What fell off my 64 Polara and other questions.

[SlingLow]

When I brought the 64 home this week and backed it off of the trailer I found this greased up concave rubber boot laying on my passenger side ramp. It will be a while before I get under it (no lift) so I'm wondering if anyone recognizes it.

I also have some missing black on the side trim. I ordered the passenger side rear quarter nameplate. The driver side is shown below. My question is, 'Is there an acceptable way of refinishing these parts if I can't find replacements?

Is there a recommended treatment for this bit of rust in the trunk?

I guess the front seat bottom was replaced at some point with a non-OEM cover, then worn out again. I've found replacement covers at profitautointeriors and Legendary. Is there a go-to sight y'all use or anyone to avoid? Would it be a bad choice to do the front only if I can have the one flaw in the rear seat bottom repaired?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice or info! I'm not an experienced restorer and I'm really just looking to correct flaws and improve looks and function to driver level. I'm going to enjoy fixing up this one!

Nothing to do here. Got my dash compass like any well equipped boat.

 

[pnora]

Looks like whats left from a ball joint boot. That area you call rust looks like aged white spray lube. See if it wipes off.

 

[davek]

you can tape off trim and paint the black. I agree in the trunk,dried grease

 

[Ron H]

Have painted enough trim and wheels that can be tricky to mask off. When it’s a hassle, I use Vaseline on a q-tip being careful not to get it on areas I want painted. If you do, start over to make sure none of it is left on the areas you want coated. Spray paint and wipe off the vase with a degreasing cleaner after paint has cured, some razor blade removal may be needed. I have some old surgical scalpels I used too. Photo shows example of painting I did using vase, sorry, some winter dust yet to remove.

Agree with posts, I’d probably try a med bristled brush maybe a tooth brush to clean it off with degreasing soap and see if it works. You can advance to a heftier cleaner if this doesn’t remove it with a stiffer brush, not a wire one. I’d stay away from alcohol/solvents for now anyway, to see how it works out. Saying experiment with mild stuff before getting more aggressive, MO.
As for the seat pan, it’s been recovered as you may know, not stock covering. If there’s no splitting, could try using a black dye or marker working it into the cracks to camouflage it. Wipe off any over fill before it dries.

 

[eldubb440]

rubber thing might be a torsion bar boot

 

[Dave6T4]

I agree that rubber thing is remains of a ball joint boot. For my side chrome, I used a wide stripe tape. This stays on a lot better than paint

 

[SlingLow]

Have painted enough trim and wheels that can be tricky to mask off. When it’s a hassle, I use Vaseline on a q-tip being careful not to get it on areas I want painted. If you do, start over to make sure none of it is left on the areas you want coated. Spray paint and wipe off the vase with a degreasing cleaner after paint has cured, some razor blade removal may be needed. I have some old surgical scalpels I used too. Photo shows example of painting I did using vase, sorry, some winter dust yet to remove.

Agree with posts, I’d probably try a med bristled brush maybe a tooth brush to clean it off with degreasing soap and see if it works. You can advance to a heftier cleaner if this doesn’t remove it with a stiffer brush, not a wire one. I’d stay away from alcohol/solvents for now anyway, to see how it works out. Saying experiment with mild stuff before getting more aggressive, MO.
As for the seat pan, it’s been recovered as you may know, not stock covering. If there’s no splitting, could try using a black dye or marker working it into the cracks to camouflage it. Wipe off any over fill before it dries.

View attachment 1461231

That's an awesome tip. So to be clear would you use the vaseline on the cursive lettering and tape the straight edges of the border?

And thanks to @pnora & @davek , you are correct. That is grease. All I had to do was touch it to figure that out. Thanks also to @davek , @eldubb440 & @Dave6T4 for the suggestions where to look.

Also, I forgot to post up the original hubcaps I got along with the factory steel wheels. Really nice condition. I'll have to decide if I want to put them back on or go with the Magnum style wheels that are on it. My wife voted for the Magnums so I'll probably go with them.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

If you don't know him already your gonna want to meet Cody Reich, the owner of Columbia Signs in Brush Prairie... He's something of a Mopar guy..... Owns a car or two.... Run by & say Hi... Trust me...

 

[SlingLow]

If you don't know him already your gonna want to meet Cody Reich, the owner of Columbia Signs in Brush Prairie... He's something of a Mopar guy..... Owns a car or two.... Run by & say Hi... Trust me...

Looks like we're neighbors. The address I pulled up is 1.2 miles away as the crow flies, directly across on the south side of the 460 acre dairy farm I live on the north side of. I'll stalk him. Would he know you as @1 Wild R/T (or Sam)?

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Looks like we're neighbors. The address I pulled up is 1.2 miles away as the crow flies, directly across on the south side of the 460 acre dairy farm I live on the north side of. I'll stalk him. Would he know you as @1 Wild R/T (or Sam)?

Yeah, that, or Randy... He owns another Mopar website that I occasionally visit...

 

[493 Mike]

For the side trim you may like a paint pen.
Mike

 

[Hilljack68]

you can tape off trim and paint the black.

Yeah, if you're meticulous with the masking, it'll turn out good. The bat wings on the Coronet took me about an hour to mask. Good enough for driver-quality.

 

[Hilljack68]

I use Vaseline on a q-tip being careful not to get it on areas I want painted.

Great idea, Ron. And my wife just suggested masking fluid. She uses in her crafting world. I guess you can even get it with a needle-type applicator... for tiny, hard-to-reach areas. It dries to a boogery consistency, and you just peel it off when after it dries.

 

[Ron H]

my wife just suggested masking fluid. She uses in her crafting world.

Someone gave me this tip years ago when I was restoring an old set of Magnum 500 wheels and came in handy with all the trim and dash parts I later refurbished. Hobby Lobby is a gold mine for all sorts of detailing stuff I hadn’t seen before such as tiny needle point q-tips that worked nice when restoring the pushbuttons on the dash. Glad I had some mule buttons as anything alcohol on old plastic is bad.

 

[SlingLow]

Someone gave me this tip years ago when I was restoring an old set of Magnum 500 wheels and came in handy with all the trim and dash parts I later refurbished. Hobby Lobby is a gold mine for all sorts of detailing stuff I hadn’t seen before such as tiny needle point q-tips that worked nice when restoring the pushbuttons on the dash. Glad I had some mule buttons as anything alcohol on old plastic is bad.

Great info guys! So I can use vaseline, masking fluid or boogers. I have 2 out of the 3 on hand. I do want to refurbish the Magnum 500 wheels also. My push-buttons are also worn and partially unreadable so maybe I can spruce those up too. I have an excellent automotive paint store and use their recommendations but what kind of paint would you use on exterior trim and wheels? They recently mixed me some SEM paint (stain really) to refurbish a console and colorize some new plastic seat skirts and hinge brackets on another convertible. If the results don't satisfy me or starts to fail, I can easily go the vinyl tape route.

Another issue:
The original owner stuck reflectors on the rear quarters and a 3rd brake light on the trunk lid, then repainted the car around them in a slightly more orange version of the stock red paint. When the car changed hands after his death they were removed. One side still has the original paint showing and the side wnet down to primer-sealer and is a real eyesore. I talked with 2 painters yesterday and came up with various possible remedies from painting the whole car (don't want to spend the $), to painting both quarters and the trunk lid (still expensive), to partial repaint of the quarters and lid (not ideal). It is single stage paint. I've been trying to come up with a solution like putting something like a decal or something there but can't think of anything that would not look totally out of place. Any ideas?

You can just see the location in front of the rear bumper, below the trim. They were about 10 inches long by 2 inches tall.

The trunk. Less noticeable because of location.

 

[SlingLow]

I'm out getting the 64 Polara vert ready for it's first cruise-in under my ownership and I have a question on the convertible top mechanism. The top will go down without assistence but requires an assist to go up. In my experience, this has been due to low fluid level in the pump reservoir. So I pulled the rear seat and the only bolt I can easily access is on the end of the pump (not easily seen but on the left in this pic). Do I fill through that hole until it runs out? What is the proper fluid? I seem to remember ATF but my memory sucks. Thanks in advance for any help!

Edit: Once I lowered the top and got some light in there I found the fill hole near the top.

Also, does anyone know a source for a lens for this interior light in the bottom of the rear panel? Cheers! Doug

 

[Ron H]

I bought two re-pops couple years ago for my vert, tad pricy but were nice. Can't recall right off where I got them - check with Joey here (admin) as he has tons of parts.

 

[QuickBpBp]

This center trim piece is not on correctly. It’s made to slide onto the Lh and Rh trim.. It is a joint piece and should transition nicer once installed correctly..

 

[Dave6T4]

I'm out getting the 64 Polara vert ready for it's first cruise-in under my ownership and I have a question on the convertible top mechanism. The top will go down without assistence but requires an assist to go up. In my experience, this has been due to low fluid level in the pump reservoir. So I pulled the rear seat and the only bolt I can easily access is on the end of the pump (not easily seen but on the left in this pic). Do I fill through that hole until it runs out? What is the proper fluid? I seem to remember ATF but my memory sucks. Thanks in advance for any help!

Edit: Once I lowered the top and got some light in there I found the fill hole near the top.

View attachment 1469698

Also, does anyone know a source for a lens for this interior light in the bottom of the rear panel? Cheers! Doug

View attachment 1469696

Try Joe Suchy or Jim Kramer. I think console lights are the same.

 

[QuickBpBp]

Here is a set of reproduction lamp lens assemblies..
Console Side Lights Lenses & Bezels Mopar 1962 - 1964 B-Body and C-Body