[njsteve]

I dug through my old collection of bumper bolts and found 10 original flat capped bolts. I polished them up nicely and installed them on the bumper The bolts they sell today just aren't the same in terms of the way the caps "dome out". They should be nearly flat to be correct. (sorry about the glare and smudges -its nearly impossible to get a good photo of chrome)

[njsteve]

I've been playing with the original console in the car. The four speed consoles are extremely rare. To add to that they were all made of this extremely fragile vinyl covered plastic that cracked in a million pieces the first time your girlfriend tried to sidle up to you in a romantic ferver. The one in this car seems to have been from a den of inequity judging by the dozens of fractures in it.

While it looks like hell from underneath, from the top it looks pretty good once I dyed it with the correct flat black vinyl dye. The secret to glueing these things is to use a 2-part plastic welding epoxy and a bracing material: either flat plastic stock or wooden paint stirrers. Actually, the paint stirrers worked great for the areas needing more structural intergrity. I just coated the area with the 2-part plastic epoxy and then clamped the wood in place and covered the repair in more of the epoxy.

It's sturdy enough now to hold handle a Brittney and K-Fed, Smokey and The Bandit drive-in reunion date.

[njsteve]

After getting the console finished, I cleaned up the factory 8-track player. I disassembled the front of the deck and soaked the brackets and the 8-track door in the www.safestrustremover.com stuff. As usual, it came out amazing considering what they looked like to begin with. I also repainted the upper mounting face plate and reinstalled the entire unit in the console. The 2 pound console now weighs about 12 pounds with that giant stereo unit bolted in.

[njsteve]

And looky what I just found to put into that tape player:

[Norwood]

Looking great

[carcollector]

As always, nice work.
Where on earth did you find that 8-track tape? Going thru old boxes I managed to find an old "Leaf Garret" tape.......I don't want to talk about it.

[Larry Navarro]

Sure would be nice if there was some sort of way to restore the chrome "bead" that surounds the shifter escutcheon. I've tried a paint pen but its not the same.

[Norwood]

Larry, when you figure it out let us know

[carcollector]

Guys, there is an art store here on the left coast called Michaels. They sell a silver metallic felt marker that looks almost dead-on chrome. It's a little pricey and you have to shake it regularly. It does great and enables you to draw a nice even line.

[Norwood]

They got Michaels here too

[Larry Navarro]

I used a "Testors" model paint pen years ago on a chevelle gauge cluster. It was close but just didn't have the same look as chrome.
I'll check out the nearby Micheals and get one to try out.

[Geeto Tiger]

I've seen you restore alot of things but how are you going to restore the 8-Track tape?

[njsteve]

I'm still thinking on that one! Any ideas? Anyone...Bueller?
;-)

[rwfisher]

Look up a product called Bare Metal Foil for the chrome trim. If you contact them they can do some custom sizing for you. The product is made for model builders to simulate chrome trim. I used it on my '69 dash bezal and it has held up great. Pretty easy install also. Clear coated mine to make it hold up better.

[carcollector]

I tried to photo the shifter bezel the best I could. Here are two pics. The chrome trim was completely gone before I used the silver-metallic pen. It looks better in person.

[njsteve]

I took on the seatbelt project over the weekend. This car has the deluxe seatbelts with the satin chrome covers on it. Since it is an early (12A built) 1972, it has the 1971 style shoulder belts that have the bizarre little plastic retainer that screws into the headliner. They employed a 7" section of black elastic that, over the years stretches out to 20" and no longer holds the shoulder belts above your head. Only recently have the unique plastic retainers been reproduced. (Though some guy on ebay has been selling them as "NOS" for $90 for 2 years now )

I spent a day cleaning the belts after removing the covers and push buttons. I soaked the whole set in a solution of 10% Purple Stuff and 90% hot water. I let them soak for about a half hour and then gently scrubbed with a plastic bristle brush and rinsed them in hot water. I then hung them out to dry in the 95 degree sun. They came out squeeky clean and even the labels looked a whole lot better (I was extra careful using the brush on those).

Here is the full set of belt measurements and part numbers:
(all measurements are from end to end fully extended)

Female buckle ends:

two 34" rear seat belts labeled 46-c-71 model 1912 (label on topside of belt)

two 33" front lap seat belts labeled 46-c-71 model 1912 (label on the underside of the belt)

two 29" shoulder harness belts labeled 45-c-71 model 1052 (label on the underside of the belt)

Male ends:

two shoulder belts, 35-1/2" labeled 45-c-71 model 1052

two front seat belts, 20" labeled 46-c-71 model 1912 with long rubbler sleeves

tow rear seat belts, 15-1/2" labeled 46-c-71 model 1912


Pictured below is the unique seatbelt drying rack I have patented.

And the full belt set after drying. As you can see the shoulder harnesses have a whole bunch of stretched out elastic that needs to be replaced. Also shown are two of the labels.

[njsteve]

Here is the strange shoulder harness mounting system used on the 71's and early 72's. The male buckle end clips onto an extremely fragile, clear plastic, do-hicky. This one actually survived 35 years in one piece. Normally you only find the screw left and no plastic do-hicky. This piece is now reproduced for about $32 a pair. Also shown is the extremely stretched out elastic that once was 7" in length and is now 20" with a shortening knot halfway through it:

[njsteve]

All of the release buttons were missing their paint from years of pressing. There were relatively easy to redo. I just sprayed the entire button with flat black paint, let it dry and then flipped them over and gently sanded them on 600 grit sand paper. It took the paint right off the high spots on the logo and looked brand new.

[njsteve]

I then tackled the elastic issue. I went to my local Michaels Craft Store and bought a 48" package of 1/2" elastic from the sewing aisle. It only comes in white, so I had to also buy a small bottle of black fabric paint. Cost: about $7 total. I then soaked the whole strip of elastic in the fabric paint and let it dry on the rack outside in the sun.

The first photo is the shoulder belt in it's original state. As you can see the 7" long section of 1/2" elastic stretched out to 20" of 1/4" elastic over 35 years.

I gently trimmed the factory stitching from the elastic and removed it after marking the area with some chalk. (There is a left and right belt and the elastics go on opposite sides). I then cut a section slightly longer than the original distance between the two mounting points, folded the ends and hand-sewed them onto the belts. And Voila, the finished product

[carcollector]

Nicely done. Steve, I notice your labels now look like new, I was wondering did they have that yellowish-brownish aged color before you cleaned them?
Chris.