57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'

[Xeen]

I'm not a big station wagon guy, but damn you make it look good!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

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

Originally Posted by Xeen

I'm not a big station wagon guy, but damn you make it look good!

Thanks, guys!

Tomorrow is a big day - headed to the upholstery shop. Got sound deadener in from front to back and installed the rest of the steering linkage, etc. to make it easier to move the car around. Rollback is supposed to be here around 9am in the morning. Not sure how long it will take to do headliner, carpet, windlace and door panels, but Jeff assured me they wouldn't let it sit. Meanwhile back at the ranch, I have some work to do on the radiator and a few other minor projects. I've pretty much decided to sand down the grille bar I had spray chromed and paint it body color. I hate to piss away all that expense, but it looks like warmed over death. Hope to get some progress shots at the trim shop and will post when I do.

[mongocanfly]

Great progress Vic..!!

[Ol Blue K20]

That's a lot of sound deadened. I bet that made your arms sore rolling it. I can't wait to see some pics of the interior going together.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Great progress Vic..!!

Thanks, Greg.

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

That's a lot of sound deadened. I bet that made your arms sore rolling it. I can't wait to see some pics of the interior going together.

You're right about that Dale, my shoulders were barking at me by the time I was done. I use a plastic trim tool to nail down the deadener as it seems to get into the nooks and crannies a lot better. But it does take a little longer.

They have the windlace and headliner in already. Went down today as they had a couple of questions about the layout for the door panels. What they've done looks very nice. I requested that they split the windlace so that it would be gray next to the silver trim and black everywhere else. That way when you look thru the windows you don't see a black strip that looks out of place. It would probably have been okay to do it all in gray, but since it's custom made anyway, might as well match it up a little better.

Back at the ranch, I'm still working on the core support and inner fenders. I punched the holes for the a/c bulkhead plate and mocked it up. The lines from the evaporator will pass thru the inner fender and connect to the back of the bulkhead plate. That way, the only lines visible in the engine bay can be kept compact and tidy. (I hope.)

[Ol Blue K20]

Headliner is looking nice. Looking forward to more pics.

[Low Elco]

Lookin' great!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Headliner is looking nice. Looking forward to more pics.

Thanks, Dale, I only have one photo of the vinyl cover on one of the wheel wells. I haven't been down there since last Thursday, so they probably have a lot more done. I'll sneak down there this week and take some progress shots.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Lookin' great!

Thanks, Chip!

While the car is at the trim shop, I've been fabricating a fan shroud. I have twin PermaCool fans that just fit in the core support opening side by side. I wanted to be sure I had plenty of air thru the shroud at highway speeds, so I added six vents around where the fans mount. While scrounging around for material to make the hold downs for the rubber flaps, I knocked several small pieces of aluminum sheetmetal scraps off the shelf where they were sitting. Watched in horror as they bounced off the floor and into the top of the fender sitting close by.

I didn't even want to look but did anyway. No dents, but four tiny chips in the pristine paint. I'm in the process of touching them up, but it's hard to get back to 100%. Will take several days to slowly build up the layers, color sand and buff. Probably only be noticeable from less than a few feet and mainly just by me - but still. Careless mistake.

[mongocanfly]

Oh no.!! ...the horror...sounds like something thatd happen to my paint..

[Ol Blue K20]

Oh no!! I'm glad the damage is minimal. I'm looking forward to more pics.

[nsb29]

I know the feeling not thinking I Disconnected one airline from another not holding onto the one I was disconnecting the pressure in the line cause it to flip up and put a nice little ding right in the middle of my hood not in a inconspicuous place

[mongocanfly]

I went to harbor freight and bought a bunch of moving blankets...they're cheap...and I ve got most of my painted stuff covered..cause I know with my luck its gonna happen

[Vic1947]

I appreciate the sympathy guys. We've all had those OH CRAP moments so it makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one. Misery loves company as Mom used to say.

I went down to the trim shop this morning to deliver the power window switch retainers that arrived in the mail yesterday. No pictures though. The guy that's been working on the wagon has been sick since last Thursday. Jeff was quick to say it isn't Covid and he expects him back tomorrow. However, he'll be off all next week on vacation, so that sets the schedule back as well.

With the fan shroud project pretty much complete, I decided to make a run at salvaging the grille bar. Figured I didn't have anything to lose if I screwed it up. I'd just paint it body color if I had to. So I used 1000 grit wet or dry paper and a soft pad to knock down the worst of the orange peel, then followed that with 1500 paper. Used a 3" orbital with a foam pad to polish it out. It looks better than it did - which isn't saying a lot. But it's worth installing it to see how it looks once the front clip is all together. I can make a final decision then.

[sduckworth13]

The grille bar really does look great Vic! That shined up real nice!

[67ChevyRedneck]

Give it enough time and you'll forget where the touch ups are. It's going to eventually get a few rock chips here and there, you'll touch those up too and move on

That doesn't mean I wouldn't have cried when that happened

This thing is simply gorgeous.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

The grille bar really does look great Vic! That shined up real nice!

Thanks Scott, I'm hoping when it's installed the minor imperfections will disappear.

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Give it enough time and you'll forget where the touch ups are. It's going to eventually get a few rock chips here and there, you'll touch those up too and move on

That doesn't mean I wouldn't have cried when that happened

This thing is simply gorgeous.

Thanks, Jesse! You have to be closer than a couple of feet to see the chips now that I've filled them with color, cleared and compounded them. With a metallic it's really hard to get a perfect repair since the flakes never lay down like they do out of the spray gun. But I agree, by the time we hit the highway and pick up some road rash, it will all be a distant memory.

I've been giving my bead roller a tune-up. Welded some 1.5" square tubing to it to stiffen it up and stop the lateral movement when rolling. I'm also fabricating a fence for it. Plan to roll some offsets into a couple of pieces of aluminum for the radiator bracket and the tailgate. Too shaky anymore to freehand it. Will post photos when done.

Meanwhile, I made a trip down to the trim shop to check on their progress before they shut down for Christmas. They got the wheel wells finished as well as the panels that go between the wells and the quarter window trim. They put in a french seam and a couple of recesses which look really nice. Pictures don't do it justice. All the carpet is in as well. It's darker than it appears in the photos. Flash makes it look washed out. The list is down to the kick panels, door panels, the box for the stereo that fits up against the console and the carpet on the back of the rear seat. Jeff said they should be finished before the end of the month. Getting exciting!

[mongocanfly]

Looks good Vic?...!!

[Ol Blue K20]

Grill bar looks good to me. The interior is looking good this far.

[Vic1947]

Thanks, guys! My bead roller project is complete except for disassembly, sand blasting and powder coating. As a test, I used it to roll the offset lines in the radiator cover/bracket and they turned out straight as a string. Kathy is my ace helper. She runs the handle while I feed the material. The reinforcement ribs make a huge difference in how smooth the rollers turn. And the fence is key to the straight lines. I should have made those mods a long time ago, but I do so little bead rolling anymore that it seemed more work than it was worth. Definitely found out that was not the case. Total material cost at Metal by the Foot was a little less than $40.

There's a YouTube video I watched on how to convert it to a motorized setup using a SBC flex plate, starter pinion, Foredom foot controller and a HF variable speed 1/2" drill. If you have a used flex plate and starter pinion laying around, you can do the conversion for under $100. However, as long as Kathy's arms hold out, I'll forego that mod.

[Vic1947]

Door panels are done. All that's left to do are the covers for the lower part of the B pillar, the kick panels and the box for the stereo and a/c controls. Hope to pick it up tomorrow afternoon and bring it back home.

[mongocanfly]

door panels look great..!

[Ol Blue K20]

It's looking awesome!!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

door panels look great..!

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

It's looking awesome!!

Thanks, guys!

Thursday was a red letter day - wagon made it back home just ahead of the sleet, snow, freezing rain and just generally crappy weather. Feels good to have it sitting there when I breeze thru the workshop door. I've already been hard at it undoing a lot of their work. Despite my pleading to go easy with the glue gun, there's a lot of material nailed down where I need access. I think the prime directive for upholstery guys when it comes to glue is Moore's Law. If more is better, too much is just right.

Anyway this wouldn't be an issue if I hadn't decided at the last minute to tear out most of the wiring I already had in place before delivering the car to them. Now I'm having to route wires thru areas that they carpeted and glued vinyl down. Very gently prying up the material to get the access I need. I mounted the new main fuse block in the same general location as the original, but had to relocate the EFI fuse block. Time to start running the new wires. The American Autowire kit is much better quality and more easily customized. I was a bit surprised that the 22 circuit kit didn't come with dedicated fuses for power windows, seats, locks and etc. But it does have several generic slots. And due to it's modular design, I can repurpose any unused circuits.

Now all I need to do is squeeze my creaky old body under the dash and get on with it.

[Ol Blue K20]

I'm glad it's home, but it sucks that you have to tear into it like that. I have faith in you though!!

[Low Elco]

Glad it made it back home!