[Greg Reid]

Where are you located Judas? Entire country is cold this week from what I hear..but it's relative, ya' know?

[Judas]

Most definitely. The people of MN would wish for temps as 'toasty' as ours, but its not typical to be locked into single digits-teens (before taking off more for windchill) on the central PA-MD line. This is not "mountain country" either.

I've started going out and pre-warming my vehicles so I can grasp the steering wheel.

-J

[Greg Reid]

We've been in the low double digits a couple of times this week and that rarely happens here. Highs in the low 30s. Weatherman says at least one more week of these temps.

[Judas]

Yeah, its brutal. We left the Harrisburg Farm show and it was 4 by time we got home, -7 wind chill. Overnight is 0 with a wind chill of "this is bull****".

[Judas]

Its been a while and I've got a lot of updates (and pics!) but for now; just some teasers so you know I am still alive. Finally the savage winter is over- I think I had about 2 months less this year to work outside thanks to the cold.

Stitching the driver's quarter on completely is nearly complete, but work continues. Welding, at this point, is something I have to force myself to do.

I bolted on the driver's mirror which is, of course, much easier without the window installed but I did it after-the-fact. The access holes to the studs were so far off it was pretty amazing, even for China. Luckily, I could get enough access to drill new ones and get the mirror on. To be fair, overall this repop door is a quality piece, but they definitely botched this one aspect.

Next up was finishing the trunk weatherstrip channel. All remaining pin holes were welded, ground down, and the channel painted. I probably should have put 2 coats on but this car is not to see rain again. After drying, I installed a new weatherstrip and now I have a sealing trunk.

Speaking of rubber, I also installed the door seal on the driver's side. Like so many repop parts, the fit was poor at the ends (or perhaps its the door?). I found out this strip has 2 different sized alignment studs and someone (door or strip) has them reversed. I had to expand the holes along the front of the door to fit.

I discovered the problem with the speedo cable is this is the wrong cable for this car/trans. The cable is held on with a hold-down while the trans is a threaded cable. I never hooked it up and forgot about this. I'll have to order the correct one.

A problem I've run into (and if you can help- please reply!) is the seal between the stainless upper window channel and the car roof. Its this super hard, tar like substance. Anyone have any way to get this stuff off? It's given me so much trouble I wish I had never taken it off.

Finally, after all this work over the years, I allowed myself to start one of the fun projects I've been looking forward to. Stay tuned because I have some pics coming and will post again shortly!

[Judas]

And now for something Fun!

As a reminder, this car is a resto-mod, not a resto. It has so many repop parts in it, it would *never be considered original by any stretch besides the numbers matching engine.

I am about mid way through constructing a custom console to hold a touchscreen GPS/Radio/viewscreen/etc. I went through great pains to not alter the original dash or console yet I wanted it to look like it belonged there. I started the usual way with cardboard templates and worked up to a 1/4 panel. The lower front plate that wraps around the original console is 1/2 wood due to the long skinny parts (I was afraid the 1/4 would come apart). The only perm. addition I made was a set of captured nut braces welded to the trans tunnel. If (after I am dead) someone wants to remove them, they can do so easily with a grinder (or whatever they have in the future. Maybe a fusion cutter?)

The hard part of this was locating the first brace then using it as a point of reference to locate the other. The end fitment is super tight (esp to the dash bottom)- in fact, I'll have to sand it down to allow the thickness of the wrap material. As shown in the final pic, a gap magically appeared after working the face place but I will shim it and all will be well. Very happy with the product thus far.

In the end, the original console will also be re-wrapped so everything will look more integrated. The original console wrap has failed anyhow and easily peels off.

Besides the wrap, whats left is making a filler piece for the original console to replace the fake wood panel and "fill" the hole to the top and wiring up the head unit/speakers. Also some finish sanding of course...

[64speed]

Keep plugging along I am right there with you. It’s gonna take me years but slow and steady wins the race.

[Judas]

Heres some quick updates with pics on the way.

At long last, I cleared all the stuff out of the trunk, vacuumed it, wire brushed all surfaces to remove scale (yes- including my repairs) then painted the whole thing. I have to put another coat on, but just 1 coat of that glossy black sure makes it look better. I'll post a pic of this soon.

Ditto the car interior. It was time to get rid of all the bits, tools, cardboard, and all manner of things in there. I didnt paint the whole thing yet, just a portion, but just cleaning it out was a bump for the morale.

On Father's Day, I took it out for a test drive and my buddy (driving behind) pointed out that the driver's rear wheel appeared to be wobbling. Upon inspection it turns out that I had snugged the nuts after a repair but never torqued them. Good thing it was a short test run! I torqued them down and checked all the other wheels to be safe but it was the only one. I recall I had taken that one off to do some metal-work in the wheelhouse a while back. Hopefully this will cure the weird "something feels off" sensation I was getting while driving it. Bottom-line: When you are taking stuff apart this regularly, something as basic as torquing lug nuts can be forgotten.

I installed the drivers door weatherstripping. The fitment was not good at the ends, and some of the pegs were either too large or the holes on the door were too small. Unsure since both parts are repros. I did eventually get it worked out by re-drilling some holes.

Other projects currently underway:

My radiator has a nipple for boil over, yet the car has no overflow bottle. None is listed in the catalog either so I suspect the radiator I have is not exactly the correct one for this year. To that end, I am installing a overflow bottle. I found a really great fitting one from the junk yard off a mid-90's GMC truck. Currently I am making a bracket to fix it to the core support on the pass. side of the radiator. It really has that "belongs there" look, even though its not true. Pics to come!

I am building my own package shelf insert. Sure, I could buy the cardboard one but this one will be much cooler, trust me.

Setbacks: I recently discovered that the tail-lights are not illuminating when the headlights are on. I really, really hope its not the switch because I am pretty sure I'll have to pull the dash to fix it. So...odds are this is the problem. I'll be looking into this soon because it means I can't drive the car after sundown and I do hope to be close to driving it very soon.

The passenger side headlight is very dim. I am going to hope this is a bad ground or something. When I tested it before, it was mid-day and I don't think I was aware of how dim it actually was. IIRC, but unsure- don't the bezels have to come back off to replace the lamp?

The pass. side highbeam is completely out. I am pretty sure this is because I need to ground it- I remember checking it out as "OK" in the past.

The engine still does not run all that great IMO. its fine at idle and under throttle but when cruising at low speed, it feels like the engine is 'loading up' and missing. I suspect carb trouble (and If you have been following along, you know I have nothing but trouble when it comes to carbs, from the "junk from the factory" Edlebrock to the Holley that failed after about 30mins of total use and so on...)

Thats it for now, but more to come!

[Greg Reid]

My radiator has a nipple for boil over, yet the car has no overflow bottle. None is listed in the catalog either so I suspect the radiator I have is not exactly the correct one for this year.

Early cars had the overflow nipple without the bottle. They just overflowed on the ground if too much pressure built up or it was overfilled. I never had one on my first '68, I don't have one on my present '68 and I don't have one on the '66 but they all have a rubber tube routed down next to the radiator to the bottom of the core support.
I'm not sure when the 'closed system' with overflow bottles became the standard...sometime in '69~'70 possibly?

[Judas]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Early cars had the overflow nipple without the bottle. They just overflowed on the ground if too much pressure built up or it was overfilled. I never had one on my first '68, I don't have one on my present '68 and I don't have one on the '66 but they all have a rubber tube routed down next to the radiator to the bottom of the core support.
I'm not sure when the 'closed system' with overflow bottles became the standard...sometime in '69~'70 possibly?

Ah! I did not know that. Thanks for the info! The addition of the bottle will still be cool IMHO. I should have it on this weekend, maybe tonight. I quite enjoy the small upgrade projects here and there. I always make sure these are reversible too. For example: In this case I am using existing, but unused, holes in the core support. This particular bottle also has a "leg" molded into its bottom to help support it as well.

[Greg Reid]

It's not a bad mod. Someone had added one to my '68 when I bought it. I still have it but just didn't put it back on. I've never lost any coolant...so far.

[scott70]

Cool project !! My 70 gto just dumps on the ground too if needed and its original. The only thing I dont like about making custom things like the screen box is when it goes bad,,that part will be obsolete and the next one wont be the right size to fit your box. Happens quite a bit where I work. Especially in electronics,,,2-5 years and you cant find that item anymore.

[Judas]

Originally Posted by scott70

Cool project !! My 70 gto just dumps on the ground too if needed and its original. The only thing I dont like about making custom things like the screen box is when it goes bad,,that part will be obsolete and the next one wont be the right size to fit your box. Happens quite a bit where I work. Especially in electronics,,,2-5 years and you cant find that item anymore.

Electronics isn't my bag, but I thought radios/touchscreens where made to some kind of standard? Like the old radios were "DIN" and the touchscreens were "Double DIN" or something?

At any rate, then I'll just have to build another.

Thanks for the props!

[Judas]

Alright, heres some of the pics I promised. For some reason, my phone refuses to send me the one of the trunk (gets stuck "Queuing") but here are a few others.

The first is the overflow bottle. Like I said before, I think this looks like it belongs as the style matches the windshield cleaner bottle. Luckily the overhang of the core support hides the gruesome bracket I made. Infuriatingly; I managed to weld the bottle mounting bolts facing the wrong direction then had to cut/reweld them. Btw, the feed for the bottle is on the bottom- the tube coming out of the cap is a "dump it on the ground" final overflow.

The next is the package tray progress. Here I've outlined the cut I'll have to make in the glorious faux leather.

The third pic is visually confusing so i'll explain. Its a shot of the dash interior through the glovebox toward the center of the dash. The point of interest is the GPS antenna at the picture's center (has the black wire coming out of it). It turns out to fit perfectly on the little shelf that held the mono speaker. I am hoping the speaker grill above it won't impede the signal, but time will tell. The antenna is only held on by a magnet (integrated into the unit) so moving it later will be easy. And yes; I missed quite a few spots painting the underside of the dash plate but that orange is red oxide coating, not rust. I think I meant to put on a second coat but forgot...oh well...

Finally; Bella has saved me mountains of time and money by applying a hot custom paint job. Actually I was working on the car and she said "You should paint it." I replied "What color should we make it?" After a moment's thought she goes "Rainbow! A stripe of purple and red and yellow" while gesturing where this should all go. I said "Go get your chalks and show me." So she did. Its a little thing that does nothing bad to the car, comes off easy, and made her very happy.

***
Unfortunately I wasn't as happy on Sunday when the GTO decided to play mind-games with me. The taillights (non brake) were not on. On the good side, the Head light switch is easy to get to. However, I decided to spare my back and took the seat out for maximum comfort. Good thing I did- I was going to be here for a lot longer than expected.

I took the headlight switch out and tested all the leads (both hot) and then the switch, terminal by terminal in all positions. I then applied power directly to the light circuit and the lights came on. I re-assembled everything and the were out again. Perplexed, I removed the HL switch and checked the leads. All hot, so I used the switch while on the floor and it worked. Then I put it back in the dash and it stopped working again. Repeat, but this time while it was working, I put the switch back up to where it goes and held it against the dash (grounding short?)...but it kept working. Utterly confused, I put it back on the floor and the tail-lights went out. I checked the lead wire and it was dead.

So in short, it was a short. The hot wire for the tail lights was spliced in by a splitter to the main power. The splitter, I believe, was only making partial contact. Once I cut it out and popped it open, it had barely cut through the insulation of the main wire. I got rid of it and used a large "yellow" tube connector with 2 wires on one side, and one on the other. Doesnt look as clean but now I have lights and they are noticeably brighter. I don't trust crimp connectors though, so I'll probably solder/shrink wrap this later when I replace my recently deceased soldering iron.

That solved, I began to look into the headlight issue. After a bunch of nonsensical readings (6v?) at the headlight sockets, I back tracked to the wires. I skimmed off some insulation to take readings. I've deduced that at least one problem is I have the high/lowbeam hot wires switched. When the low beam light is on, the high beam wire is hot and vice versa. The root of this is the wires are swapped at the dimmer switch. Luckily the seat is still out so fixing this will be quite easy next time out. Thats all for now!

[Judas]

The Riddle of Lighting

I went out to tackle the headlight problem once and for all. The short form is that its fixed and I now have 4 lights, all nice and bright. If you want to know how I got there, read on. The problem was way more complicated than I thought.

So, my first order of business was to de-terminal the dimmer switch and swap the wires. I put it back together and tested the system. To my surprise and chagrin- it changed nothing.:The low beam was on when the high beam wire was hot, and both lamps came on when the low beam was hot. But this is only for the driver's side. On the passenger side, I also had the same problem as before: a dim low beam when the driver's low was on, and no highbeam in any situation.

Confused yet? No? Let me add more then: when the driver's low *only was supposed to be on, I also noticed the highbeam was actually faintly on too. You wouldnt be able to see it in daylight, but I could in the shade and looking closely. One other detail that seems extraneous, but will become important later: the parking lamp on the pass side is dead, but not the drivers. If you are savvy with electricity, its probably a clue to you (but wasnt to me).

Utterly mystified, I detached all the sockets and began tracing all wires. One issue I discovered is I accidentally had the high beam wire on the low beam terminal of the pass. side light. Switched it up (using temp connections till i sort this mess out). On this test, the *drivers lamps now work properly (correct lighting for the wire that is hot), but the pass. side *still is dim low, no high.

I sit back and think about whats going on...the low, high, and parking have a common ground and thats also what I've been touching to do all my tests. I check this and find the ground is bad on this side. But here is the part that blows my mind: Its not the wire. Both circuits (pass and drivers) ground to the long, flat, top part of core support. On the drivers side, this is not an issue. On the pass side, the same part does not work. I tried jumping directly from the hot wire, through my meter, to the cleaned, sanded, shiny connection point on the core support and got virtually no current. I am no electrician, but I'd love to hear how this can be.

I ran a dedicated ground wire from this side back to the battery and the system works perfectly, including the parking light. Now mistrustful of using the core support as a ground, I decided to patch both sides into this ground wire (its thick enough to handle it) and connect it to one of the optional connectors on my negative battery wire. As usual, I soldered and shrink wrapped all the new connections to make it as reliable and professional looking as possible.

Quite a frustrating situation, but at least its fixed and onward we sail...

[Judas]

"Thats right. Your eyes are not deceiving you."

(Details to come )