#801  
Old 10-24-2022, 09:13 PM
MUSLCAH MUSLCAH is offline
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Looking good !

  #802  
Old 10-25-2022, 09:05 PM
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Great to see the steady progress and how she's coming together so nicely. I see you've decided to delete the rear center seat belts. With my grandkids, I'd be in trouble with my wife and kids if I took them out!
Ride height (...and color) is a personal thing and like others have said here, back in the 80's shackle kits and spring spacers were a common add on along with those mandatory glass packs. Looking at the Pontiac sales brochures, you could see lowered rears were common across the '69 models. I've also read that Delorean liked that look too. I played with your picture and lowered the rear in two steps just to give you an idea of how it might look. Whatever, she looks great the way it is now and also great lowered!
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  #803  
Old 10-25-2022, 09:11 PM
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Some cars look good with a rake but in my humble opinion the 68-72 A body ain’t one of them.

If you look at the top of the doors they taper downwards front to back. It gives the car an athletic look that can’t be beat, like a crouching cat ready to pounce.

Lifting the back even an inch or two makes the whole styling intent of the car disappear.

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Old 10-26-2022, 09:40 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MUSLCAH View Post
Looking good !
Thanks Muslcah! I know you are a painter so getting compliments from you mean a lot.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andretti View Post
Great to see the steady progress and how she's coming together so nicely. I see you've decided to delete the rear center seat belts. With my grandkids, I'd be in trouble with my wife and kids if I took them out!
Ride height (...and color) is a personal thing and like others have said here, back in the 80's shackle kits and spring spacers were a common add on along with those mandatory glass packs. Looking at the Pontiac sales brochures, you could see lowered rears were common across the '69 models. I've also read that Delorean liked that look too. I played with your picture and lowered the rear in two steps just to give you an idea of how it might look. Whatever, she looks great the way it is now and also great lowered!
Thanks Mr Andretti!
My springs in the rear are original. In the photos I took previously, I did have about 10 psi in the air bags. That does raise it up a bit. Today I let all the air out, put the spare tire in the trunk and re-measured the rear and got 10.5" which is about 1/2" lower than it was with 10 psi in the bags. With no air in them, the height would be the same as if they bags weren't there at all. Spec in the assembly manual is 9.1". That doesn't make sense to me how the spec could be lower than original 53 year old springs are. Spec on the front is 9.6". It's a bit higher than that now but once the seats are in the car, the front should be very close to that.

Updates - A setback:

I color sanded the rest of the car and did some test polishing. I color sanded with 1000 then 1500 paper using a Dura-Block 1-3/8" X 11" flexible block. Then I polished out a few areas on the car to test my procedures and to check out some areas where I had concern about. First was the driver side fender. There was a low spot I had just plain missed until after I sprayed the clear coat on. I hadn't mentioned it here and didn't do anything about as I had decided to wait and judge after color sanding and polishing. Well, I decided I couldn't live with it and am going to redo it. Already started on it.
Then the hood. It just wasn't reflecting things as well as I wanted to see. Can't live with it either so I'm going to redo that too. I wasn't totally happy with the reflection all the way across the trunk lid either. I probably could have lived with that one but since I'm doing the other to panels, I decided to redo this too.
Good news is the passenger side fender, both doors and quarters look good. However, I have noticed that I have some urethane wave in many places. I used this SPI Universal clear before on my '55 Bel Air but I didn't get any detectable urethane wave on that one. Only thing is that I put 4 coats of clear on this one and only 3 on the Bel Air. I also wonder if the formulation changed little since 12 years ago as it didn't seem to lay down quite the same when spraying either. I don't really know though.
Anyway, I think I have plenty of clear on the car to color sand again starting with 800 grit on a harder sanding block. I'm thinking of investing in a few plexiglas sanding blocks. I have read they work well when trying to get rid of urethane wave. I may not be able to remove all of it but I'm hoping enough to make it harder to notice. Most people probably wouldn't notice it the way it is now.

I also was surprised to discover that my process of polishing using a denim pad with Menzerna 400 compound didn't work well on this cured clear for removing 1500 scratches. I didn't expect that and haven't had that problem before. So I tried using a wool bonnet with the Menzerna 400 and it removed the 1500 scratches just fine but didn't leave as brilliant of shine as the denim pad. So I followed up using Meguiars M205 and my Rupes long throw orbital with a microfiber pad and it brought out a really nice shine that I'm plenty happy with. So that is the procedure I'll use on the rest of it when the time comes. I also have some Menzerna SF3500 I might try on it instead of the Meguiar's.

I think I would have had trouble getting a photo of the reflections I didn't like on the hood and trunk lid but here's a photo of the fender after I blocked out the area of the low spot with 320 paper on a hard board:



As you can see, I sanded through the clear and base and exposed red epoxy primer underneath. The low spot was between the 2 sanded though spots and was sanded completely out at that point.

Next, I sprayed 3 coats of red epoxy to cover up the area before a re-sand to blend in. You can see a couple of small spots where I went through on the hood too after blocking with 320. There are more sanded though spots on the other side of the hood also.



So today I moved the car out, washed it and removed the hood and the trunk lid. (Btw, no air in the rear airbags in this photo.)



My plan is to concentrate on getting the fender done first and then move the car out of my workroom and then move the hood and trunk lid in and start on those.

Other things:

I now have all the stainless for the car ready for installation. I now have 2 new and perfect rocker moldings. I bought a pair of front wheel moldings and polished the 2 original ones in the rear. Not sure I could have gotten the original front pair to look perfect and I wasn't willing to put in the time to find out.
I also corrected and polished out the top windshield molding and the wide molding at the bottom. Also the rest of the molding pieces that go on the rear of the trunk lid. Here's some of the parts:



Also after waiting since last June, I was able to get some wheel trim rings. I got them from Coker Tire and I couldn't be happier with them. I got 3" wide for the 8" rims on the rear and 2 1/2" wide for the 7" wheels on the front. The styles match perfectly with each other and all fit great.

Front:


Rear:


Got a nice surprise at the end of last week. My upholstery guy called me and said my seats were ready. And boy do they look beautiful! I'm am thrilled that paint on my headrests matches so well too. It was expensive stuff and Legendary recommend them.






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  #805  
Old 11-30-2022, 12:41 AM
will slow gto will slow gto is offline
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Unfortunate for that setback on your fender but you are only human after all. Hope you had a nice holiday, anything new to update?

  #806  
Old 11-30-2022, 09:20 PM
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Thanks Will and happy holidays to you.
Yeah, obviously I wasn't thrilled with having to repaint a few things but I didn't beat myself up about it.
Yes, I do have a few things I can give an update on.

I got the fender done and it came out well.



Before starting on the hood and trunk lid, I decided to buy some new sanding blocks. I bought a set of polycarbonate blocks from Linear Blocking Tools.



I also bought this block sander called a Curve Caster:



I re-blocked the entire hood and trunk lid out again and then sprayed more epoxy primer and blocked.
Close to being ready for base and clear but one more sanding to do with 400 grit.



The hood was a challenge from the start for me. Both the damage it had and all the complicated curves. I probably didn't have the right technique either so I've really studied more on it this time. I like the new sanding blocks I bought and think they've helped me some this time too.
The trunk lid wasn't a problem. Like the fender, I just missed a low spot.

I hadn't tested the wiper motor out yet and did that the other day. It didn't go well. It's a reproduction and made by The Parts Place. It seemed to run correctly at first but then made a strange sound and locked up. I guess I should have known better and not bought a reproduction when I could have bought a rebuilt original instead. I never did evaluate the original that came on my car. I just wanted one that was shiny and new.
I decided to bench test my original and it seemed to work OK so I cleaned it up the best I could. Cleaned up pretty well but I may have removed some of the plating from the washer assembly cover and the steel end of the wiper motor. Maybe a good coat of wax might keep those from rusting.



Snapped a photo of the driver side seat installed in the car. Since the seats will come back out for the convertible top install, I'm not going to install the new seat base aprons and backs yet.


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  #807  
Old 12-01-2022, 02:19 AM
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Wiper motor looks great, I'd use that in a heartbeat. Still using my original, seems to work fine in normal operation but makes a horrible loud clicking when I press the washer function.

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  #808  
Old 01-02-2023, 01:46 PM
Dave1969 Dave1969 is offline
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Roger was it a bear to remove the trunk hinges? I am getting ready to start the process of painting the body soon. Sorry I never started a thread but I’m not as organized as you but here are a couple of pictures.
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  #809  
Old 01-02-2023, 02:28 PM
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Hi Dave. Good to hear from you.

It was a bit of a pain to grind off the ends of the pins to get the hinges off the body but not all that bad. As I remember, I used a carbide burr bit in my die grinder.
I used shortened door hinge pins for replacements. They are the correct diameter

Frame, engine and underbody all look fantastic! SPI epoxy?
Sorry I forgot to let you know about my front coil spring choice. I hope you saw my postings about what pair I went with.

Never too late to start a build thread! I'd sure like to see all what you've done and share what plans you have for it. Are you keeping it the original color?

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'69 GTO Convertible - Acquired October 2020. An all original project car. Restomod is underway PROJECT THREAD
'83 Chevy Choo Choo SS El Camino - LT1 350/4L60e, Owned for 30 Years, completed 2nd restomod in 2018 PHOTO
2019 BMW 440ix - Twin turbo I6, 8spd auto. PHOTO
'55 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe - Ram Jet 350 / T56 Magnum 6spd, Restomod Completed Sept. 2012, Sold Sept. 2021 PHOTO

Last edited by roger1; 01-02-2023 at 02:46 PM.
  #810  
Old 01-02-2023, 02:45 PM
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Thanks for the info. I did the frame and underside with POR15. I am keeping the car blue but just a shade darker with pearl in it. Yes I seen your work with the coil springs I will have to see how my car sits before making a decision to do any changes. I’ll post more soon.

  #811  
Old 01-17-2023, 12:16 PM
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6 weeks since my last update. Things have been moving slowly for me but I'm now ready to move on with things.
I spent an inordinate amount of time blocking the hood out to make sure I was going to be satisfied with the reflections this time. I also made a few adjustments to my paint procedures to see if I could reduce the amount of urethane wave I was getting.







Very happy with them both now! I did seem to get less urethane wave too and am pretty confident that after they are color sanded and polished, no wave will be seen.

I talked to the guy at the interior shop last week to discuss when he thought he might be able to install the convertible top. He's working on just one job he wants to get out of the way first and he thought that would take about another week. . He told me to call him at the end of this week and he should then be able to give me the day to drive it on over to his shop.
So this week I am going to get the car insured, registration done at the DMV and put the license plates on.

I got the next door neighbor to come over and help me install the hood and trunk lid back on the car and then I installed the rest of the seats. Even though the seats will come back out at the interior shop, in the car is the best way to transport them there.




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'83 Chevy Choo Choo SS El Camino - LT1 350/4L60e, Owned for 30 Years, completed 2nd restomod in 2018 PHOTO
2019 BMW 440ix - Twin turbo I6, 8spd auto. PHOTO
'55 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe - Ram Jet 350 / T56 Magnum 6spd, Restomod Completed Sept. 2012, Sold Sept. 2021 PHOTO
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Old 01-17-2023, 12:21 PM
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Very nice! Love that pearly white.

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  #813  
Old 01-17-2023, 12:30 PM
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Wow, those seats really came out nice. I see so many that have been done that have weird fitment issues. Your attention to detail is spectacular. It really ties together nicely with the red as well.

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Old 01-17-2023, 12:40 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dataway View Post
Very nice! Love that pearly white.
Thanks John!

Quote:
Originally Posted by proximity_alrt View Post
Wow, those seats really came out nice. I see so many that have been done that have weird fitment issues. Your attention to detail is spectacular. It really ties together nicely with the red as well.
Thanks. My interior guy is just fantastic. He's semi-retired and I'm very lucky that he still does work for me. I got some warnings on the forum when I mentioned that he was going to use new seat foam for the buckets but I was never worried.
Parchment interior with black dash and carpet was just a great option. It goes with practically every color car too. Hands down my favorite.

Btw, I got a new helper in my shop:



About 9 months old now. Got her at a rescue and she is definitely a handful with all that puppy energy.

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'69 GTO Convertible - Acquired October 2020. An all original project car. Restomod is underway PROJECT THREAD
'83 Chevy Choo Choo SS El Camino - LT1 350/4L60e, Owned for 30 Years, completed 2nd restomod in 2018 PHOTO
2019 BMW 440ix - Twin turbo I6, 8spd auto. PHOTO
'55 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe - Ram Jet 350 / T56 Magnum 6spd, Restomod Completed Sept. 2012, Sold Sept. 2021 PHOTO
  #815  
Old 01-17-2023, 06:20 PM
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Looks an awful lot like a Terrier / Border Collie mix. Very cute little girl.

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Old 01-17-2023, 06:27 PM
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Quote:
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Looks an awful lot like a Terrier / Border Collie mix. Very cute little girl.
That's exactly what we have been thinking! Maybe a Scottish Terrier.
She's a good girl too. Loves people and other dogs. Even introduced her to children and she did well. So much energy though and she's a thief too!

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'69 GTO Convertible - Acquired October 2020. An all original project car. Restomod is underway PROJECT THREAD
'83 Chevy Choo Choo SS El Camino - LT1 350/4L60e, Owned for 30 Years, completed 2nd restomod in 2018 PHOTO
2019 BMW 440ix - Twin turbo I6, 8spd auto. PHOTO
'55 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe - Ram Jet 350 / T56 Magnum 6spd, Restomod Completed Sept. 2012, Sold Sept. 2021 PHOTO
  #817  
Old 01-18-2023, 12:56 AM
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I've had Border Collies most of my life ... she's got the focused eyes.

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  #818  
Old 01-20-2023, 12:37 AM
MUSLCAH MUSLCAH is offline
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To get that “Fat “ looking clear smooth....your first cut of the clearcoat should be 600 grit...then work your way up through the grits.

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Old 01-20-2023, 11:06 AM
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To get that “Fat “ looking clear smooth....your first cut of the clearcoat should be 600 grit...then work your way up through the grits.
That's what a lot of the guys on the SPI forum say too. Starting with 600 scares me a bit though since I only put on 4 coats of clear. I reduced the clear 5% more in order to get it to lay a little more slick too. The instructions with these polycarbonate blocking tools from Linear say to start out with 800. I did a test with these blocks starting with 1000 using guide coat and it seemed to work well too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dataway View Post
I've had Border Collies most of my life ... she's got the focused eyes.
Looking online at personality descriptions, I'd say she kind of fits a Border Collie a lot more than a Scottish Terrier. Could be another type of Terrier though but it must be a type with shorter legs. Maybe a Westie. Anyway, she seems to have the makings of turning out to be a great dog for us but right now her energy it sometimes is a bit exhausting.

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'69 GTO Convertible - Acquired October 2020. An all original project car. Restomod is underway PROJECT THREAD
'83 Chevy Choo Choo SS El Camino - LT1 350/4L60e, Owned for 30 Years, completed 2nd restomod in 2018 PHOTO
2019 BMW 440ix - Twin turbo I6, 8spd auto. PHOTO
'55 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe - Ram Jet 350 / T56 Magnum 6spd, Restomod Completed Sept. 2012, Sold Sept. 2021 PHOTO
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Old 02-05-2023, 08:31 PM
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A few things done since my last post.

I installed the original wiper motor on the car but could not get it to work properly. So I decided to buy a rebuilt original by Cardone that my local O'Reillys carried to give that a try. I did a bench test on it with success and then installed it on the car and it works just as is should. Installed my original washer pump on the Cardone motor and it works just fine too.



Installed the stainless cover at the bottom of the windshield and then the wipers.
I had bought a complete wiper arm and blade kit from Ames. My original driver side wiper arm was damaged and that's why I decided to go that route.
The new arms from Ames are absolutely fine but the blade holders and rubber blades themselves are both horrible quality.



I ordered a set of front floor mats from Lloyd's Mats and they fit nice and I think they look great.





I've now got insurance on the car through Grundy. No problem getting it for the agreed value I wanted even though the car isn't quite finished yet.
Also went down to the DMV and got my 1969 Texas license plates approved for usage and registered the car as an antique vehicle which is good for 5 years.





I took the car out for it's first test drive. Drove it around my neighborhood for about 10 to 15 minutes. It drove pretty well considering it only has an eyeball front end alignment. The brakes feel great and the engine seems pretty responsive. I haven't even looked at adjusting the fuel trim settings yet though. The transmission shifts from gear to gear pretty hard. Maybe a bit too firm for my taste. I may have to see if that can be adjusted. The throttle valve cable might need to be fine tuned too. Seems like I'm waiting for it to shift sometimes.

I have an appointment to get the front end aligned tomorrow so I hope that goes OK. Also, I'm hoping to get the car down to the interior shop this week to get the convertible top installed. That could happen tomorrow as well. Last time we talked, he told me he was just about ready for me to bring it down.

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'69 GTO Convertible - Acquired October 2020. An all original project car. Restomod is underway PROJECT THREAD
'83 Chevy Choo Choo SS El Camino - LT1 350/4L60e, Owned for 30 Years, completed 2nd restomod in 2018 PHOTO
2019 BMW 440ix - Twin turbo I6, 8spd auto. PHOTO
'55 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe - Ram Jet 350 / T56 Magnum 6spd, Restomod Completed Sept. 2012, Sold Sept. 2021 PHOTO
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