Time to dig in...softie conversion

[lateapex911]

Top notch!! Been there, done that, but on a coupe, and I bought the headliner...so i cheated. your seams are great!1

[speedo]

Until you turn it upside down. I don't remember it missing studs, but in fact it is missing a couple...in fact nine studs are missing.
Seven here...

And two here...

And I think these are the missing clips/studs that go here, but I can't see how to reattach them. They would have been installed on the steel dash before it was covered.

So for the seven missing studs on the backside, I turned a some bolts down to exactly fit the holes.

It is a tight fit. With some JB weld behind and on top, they should stay snug

The two over the instrument cluster have square holes. I need to approach these differently. Nothing to wedge them against. Elevator bolts to the rescue. If you have to ask, you can't afford the answer.

I trimmed these up to be rectangular and slightly longer than the square hole so that I could wedge them into the square hole, center them and then rotate them 45 degrees so that the corners catch the flat sides of the square holes. Trial fit looked good, so I removed them and filled the pocket with JB weld and reinserted the bolts, rotated and added some JB weld frosting to the top. These won't move.

Restudded

I erred on the side of longer studs, so when I next trial fit the dash...I may need to shorten the studs. I can do that. Tough to go the other direction. Finishing up the rear B pillar trim on the drivers side

I am getting burnt on the interior. I need to finish the door jams this weekend and start to work on the targa bar...I may need help remembering the process. It has been to long since I took it apart. I have sourced my soft window. Rear seats need to go back in as does the interior rear trim and upholstery.

Speedo

[speedo]

I guess the cars came over with one mirror as standard issue and as an option you could order a passenger side mirror. I like being able to see behind me or along side, so I sourced a second mirror for the passenger side. Housing looked good, mirror was crap.

The drivers side didn't look much better. New repops are $75-100. I called around to glass shops and the first shop wanted $40 to cut a new mirror...hmm at that price, the repop might be the way to go. I called a second shop and the price was $7.50...note to self, stay away from first shop. Took a mirror into the shop so they could both measure and confirm pricing. Better news, yes the shop could cut the exact size...price change though $6.50 per mirror So I paid in advance and waited three days (same amount of time I would have had to wait if I had ordered repops).
Picked up the mirror glass today and as promised, both pieces were cut and the otherwise sharp edges nicely beveled. Now to get the glass out of the first one. Looks to have been glued or silicone in place and as I didn't want to destroy the rim or surround by prying it out...I figured I would break the glass and remove the smaller pieces.

But wait...there is another layer of glass under this one
Yer kidding me. The replacement glass was glued over the top of the old glass? No way.

What a cheeseball repair. I really hope that a shop didn't do this. Makes about as much sense as glueing another windshield over your existing when it cracks due to a rock chip

[speedo]

Not that all repairs need to be done right...what am I thinking.

The correct way to take these apart is to work an exacto knife blade around the circumference of the mirror between the metal edge and the plastic surround. Being patient and careful, the plastic surround will pop out releasing the mirror.

There is a thin rubber gasket behind the mirror that seperates it from the metal of the mirror that needs to be glued in place

And the new mirror was missing an attachment bolt that is slotted. I'll just slot one myself

Done

Gasket glued in

and plastic surround with new glass installed. Rinse and repeat.
The before mirrors, attractive aren't they?


And the after mirrors

Gratuitous art shot...couldn't help myself


Speedo

[Macroni]

Lars you are fearless.....

[speedo]

So my mirror holes were welded up prior to paint. I believe the two different size Durants (swb to lwb) have the same size bases and gaskets. I know the drivers and passenger mirrors were in different locations. Would someone with Durant mirror be so kind as to snap a picture of their driver's mirror, and measure down from the door top to the center of the mirror 's horizontal axis, and the same fro a relative forward point as the door starts to curve down...measure back from that point on the door to the front of the base. I would greatly appreciate it. I know the passenger mirror is moved further back...but I think if I have the vertical location down from the door top edge...I can adjust the horizontal position by moving it to where I can see it through the passenger vent window. Unless of course, someone has the exact measurement

Thanks

Speedo

[merbesfield]

Originally Posted by speedo

So my mirror holes were welded up prior to paint. I believe the two different size Durants (swb to lwb) have the same size bases and gaskets. I know the drivers and passenger mirrors were in different locations. Would someone with Durant mirror be so kind as to snap a picture of their driver's mirror, and measure down from the door top to the center of the mirror 's horizontal axis, and the same fro a relative forward point as the door starts to curve down...measure back from that point on the door to the front of the base. I would greatly appreciate it. I know the passenger mirror is moved further back...but I think if I have the vertical location down from the door top edge...I can adjust the horizontal position by moving it to where I can see it through the passenger vent window. Unless of course, someone has the exact measurement

Thanks

Speedo

Lars, I'm not positive but I think the mirrors are different bolt patterns. My 66 mirror holes DO NOT match up to those on my 68 large head Durrant mirror. Kenik is sending me an early mirror and once I get it I can give you comparison if no one has answered your question by then. Thanks

[Eric_Shea]

You should be able to look through the door shell and see the mounts. Possibly even take a pick or a drift and mark the location. Then go topside and redrill.

[speedo]

Originally Posted by Eric_Shea

You should be able to look through the door shell and see the mounts. Possibly even take a pick or a drift and mark the location. Then go topside and redrill.

Thanks Eric...
May not be so easy as these were SC doors and both the mounting holes and positions for those big flag mirrors are not the same. Someone measuring relative position off their 70-71 door would help the most.
Anyone able to go outside and measure off their car?

Speedo

[PropellerHead]

Here are a few photos from my '71.
Hope this is of use. Love the project.
Chet

[PropellerHead]

And my mirror glass really could use a replacement so I'm very pleased to see an example of how this is done. Thanks!

[speedo]

I needed to replace my rear side panels with the correct panels to use with retractor belts...local source had some I wanted to look at. Another local source had some parts that were left over from his 67 S SWT and I figured I would circle back around and see what he had. It would also give me a chance to take some pics of his almost completed car to see how things look in final assembly. It was a road trip of sorts...but paid off handsomely. Got stuck in late Friday afternoon Denver traffic and the speed was slow, but my spirits were high. I need to go unload the truck and shoot some pics...

Speedo

[Matt Monson]

Unload the truck? Sounds like more than seat belt mounts followed you home.

BTW, took a look at my door handles. I'm missing the parts that you need. Mine are broken and gone, so we couldn't use them for a mold. Sorry.

[speedo]

But it was loot...

Needed these because I'm adding 3 pt retractors

And mine look like this

PO at some point installed speakers and I had the option of recovering mine and creating a slot, or finding the correct panels with good upholstery and a slot already cut

The seals may be useable, maybe not...never installed, but they might have been accidently cut...we'll see. These are what I needed...


SWT base trim. Phew, I wasn't sure I would ever find these, and nobody makes them any more. I'm getting closer. Targa bar cleaned up nicely

But I have some studs to replace

[speedo]

The recessed stamping where the retractors will mount

Plugged from the back side

Test fit

May as well trial fit the new slotted panels

Bummer...makes the panel look pregnant. I'm guessing that I will have to reuse my old panels and use the small retractor housing used on the 72-73 targas, as this just isn't going to float

One step forward and two steps back. Ok, another road trip to swap panels and grab some of the correct housings. Meanwhile I can get the retractors dialed in. There is a locator pin on the backside to orient the mechanism correctly. This needs to be drilled


On to the outer mirrors. While at the softies shop yesterday, I did a tracing of the mirror position

This will help me dial in the approximate location to drill.

[speedo]

This car was/is a 10.5 out of 10. Some pics of the detail....








Eye candy...no less. I aspire to that level of finish...sort of

Speedo

[speedo]

Got my holes centered

Drilled and done

Top trim installed

Wasn't looking forward to this...front underside of roll bar needs upholstery before the inside upholstery can be installed

Need to cut it from the old nasty piece

Trial fit...getting faster at this

Backside

And done

Dash with new studs installed and secured with vent surrounds

[speedo]

Curtisaa is helping me with psychological and technical help. I hate having to undo something that I rushed to do only to find out that the next procedure is going to be really difficult...because I rushed to complete the previous step. The targa bar needs to be repaired...ground away the old studs

Created the new studs

Test fit...looks good

And welded up

Ready to go

Now that I got the targa cover ready, this goes on underneath first

Preparing the rear deck sound insulation

More tomorrow...

[merbesfield]

Looking good Lars. I passed on a 68SWT a couple of years ago. I had always kicked myself for that, but seeing all the work you are doing I am not saw angry at myself .

[speedo]

Of looking up at the back of the targa bar...while laying in the back seat. I need this to figure out how to trim my targa bar interior upholstery to accommodate the SWT latches. Or on the other hand if someone actually has this upholstery out of the car, that would be a much easier picture to take. Here is what mine looks like, and I need to trim to be able to access these.


Instead of just hacking away at them, it would be nice to see what the factory did to differentiate the SWT from the hard window.
On a different note...
Treating myself to some woodie choices, VDM, Nardie or Momo.



I'm liking the Nardie look...smaller and simpler. Hey, car's got a wood shifter, they can be pals

This no, car hasn't been THAT much of a pain...just a classic OSFTSB


Happy Memorial Day guys

Speedo