CAR This is not a milk thread. I have owned my '74 Eldorado convertible for 2 years now but it's time for a build thread

[jelloslug]

nice, I figured you must have a sandblaster with how some of the after pics looked.

awesome work. I recognize some of the words, and I can tell that the after pics are much cleaner than the before pics, without broken pieces

Yep, I love sandblasting parts but I also use a lot of Evaporust. There are lots of parts that you just cannot sandblast and Evaporust does a great job without harming the metal. I use to use phosphoric acid but I made the mistake of forgetting a part in it once. By the time I remembered it, it was gone...

 

[jelloslug]

Awesome work. Love seeing the progress and steps. Interior should look good, even if it isn't the original Cranberry color.

If I really get serious about the carpet color, I will get a light colored carpet and dye it. It would not be that expensive to try but I have so many other things to work on first that it will be a project for another time. What I really want is a '70s style deep pile carpet. Nobody reproduces that type of material though.

 

[Normie]

who's going to finish their car first, you or him?

I'm thinking him.

I mean technically mine is done, but I currently have the hood up as I just replaced the distributor and am working on the ignition system. So the clock reset

 

[Normie]

If I really get serious about the carpet color, I will get a light colored carpet and dye it. It would not be that expensive to try but I have so many other things to work on first that it will be a project for another time. What I really want is a '70s style deep pile carpet. Nobody reproduces that type of material though.

@DeezNortz?

 

[FritoBandito]

Excellent! Love this kind of work. Bolting brand new shiny parts together for some hot rod has it's attraction but this kind of restoration soothes my soul.

 

[jelloslug]

Next on the dashboard project are all the controls and switches. I started with the automatic climate control head. Like everything else, it was incredibly dusty and dirty and the circuit board was very dirty. This car was made in the era just before digital computer controlled devices and metri-pak connectors. Most of the electronic devices are analog and they are just open to the elements. The connectors are the same thing that GM had been using since the '50s so they would corrode really easily also. Fighting electrical gremlins in a car like this can be time consuming if you don't take the time to clean every connector and device. On to the cleaning!

 

[TheProwler]

what do you use to paint the structural components vs the body? do you have a booth?

 

[jelloslug]

what do you use to paint the structural components vs the body? do you have a booth?

The little bits and pieces I paint in my woodshop. I have a good setup for painting small things in there. The larger things I just paint outside.

 

[Normie]

what do you use to paint the structural components vs the body? do you have a booth?

Interested in his answer, but for me, I would shoot most structure with epoxy primer, and if a top coat was needed, just a rattle can.

You don't "need" a booth as long as you use good ppe and can move air enough to keep over spray from laying back down on the parts

 

[jelloslug]

I broke out the chrome pen again for the automatic climate control face.







I cleaned up the circuit board, greased all the mechanisms, and then put it all together.

 

[jelloslug]

Interested in his answer, but for me, I would shoot most structure with epoxy primer, and if a top coat was needed, just a rattle can.

You don't "need" a booth as long as you use good ppe and can move air enough to keep over spray from laying back down on the parts

For 2k paints, I always use a respirator regardless of where or how I'm painting. For store bought rattle cans with my little paint booth, you don't get any fumes at all.

 

[jelloslug]

Next up was the cruise control dash switch. It was much more simple than the climate control head.

 

[jelloslug]

The next control was for the optional accessories. Much like the cruise control switch, it's a simple device yet still worn and dirty.

 

[DeezNortz]

@DeezNortz?

What are we talking about?

Need a custom dyed run? I can do this.

Your mother. Go fuck her.

 

[jelloslug]

The headlight switch is next. This car has both the auto on/off option and the auto dimming option. I must have forgotten to take before pics, all I have are the after pics.

 

[Achmiel]

So cool to see how they used to do things. It's amazing to see how far automotive technology has come

 

[jelloslug]

The wiper switch is the last of the switches and controls. It was the worst of the bunch as the clear plastic overlay was cracked. It was fairly clean but still worn and of need of a restoration. I actually bought a nice replacement switch but the connectors were different. In the end, I combining the best parts from both switches to make one good one.





Here is the replacement:





My module has two plugs and the replacement only has one:






The face on the replacement is better but the chrome on my old one is better.

 

[jelloslug]

The instrument cluster was not horrible but there was a little bit of rust on the black bezel, the lens was dirty and lightly scratched and there was a spider and some grung behind the lens.







There was piece of foam that was used to block light internally. It just turned to dust.





I took the entire cluster apart to clean everything out.

 

[jelloslug]

I replaced the little foam block, polished the lens and put it all back together.















A few of the traces had lifted on the mylar illumination circuit board. I was able to just glue them back down with some very thing double stick tape.








The vast majority of the bulb sockets were corroded and bad. I just happened to have a big bad of them from other clusters that I had scrapped a while back.

 

[Normie]

What are we talking about?

Need a custom dyed run? I can do this.

Your mother. Go fuck her.

You got any contacts for what he's looking for?

 

[jelloslug]

Now it's time to reinstall some of the controls. Many of them bolt to the rear of the center support so it's easier to bolt them in when the support is still out of the car.








Next, I added the lower dash supports and the lower dash trim.














Next the upper dash pad goes in.






And then finally the middle dash pad.

 

[jelloslug]

The dash vents are kind of fragile and the chrome likes to flake off of them. I had been collecting them from junkyards and online for a while so I had enough parts to put four nice ones together. I first took all of them apart and clean them.





You can seed the difference between one that has been polished and one that has not.






There are little foam pads on the side of the vents that give the vent a little resistance so it won't just flop around. They are all degraded and not doing anything. I made new ones so they will stay where you put them.





The little adjusters are bad to have the chrome flake off. The little black line in the middle also like to fade away completely. It took several junk yard trips to find four good ones.







The end result:

 

[jelloslug]

I'm thinking him.

I mean technically mine is done, but I currently have the hood up as I just replaced the distributor and am working on the ignition system. So the clock reset

I'm still a long way away...

 

[Normie]

I'm still a long way away...

Don't underestimate my procrastination

 

[Chazzworth]

Dash looks amazing! Great work. I recommend this stuff for frozen bolts/nuts