57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'

[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.

[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.