The restoration of 45/7286

[prezoom]

Good stuff for dampening vibrations, which equals alternator life. Was looking at a block at my local plastics store yesterday, when picking up some resin and gel coat. Lots of vintage racer 4 cylinder types have switched to nylon.

[rcombs]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Hope to get the wiring figured out this weekend so I can order whatever I need.

I am also trying to figure out what to do with the seat belts. The originals are gone and replaced in the late sixties with a set of Irvin parachute safety belts. Do I redo the Irvins or buy new belts. I figure finding originals will be impossible.

Rick

[rcombs]

Well, I decided to go with a new harness. It got here yesterday, hopefully I can get it laid in this weekend. Thought I would post a few pictures of the trunk.

tank side

without spare

with spare

cover in place

latch

Till next time,
Rick

[rcombs]

I can't believe it has been such a long time since I have posted anything. I have been installing a new wiring loom. That is taking way longer than I thought. Matching up the new loom against the old and checking against the wiring diagram is a pain. I am about 90% done. I am going to fuse the battery and check each circuit. Hopefully I won't have too many issues.

I took the heater box apart, cleaned and repainted everything along with having the core tanked and pressure tested. I have it installed along with the ducting.

Also I have installed the windshield washers and tubing along with the wipers.

The hand brake has been cleaned and repainted.

And the headlight buckets with new springs and adjusters.

More pictures to come,

Rick

[rcombs]

Upon stripping the finish I discovered that the veneer on the dash was trash. I sent a sample of the original to a veneer supply to match. I ordered two sheets in case i screwed up the installation since this would be my first time doing this kind of work.

I stripped the old veneer of and used some bondo to repair any imperfections. Then I did a rough trim of the veneer.

I taped the two pieces of veneer back to back and clamped with just a small amount sticking proud of a straight end. Using a sanding block I edged both pieces to match.

I screwed two 2' x 4' x 3/4" pieces of melamine covered particle board with the dash in the middle as clamps.

Once the glue had dried I did the final trim.

I used the drops to veneer the radio blank and the glove box door so that the grain would match the dash.

After a light sand it is ready for the finish.

[The Veg]

Beautiful!

[gjz30075]

Very nice!

[rcombs]

It's been a while since I posted anything thought I would catch up. Wiring harness is replaced and checked out. That took forever! I had to make up my own diagram since the one for the earlier cars leaves as much out as it shows.

I started refurbishing the gauges and discovered that the oil/temp., and fuel gages didn't work so I am sending them out to be repaired.

I reassembled the fuel filler cap and mounted it.

I also, re-flocked the glove box.

Now if I could just get the windshield installed! My son and I both worked for about 45 min., and despite the many suggestions I got from here, no success. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

Rick

[elancoupe]

It has been my experience that not all aftermarket windshield gaskets are created equally. I has a similar adventure with a friend's screen, despite having 4 people on hand, it was a no go. He got a rubber from another source, and it went it rather easily.

Same thing with a rear screen on a Europa, it would not go. The car was taken to a dedicated glass shop, and they could not get it to work. Again, a different rubber was used, and the the glass went right in.

This might be something to consider.

[StressCraxx]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Hope to get the wiring figured out this weekend so I can order whatever I need.

I am also trying to figure out what to do with the seat belts. The originals are gone and replaced in the late sixties with a set of Irvin parachute safety belts. Do I redo the Irvins or buy new belts. I figure finding originals will be impossible.

Rick

Rick,

I own 45/7279 in "Super Safety" trim even though the Super Safety model was not official until /7400. I still have the Irvin parachute belts as well. I would like to have them rewebbed if I can find someone to do it with the original webbing.

Regards,
Dan Wise

[pharriso]

I also, re-flocked the glove box.

IMG_2445.JPG

So how does one re-flock a glove box?

p.s. looks nice...

[rcombs]

Dan,

The irvin belts are not original. The SE can with belt retractors that long since broke and were replaced with the irvin belts by the original owner. I looked into getting the irvin's re-webbed. There are several places on the internet that can do the sewing. I did find one place that had webbing that looked to be very close to the original stuff. Then you have the labels to get made if you want to take it that far.

I think I am going to buy some of the new belts that are made like the belts from the '60s with retractors per the originals. It will be much cheaper than getting the irvin belts redone. But the irvin belts are neat!

Rick

[rcombs]

I used a kit from a place called flock-it. The kit comes with the flocking material, color matched adhesive, and the flock applicator. The kit was about $40.00 shipped and will do several glove boxes. I sanded the old flock of with 80 grit and wiped the box out. I brushed the adhesive on and applied the flock.

http://www.flockit.com/index.php/products/suede-tex/mini-flocker-kits.html

Rick

[rcombs]

Mike,

I have been thinking the same thing about the gasket. That is the only thing that is different, since the windshield is the original. Any suggestions on where to get the gasket from. The one I have now came from r.d. enterprises.

Rick

[pharriso]

I used a kit from a place called flock-it. The kit comes with the flocking material, color matched adhesive, and the flock applicator. The kit was about $40.00 shipped and will do several glove boxes. I sanded the old flock of with 80 grit and wiped the box out. I brushed the adhesive on and applied the flock.

http://www.flockit.com/index.php/products/suede-tex/mini-flocker-kits.html

Rick

Thx for the info.