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

Trip to visit 747Mopar in Ohio . . . and put a fork in that pig . . .

Made another weekend trip up to Ohio to visit with 747Mopar and had another great time ( like always ! ! ! )

We spent most of the day on Saturday walking around at the Goodguys Car Show in Columbus - and drooled over all the incredible works of art that were on display.

Then, in the evening, we jumped into the assembly of the pig for the Belvedere Convertible - this required that we make a trip up to Summit Racing ( oh darn ) and I was not at all disappointed when we headed there in his 69 Charger ( man is that thing a work of art too ! ). We picked up a new 3.91 ring and pinion gear set, and all the rest of the necessities to get this pig build . . .

It was a late night, and we tried 2, or, 4, or 5 . . . or - wait - who's counting ! ! ! . . . and about 2AM we called it a night, but had it pretty much nailed down . . . and here's the ring pattern . . . ( I'm very happy with the results - and I worked on the building of this pig along with Devin ! ( he was nice enough to let me work on it too - and learn - this was my first ever pig assembly ))

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In the morning, when we thought we had it nailed down, we had a couple surprises, but nothing that a couple more attempts ( and shims ) could not get right . . .

Then on my trip back home - driving through Virginia, I had the opportunity to drive past these street rods ( on the right ) . . . with one very nice wagon !

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Thanks Devin - had a great time up there ! ! ! And the time went far too fast . . . we'll have to do it again . . . and soon ! ! !
 
Like I've said before..... your always welcome and the kids are always happy to see you. Next visit maybe we'll have time to shoot off some rounds and spend more time blasting threw the woods????
 
Been a while since I updated . . . work on the Convertible is slow in this heat . . .

Recall that I had to do some work on Magnum Force Motor mounts for my 5.7 Hemi . . . which means that the powder coating was messed up . . . ARGH ! ! !

Good news - found a local shop that does powder coating ( at a reasonable price ) and I got the motor plates to them to re-do . . .

The one on the right they only had (2) bolts holding it to the engine - we extended that to include all (4) bolts plus added an additional gusset for strength. i don't think it's going anywhere now.

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The other side . . .

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They turned out great - so the plan is to get the whole front suspension to them and get it properly re-done too.

In addition . . . doing some work on the rear axle - 747Mopar assisted with the rebuild, and I'm doing some grinding on the axle housing to get it ready for powder coating, plus working on getting me new axles ordered from Dutchman . . . That means . . . I might have actually turned the corner from tearing things apart, and fixing things, to rebuilding parts so that they can go back on the car ! ! !

Now if this heat would just taper off a bit . . . whew . . .
 
Odds and Ends . . . this miserably hot Summer . . .

This Summer has been so Hot and Humid . . . working on the Belvedere has been sporadic ( but I still try and get some work done it from time to time ). In the meantime, the heat is not preventing me form getting things done in and around the house to free up my time ( in about a month ) when the temps will fall and I can focus all my attention to getting my drop top on the road.

Attended a cruise in the other night, and although there were only about 20 cars there, these (2) very nice Mopars really got my attention . . .

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This GTS was really, really, nice . . .

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And I really liked the tires and wheels they had on the car too ! ! ! WOW ! ! !

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As I said, I do try and get some work done on the car, here's a picture of the design work that my buddy and I are attending to on the computer to get ready to build a set of flush door handles for the Belvedere - get the design nailed down so we can build them and install them when the temps drop . . . YAY ! ! !

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On the home front, I'm working on adding some built into the wall shelves by my front door ( this is an interior wall )

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Built the boxes to go into the wall and got the installed . . .

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Work on building on the shelves - the design and shape changed as I got into it to keep them from getting too busy . . .

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This is the current state of the shelving . . . the wall backs are all textured "mud" and will need to get painted

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Looking forward to getting this project wrapped up . . . and onto bigger and better things . . .
 
There ya go again with the non Mopar ****! C'mon, I'm missing the Vert:poke:. Shelves are looking great Kahn, very creative and cool.
 
Sorry 747Mopar . . . it just needs to get done . . .

Good news - Dropped off the rear axle housing, and the Magnum Force front clip to get them powder coated ! ! Should have them back in a week or two, and the weather is looking like the temps are going to drop next week . . . so I should be back on the car building and providing some good Mopar **** soon . . .

And I'm SO LOOKING forward to getting back on the car building ! ! !

 
Getting things set up in the shop and getting ready to get back to work on the VERT . . .

If the forecasters are correct ( I'm not holding my breath ) the temps are suppose to drop 10 degrees this week - and I'm so ready for that ! !

In the meantime, I've been working on cleaning up the shop, and getting some of the things done that I've been putting off - as for this project. Finally built the stand to hold the shear for the shop - when it is sitting on the floor, it's not very easy to use - plus there is nothing preventing it from torquing as you try and cut the metal - it's not a whole lot of fun . . . so it really needs a stand . . . and now it's got one . . .

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And a closeup of the top of the shear - gave it a test cut, and it works very well ( and I can stand up and do it too ) . . . glad to have this done now !

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It's been brutally hot over here too this summer. In July we had over a week straight of 100*+. But no humidity. Still, tough working in the garage when it's over 110. Keep plugging away....
 
The Mad Scientist Build is back . . .

Temps are very slightly falling off the miserable highs we've been having, but I'm going crazy not working on the convertible . . . so I'm back on it . . .

Working on the front fenders - pull them out in the yard and strip the paint off them . . . got 3 dents in this fender that I will be taking the hammer and dolly to to reduce the amount of body filler that it needs . . . here's the work in progress . . . Oh - HOW did I miss filling (1) body molding hole ( I don't know )

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And the rear of the fender - they had some body filler here too . . . but I'm not seeing why ( yet ) . . .

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Got the top done . . .

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And the completed job . . . now to take the DA sander to it . . .

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Back at it . . .

Busted out the DA sander, the hammer and dolly, and spent some time working on this passenger fender . . .

Had 5-6 areas on the fender that needed some attention . . . and got them looking really good - a little skim coat and it should take care of it now
( at least I hope it does )

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Sometimes this car surprises me . . . and this fender was one of those times . . . out side of the few dents, the fender is in really good shape and does not have a lot of rust ( this fender was replaced on the car - the yellow paint under the copper was a dead give away ) . . . but as I strip off more of the paint - the metal underneath it is looking really good . . . it's getting into all those nooks and crannies . . . ARGH ! ! !

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Now onto the driver side fender . . .

Now that the passenger fender is in pretty good shape, now it's time to move onto the Drivers side fender . . .

And . . . as usual . . . got some dents that need to be addressed . . . ( why are they always on a body line ? ? ? )

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But after a little TLC ( and some pounding with a body hammer and dolly . . . this is how she's looking . . .

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And the driver side fender is stripped and ready . . .

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As for the "why are they always on a body line" question . . . I looked at my car again . . . there are body lines EVERYWHERE on this car ! ! !

( smile )
 
Trying to take advantage of my 4 day weekend - and I got a bunch done . . .

Finally decided that the tire well in the trunk has to go . . . after narrowing the rear end 3" on each side - I need someplace for the exhaust to be able to be run out the back of the car . . . so . . . say goodbye to the tire well - and now to replace it with flat metal . . .

Start with a plan . . . not really . . . start marking lines for where to cut . . . those look good . . .

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Cut the lines on the drive side of the well . . . then try and figure out the next set of lines . . . how am I going to do this ? ? ?

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Cut out the passenger side of the tire well . . . then try and figure what's next . . .

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And before you know it . . . there is a big hole in the trunk of your car ( looks like my trunk has a basement - not anymore . . . ) . . .

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And the missing tire well from the Belvedere . . . darn shame - it's really good and solid ( and already in epoxy primer too )

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Get a piece of metal ( great . . . I get to clean this piece up too - from the surface rust - like I need MORE work to do . . . )

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Figure out how to use this bead roller - and get some beads in the metal for strength . . . this is working . . . so far . . .

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Bend the metal to match the contours of the sides of the trunk - this also will add some rigidity to the flat piece of metal too . . .

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It's still a bit over-sized ( for now ) and needs to be "finessed" into place so it can be welded in . . . so fat so good . . .

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Get this piece sized for proper fitment . . . add some more beads ( try and make it look somewhat factory ) . . . and then have fun welding it in place . . . moving along quite nicely so far . . . hope the rest continues to go well . . .
 
Wanted this stuff to show up last Thursday/Friday ( while I was off ) - which is why it was done today . . .

But WOW . . . it's like Christmas in September . . . got this stuff back from the powder coater today . . .

The grinding that I did, prior to getting this to the powder coater sure looks like it paid off . . . really happy with this result . . .

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This is going to look really good under the car . . . can't wait . . .

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And the work on fixing the motor mounts has been corrected - and the front clip looks GREAT ! ! !

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Even went and got the sway bar done in rec - wanted something a little different ( hope I like the way it looks when it's all put together ) . . .

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Getting some of the things done and completed so that when parts start going back together, I have them in hand wand ready to go with no waiting . . .

At least that's the intended plan . . . wish me luck
 
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It's about time you got back on it! Gotta give you credit, it's significant work getting done haha. Fenders look great, minimal repairs are good. The trunk on the other hand looks awesome, it really looks nice with the diagonal lines. Great work Kahn
 
YEHHHHHHH BUDDDEEEEEE!! I was getting the text updates but you were holding out on the trunk progress! lol

You definitely gained some ground there and the pieces from the coater look top notch. Awesome Brother!
 
Finally got my wifi back..... Looks way better on the big screen! Really nice work
 
SEXYYYYYY, really really nice. finally back on the vert. ok now thats enough chit chat and get back out there and post more pics...lmao
 
I'm working on it . . . the temps have NOT fallen off like I thought they would . . .

But I'm on a roll and I'm keeping at it . . . so here's the progress on the trunk modifications . . .

Got a few more beads in the metal - finished up the fitment - and the welding is in progress . . .

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Got a couple "drunken sailor" beads - hard to keep them straight working on your own - OH WELL . . .
And I got one "ruh-ruh" in the bottom right corner - where measure once and cut twice didn't work too well . . .

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Had a good neighbor stop by the shop while I was working on the car tonight, and inform me that he killed a copperhead in the road in front of my house - he was in his truck - so here's the carnage of one less copperhead in my area ( this is the first one I've seen here in 10 years )

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More work tomorrow on the welding in of the trunk panel . . .
 
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