New Member, New Polara

[Stev]

And who said only B bodies could fly?

Man it is bad.

Pounds of mould in there. All hiding under the carpet, trim etc. Stub frame is so bad it punched through the floor in 3 places. The frame gave up before the bolts holding the leaf spring bracket did. And the capper is that the entire seam joning the right half of the car to the floor/frame completely evaporated. Nothing was tying the right rear to the structure of the car. No wonder it shimmied so much.

I can't believe I drove it like this. I can't believe grandpa drove it like this.

I can't believe I'm stupid enough to restore this heap.



Though in lighter news, she's got a limited slip. Great uncle Allister sprung for the 3.31 Sure Grip back in '66. Saves me 1500 bucks. Thanks Allister.

 

[detmatt]

You do have a challenge on your hands, Go man go!

 

[3175375]

You have family history involved. However, your determination and the support of this forum with its august group of members will be of great benefit to get you to the finish line. As Matt said, ‘run, Forrest, run!’

 

[Stev]

I don't think it's as bad as it looks. I have the patch, and the rockers are somehow fine. It's just a zillion plug welds and a whole lot of rust in my hair between here and there. I even have the luxury of not giving a damn about the metal that's coming out and can thus go full caveman on it.

Though if someone had some speed parts to donate in sympathy, well I'd most graciously accept...


Seriously though I'll buy speed parts. Longtubes and heads above all else. Bigger better faster louder. Always.

 

[Stev]

Hey so I have to drop the tailgate to start breaking up that body seam. What's the proper procedure for that? Do i have to disassemble the guts/window regulator inside it to disconnect the wiring harness? Should I unbolt the hinges from the body or the tailgate? The thing weighs a zillion pounds and I really don't want to find all this out the hard way. Is it even a good idea to just take it off with the glass/regulator in there?

Also, totally caved in the floor with the jackstands. Oops. Gonna get some thicker wood in there and spread the load as far as i can and onto the rockers. I need that body seam square so the axle is located correctly. Should be able to straighten the floor with a sledge hammer and a big dolly.

 

[Stev]

Man I just swept up, too.

I suspect the right side tail lights were never off. The seal was really good and took some fighting to get off, looked untouched. Left sides came off very easily and were obviously messed with at some point, with solderless connectors and overspray on everything. We might be rocking factory bulbs here.

Is it worth trying to drop the tailgate with the window and regulator in there? I really hate messing with glass and the less stuff i touch the better.

 

[Stev]

I've never done interior work before. How do I get this headliner off?

It looks like I just pull these support/retainer bands off these sprung runs but I feel like i'm about to take the bands past yield. Is this correct?

I dropped the screws from the red panel thinking it would free the bands but it didn't. I'm now assuming that panel really retains the window more than anything.

 

[Stev]

Banging away at it. The gas tank filler neck has never been removed, it's putty'd in and stilll has blue overspray from 1966 on it. Not budging at all, real headache.

However I have made a terrible mistake. I raised the tailgate glass to vaccum out the the leaves and inspect inside, and now the glass won't go back down. The motor tries to start it down but stops immediately, it moves about a half inch up and down before stopping. I'm not sure if it's still trying as the switch is on the opposite side of the car and I can't see it. The glass run rollers are above the lip at the top so i can't just remove the glass where it is, and the kicker is I can't close the garage door until the glass is out or back in the tailgate. None of the keys I have seem to fit the tailgate switch either.

No obvious sign of binding anywhere, the gear teeth are all nicely lubricated and the arm wear patterns are nice and even. The glass run isn't amazing but it's not jammed up, no obvious problem spots on it. The motor sounded fine, raised the glass smoothly and without any rough spots.

I can't identify where the problem is here. Does anyone know what the problem is and how to fix it?

 

[Stev]

Nevermind, solved it. I carefully forced the glass down evenly, bit by bit. Turns out the channel the rollers go in on the passenger side was bent up and binding the roller. That roller was also steel (the other nylon/plastic) and had seized on the spindle which didn't help.

Opened it all up and greased everything, it doesn't sound happy but it does work in both directions top to bottom, so we call that progress.

The retainers for the glass are held on with non stainless screws which were garbage. Going to have to drill them out. Fun.

Also the gas tank continues to be a real hell job. The shop manual suggests just ripping on the filler neck with a "suitable tool", and if that doesn't work, try to get oil into the grommet and pray it does something maybe. I bent the **** out of it and scuffed all the paint doing so, despite my rag protection, and the neck barely moved at all. Dosed it with ATF, we'll see how it is tomorrow.

I hate cars, I have decided.

 

[Stev]

No turning back now

Though the tailgate no longer wants to open. I thought that would be the one structurally sound part of the tail but apparently not. Hopefully I can just jack it up later to get the fitment right before i weld everything back in. At least I know the gate is now acting as a brace/jig to keep the opening within tolerance I suppose.

 

[3175375]

Nevermind, solved it. I carefully forced the glass down evenly, bit by bit. Turns out the channel the rollers go in on the passenger side was bent up and binding the roller. That roller was also steel (the other nylon/plastic) and had seized on the spindle which didn't help.

Opened it all up and greased everything, it doesn't sound happy but it does work in both directions top to bottom, so we call that progress.

The retainers for the glass are held on with non stainless screws which were garbage. Going to have to drill them out. Fun.

Also the gas tank continues to be a real hell job. The shop manual suggests just ripping on the filler neck with a "suitable tool", and if that doesn't work, try to get oil into the grommet and pray it does something maybe. I bent the **** out of it and scuffed all the paint doing so, despite my rag protection, and the neck barely moved at all. Dosed it with ATF, we'll see how it is tomorrow.

I hate cars, I have decided.

View attachment 636525


View attachment 636526

No turning back now

Though the tailgate no longer wants to open. I thought that would be the one structurally sound part of the tail but apparently not. Hopefully I can just jack it up later to get the fitment right before i weld everything back in. At least I know the gate is now acting as a brace/jig to keep the opening within tolerance I suppose.

You have certainly dove in with both feet. I am positive that this effort will come out great and you are going to learn and share a lot! Great work!

 

[cbarge]

Keep the tailgate into postion until you square everything up.
Tack weld some temporary braces if you have to in order to remove tailgate.
Kinda backwards but you are doing great and learn as you go!

 

[Stev]

Keep the tailgate into postion until you square everything up.
Tack weld some temporary braces if you have to in order to remove tailgate.
Kinda backwards but you are doing great and learn as you go!

Yeah i thought about it ahead of time but i didn't want to mess with the paint and assumed the opening would be strong enough to retain it's shape. I was wrong, I guess the D pillars aren't as structural as i thought.

 

[Stev]

my dreams of not ******* with the paint are over. The roof is not as rigid as i thought, and the inner quarters have zero structure left in them.

Tomorrow I'm going to get some screw jacks, raise the rear corners of the car until the tailgate works happily, and brace the **** out of it. I'll make an X brace in the tailgate opening, a longitudinal X brace running from the tailgate sill to the floor at the front, and I'll make a lateral tie across the rockers just in case. The latter should only be under tension so an X brace under the car shouldn't be needed.

Neato.

 

[Stev]

May have screwed myself. I jacked it up by the tailgate sill to the point where the car is off the jackstands and the tailgate latch still won't budge

The tailgate latch doesn't lock does it? I remember the key only running the motor switch but the gate can be opened at any time. I was futzing with the keys but they don't seem to work, though there is a lot of slop in the key cylinder.

Though if it's pinched in there, I would expect the latch to function but the tailgate not want to budge. If it's as simple as i accidentally locked myself out that would be such a relief. Perhaps it's seized because the entire tail rotated/twisted with the bottom moving forwards, binding the latch towards the rear of the car. I haven't tested that yet.

I'm friends with the owner of the local body/collision shop. I'm going to buy his time tomorrow and have him have a look and save me from myself before i do anything stupid. Or more stupid.

 

[cuda hunter]

Wish I had some answers for your many questions, but I do not.
I will watch along as this is quite interesting. You have quite the workload ahead of you.
Hopefully someone will chime in that can help with those questions.
Thanks for posting pictures and videos. They make me feel much better about my not so rusty cars.

 

[My three 67 Polaras]

I do not know about whether or not it locks.

It is possible that the latches have taken on a side load if the quarter panels were wanting to splay outward once the structure is cut away (you have already tested for vertical movement with the jack).

I would now establish what the measurement needs to be to accept the tailgate. Take measurements now with it latched, then add or subtract from those to make it perfect.

Then weld in a side to side brace with a heavy threaded rod in the center that can be adjusted for overall length. You could make the bolt out of 5/8" all thread by threading a nut on it and welding it. Then put a tab on one side that has a welded on nut. Another tab for the bolt to pass through and engage the head. Add a jam nut to lock it down. Ideally, this would be an opposing left hand/right hand thread like an inner and outer tie rod end assembly but without the spherical joints. There is probably something similar at your local tractor store.

That would be one way of releasing the load from the latch, if that is the case.

It might also be possible to draw the two sides together by wrapping a ratchet strap around the back end of the car. I would block up the quarter panels with 1" board to spread the load and prevent damage.

With the load released and the tailgate unlatched you can then fine tune the body dimensions to the tailgate. Then tack in cross bracing in the tailgate area, test, and proceed from there.

 

[Stev]

stuff

Basically what I was thinking. Though I'm not sure where I could weld in a large rod that would allow me to fine tune the gate, as the correct place would be where the gate needs to be to test the fitment.

My current theory for the pinch is that the bottom of the sill moved forwards when the frame rails were cut, putting a very strong rearward load on the rear face of the gate latch. I now assume, if it was a lateral pinch, the latch would function freely while the gate body itself would be wedged in place. I feel laterally the gate sill is still correct, as the panel gap has not changed. The new floor and it's jig holes should locate the bottom of the sill correctly later on. I'm certainly going to gusset the sill laterally even if I don't get the tailgate out until the new floor is in. Though where exactly would be strong enough to retain the shape without removing the gate, I'll have to figure out

Gonna drag bodyshop friend in here tomorrow and hopefully he'll be able to save me from myself. Oops.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Could you have raised it back up a tad too high with the jack? Try lowering it incrementally to see if the latch will release. Possibly the two lock pins are binding on their tops rather than sides or bottoms...

 

[Stev]

Could you have raised it back up a tad too high with the jack? Try lowering it incrementally to see if the latch will release. Possibly the two lock pins are binding on their tops rather than sides or bottoms...

Yeah i was fishing for it. I just ended up with the car off the jackstands with no noticeable change in the latch. The panel gap didn't change a bit either.