Door handles are missing the rubber bases, you can get new ones PM for details as our host doesn't have them.

The license panel rubber is correct, it sits up at 30 odd degrees away from the panel, so that when you close the lid it pushes down.

The trim is a bugger to do, I had the same problem, I started at the curve, and then went to the straight section, the T nuts on the back are available so don't worry if you bust any of them.

I ended up with my welding gloves and a map torch, obviously not on the car, and without rubber, trial and error if you know what I mean.

I don't know if the Rat qualifies as a mistress ;)

I got my fender attachment kit from Stoddard and it includes new clips,fiber washers, and screws. I think it was in the $45 range. When I put the fenders on at the shop I only put in four bolts and did not put in the fender gasket material, which I ordered from Pelican. I am planning on fitting the fenders this coming week. I am not planning on fabricating a heat shield. It did not come from the factory with a heat shield and I think the rear panel will be fine.

It will be awesome to have an other slate gray car out there especially one as close as Tampa! I hope the paint card helps you in getting the color exactly right.

Did a dingo eat your baby?

I will gladly wade into uncharted territory! I think it will just be a matter if patience and bending the aluminum multiple times until it fits correctly.

Thank Harvey,

My family comes from southern Germany so I am often in the same boat as Wasserkuhl. A standing Bavarian joke is that a carpenter cuts off a board three times and is still confused as to why it is still too short. Thanks for the encouragement.

Hi there Classic,

My door handles do indeed have the rubber bases. I looked back at the picture and they are quite hard to see. I spent about an hour scraping red overspray off of the original door handle rubber because 69 was a one year only door handle. Luckily I was able to save and reuse the rubber. Thanks for the tip on the license plate frame. I will try to put my seals on the panel tomorrow and post some pictures. I will keep you posted on the trim but I have a feeling it might be a while to get it just right.

Photos!! Sorry about that I couldn't see the little rubber on the front of the handle against the slate grey....old eyes and an iPhone.

That trim is hard, it took me ages......

Keep up the good work, and if you have any questions feel free to PM as I'm a little ahead of you with my 69's assembly.

Tony

Day 73: I was able to make some good progress over the weekend cleaning parts and getting them back on the car. I was able to clean up the door strikers, put in the door stays, install the wiper motor and cabin air intake (with grill) and put on the license plate. I used two neoprene washers for each bolt so that the plate does not physically touch the shiny new rear panel. I was also able to get the Rat running again and took it out of the garage to work on the driveway in the sunlight. Here are the first pictures of the Rat in sunlight!!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351520967.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351521034.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351521056.jpg

License plate washers
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351521084.jpg

God the NM plate looks awesome against the slate gray!!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351521125.jpg

Cleaned and polished door strikers. It took about an hour for each side to remove all of the red overspray and shine everything up with a polishing tool on the dremel. I did opt to use stainless steel screws here as the originals were horribly rusted.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351521206.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351521261.jpg

Day 73 cont:

Door stays

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351521395.jpg

Wiper motor and air intake with grill reinstalled. I made sure to polish all of the hardware for the wiper motor before it went back on the car. After I got it installed it would not work and I spent about 30 minutes trouble shooting only to find that the ground wire had gotten unplugged during install:mad:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351521523.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351521549.jpg

Looks great in the sun and your elbow grease on the nitpicky parts is paying dividends!

Hey, how did you get the striker plates adjusted correctly? Trial and error? Drill and pin prior to paint? Other? I've searched on this subject before but for some reason the process has never really settled in my head.:confused:

Thanks!

I did not do anything! I just screwed them on and everything seems to work pretty well. Guess I got lucky. Maybe I can get them to work better if I adjust;)

the door adjustment - striker plate issue would be a most worthy separate thread to start...

kk - you replaced the seals on the air flow & blower system, right?

also, do you own any land in NM? might allow you to run those plates...

When you go to set your fenders, a good trick is to spray the terostat with WD40.

It will give you about 10 minutes to slide them back and forth to find the correct spot before it dries out. Because once it sticks, it really sticks.

Looking good.

You need to anneal the aluminum trim to make it easy to bend.

Simply heat it up with a Oxy/acetylene or MAPP (propane works but takes longer) torch and then quench cool with water. This will change the grain structure from work hardening and make it quite malleable. Then you can just shape by hand to fit the proper contour.

After shaping you may find you have to slightly trim the inboard edge to clear the bumperette.

Do the same on the front bumper trim.

Thanks for the tip! I am also planning on making sure that I have a hole everywhere I need them because I read somewhere that the Terostat buggers up the threads something terrible. I will also make sure that all of my threads are fine and put bolts in before fender attachments to check that everything is clear of paint and debris.

Thanks for the great tip. Nothing like playing with a propane torch to make trim fit! I don't think I will need to to any of this for the front as it fit perfectly when I fitted it before paint.

Yeah!! 50,000 views of the Rat:D

Wow, you've managed to basically tear your car apart and put it back together in the time it's taken me to get around to checking my thread. I think I last posted my progress in Nov of last year. So, very impressive work.

As it turns out, going slow has its advantages. I can let other people like you figure out how to do something before I have to think very hard on it. I particularly like the way you've undertaken your restore in small bits that you fix and then put back together. It has the advantage of not needing to remember where on earth you stuck the part. I have a feeling that I won't remember where half my parts are when I go to put them back on.

I'm still going hard at mine...but significantly behind you. I'm in rust repair neverland right now. My girl is significantly rustier than yours. But, she is slowly coming along. Maybe one day I'll get around to updating my thread with the litany of "heres another rust hole before and after patch" photos. It's always a nice feeling to know that with every hole patched, I'm one step farther away from the spaghetti strainer I started out with. :D But with winter approaching rapidly here in NM, it's likely to get too cold to work on my car till Spring. :(