• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

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

Just picked up a new "toy" for the shop . . . been wanting to add one of these to the shop for a long time . . .

Grizzly DF 1237G - Metal lathe . . .

1 1/2 HP Motor - 12 inch swing ( removable gap bed ) - 37 inch between centers - 1985 model ( by the motor label )
- needs a little bit of work

View attachment 421072

And I'm going to need a whole lot of tooling . . . I have nothing for a lathe and this had nothing "useful" . . .
Being steered to ( by my friend )
- - Bison 3-jaw chuck
- - Dorian or Aloris quick-change tool post
- - Albrecht drill chuck

And my friend is going to help me get this thing set up true/square/precise - for the best results
( probably some super cool mods too )
You might want to replace the covers on your switchboard behind the lathe before them chips of steel start flying around. :D
 
Oh, c'mon . . . what "fun" would that be ? ?
You're right...probably nothing to be worried about....
76a06798afc1f1eef746c4efe1cf4c3dbf1c1b65_hq.gif

:lol:
 
Another day of working on the car . . . and finding more thing about it . . .

Started to strip the hood and get it into epoxy primer . . . only to find out . . .
- it had a big dent in the center that is filled with body filler
- most of the whole front edge was paint in metal ( no primer underneath it - this guy cut so many corners )
- most of the top connections to the under strengthening supports are no longer glued ( the whole top is mostly loose )

sm_hoodstrip01.jpg


Stripping it down a little at a time - trying not to get it to hot . . .

sm_hoodstrip02.jpg


Pictures of the progress . . . after the wire brush, then I take the DA sander to the metal . . .

sm_hoodstrip03.jpg


Completed - paint fully removed ( from the top ) and fully DA sanded . . .

sm_hoodstrip04.jpg


And . . . now sporting a fresh, new covering of epoxy primer . . .

sm_hoodstrip05.jpg
 
Here's a pic of the inner splash shields that I epoxy primered yesterday

sm_moprestuff01.jpg


And while I was mixing up the epoxy primer, got another coat on both rear quarter panels on the car too . . .
with sanding I had gotten down to some bare metal . . .

sm_moprestuff02.jpg


I'm still going to have to figure out what to do with the hood . . . ARGH . . .
 
Finally got a chance to fight with the hood - the dent in the hood was bothering me . . . want to tray and get it bumped out . . .

sm_hoodstrip01-jpg.jpg


I don't want to have this much body filler in the hood . . . so guess where the dent in the top is located . . . Yup above the braces . . .
So I found the location and started to drill it out . . .

sm_hoodwork01.jpg


How cool is this . . . when drilling out the brace ( on the edge ) it made the Mopar Emblem ! ! LOL

sm_hoodwork02.jpg


Figures - story of my life - not just one brace, but there's a second one under neath it that needs to be removed too . . .

sm_hoodwork03.jpg


Made up a couple "tools" to get into this 1" hole and help move the metal . . .

sm_hoodwork05.jpg


And the end result is looking much better than it originally had . . . shouldn't need much filler at all now . . .

sm_hoodwork04.jpg
 
Boy it would have been nice to have a stud gun laying around for that job. I borrowed a friend's to fix a few dents like that, I'll be buying one for sure.

The bodywork is looking great Kahn, nice and straight! It's nice seeing this car at this stage, been a long road but it's looking great.
 
Finally was able to get the passenger side front fender into epoxy primer . . .

sm_passfenderprimer.jpg


Only got the outside, as it was bare metal and the humidity down here has been through the roof . . . hope to get the driver side done too . . . rain in the forecast for today . . .

ugh - just what we need a little more humidity . . .
 
Looking good Kahn, is the car close to all being in grey epoxy. Can't wait til the suspension and HEMI ****. Lol
 
Fender and hood repair both looking great. Love seeing the progress you are definitely moving in the right direction and seems like you have gained momentum again!
 
I love it when parts show up at the house . . . took the 66 Shoe Box in to get it aligned, and no go . . . the steering parts ( 50 years old ) have decided they don't want to work anymore . . .

Figures - one part is back ordered, but it'll be here tomorrow, so I'll get started pulling this all apart and get ready for the last part tomorrow

sm_moogpartsshoebox01.jpg


Boy do I like these Moog parts . . . I always go with them when possible . . .

sm_moogpartsshoebox02.jpg


Should be able to get half the car done tonight and the other half broken down for tomorrow . . . YAY ! ! ! !
 
Got a chance to work on the Belvedere today got the driver fender in epoxy primer . . .

sm_bodywork144.jpg


Also been working on my Ford 8N tractor - and the battery tray had a bunch of missing metal - so I patched it with a piece of metal from the Belvedere . . .
Wonder how that's going to work out . . . .

sm_bodywork145.jpg


Got the 66 Shoe Box new tie rod ends installed and back for an alignment . . . on the trip to the alignment, the car felt a whole lot better, and I saw that my measurements on the replaced parts was very close . . . most of the numbers were still in the green ( that, in itself, amazes me ) . . . and the car is handling and driving great . . . I'll take any small victories ! ! !
 
More work done this weekend . . .

66 Shoe Box is still running great - the steering is just like a new car . . . great fun to drive

Ford 8N tractor . . . the Mopar metal transplant was a success, finally figured out the cause and it's running better than ever now ( thanks to Mopar metal ? ? )

sm_fixedbatterytray.jpg


Here's the lowdown on the failure . . .
tractor starter was turning over - then suddenly quit . . .
1 - power directly to the starter starter turned over ( starter was pulled and cleaned up a bit )
2 - tested starter solenoid - add power, the part clicks, test continuity and it was working properly
3 - test starter button - push button, the line grounds to the chassis . . .

All (3) parts work . . . hook them up together - nothing ( but a little click of the starter solenoid )

Finally went a bought a new (+) cable from the battery to the starter . . . tractor started immediately . . . darn cable was bad ( but doesn't explain #1 )

And also got a chance to work on the Belvedere too . . . and get the insides of the front fenders in Epoxy Primer . . .

Driver side . . .

sm_bodywork146.jpg


And Passenger side . . .

sm_bodywork147.jpg


Nice to be seeing a "bunch" of parts in Epoxy Primer . . . now to do a little body work on them . . .
 
Last edited:
Last week I tried to get some bodywork done on the Belvedere fenders ( while they'er off the car ) and it was not fun . . .

Though I was able to "kinda" work on them and get some of the areas filled . . . the body stands were far too unstable to really work on them . . .

sm_bfiller01.jpg


I think the body work would be much better on the car, plus it would help keep the levels consistent between fenders, doors, and rear quarter panels . . .

sm_bfiller02.jpg


A friend of mine that judges cars at the shows, looks at the seams between the doors and fenders, and doors and rear quarter panels, to see if the look like they were sanded "not together" on the the car, which would lead to the edges rounding inward and not being "true" across the the gaps ( hope that makes sense ) . . . if he sees it, he deducts form the paint score on the judging . . .

So I'll take his advice and get the panels sanded together on the car . . .

Made a trip up to Roanoke Virginia to help my daughter and her husband gut a bathroom in thier newly purchased 1970's house - and the gutting is completed . . .

On the trip home, stopped for gas and saw this . . .

sm_3superbees01.jpg


Boy was that a pretty view while filling up . . .

sm_3superbees02.jpg


And the puppy dog was sure happy to be back home on his own bed too . . . out cold . . .

sm_titusout01.jpg


Think he's afraid that when he travels he's not going to go back home with me - he follows me around like a shadow . . .
 
Hi Kahn,
Body work is looking good!
And it makes sence to have all the panels on the car when blocking.
I'll bet those cars were on their way home from Carlisle
 
The heat down here has been off the charts . . . 100+ degrees the past couple days . . .

Spent 3 hours in the shop this morning trying to get it cleaned up so that I can actually move in there and get something done.
SO, then I went back to tackle the bad spot in the bottom corner of the passenger door . . .

Find out where all the bad stuff is - get it marked ( my usual doodling ) and cut it out . . .

sm_bodyworkpsdoor01.jpg


Ugh . . . it was even worse than I expected back here . . . this id going to ( not ) fun . . . but I like a challenge . . .

sm_bodyworkpsdoor02.jpg


Look at all the junk that came out of this small area . . . and all the holes in piece of metal that was cut out . . .

sm_bodyworkpsdoor03.jpg


Got a lot more work that will need to get done on this area . . .
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top