[cleveweld]

Tempest Power Tailgate Window (Safari)

"... will let you raise or lower tailgate window by a simple touch of the finger. Permits greater circulation of air ... enhances appearance, too."

In an attempt to make everything electrical work on the Tempest, I finally put the tailgate parts back together. I had rebuilt the 2 side windows with new rubber and fuzzy u-channels. Also cleaned and painted the power window mechanism. I preserved the original yellow part # by covering with a piece of tape.

Electrical contact to the window is made by a set of brass contacts on the body and tailgate that come together when tailgate is closed. The window operates up and down smoothly now.

The car had a damaged tow hitch on it when I bought it. It appears it was rear ended while towing a small trailer which then struck tailgate. I have a spare tailgate if I should need it.

Last year I found an NOS tailgate molding. Last pic. The single most expensive part purchased for the car.

[cleveweld]

My attachments got lost. Here they are.

[b-man]

That original paint looks amazing.

I’d never paint it if it were my car.

Even the dents in the tailgate don’t look too bad, they give it character. You could always enlist the services of a paintless dent repair specialist to perhaps get the dents taken out or at least minimized as best as possible.

Such a great wagon!

[cleveweld]

Originally Posted by b-man

That original paint looks amazing.

I’d never paint it if it were my car.

Even the dents in the tailgate don’t look too bad, they give it character. You could always enlist the services of a paintless dent repair specialist to perhaps get the dents taken out or at least minimized as best as possible.

Such a great wagon!

Thanks B-Man!! Patina has become a popular look. They're only original once. The rear bumper is too badly damaged to put back on. It did it's job. The Tempest wagon bumper is different from the coupe and convertible and has a step down so tailgate will clear it.

I found 2 decent wagon rear bumpers located near me. I'm going to contact the owner soon and see how much he'll want for one. He's a bit pricey. He has a whole junkyard full of vintage cars and trucks.

Also thinking about painting the gray primer front lower valance so it will match the rest of the paint. I had stripped and primered it before deciding to leave body alone.

[b-man]

Pant blending is an art that’s being performed on a lot of original paint cars, finding someone who’s adept at this might not be easy but worth pursuing.

I’m heavily into the old VW buses (1950-1967), in those circles preserving original German paint whenever possible is a huge priority. When rust repairs are performed having the repaired areas blended to match the original paint is essential. The values on these buses and their variants have gone simply insane, ranging from $25k to 250k for what 40 or 50 years ago were selling at giveaway prices or getting scrapped.

Original paint vintage collectible vehicles with most of their paint intact are highly prized. It would be a shame to do anything more than some small touch ups on your beautiful wagon.

[firefour1]

Hi Cleveweld,

Do you have any before and after pics of the entire rear of the car? Would like to see how it all looks with the rear valence, etc.

[cleveweld]

Originally Posted by firefour1

Hi Cleveweld,

Do you have any before and after pics of the entire rear of the car? Would like to see how it all looks with the rear valence, etc.

The first 2 pics are after I got the car home 5 years ago. It sat outside for 3 or 4 days till I could get some good roller tires on it. These are the only 2 pics I have with the rear bumper and trailer hitch still on it.

The 3rd and 4th pics are after I got it into the barn. The first thing I did was to remove trailer hitch and rear bumper. The rear lower valance was damaged when trailer hitch was pushed upwards. The metal is stretched in 2 places.

The last picture shows what it looks like today. I cleaned and buffed out the lower valance too!
I think the rear end view will look better once I get a straight rear bumper on it.

[cleveweld]

Since I mounted the gray primer front lower valance I have felt that it's an eye sore. I removed it this past weekend and painted it Silverleaf Green. The color match isn't perfect because original paint has faded but looks better than primer!

I have front bumper guards back on it now and an NOS lower valance extension. The extension piece was only used on A/C cars. The GM part # is still attached and I plan on leaving it on there. I used #10 x 3/4" Indented hex head sheet metal screws to mount extension to lower valance.

[b-man]

Looks a lot better now that you painted the valance, that extension must be almost as rare as hens teeth.

[OG68]

The 68 valances look familiar IRT the parking light location. 62 appears to be wrap around like the 68s

[cleveweld]

Originally Posted by b-man

Looks a lot better now that you painted the valance, that extension must be almost as rare as hens teeth.

Thanks b-man! I have only seen 2 NOS lower valance extensions come up for sale over the last 20 years and I bought one of them. Any NOS A/C related parts for the early Tempest are super rare.

[tom s]

my 63 wagon had the power gate window.Tom

[cleveweld]

Because of the rarity of the Tempest Cool-Pack A/C I wanted to keep the system completely stock. My number one goal was to make the system air tight so it would hold refrigerant without leaking.

I started by dismantling and cleaning the temperature control valve also known as the suction throttle valve. The valve was seized up and took some work to get apart. I found a kit on ebay that came with a new diaphragm and more than enough o-rings for entire system.

I replaced all rubber hoses with new auto refrigerant hose. I needed approx. 6 foot. I had to heat the end of each thick walled hose with a heat gun for about 5 minutes to be able to get barbed fitting to go in.

I rebuilt the original A6 compressor rather than replace it. Rebuilt A6 compressors are available at the local parts store but they have a ceramic shaft seal which are notorious for leaking. I found a double lip rubber seal to replace the ceramic. Also bought an o-ring kit to re-seal entire compressor. I initially bought a set of black o-rings but replaced with green ones when I found out the green o-rings are for use with R134a.
I found re-assembling the compressor to be a real challenge and it took me a couple of attempts before I got it right.
The pulley bearing was also replaced. I bought a puller kit to remove clutch. Also bought long heavy duty snap-ring pliers needed for 2 large snap-rings.
The early Tempest compressors came from the factory painted light blue. Not sure why? I painted mine black.

[cleveweld]

About 12 years ago I bought A/C manifold gauges and an automotive refrigeration vacuum pump at Harbor Freight. I learned how to service my Cool-Pack A/C system from the Pontiac & Tempest HVAC manual and watching a couple videos.

Before charging the system a vacuum needs to be drawn to remove any moisture and air. The red hose attaches to high pressure side, blue hose to low pressure and yellow hose to vacuum pump. After the vacuum pump ran for over half an hour I shut it off. Both needles were drawn down as far as they'll go. Because I didn't have cans of r134a yet I let it sit for 4 days and the needles didn't move. There are no leaks.

After attaching a can of r134a to the yellow hose the can is punctured by the tap and air must be forced out using the valve up by gauges before charging. Refrigerant is only added to the low pressure side by opening blue knob. The cans became frosty cold as I added freon. The HVAC manual recommends placing cans in a bucket of warm water while charging.

The A/C blows cold air now although I'm not real impressed with the amount of air the fan pushes.

[Sanduners]

I SO want to do this on my 63 Lemans! Thanks for all the info and pics.
I'm still looking at that 62 wagon near me with the factory 215V8 but I believe he now wants to keep it.

[cleveweld]

Originally Posted by Sanduners

I SO want to do this on my 63 Lemans! Thanks for all the info and pics.
I'm still looking at that 62 wagon near me with the factory 215V8 but I believe he now wants to keep it.

My goal is to show DIY'ers that they can do these kinds of projects at home in their garage. The tools I purchase to do these jobs pay for themselves because I don't have to pay a shop to do the work.

You should service your A/C system and get it working again. It's very satisfying to have my 61 yo system working again.

That 1962 Tempest wagon with the 215cid is a nice solid car. I hope he sells it to you.

[Sanduners]

Well the wagon I was looking at is now for sale. The poor guy is in the hospital and wants to sell it. A VERY RARE 62 wagon with the factory aluminum 215 V8. I've looked, the Little Indians club doesn't have one in their membership. It also comes with an A/C unit but not sure if correct for the car, might have been the previous owners goal to install. I'll post the ad in the correct forum.

[cleveweld]

After nearly 6 years I finally have a rear bumper back on the wagon. The original was damaged at some point in an accident. I found a rear bumper at a junkyard in Great Bend Kansas. See attached video. I bought the bumper from the white 1962 Tempest wagon. Owner has about 2000 vintage vehicles in his yard.

I sanded the back side with 80 grit paper and then painted satin black.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ5DjPskOUs

[kingbuzzo]

wow they don't make em like that no mores...nice to see