1976 Superior 54XL Restoration Log

[John ED Renstrom]

You might show then the bumper broke down. It's normily a size thing with the smaller platers. A regular bumper takes a set of large tanks and a lot of room to buff. The rear would be a number of small.pieces that they might be able to do.

 

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

Today was Unity day. I installed a pair of C6 Unity spotlights to match the original set-up. The one on the Driver's side went on without a problem, the one of the passenger side is a combination of parts from various spotlights from my parts bin. When all was said and done, the shaft for the driver's side is about an inch too long. It does not affect its operations, but it could be a little shorter inside the car.




I did not have the proper locking collar for the interior shaft of the lights. somehow I thought to look in the ashtray and guess what? The proper angle rubber inserts and locking collars were in there! I wonder of Bruce left them there when he installed the previous dual head Unity lights when he had the car!!

 

[John ED Renstrom]

You lucky dog. I usaly only find one.

 

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

Now is the turn to move the tachometer to its original location. My guess is that the car was equipped with a tachometer because of the manual throttle control to allow for high idle when parked. This way the driver could idle the car at a predetermined RPM when parked.



I designed the base for the tachometer with Thinkercad and after printing a few prototypes I was happy with the final product.



Here is the tachometer back in its original location using the same mounting holes as with the original base. We are now one step closer for the car to be done!



......and yes, it needs a good cleaning......

 

[Philip Scanio]

Looking good. Why is there a throttle on a modern car?

 

[Steve Loftin]

Looking good. Why is there a throttle on a modern car?

We used ours (only occasionally) at extended scenes for increased cooling and amperage.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

Raise the engine speed when sitting still. Keep the AC running and the battery charged. Now tell me whwt is mordon about a 1975 car

 

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

Flooring template ready.

 

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

Oups.......

 

[John ED Renstrom]

Moma said there would be days like this

 

[Paul Steinberg]

Nothing that some solder, tape, and patience wouldn't fix. I am dealing with a slight parasitic draw on my Chevrolet and only wish that finding it was as easy as fixing some wires.

 

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

I was lucky the only wires that got caught in the angle grinder or the wires for the door ajar switches.

I am glad I took the time to mark each wires last year, that saved me so much time troubleshooting this mess.

All fixed now.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

The project goes better if you don't tear it up trying o fix it. But this old chevy I'm working on things are in layers. You go to patch something and you have to patch 2 things under it first.

 

[Bob Dyke]

Glad to have you aboard. Now I don't feel so lonely

 

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

I have been working on the rear driver side wheel well on / off for the last couple of weeks. I finished welding on the patches I started last year, used the wire wheel to remove all of the old tar that was on the wheel well, primed it, applied seam sealer 2nd coat of primer, 2nd layer of seam sealer and 3rd coat of primer before applying the first coat of rock guard. I am a little paranoid of water getting in on that side of the car since that is where the cabinets are and once they are back in they are not coming out to check for water.

Spot welds & grind, more spot welds & more grinding. I am always afraid that I will grind off the welds and thin out the sheet metal.


Next step was to grind all of the old tar and prime the entire wheel well and apply seam sealer. total of three coat of primer and 2 coats of seam sealer.






Finally two coat, maybe three of rock guard.

 

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

I also had to repair the rear fender skirt bracket which was rusted out where it connected with the wheel well. I removed the rusted portion and spot welded it to a piece of angle iron which I spot welded to the wheel well. All and all it is very solid and should last for many years to come.

 

[Tim Prieur]

J-M, you must have graduated from the "Ed Renstrom School of Professional Car Restoration". Well done!

 

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

J-M, you must have graduated from the "Ed Renstrom School of Professional Car Restoration". Well done!

Thanks Tim! I wish I knew 1/4 of what Ed knows. I’m picking at it little by little, learning as I go.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

There are days i wish i knew what i know. Really no need to grind the welds flush in there. Just knock the heads off to be sure you got it stuck, prime and seal. The big step most leave out is the seam sealer. One of the best buys i ever made was a gl of brush on under coating from JC Whinty. Took me years to us that up. It might surprise you how much quieter it runs down the road with them coated this way.

 

[Jean-Marc Dugas]

The big step most leave out is the seam sealer. One of the best buys i ever made was a gl of brush on under coating from JC Whinty. Took me years to us that up. It might surprise you how much quieter it runs down the road with them coated this way.

I started with the tube seam sealer but moved to the brush-on soon after. Same with the rock guard, I used the spray stuff on the passenger side, but the brush-on on the driver's side. I do not think that I will go back to using anything but the brush-on versions of these 2 products for most of the rest of this restoration.