Re: Fixing up dad's old 69 SRL
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 12:13 am
Been tinkering away the past week or two while the paint dries.
I want the interior to be a nice place to be, it was trashed before from sitting without a top, I ripped it all out and tossed it.
I wanted to refurbish my gauges, clock never worked. the trip meter never worked, the speedo would wave around, the tacho was slow and bouncy, the fuel and temp gauges worked sometimes but not others, the oil pressure gauge never read at idle, and the amp meter was blown and bypassed with melted wires behind the dash, in what looked like a roadside repair done decades ago and left...
I was able to revive the trip meter by lubricating the reset cable, and lubricating these three white plastic gears, They were seized up but they should move freely. I also lubricated the drive spindle area with 3-in-1 oil.
An Autometer 2362 voltmeter is sacrificed for the greater good...to bypass the amp meter and allow a stronger alternator.
I couldnt figure how to change the silkscreening to my liking to say "volts" so I just left it be, I think you get the idea...
I did some prying to adjust the oil pressure gauge, I calibrated it at 5psi with a hand pump, and at 85psi with my air compressor.
Autometer tach guts used for electronic tach, Id like to get rid of the entire distributor and oil line setup that feeds it.
The autometer unit is nice because it uses a stud mounted stepper moter that can be mounted in the original housing with a hand made bracket or two.
Polished up the rings and fitted glass faces, just bought those from ebay by size, measured the old plastic ones.
The tach needle zeroes itself once it has power.
Unwrapped the underdash harness and repaired the ammeter bypass, as well as a hazard light switch bypass someone installed to run the car without the console. Retaped the harness and replaced the old broken connectors, cleaned all the contacts with an acid cleaner.
Chippin away at the ole sunbaked dash
Test fitted dashcover, had to use some heat from a torch to form some of the holes around the headlight switch and dimmer knobs.
I really didnt like how the dash cover fit around the defrost vents, and mine were broken.
Inspired by the vents Greg reproduces I thought I would put my own touch on it to make it fit my dash cover and hide the poor alignment. I also made the vents blow to the sides more so the windshield defrosts more than two little spots!
Printed in black SLS Nylon, the texture matches well. They are definitely more "prominent" than the original vents, but they fit nice and flush so I am happy with it.
All glued up, I used two tubes of silicone for this one.
this is why the car didnt have the center console installed...its in rough shape!!
Ive sprayed some Great Stuff foam on the missing chunked and roughed it to shape...
To be continued!
I want the interior to be a nice place to be, it was trashed before from sitting without a top, I ripped it all out and tossed it.
I wanted to refurbish my gauges, clock never worked. the trip meter never worked, the speedo would wave around, the tacho was slow and bouncy, the fuel and temp gauges worked sometimes but not others, the oil pressure gauge never read at idle, and the amp meter was blown and bypassed with melted wires behind the dash, in what looked like a roadside repair done decades ago and left...
I was able to revive the trip meter by lubricating the reset cable, and lubricating these three white plastic gears, They were seized up but they should move freely. I also lubricated the drive spindle area with 3-in-1 oil.
An Autometer 2362 voltmeter is sacrificed for the greater good...to bypass the amp meter and allow a stronger alternator.
I couldnt figure how to change the silkscreening to my liking to say "volts" so I just left it be, I think you get the idea...
I did some prying to adjust the oil pressure gauge, I calibrated it at 5psi with a hand pump, and at 85psi with my air compressor.
Autometer tach guts used for electronic tach, Id like to get rid of the entire distributor and oil line setup that feeds it.
The autometer unit is nice because it uses a stud mounted stepper moter that can be mounted in the original housing with a hand made bracket or two.
Polished up the rings and fitted glass faces, just bought those from ebay by size, measured the old plastic ones.
The tach needle zeroes itself once it has power.
Unwrapped the underdash harness and repaired the ammeter bypass, as well as a hazard light switch bypass someone installed to run the car without the console. Retaped the harness and replaced the old broken connectors, cleaned all the contacts with an acid cleaner.
Chippin away at the ole sunbaked dash
Test fitted dashcover, had to use some heat from a torch to form some of the holes around the headlight switch and dimmer knobs.
I really didnt like how the dash cover fit around the defrost vents, and mine were broken.
Inspired by the vents Greg reproduces I thought I would put my own touch on it to make it fit my dash cover and hide the poor alignment. I also made the vents blow to the sides more so the windshield defrosts more than two little spots!
Printed in black SLS Nylon, the texture matches well. They are definitely more "prominent" than the original vents, but they fit nice and flush so I am happy with it.
All glued up, I used two tubes of silicone for this one.
this is why the car didnt have the center console installed...its in rough shape!!
Ive sprayed some Great Stuff foam on the missing chunked and roughed it to shape...
To be continued!