos. The initial cut has been done on the driver side while the passenger side shows the problem I encountered.

The issue with this mod is that it left a couple of gaping holes. I ended up doing the same thing I did awhile back with the side panels - built a form then poured self leveling seam sealer in the gaps. I then applied a little plastic filler to smooth out the surfaces to prep them for the vinyl wrap. Since I had to destroy the vinyl I'd previously applied, I had to do that over as well, but I was pretty happy with the end result. I need to adjust one of the seams a bit, but other than that, it's about ready. Maybe now I can get back to my mounting plates.

[Low Elco]

Too Cool! I'm diggin' that console. I don't have that much energy-I'm just not that smart. I bought the biggest steaming turd of a 78 SWB in Jackson County for me, then Was a softie and took in a 67 GMC Stepper to finish out for someone else. In the middle of wiring now. I wish posting pics was easier, I miss making threads. But it's too big a PITA when I'm already tired. Can't wait to see this on the streets!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Too Cool! I'm diggin' that console. I don't have that much energy-I'm just not that smart. I bought the biggest steaming turd of a 78 SWB in Jackson County for me, then Was a softie and took in a 67 GMC Stepper to finish out for someone else. In the middle of wiring now. I wish posting pics was easier, I miss making threads. But it's too big a PITA when I'm already tired. Can't wait to see this on the streets!

Me too, Chip. Got a long way to go, though.

Been doing a lot of little things like finishing up the tack strips, welding some spuds into the B pillar for the shoulder harness and prepping my universal wiring kit for installation. One of the problems I have to resolve is placement for the various electronic modules. Also, the EFI has it's own harness, part of which will reside in the passenger compartment. The Vintage Air evaporator and duct work removes a significant amount of real estate under the dash. It's already in the way of a lot of other stuff like the clock, glove box and the surface mounted a/c outlet on the passenger side. So I'm trying to mount as many of the boxes under the console as is practical.

I located the main fuse panel in the same general area (kick panel) as the stock unit. Had to revise the various wiring bundles to work with my layout, but most of the wires are now ready for terminals. Meanwhile, I had to finish the surround for the console so I'd know what kind of room I have for electronic stuff. I left about 3/8" clearance between the surround and the walls of the console. That will allow the upholstery shop to carpet the sides of the surround like they do at the factory. Then when the console sits down in place it will have a nice finished look to it. Used some foam weatherstrip to mock up the clearance and traced a pattern on the top of the bench to use as a go-by for forming the sheetmetal. All the angles and curves were kinda tricky, but it doesn't have to be precise. The carpet will hide all the ugly.

[Ol Blue K20]

Console looks very nice. The wiring looks scary to me.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Console looks very nice. The wiring looks scary to me.

And that's only half of it, Dale. All the EFI, stereo and power window wires are yet to be sorted out.

Meanwhile, I've got the SPW Power Wonder Lift units installed in both rear doors. I shot the sitting ducks first since I had a Re-Pops kit for the window channel that's supposed to be a direct fit for the four door wagon. I was a bit bummed that the channel was about 8" too short on the hinge end of the door. I have a separate kit for the front doors that's meant for the vent window delete, so I had extra channel in the Re-Pops kit. I cut off the length I needed and scabbed it into the U-channel. From there it was a pretty straightforward installation. Cut rectangular openings in the inner door panels and welded in the brackets that came with the kit. (Be sure to cover the glass when welding and grinding.) Cut the excess off the brackets, smoothed out the edges then tested the operation with my 12V power source. Both sides go up and down nice and smooth.

Now just have to do the front doors. The kit I have for the vent delete has straight pieces of window channel, so I'll have to bend them to fit the longer front windows. I wish they'd been pre-bent like the Re-Pops kit. It's really easy to screw up the stainless beads when making those bends.

[Vic1947]

It's been a fairly productive week. Got the front window channels for the vent delete formed and installed. All the power lifts are in and working as well. Inside and outside fuzzys have been adjusted and fastened with 3/32" rivets. I was caught a bit off guard by the shape of the front windows, Didn't realize they aren't quite parallel front to rear which means they only fit in a certain direction. They also get a bit snug in the channels when rolled all the way down but not so much so that it affects the operation.

After finishing the mechanical part of the power window install, I started work on the wiring. The suicide doors open very wide at the rear and there was no practical way to run a cable from the door to the jamb. I picked up a set of Carolina Custom wiring eliminators off of eBay to solve that issue. Using them means the windows and rear speakers won't work with the doors open, but that's a minor inconvenience. I still had to machine a couple of spacers to get the contacts to work properly. After a couple of adjustments, everything lined up very nicely. I'll probably use wire looms in the front since I don't have the same problem there.

[mongocanfly]

Pretty slick Vic..!!

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks good, it's coming along nicely.

[CG]

That silver with the chrome and polished stainless looks fantastic. What a great combo!

To think when I was a kid in the 70's we trashed perfectly good rust free 4 door sedans and wagons just to get the front clips and misc bits and pieces off of before we had the rest hauled off. Gotta love hindsight.

[mongocanfly]

Yep..theres alot of us with those "if Ida known then, what I know now" stories...

[Vic1947]

When i look back on the various cars I've owned, I get a bad case of the woulda, coulda, shoulda. On the one hand, I'm grateful for the memories, but on the other, nearly everyone (including myself) considered them to be disposable. Tear them up and trade them in on a newer model. Very few forward thinking individuals had a buy and hold strategy. But the ones that did are sitting pretty. Except maybe for the guys with a low mileage Yugo.

[Ol Blue K20]

I agree that the color combination and trim looks fantastic. But, hindsight is 20/20 and us old guys didn't see what was coming. I'm glad to see a four door/wagon getting it's recognition!!!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I agree that the color combination and trim looks fantastic. But, hindsight is 20/20 and us old guys didn't see what was coming. I'm glad to see a four door/wagon getting it's recognition!!!

Thanks, Dale!

For the last week and a half I've been consumed by the wiring. I'm probably a little less than halfway done. The thing I dislike the most about this task is that I have a hard time thinking far enough ahead. Seems like I'll get deep into some part of the process only to realize I really need to back up due to an unforeseen obstacle. Two steps forward, one step back. At this point, I'm getting locked into a layout I'm going to have to live with. My upholstery guy is expecting the car by the first of December, so not much time left for do-overs.

The FITech wiring, controller and fuse panel are all in place, the dash controls are wired and I'm set up for most of the remaining modules - just need to get them mounted and wires terminated. Easier said than done, though.

I couldn't see any of the indicator lights on the Dakota Digital instrument panel and where they're supposed to show up. So I contacted DD support to see if they had a drawing of the gauge face annotated with the locations. They wrote me back right away and told me to just hook it up and test it. Was hoping to avoid that, but gave in and did it anyway. It has built in right and left turn signals, but I'm leaning toward using the original lights. The rest will activate thru the DD module. More later...

[Ol Blue K20]

I hope it all goes smoothly and easier than you think. I have my fingers crossed for ya.