Organization at Last!

 When the weather is too cold and windy to enjoy working in the workshop, my time is usually claimed by my wife for one of her projects. However, this time I decided to take on one of my projects that has been put off far too long. Even though the weather sucks, the sun has been shining enough to heat the upstairs storage area of my garage to a comfortable level 

The long-delayed project has been to build storage racks and to organize boxes of mixed car parts so I don't have to paw through boxes of parts to find what I need. I know there have been many times that I spent far more time looking for something than actually working on the car.

The racks I completed will accommodate about 75% of the large and medium-sized boxes I currently have, and I have three metal storage racks for small boxes. The gabled end will have some wide shelving installed, and several larger parts now sitting on the floor will hang from hooks on the studs.

Island Rack

North Side Rack

About half the sorting has been accomplished and nearly all boxes have been labeled or relabeled after sorting. 

The weather forecast for tomorrow is windy and warm, so I might get something done on the car. I'm getting impatient for the new door latches to arrive so I can install the door glass!

An ABBA Favorite

Whenever I hear this group, I wonder why we have so much horrible music today. Surely there must be other singers and songwriters in this big world with similar talent! 

Window Frame Rivets & Window Cranks

 I received the rivets needed to reassemble the door glass. Though I only needed four for each door, the minimum order from Hanson Rivets was $15.00 and they were sold in bags of 100, so they are pretty pricey. To add insult to injury, they charged $21.52 for shipping and handling. Since they were shipped via USPS in a padded paper envelope for $1.00 postage, that seems to be gouging a little more than necessary.

If anyone is in desperate need of these rivets, I’ll give you a few if you send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Another part arrived yesterday. It was a repro button for a Mopar floor shifter. My original worked perfectly fine, but the plastic chrome plating was badly worn. I checked all over online, but the prices were too high to convince me to order. Because of their high prices, I seldom ever check Classic, but this time they were on sale for a little over $40 including S&H. Since others wanted as high as $88 plus S&H, I decided it was time to order. As best I can tell, the quality appears comparable to the original, and I know I couldn’t get the old one re-plated for less than the price of the reproduction part.

Since it was too cold to work on the car in the unheated part of my garage, I did a few small jobs in the heated area.

 I had decided to have the rear pot metal window cranks re-plated so I had to remove the swivel grips and that meant removing the riveted pin. I have always been curious how they were secured inside the handle but was surprised to find that the end of the pin is splined. I might have found a way to pry them out and save the pins but couldn’t think of an easy way to keep from damaging the pot metal parts. I’ll probably make new grips from the same steel tubing I used on the front door handles.

 

Quarter-window Fix

Finally figured out the final problem that was preventing my quarter-window from fully closing. The lower bead on the aftermarket inner belt molding weatherstrip is thicker than the original by about .03” and It was enough to catch the lower glass frame and preventing it from closing the last .25”.

The picture shows how much had to be trimmed to clear the interference. Dremel cutting wheels sure are handy at times.

I received the two clips and striker bolts for the door latches that are on order. I also received an invoice surprise that I hope can be negotiated! The parts are small enough to have come in a single padded envelope, but they arrived in three individual cardboard boxes approximately 6”x6”x8”, and strapped with nylon. Each box weighed 4-5 ounces, and the “freight” charge was $25.66 for each box! The individual price for four clips was .64 cents, and the pair of striker bolts was less than $6.00.

The estimated date for the latches is still a couple of weeks away, so it will be interesting to see if they adjust the shipping costs to parcel post prices when they invoice the entire order. There is no way I’m paying over $100.00 “freight” on less than two pounds of parts shipped through the post office.

Merry Christmas

Window Problem Update

 

Since I'm working on window operation problems inside the quarter panel, I don't have any pictures, but I did get the modified outer guide bracket reworked and installed and it looks like it will be a better fit than before, as it gives about 1/8" more clearance to make adjustments. 

I had to make a glue repair to a piece of polycarbonate and it will have to dry overnight before I can install the last screw, so it was a short work day. 

With the Christmas rush coming, I doubt I will get much done until after the 25th.

Quarter Windows Day Two

 I didn't have enough time to pull the quarter window today, but I did make a cardboard template of a front glass so I could visually see how much more rotation it will take to seal the quarter window to the door glass. 

As you can see the glass edges on the passenger side are in perfect alignment with about an eighth of an inch  gap that is even from top to bottom.

The driver's side is obviously misaligned by over 5/8th inch at the top, but the rear window hits something that stops it at that point. I can't see much, but I think I could feel where it bumped against one of the guide brackets. At least I now have an idea where the problem lies. It might require modifying the angle of the existing bracket, or making a new one.

Driver's side

Passenger's side

Back at it

 Feeing much more energetic today and I actually found a few hours to work on the car. You guessed it...I immediately encountered another glitch.

I have yet to receive the simpler-configuration door latches, so was concentrating on getting the quarter windows installed and adjusted close to the final settings so I will be ready to install the door windows when the latches arrive and their function is proved out.

The passenger side was simple and it took only a few minutes to adjust them within 1/8" of what should be the final front window contact points. 

Naturally, everything went to hell with the driver's side. For some reason, the window needs to rotate around the pivot pin approximately another 5/8", and move forward 1/4", but everything hits a dead stop before it rotates  that much, and for the life of me, I can't find a way to accomplish that much adjustment for either problem! 

There must be an adjustment I have yet to discover, or maybe it's a case of post-Covid-19 brain fade! Sure wish the service manual contained a better description of the adjustment process. I'll pull the window again tomorrow and see if I can find something bent in the track or pivot point that might cause it to bind.

At least the beautiful weather is supposed to last for one more day. It's 77F and clear with light westerly winds today! Weekend will be cool, wet and windy with a slight chance of snow near the Red River. Bah, humbug!

The latch company sent the four clips that attach the cables to the latch, so at least they haven't forgotten about my order yet! Now if the latches will arrive soon after new years day, as promised....

“You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind, a dimension without time…!”

 If my experience is anywhere near typical, a couple of weeks in the embrace of Covid-19 closely compares to a Rod Serling excursion into the Twilight Zone!

In most ways, the symptoms were mostly like the typical seasonal flu, but in addition to the list of normal flu symptoms, I had the displeasure of experiencing crazy visual effects that several times took control of my concentration. They probably appeared and disappeared as my mostly mild fever changed, but that's only a guess.

Though I felt lousy, I continued to do housework and pamper my wife while she suffered through several days with a nasty headache.

We never experienced a shortness of breath, or other extreme respiratory problems, so I guess we were lucky in that way, but we had prepared for those issues weeks earlier, and I think it helped.

It was indeed one of those experiences you will never forget, nor will you wish a return visit!

Now, if my strength returns a little bit more, I have a ton of things to do on the car!

WuHan How I Hate You!

 

Usually, when I feel guilty about the slow progress on my car, I struggle to find reasonable excuses for dragging my feet, but this time I actually have a legitimate reason and I can assure you, it hasn’t been fun!

I’m beginning my second week of quarantine with the nasty COVID-19 virus. After all the months of caution and staying home, my wife decided to spend a few days with a good friend she hadn’t seen since the WuHan virus arrived. The friend lives in a tiny town in farm and ranch country about a hundred miles away where there were no crowds to avoid, so there seemed to be little risk of infection. The second day she was there, the friend returned from a business meeting with the news that one of her workmates had been in brief contact with a person who had been in contact with yet another person who had tested positive. My wife was worried and asked what she should do, so I told her to come home just in case her friend had been exposed enough to contact the bug.

By the next day, she had developed a cough, and two days later I did the same, so for the last week we have been fighting the endless glut of symptoms that damn virus has in its arsenal. Since we are both in our seventies, we had the concerns that go along with age and the normal maladies acquired by being on the planet that many decades, but fortunately neither of us has serious heart or lung issues.

This morning I woke up and actually felt like I might show up on the survivor list! The heavy cough and congestion were finally breaking up and the body aches were easing, although food still tastes like unsalted cardboard and my eyes continue to burn and drain.

Thanksgiving dinner is ruined, but all we are seriously looking forward to is being rid of this bug.

From what I hear, the total exhaustion that began on day-one is the last symptom to leave, and it can go on for days and weeks, so I guess I can still milk this excuse for sitting on my butt! Seriously, I hope I can get back to the Plymouth in a week or two.