68 Polara restore back on

[HWYCRZR]

Now that does bring up an interesting point. Outer column is grounded by a ground wire to the frame. The inner shaft relies on the steering gear to ground. My upper bearing is insulated wit a rubber sheath around it. However my original upper bearing sheath had a staple stuck through it ( think desk/ paper staple) that would technically ground/ connect the inner shaft with the outer housing. Was that staple there for a purpose? Or it had a tag on it once and they left the staple in?

 

[tallhair]

rubber biscuit

By Elwood for those of yuz who haven't heard it

 

[Polara_500]

Now that does bring up an interesting point. Outer column is grounded by a ground wire to the frame. The inner shaft relies on the steering gear to ground. My upper bearing is insulated wit a rubber sheath around it. However my original upper bearing sheath had a staple stuck through it ( think desk/ paper staple) that would technically ground/ connect the inner shaft with the outer housing. Was that staple there for a purpose? Or it had a tag on it once and they left the staple in?

The spring I referenced just ties the upper inner column to the lower column and attains ground through the steering gear as does yours, the rubber just means they need a path around it.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Well I’ll be dipped in $h!t.
That staple I talked about has a purpose. I guess I should probably pull the wheel back off and put the staple back. I was wandering through the DMT site and I stumbled across the upper bearing bushing. It has a staple in it. They also had the service bulletin explaining the staple as a secondary ground.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Ok I pulled my wheel and put the staple back in. The horn may even have a better sound.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Power steering return line on. Red clamps and all.

 

[HWYCRZR]

I learned that the black stripe on the belt line moulding is actually gloss black instead of satin black. I decided I needed to change the pieces I already painted. I really didn’t want to remove the fender mounted turn indicators so I had to do some masking. I also re did the marker lights.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Bumpers have arrived.
I should be getting my grill and tail light parts in about 2 weeks. Every thing is done except they are having some gassing issues on the headlight surrounds which is causing some pitting in a couple of areas. They are re- doing them. The way it sounds these are back in the area that is argent. They said its due to the poor quality of the pot metal. I think this is their 3rd attempt as they were not satisfied with the previous attempts.
Bumpers look great though.

 

[Unix]

Really cool looking bumpers ! i hope mine turn out that good!

 

[65sporty]

Those are the bumpers that they had to find after they lost them?

 

[HWYCRZR]

These are cores from Northwest plating. They happened to have one front and Three rears. They even filled in the holes for the bumper guards on the rear as mine did not have them. The body shop never did find them. They paid for the cores, they were $250 each which didn’t seem to bad.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Forgot the shiny side of the rear above. Spent most of the day blasting and panting the rear bumper brackets and rear license holder.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Temporarily hung until I find the right bolts. Seems difficult to find flat head stainless capped bolts that are 1/2” with 1-1/8” diameter heads.

 

[Triple Pickle]

Amazing job! And this is a fascinating thread. I’d say most members of this forum can appreciate what a major undertaking it is to tackle this level of restoration on any car, much less a c-body! Unlike tri-5 Chevys and the like, finding parts for c-bodies is enough to discourage even the most dedicated.
My son and I restored a 71 El Camino and just about any part you could think of could be easily found at a semi-reasonable price.
Just wanted to say you’ve done an absolutely amazing job on this car. The attention to detail and unwillingness to settle for “good enough” is inspirational to say the least!
I wouldn’t feel bad if I were you about how long it has taken,, unlike TV “reality” shows, this is what a real, well done restoration looks like, and how long it takes.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Cleaning up the front bumper fillers that go on the top corner of the bumper. They were pretty cracked but couldn’t find good replacements.
I used plastidip to fill in most of the cracks, smoothed, then sprayed about 4 coats of plasidip, sanded, sprayed some more, sanded. Pretty well filled in. We will see how long it hold up. It looks much better than it did.

 

[Triple Pickle]

Looking good!

 

[GJS]

Cleaning up the front bumper fillers that go on the top corner of the bumper. They were pretty cracked but couldn’t find good replacements.
I used plastidip to fill in most of the cracks, smoothed, then sprayed about 4 coats of plasidip, sanded, sprayed some more, sanded. Pretty well filled in. We will see how long it hold up. It looks much better than it did.
View attachment 266087

View attachment 266091
View attachment 266092 View attachment 266093

I've been wondering about those. Mine (oddly) aren't terrible, at least not as bad as my bumperettes (which I have found NOS replacements for ... that are WAY WAY out of my league price wise) but they'll need some sort of attention if I ever decide to put the car right.

Nice work as always, man.

 

[HWYCRZR]

These will work. Not sure about the longevity. But good for now. (If I can find the bag with the bolts)

 

[HWYCRZR]

Bumpers installed. Need to get my tail light bezels, filler panel and grill back before I tighten and adjust them. I need to get my windshield in next week. Then I can play around with the wheel alignment.

 

[live4theking]

Looking good.