7/6/1946…..U.S. began producing car again after World War II. It is a bit misleading but some cars companies did continue to produce cars. At the very onset of the war (1942 thereabout), some of the first effort were to build the cars without all the chrome, painting the trim instead, the first “blacked out” (they were actually called “blackout specials or models” ) which became popular with the grilles in muscle cars later on. Washington dictated that stainless-steel and chrome would not be allowed on cars except on of bumpers, bumper guards, and windshield wipers.
Caulk another tasks down on the restoration of the Mustang.
I finished up the pillar post molding last night. Here is the before:
Pretty?
Now these were not as labor intensive as the dash-pad but here were some issues.
We’ll walk through them.
The removing the dash-pad was chronicled in my earlier post and that was pretty quick now that I’ve done it twice.
Once the dash-pad was removed there is an additional piece that needs to be removed, or at least a couple of screw removed on each side. That is the top molding:
Top Molding
In the picture above I’m pointing to one of the screws in the top molding that runs the length of the windshield. That screw is actually through the pillar molding which is partially behind it. The top molding has 5 screws, two on each end and on my coupe the fifth is in the center and holds the plastic snap for the ends of the sun visors. That screw does not have to be removed there is plenty of play after the removal of the four other screws, to safely (without forcing anything) remove and install the new moldings.
The next step is removing the two additional screws that hold the pillar molding to the pillar.
Screw Marked Remove
and this one:
Second screw to remove.
It’s tough see there but here is a good clear picture…that old mold was so deteriorated it actually fell apart.
Lower molding screw.
When I said it fell apart…….
Yup. It was in bad shape.
The other side came/fell off the same way, in pieces, nothing left to do but snap the other pieces on and…eeerrrrkkkk(insert braking sound)…”Yeah..anybody know if you can insert sound in there a WordPress blog??” ….cricket..cricket…cricket……huuummm where’s my…oh I have no staff…well, only when my son visits (he does some on my graphic design..more on my new logo search later..maybe you all can vote on one??) back to my eeerrkkk…we need to discuss quality of workmanship for reproduction parts. That won’t be a long discussion..”sucks”…there ya go, end of discussion.
But really I know that they try, and I am grateful for something that looks almost as good, especially for a rare car like mine (…meaning not very sought after..at least not yet…therefore the profit in making any unique parts is next to nothing.)
One of the first things about this particular molding is that is about 1/2 the thickness of the original and made of light plastic. This worked out because the holes are not exactly lined up and there was a larger problem.
Offset isn't correct.
As you can see the molding on the right (the original) where the screw driver blade is located, is recessed about 1/2 an inch, if not a little more. On the left (new molding) there is almost only about 1/4 of an inch..maybe a bit less. If the material for the new molding was as rigid as the original there would be no flex in the material and the lack of offset for tab on the new molding would not have allowed the use of the original screw, it would have been too short. Additionally, screw holes A and B in the picture below were not aligned properly and would not have enough ”give” but allow installation, if it was stiff as the original.
Improperly aligned.
Was this engineering genius or happy mistake?
Generally, the fit was close, not contours car show inspect-able close, but close enough for the local guys. But if you can find parts made from “original tooling” (we talked about that when I was install the dash-pad for the first time) buy those, if your Average Budget can handle it. These molding just aren’t available in any other tooling.
With the holes in the wrong place it took some pressure and jostling to get them into place. One tip I can pass on is do not tighten the screws until you have them all started. I had to leave the top two screws out far enough to allow movement to get the bottom screw in.
Keep the screw loose to maneuver the piece around.
In the end the result were pretty good. You be the judge.
Left side
Left side bottom (and my vette in the background)
Right side (and my neighbor's truck...like you need to know that!!)
Left Side bottom
Over all it took about 3 hours with interruptions with phone calls and neighbors stopping to chat. It’s like Soaring over on www.MustangV8.com forum said..”Those are the kinds of tinkering jobs I like. You get satisfaction you can actually see.” (BTW – I like that forum, the Classic Mustang section is great.)
If you searched and found or followed my posts on restoring the dash-board of my ’70 Mustang, then you might recall my planning/scheduling issues.
As I was taking the old dash pad off, I realized that I hadn’t order the plastic pillar molding. When I finally called a few Mustang parts supplies places I found them all to be out of stock and they had to put them on back order. They did finally come in and it’s taken me a bit to actually find the time to replace them. Well, this long 4th of July week, I’m at least going to get started. (I have also do the valve cover gaskets as well.)
So here again is what I’m replacing:
Yeah..had to get creative to keep them on.
Pretty?
Now the new molding comes in any color you want as long as that’s black. You’ll need to paint the proper color. If you have the specs for you car you’ll easily find the interior color and places like National Parts Depot or Mustang’s Unlimited have the paint for the job. I had to do this with a replacement armrest. Which was horrible – replicas all came square and my Mustang’s armrests are rounded and have the overstuffed look like a leather sofa or overstuffed chair. (I ended up pick up a use one in good shape and painted that..I think it was tan originally.)
Oh..sorry…I wandered!!!
The first think you have to do is prepare the plastic for holding paint. The guys at National Parts Depot recommend SEM 38353 Plastic/Leather Prep. I’ve used it and it seems to do the trick. Pretty simple….Spray surface, pay attention to recessed areas, wipe with clean cloth. Use some gloves if you have office worker hands and put out the cigar while you using this stuff.
SEM 38353 Plastic/Leather Prep
Sticking with the SEM brand I purchased a can of Universal Color Coat. I used this paint on the aforementioned armrest and it lives up to the “Flexible Coating” label. My Mustang’s interior is VP-15945 Vermillion.
6/30/1953 – Corvette debuts at NYC Motorama. That’s a big deal. 6/30 is also my birthday. Yup…5 years later to the very day the Corvette debuted my parents had another mouth to feed!!!
1953 Motorama Corvette..And so it began!!!
What? You thought my baby pic…No Way!!!
And 11 years later to the day the last Rambler was produced that was 6/30/1969.
1969 - Rambler made a few fine cars...um...this wasn't one of them.
7/1/1908 United Motors was formed. They build car components, at one point include Hyatt Roller Bearing Company (anti-friction roller bearings), New Departure Manufacturing Company (ball bearings), Remy Electric Company (electrical starting, lighting, and ignition equipment), Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, later known as Delco Electronics Corporation (electrical equipment), and the Perlman Rim Corporation. It was later purchased by General Motors.
Also on 7/1 the Graham auto plant in Canada produced its first Prosperity Six in 1931.
1931 Graham
Again on the same day Pontiac selected Bunkie Knudson general Manager in 1956. Bunkie Knudson – race car driver and innovator.
Another biggie….7/2/1992 the 1 millionth Corvette was built. It was a C4 Convertible. Grabbed a picture of it at the National Corvette Museum while I was there a couple weeks back.
1,000,000th Corvette at the NCM. Photo from my trip.
Hey..I’m still looking for abandon car pics. Email them to me timsweet@cox.net or drop by Average Guy’s Car Restoration, Mods and Racing facebook group. Pls include a general location.
I still have two DVD’s to give way!!! Here’s my latest.
1939 Packard. Originally from Texas, it got left here in AZ and now sits outside Boot Hill in Tombstone, Az.
1939 Packard.
1939 Packard Originally from TX.
Still got the flat head tucked under the hood.
Just needs a little TLC on the interior...yikes!!!
YEAH!!!! I know!! Where have these been…right? Sorry, but I think I’m back on track.
My Mustang has an old school 4 barrel Holley and although it starts pretty quick after a few pumps of pedal to get the mechanical fuel pump to push gas where it needs to be. But if your old school muscle car or race rod sits for a while or you swap carbs often, you can spend some considerable time cranking on the engine. This might seem like no biggie, but it can cause lobe failure on a flat-tappet cam.
For my Holley there’s a better way.
You need to locate your float-level sight plugs.
Holley - image not from my mustang
A different configuration
Take a plastic squeeze bottle…. (Do you really need a pic of a squeeze bottle?) Well just in case…
Bottle Pic you don't need!!!
this type works the best…. and fill the float bowls with fuel until it trickles…(very little trickle…no fires…please.)
Float Bowls
This should be enough fuel to allow the fuel line to fill from the tank. According to the specs a Holley can run 45- 60 seconds on full bowls.
6/22/1934 Hitler contracts Ferdinand Porsche to build cars with let to..you know the VW and later the Porsche!!!!
1934 VW
In 1958 on 6/26…just four days before I was born the first Datsuns was exported to the U.S.
1958 Datsun.
We use to laugh at them. My father and I once cut a wrecked B210 in half and replaced the entire rear and 1/2 of the roof from a donor car.
That was kool!!!
6/14/1832 – Nicolaus Otto was born in Germany…”Who?” He invented the gas motor engine. An engineer and experimenter, Nicolaus Otto invented the first practical alternative to the steam engine in 1876 — the first four-stroke internal combustion engine. He called it the “Otto Cycle Engine,” and as soon as he had completed his engine, he built it into a motorcycle.
The Otto Motor powered Cycle
6/16/1903 – The BIGGIE….Ford Motor Company was established. On the same day in 1953 Ford introduced the power steering. (Two for the price of one)
Also on 6/16/1896 Jean Peugeot was born in Paris. Founder of Peugeot the auto maker. The family began with coffee mills and bicycles and then cars.
6/18/1943 Tom Gale was born in Michigan, Flint to be more exact. His Dad was a designer for Buick and his grandfather worked the assembly for Buick. Guess where he went to work when he finished school….nope….Chrysler.. Gale became head of design in 1985. He previously worked on the some of the iconic cars such as the E-bodies-Barracuda and Challenger and was a major contributor to the Chrysler Portofino concept car.
1987-Chrysler-Portofinow Concept Car
6/19/1947 the Tucker shows up in Chicago.
The Tucker-Torpedo - I love these cars!!!!
And on the same day, 1969 GM produced the 4 millionth Cadillac.
This isn't actually "THE" 4 Millionth Caddy..but you get the idea.
Coming to you live from The Witt in downtown Chicago, it’s me typing on my laptop. Three more days to enjoy relaxing and seeing the sights.
Speaking of sights..what I don’t see is a lot of muscle cars now or old…errrk… let me explain “lot” in this context it means…. “almost none”. I’ve actual only seen one newish corvette (C6 – convertible) and a 1968 Mustang. The Vette was on the street and the Mustang was parked in an alley. That’s it!!!.
Muscle Car Drought..the only Vette I've seen!!
Ok…hang on, if you think I just sit and type uninterrupted..nope…not much chance of that.
My better half is here in the Windy City, at an international interior design event, where she’ll be giving a talk on….um…some interior design subject….um….yeah…I pretty sure that’s right and I tagged along. Nice little vacation where I can tool around a big city, which I enjoy doing from time to time. What’s my point…umm…oh yeah….so I just ran out to get pick her up a couple of items while she is practicing her presentation. On my return trip back to our hotel I spied a beautiful custom 2010 Mustang..so..that makes three!!!
Would you drive your vintage or newish muscle car around a large city? Let me say that I’ve been walking and taking cabs and even ridding on top of the double-decker tour bus and I’ve seen how these Windy City dwellers drive….I’d have to day…..I don’t think I would. These folks drive 50 miles an hour between stop lights…but..still I might consider it early on a Sunday morning!!!
Oh…bTW…I know these guys!!!
My Parts Guy.
Oh and in the category of hanging 1930 Chevy’s….here ya go…a 4 door sedan at Portillo’s.
