My 1967 Belvedere Convertible Plans and Restoration (aka - Mad Scientist Build)

[conv67bdere]

Got another new tool to add to the shop . . .

How could I pass up this - the guy completely redid it . . . and did a GREAT job on it . . .

Spent (2) hours chatting with him about stuff . . . I may be going back to pick up a really cool jack that he got . . .

 

[747mopar]

Nice!!!

 

[Mike67]

What era is that? Looks pretty cool!

 

[conv67bdere]

Alright . . . I guess it's finally got to be that time . . . and guess what happened tonight in the shop . . .

The first spots of body filler have been applied to the Khan-vertible . . .

Now . . . if I only had some sort of a clue what I was doing . . . that would be great ! ! ! ( wish me luck ) . . . I'm going to need it . . .

What era is that? Looks pretty cool!

I was told that the drill press was from the 1940's . . . and I've not looked up the serial number yet . . . but this thing is one thing . . . built like a brick **** house ! ! !

It will out live me ! ! ! No doubt . . .

 

[Ghostrider 67]

Alright . . . I guess it's finally got to be that time . . . and guess what happened tonight in the shop . . .

View attachment 379103

The first spots of body filler have been applied to the Khan-vertible . . .

Now . . . if I only had some sort of a clue what I was doing . . . that would be great ! ! ! ( wish me luck ) . . . I'm going to need it . . .



I was told that the drill press was from the 1940's . . . and I've not looked up the serial number yet . . . but this thing is one thing . . . built like a brick **** house ! ! !

It will out live me ! ! ! No doubt . . .

Yeah, there was a time in this country when men took pride in what they made, and they made stuff to last a lifetime. I love old tools and buy them when ever I can.

 

[conv67bdere]

After my first stab at bodywork . . . the body side moldings that were welded shut . . . I figured it was time to try my hand at something a little more difficult . . . so I figured I'd take a stab at the gas cap cover ( I know some may not like this, but I'm going for a clean, slick, smooth looking car - and the protruding gas cap did not fit "my" bill . . . )

Let's see what we've got here . . .

Another angle . . .

Got a lot of body angles, curves, and the gas cap cover that is "close" to the shape . . . so it needed a little finessing . . .

I'm liking the way that it' turning out so far . . .

Next . . . if you look at the first picture, the whole lower area below the body line where a Khan-fabricated panel was welded in to replace the rotted out lower section that originally occupied that area of the car . . . that should be a very interesting ( and challenging ) area to "fix" . . .

Here's the original work . . .

Marking the area . . .

Cut out with the new gas cap cover fitted in plavce

And finally welded in place . . .

After letting the epoxy primer dry a bit, I put the cover back in place to see how it looks . . .

I like the way it's looking . . .

 

[usaroadrunner]

Cool khan, very cool. Remember it's your car in your happy little car world.
I got that from bob Ross the painter. It's gonna turn out cool as hell

 

[HYRDGOON]

Very nice work! Lookin good!

 

[BigBlock61]

Nice work on the gas door Khan

 

[Richard Cranium]

Got another new tool to add to the shop . . .

How could I pass up this - the guy completely redid it . . . and did a GREAT job on it . . .

Spent (2) hours chatting with him about stuff . . . I may be going back to pick up a really cool jack that he got . . .

I take it that this is an old unit that's been refurbished. Would you mind sharing your source for the drill press?

 

[conv67bdere]

I take it that this is an old unit that's been refurbished. Would you mind sharing your source for the drill press?

Hey RC/DH . . . to what do I owe the honor of your response - never expected to see you here with my build since my car is not anywhere close to original . . . actually it's about as far from original as it probably can be . . . but . . . that's the way . . . uh huh, uh huh . . . I like it ! ! ! ( wonder who will recognize that ) . . .

Got the drill press the same place that I found this . . . pretty cool jack . . .

And this very nice wood shaper . . . for my wood working projects . . .

Stumbled on the guy on CL and I keep in touch with him . . . he does it as a hobby and does very nice work on the tools too ! ! !

Let me guess . . . . you're interested in getting your hands on one ? ? ?

 

[Ghostrider 67]

KC and The Sunshine Band.

 

[conv67bdere]

Got a chance to get some more work done on the driver rear quarter panel today . . .

The seam where the rear quarter panel meets the rocker ( it was leaded - now filled with body filler ) . . .
yes, I've got a sag in the primer ( need some work on that painting stuff )

The wheel well - this was moved 2 1/2" forward to give my tires a little more room at the front of the wheel well . . .

This is the wheel well lip that I had to fabricate when I moved the well forward 2 1/2" - you can still see a dent that will need some more work . . .

But it seems to be coming along pretty nicely . . . so far . . . I guess . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Back in the shop, while I can take advantage of the unseasonably warm winter, and try to figure out this bodywork stuff . . .

Got (2) really bad areas that I'm struggling with . . . make that (3)

this top edge, where I had to weld the panels together has a dip in the bottom - so I'm trying to fill it . . .

And this lower section behind the wheel well was cut out and completely replaced with new "fabricated" metal . . .

The side and the top area are looking pretty good ( above the wheel opening is going to need a bunch of "loving" . . . area 3 )

Same with the rear section behind the wheel well opening . . . but it's getting closer with this round of skim coats . . .

Got a couple coats of high build primer on, letting it dry, and I'll be sanding on it tomorrow ( and they're calling for 1-3" of snow for us on Saturday . . . great )

 

[conv67bdere]

Took the day off to get some stuff taken care of . . .

Got the new parts back from the powder coater . . .
Bumper brackets ( front and rear ), spring plates ( L & R ), and my fabricated transmission cross-member

Nice to see this on a couple of the parts too . . .

And another . . .

Also dug into my chrome parts, I've got 13 parts that make up the trim around the front window - and talked to a gentleman at the local plating place, and he informed me that only (3) of the parts were really chrome plated, and the other (10) were flash-chromed, and that media blasting would clean them up . . . so the (3) parts will be stripped at a cost of $75 . . . more parts getting ready for my re-build !

 

[HYRDGOON]

Love seeing a progress update Kahn.

I'm sure the bodywork will be a love/hate relationship for a while but the skim coats definitely show a step in the right direction.

Powder coated parts are looking Saawwweeeet as well!!

 

[conv67bdere]

Got this side looking good, time to move onto the passenger side rear quarter panel . . .

From the rear of the car . . .

From the front of the car . . .

The top - I welded the donor panel in at the bottom of this area - finally got it looking good . . .

And the rear section behind the wheel well - I cut the whole bottom off and fabricated a new bottom . . .

Here's what it use to look like . . . look at the bottom below the body line . . .

Talked to my buddy and we're going to be working on the shaved door handles in the next couple weeks for the Belvedere . . . anxious to get them started and installed ! ! !

 

[Glenwood]

Very smooth Larry!

 

[daytona kid]

Very nice work! Like the gas cap mod..

 

[747mopar]

Man those quarters look nice and the gas cap looks like it was made that way.... nice work! Good luck moving forward on the bodywork.