65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
Is that some kind of paint on the top of the pedal so it looks raw or did you metal finish it with some coating?
68 Polara restore back on
- Thread starter HWYCRZR
- Start date
I use Eastwood fast etch. It leaves a zinc phosphate coating on it to keep from rusting. At least flash rusting. Then I put a couple coats of the Eastwood bare metal clear satin for an extra layer of protection. On the bare stamped metal parts I don’t like to sandblast if I can help it because it dulls the surface too much and doesn’t look like natural metal finish. If painting I will run it through the blaster.
Electrical harness time.
Dash harness complete. Most circuits tested for continuity. Bulkhead connector replaced. Ammeter wire repaired. (Not melted and stiff anymore). Dimmer switch wires replaced as they were a little hot and melted. Replaced the dimmer switch connector with a generic online one, but I don’t like the look and it seems a little wider than the OEM one. May post a wanted thread to see if someone has a sacrificial parts harness with a spare. Re-rapped the harness where needed. When I get my instrument panel cleaned up I may hook up to my power supply and try all switches and controls.
Melted dimmer connector, replacement connector, and panel dimmer connector (OEM)
Dash harness complete. Most circuits tested for continuity. Bulkhead connector replaced. Ammeter wire repaired. (Not melted and stiff anymore). Dimmer switch wires replaced as they were a little hot and melted. Replaced the dimmer switch connector with a generic online one, but I don’t like the look and it seems a little wider than the OEM one. May post a wanted thread to see if someone has a sacrificial parts harness with a spare. Re-rapped the harness where needed. When I get my instrument panel cleaned up I may hook up to my power supply and try all switches and controls.
Melted dimmer connector, replacement connector, and panel dimmer connector (OEM)
Tail light harness needs a complete rebuild. Years of sitting with a the trunk lock missing let some rust in and corroded some of the sockets. It seems the side marker lights are somewhat available as they were used on all models and a parts search called them out as a mid 60’s ingnition switch socket. (Either it is true or the 68 parts manual is in error) section 8-14-3. P/N 2097 003. This was the first year for side marker lights so maybe ma Mopar used something existing.
The backup light sockets are common with other body sizes for the Basic and Medium models, so can find them around. The tail, turn, and brake light socket is Polara only so no online luck (did not search salvage yards). I ended up taking them apart and blasting, acid etching, and tin zinc plating them. They seemed to turn out ok.
Before and after
The backup light sockets are common with other body sizes for the Basic and Medium models, so can find them around. The tail, turn, and brake light socket is Polara only so no online luck (did not search salvage yards). I ended up taking them apart and blasting, acid etching, and tin zinc plating them. They seemed to turn out ok.
Before and after
65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
They turned out good
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Rear tail lights harness rebuild progress. Waiting for my other side marker light socket and backup lamp socket to arrive. The violet color wire for backup lights is a little more vivid than original. The green for the left turn signal also a little more blue vs the original kelly green. It will be covered in a new cloth loom when done. Rhode Island wiring offers a re- loom service with the correct pattern and color. They charge a $7.00 setup fee and about $4.50 per foot. Counting my body harness I will have about 16’ to braid. So not unreasonable in the scheme of things.
My original harness had some bare wires sticking out of the taillight sockets that he tied in back in the 70’s for the boat trailer. He just bared the wires mid stream and tied in the trailer harness and wrapped with black tape. E really didn’t have too many issues with it until the late 80’s.
Side by side picture of old harness and new in progress (not much braiding left on the old)
My original harness had some bare wires sticking out of the taillight sockets that he tied in back in the 70’s for the boat trailer. He just bared the wires mid stream and tied in the trailer harness and wrapped with black tape. E really didn’t have too many issues with it until the late 80’s.
Side by side picture of old harness and new in progress (not much braiding left on the old)
Fratzog
Old Man with a Hat
"Good enough" doesn't seem to be in your vocabulary. Amazing work.
A couple of posts earlier I mentioned that the rear side marker light socket P/N in my parts manual was 2097 003 and was for all 68 models. When I did a search for the parts the descriptions kept coming up as an ignition light socket for 65.( the handwritten note on the tag says this one is for a 66 Belvedere clock)
I went ahead and ordered one. It is different than what I have. However it looks like it would fit the hole. (Probably does a better job grounding as it is all metal. My assumption is that someone figured out that the one piece metal assembly grounded than the two piece plastic and metal.
Plastic original on the top,replacement NOS Below.
Since it doesn’t match the original on the other side, I took another look at my original that was rusty. I was able to take the metal socket out of the plastic, blast, etch, and re-plate. At some point I will have to list the all metal NOS part for sale.
I went ahead and ordered one. It is different than what I have. However it looks like it would fit the hole. (Probably does a better job grounding as it is all metal. My assumption is that someone figured out that the one piece metal assembly grounded than the two piece plastic and metal.
Plastic original on the top,replacement NOS Below.
Since it doesn’t match the original on the other side, I took another look at my original that was rusty. I was able to take the metal socket out of the plastic, blast, etch, and re-plate. At some point I will have to list the all metal NOS part for sale.
Next to detail the rear filler panel. Will be a challenge to detail as every grill space is painted red. If anyone knows the correct color red let me know. I am going to try to polish the chrome There is a some small pitting. Then some sanding and re-apply the argent silver and red. If not I may see if the chrome place in Brainerd can re-chrome. (If they are still in business). It may be worth the 2-1/2 hour drive to talk to them.
sgtdave
New Member
This is an amazing build. Thanks for sharing in the progress.
bigmoparjeff
Senior Member
GJS
Senior Member
Holy crap those lenses look amazing! Great job, man!
They were well protected behind he chrome bezel's. And if I recall correctly this car spent most of its life parked with it's tail to the North, so not a lot of sun fading. I do also have to give credit to Novus plastic polish. I was first introduced to it when my neighbors, who worked for an instrument panel manufacture, helped me polish out the curved plastic windshield on an old 68 Silverline boat. They used the polish on their assembly line to polish out any scratches on their newly assembled Instrument panels.
Fratzog
Old Man with a Hat
Does the kit also come with buffing pads or can you use a generic one?
GJS
Senior Member
One of the pitfalls of the 67 design was so much exposed plastic. The set that are on my Monaco have been hit in a few places and badly repaired, someone sat a cigarette on the driver side one and the rest is all stress fractures. The one good thing I can say is that they still have the chromed plastic inserts which I'll be able to transfer to my part set which are in slightly better condition (i.e. never hit nor used as an ashtray).
My 68 Monaco taillights were spotless from the day I bought it .. those were the salad days.
I just hand polished with shop rags and finished it off with a micro fiber cloth. For deep scratches you could probably us a cloth buffing pad on a drill, but would have to be careful you didn’t get it hot enough to permanently mar the surface. I think the kit came with what looked like paper shop rags anyway.
Engine harness complete. Wires replaced and re- wrapped. If I had access to the original connector types (molded rubber over crimp). I may have replaced more. If it had a special connector and if the wire was fine at that point but bad further up the harness, I would splice with a waterproof connector just inside the wrap and replace the rest. If the wire was bad at the connector (my coil wire and alternator power)I carefully cut the rubber connector off and used a sharp tool to un crimp the connector. After cleaning up I re-crimped the new wire and re-applied the rubber connector and sealed it with heat shrink. Not exactly factory, but I don’t have the tools to mold another one. Seemed to turn out OK. If the wire and insulation was fine and not stiff from excess heat I left it alone.
Another lesson learned: You can never take enough pictures of how the harness lays and what side of the loom the wires come out. I am sure I will have to do som twisting to re-install. Mark your old wires where they exit the loom and replace the wire at the same time as adding the new one.
Another lesson learned: You can never take enough pictures of how the harness lays and what side of the loom the wires come out. I am sure I will have to do som twisting to re-install. Mark your old wires where they exit the loom and replace the wire at the same time as adding the new one.
Going through my tool box and came across this key fob that had a couple of old file box keys on it. I don’t know the vintage of it, but it is the exact same type that always carried the Polara’s keys. The original one was lost with the keys during the 20 years it sat. A local locksmith re- keyed my ignition and doors locks. Anyway it is an exact replica of the original with the original selling dealers name on it. I believe they gave up the
Dodge franchise in the mid to late 80’s as the town was only around 2-3,000 people.
It says:
Fort Benton Motor Co
Chrysler - Dodge - Plymouth
Joe Jordan
Fort Benton, Mont. 59442
Joe was the owner
Dodge franchise in the mid to late 80’s as the town was only around 2-3,000 people.
It says:
Fort Benton Motor Co
Chrysler - Dodge - Plymouth
Joe Jordan
Fort Benton, Mont. 59442
Joe was the owner
65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
Nice work on the harness
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