The heater is finally in!!

Every now and then the best laid plans, no matter how well organized, are doomed for failure. Life often gets in the way and slows things down. This week was one of those weeks! But through determination and perseverance, I finally got a chance to work on Old Biddy today.

These twelve little pieces of metal stalled my installation of the heater unit...

from going here.

But now that I found the correct sizes, the unit is now in place. It only took me about twenty minutes to do. If you look at 11:00 and 1:00 (towards the upper corners) in the picture, you can see the vents are installed, also. I still have to find the hoses downstairs.

Here is one of the vents in place...I didn't want to bore you with a picture of the other one, too.

And more good news...the doors came back from the body shop! They look great!

With the wiper apparatus and heater unit installed, I can move on to other things. This week I have to put the back wheels up on dollies and drop the front subframe. The engine still has to go to get rebuilt, too. We'll see what happens next. Stay tuned!
Thank you for visiting!
Todd

Wiper apparatus and heater.

Some wiseman (or maybe it was a wiseguy, I can't remember) once told me to celebrate the little victories and the battles will take care of themselves...or something like that. Today I celebrate my first minor victory. The wiper apparatus has been installed (sans firewall grommet)!! Notice that the cable still needs to be connected in the motor box. Once the grommet is slid over the cable we can finish the job.

I found the chrome pieces!! They were attached to the ends of the wiper arms the whole time. Here are the wheelboxes installed correctly.

Next, we move on to installing the heater box which goes here. It will be a couple days before I have the correct size bolts and screws to fasten it in place.

This unit was totally encrusted with mouse debris and a dead (and extremely smelly) body and a mouse skeleton. It took a good ten hours of cleaning, sanding, (almost) gagging, painting and re-assembly to get the box in this condition. It looks (and smells) great now! Sadly, when I did this three years ago, I took no pictures of the heater box restoration. I hope the radiator in it does not leak.

An exploded view from the book of "Highly Exalted Words". I call it that because it is supposed to have all the answers, but like the Bible, it needs to be read a few times, studied, and interpreted to make any sense.

Happy Easter to you all! Thanks for visiting!
Enjoy!
Todd

Day 1, The Actual Restoration has Started!!

Today, the main objective was to place the windshield wiper apparatus into the car. But, as I found out, my workshop was no where near ready to perform any operations. I spent a good deal of the day downstairs organizing parts which were scattered everywhere (although, I thought I was organized), and cleaning. As far as actual restoration...
I wanted these parts...

to go here.

...and here up underneath.

But I had two minor set backs. I did not like the look of the gear box. It looked too grungy. I decided to mask it off and prime it even though I really wanted to just install it. My pride told me to "do it the right way."

As I was waiting for it to dry, I had to search for the chrome cones that go outside the wheel boxes. I recently polished them up but cannot remember where I put them. For kicks, I at least put the apparatus in place to see if it fit. You can see the wheel boxes above the vent slots and the arm coming into the engine compartment. And it does...

Now I have two things I need; the chrome cones, and this grommet. As you can see this one is in terrible condition as it is crumbling and rusty. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement?

The good news is that the gear box looks excellent! I like the patina on the unpainted parts contrasting with the paint.

And the other good news is that I sent my wiring harness to British Wiring in Bally, PA. to get refurbished. Josh has been very good to deal with so far. 

 I know it does not seem like I got too much accomplished yesterday but I really did. I will probably need another good day without interruption to get everything in good shape...and to hopefully find the missing chrome cones.
Thank you for visiting!
Enjoy!
Todd

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Many thanks to the few folks who have visited this site so far. This week has been a busy one and I have not been able to work on "Old Biddy" yet. I am planning on spending a couple hours with her tomorrow. I hope to upload more stuff on this site on Friday. Until then, I have had requests to post pictures of the old girl when I first got her. WARNING!! You may want to send your children away since these pictures are pretty ugly and graphic in nature.
This is what she was like the day after I got her.

This is a view of her mouse apartment...er, I mean engine compartment.

And finally her back end. As you can see somebody else loved her, too, at one time!

Once I get through today, I am pretty much free for the rest of the week.
Thank you for visiting!
Toddy

April 17th, 2011

Welcome! Let me introduce you to "Old Biddy", who is fresh from the bodyshop.

Black is the hardest color to photograph. Trust me, she's beautiful!!

Here are the things on my workshop bench right now; the steering rack, and drive shafts. I'm waiting for rubber boots and elbow grease to finish them.

I will be taking her engine to a fellow to get rebuilt this week...I hope.

My to do list this week (I have off because of April vacation):
Install the windshield wiper apparatus.
Install the heater unit.
Bring engine to get rebuilt.
Stay tuned! Please feel free to comment or send e-mails.
Thank you for visiting.
Toddy