1969 Imperial progress thread

[cm23uoc]

I had some good results with this one.

 

[Tink]

Is this messy butchering job on the roof seam factory work?
View attachment 54887

Hard to tell by the photo but if you encounter any leaded seams and don't plan to use lead to fix them, you will need to remove the existing lead. Plastic filler (Bondo here) don't adhere to lead.

 

[commando1]

I had some good results with this one.

View attachment 54889

WTF. Is that a bank vault behind there ?

 

[vdk2010]

I had some good results with this one.

View attachment 54889

Seems a little expensive to let her remove the paint on my car

 

[ceebuddy]

The normal paint is really easy to remove, but the finger thick bondo eats up the cookies pretty quick. But I made good progress today, at least until I had to learn that the protective cover on an angle grinder is there for a reason... The cut is, lets say bad to the bone... -_-

Is this messy butchering job on the roof seam factory work?
View attachment 54887

If that is on the upper half of the "C"-pillar, yes, that's normal. That is where the actual roof sheetmetal meets the "C"-pillar which is one with the quarter panel. I would expect it to be leaded from the factory (not bondo), but that's just a guess.

On some cars you can feel tiny knots under the vinyl roof along this seam, that's where the lead (or bondo?) expanded, it is not necessarily rust.

 

[Big_John]

Wasn't there a discussion about bondo being used on vinyl roof cars and lead being used on the rest?

 

[cm23uoc]

Both c-pillars on my 300 that came with no Vinyl top already have a pretty crappy Surface in These Areas, you just can guess a Vinyl top car with even less effort will look. So I'd also say what you have is what passed Chrysler Quality inspection. . ;) ..

 

[furyfinn]

More doors are even worse, IMHO.

72 Polara:

 

[vdk2010]

That's good to klow, thanks!

And the bondo work was actually very well done. Absolutely no bumps, dings or anything like that in the vinyl roof!


As soon as my finger is healed, I will continue working on the paint.

I broke off the corner piece of the vinyl roof trim, because it's the only trim piece that's bolted from the underside... -_-
If anyone have the vinyl roof trim laying around, I would be interested in buying it! The rest of the trim is bursted and pitted from corrosion anyway.

 

[vdk2010]

And I need some of these trim clips. Are they available somewhere?

 

[cm23uoc]

What you're gonna do with that fiberglass ? plug for the smaller rear window ?

 

[vdk2010]

The fiber glass is the frame for the smaller rear window. They kept the original window frame from the factory!

I first had plans to delete the vinyl roof but then I had to use the big window. And the interior panels are different too and on the LeBarons, the dome light is in this small window frame, too...

 

[ceebuddy]

And I need some of these trim clips. Are they available somewhere?
View attachment 54950

I don't hink this will be a problem. Here is one vendor of trim clips: http://www.auveco.com
There is an importer/vendor of the product line in Germany, maybe he has the ones you need: http://www.us-rubberparts.de/clips.html

 

[detmatt]

Thanks for not showing a pic of your finger!

 

[vdk2010]

Thanks for not showing a pic of your finger!

I thought that was better. Looks nasty :/ But 2 staples fixed it! It was a little tricky with the bandage, but I was able to work again on the car today.

 

[vdk2010]

Here is a close up of the roof seam. No lead actually.

 

[vdk2010]

I tried to remove the rear window today. But I had a few problems.

All the screw heads of the lower screws on the fiberglass frame are too rusty to unscrew them... I don't have access to the screws from the underside to cut them and I won't damage the fiber glass with a drill...
Any ideas?


I don't know how to remove the center trim piece... This one is tricky! Does anyone know how to remove it?

 

[vdk2010]

And one more question. How do I remove this Windshield trim?

 

[blackmamba]

Hello!I'm restoring a 1968 Polara Coupe. You've got yourself a real jewel there! Show her some love and make her happy again! I love projects like this, where everything is already there. All you've got to do freshen things up a bit. The task will seem daunting at times but every time you take a rusty, dirty, oily, broken part and recondition it and place it back on the car that's when the "Christine" Magic starts to happen! Good luck!

 

[blackmamba]

Hello! You have to have the right trim removal tool! Go to your local auto supply and get the trim kit it has everything you need to do this without damaging the trim.