Well,in my zeal to purge through the 46 various bits of mail and newsletters
in my Net Dir...i erased your address..., So i'll have to make this list
worhty,,.
On the Top frame loose screws/nuts syndrome....you'll need to pull back the
interior trim to the rear of the car from the top frame screws and get
some long nose vice grips...(another one of those tools one should never
be without..!) around the loose nut....drill away at the screw head, or
unscrew with enough penetrant if possible...
Now the trick I had to deal with in restoration....How To Fix These Darn
Welded Nuts....YUK>>>
Well I came up with two options...First get the top frame off...Oh yeah,
sure you say...well...yeah T'will be tough but is there a choice?..
Then take offthe trim triangles....and find some new 1/4 x 24 (is 24 correct)
screws...I found one place in town that caries those flat head guys....
possibly best to find screws from a parts car...and get some fine thread nuts
to match....
I got some large fender washers..1.5" with small center holes, smaller than
the nut...and found a willing and LBC Friendly welder to spot weld the darn
nuts to the fender washers......I Know Bloody Crazy...BUT.....
then drilled small holes in the washers...had to grind flat one corner of
the washer that fit in the upper forward corner,,,and also drilled small
holes in the car...then carefully marked the placement using the triangular
bracket as a template...and sheet metal screwed the welded fender washer
nuts into place....again checking placement...then for the real scarry part
had my LBC friendly welder spot weld these suckers into place....TIG was
the only way to go here...and use a wet cloth to cool off the door jam
before the paint starts to melt.....
YUKKKK....this took days before the brainstorm on how to do this hit me
and fully one whole day to execute it after finding my welder shop guy
and the faith....But...its over now and it works.....
Isn't restoration FUN>>!
PS...I did a couple extra nut to washer welds for back-up and am glad I did
I actually have one or two left...and I did have to re-tap one of the nuts
after it was in....and I'm still looking for one more screw...and they still
seem to come loose and need regular attention to keep them tightened...
And...PS..on other isssues...thanks for the banter, Lee, Terri, Canada, etc.
Twas food for laughter and held back bandwidth breath...
And scott....the Damn leaky chemically based memories line will have to be
requoted many times in my upcoming lifetime...or was it...ahmmmm, well...
gee
TTFN
Jim Fink
.....OH THe antennae....well I delt with that too, also around the same time
I did the top.....funny how these things travel in groups....my antennae
was in the fender on a '71B, as on my cloth seated '73 BGT and I could reach
under the antennae mount from inside the engine compartment reaching up
above where the wiring harness goes back into the firewall from the fusebox
and just barely get a handle on holding the fixings to deal with the antennae.
Chow
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