My GY8 '71 Road Runner

VICTORY!!!!

I was able to get the covers stretched enough to hog ring them. I was not easy. I ended up using a section of leftover seat foam, a piece of cardboard and a ratchet strap. Even with this setup, I still had to pull like hell to get the listing wire over to the holes in the bottom of the seat back frame. I also finished the the top and bottom of the rear seat. I had to make a new panel for the back seat upper frame as the one that came with the kit was too short. Thankfully, I had enough leftover burlap and listing wire to do this. And, I got more hog rings.

Bottom of covers hog ringed:


This is what I had to do to compress the springs enough:


This is a bit short:


So, I made a new one (bottom):


Much better:


And done (top) - still a few wrinkles to get out:


Bottom:


Success!


Thanks for looking!

Good job Chad!!

71Beeper said:

Good job Chad!!

Click to expand...

Thank you! My thumbs are still killing me!!

Hello all, It’s been a while since I’ve updated. I’ve gotten a few things done on the car. I installed the sail panels, tried to anyway, and started rebuilding the transmission. I figured since I don’t know much of the history on this car and pretty much everything else was messed up, I’d better take a close look at the tranny.

To get the sail panels to fit a bit better, I had to put a slight bend in them. This went well for the driver’s side, not so much for the passenger’s side. I put a nice set of wrinkles in the passenger’s side panel. Super! I tried steam and a heat gun to get the wrinkles out with zero success. I’m thinking I’ll have to strip the vinyl off the backer board and re-glue it.

Driver’s side:


Passenger’s side:




I also dismantled the 727:


Hmm, this doesn’t look good:


Disassembled:


One of the planetaries ate something:




And the Belleville spring was slightly broken:


One step forward, two steps back…

I powerwashed and then blasted the case. I then sprayed it with several coats of satin high-temp clear.

Before:


After:


I also worked out a dent in the pan:

I’ve also been working on restoring my headrests. I didn’t have much hope for them as they looked like a family of feral cats were using them as scratching posts. There was also a deep gouge in one of them. I started by wiping them down with SPI solvent based w&g remover. I then scrubbed them with a soft bristle brush and dawn mixed with water. I then filled the deep gouge with a vinyl patch spray. I sprayed it on a paper plate then dabbed it in the gouge with a paint brush. After letting it set up a bit, I pushed it down using my finger. I then scuffed them with a grey scotchbrite, wiped them down with water based w&g and sprayed them with 3 coats of SEM Color Coat. I have to say that I’m shocked at how much better they look. I got the gouge fixed as best I could.

What I started with:






Deep gouge - red arrow:


First wipe down with w&g (on left):


Scrubbed with dawn (on left):


Finished:


Gouge mostly gone:


Shiny:


What I used: