Thread: 55 Wagon Progress

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I'd still vote for the rectangles.... the rounds can work because of the raised "eyebrows" at the top of the dash.. but the rectangles seem to blend into the horizontal lines much better at that part of the dash.

just another opinion.. that and a dollar won't get you much any more!

I would go with the round ones since the air flow can be more easily tailored to ones needs.

Well, since you are asking for "opinions"......you spoiled me by creating that smooth flat surface and now hanging either set of vents in there looks a bit like making the AC register in your home become the focal point of the wall. If I had to choose, I'd go with the round ones because the rectangles just look too 70's for that dash, but what about hiding the vents behind a smooth panel that retracts when you want AC? Hmmm....... you know what they say about opinions....

Or how about a hidden panel that lifts up exposing the vents when you use them via hydrolics!
Very James Bondish, or if you remember Matt Helm(Dean Martin- he drove wagons in his spy series!)

Round ones. The square ones look too 1970's-1980's GM cars.

Or useing the idea from R2.. just have a duct under (hidden) below the dash? And leave the dash alone.

Originally Posted by randyr

Well, since you are asking for "opinions"......you spoiled me by creating that smooth flat surface and now hanging either set of vents in there looks a bit like making the AC register in your home become the focal point of the wall. If I had to choose, I'd go with the round ones because the rectangles just look too 70's for that dash, but what about hiding the vents behind a smooth panel that retracts when you want AC? Hmmm....... you know what they say about opinions....

Randy, here I'm trying to get this thing done this year, and you want to pile on more work....


Went to a metal shaping workshop this past weekend, and just in case we needed a project to tackle, I took along one of the round vents so I could make some "buckets" as an option for mounting them in the lower outside corners of the dash. To prevent scratching, I covered the chrome with painters tape. As it turned out, we had plenty of other projects going on, and I never got to the vents. Removing the tape when we got home resulted in this:








So be forewarned, don't use tape to protect the chrome on the plastic vents from Vintage Air.


Also made a Xerox copy of the vents to be able to lay them out and test a pattern before cutting any holes.

Thanks to all for the input on vent selection. Here is the 5 round pattern that the owner has decided on...

That can be refoiled and I would be suspect of any others you received as well.

They are just over $10 each, so likely they have a tail light warranty..


Well, the past couple of shop nights we've had some detours and some back up and punts. Where to start..


Started with a test fit of the power antenna the owner had bought, installed somewhat easily and even clears the door hinge when closed by 1/4". But this trim ring on top is just......obnoxious. Anyone use a power antenna that is a bit easier to hide?





Next, lets get the VA unit under the dash to see how much room we have to work with on a radio..








Doh! We had planned on a single DIN chassis, so it appears the radio will need to be 4" deep, or go back into the dash, or go in a console. She did buy a console with the bucket seats, they all came out of a late model Monte Carlo. Let's give that a go.





Not much room for installing a single DIN chassis, but even worse the console tapers in at the bottom where the trans tunnel is spreading outward. So it looks like its teeter tottering. Doesn't match the car at all. So this looks like something else to add to the list, perhaps a custom made console is in order..

Since we're not doing too well inside the car, let's shift gears and move to the outside. We had a couple more parts to add to the pile awaiting powder coat. The side baffles of the core support had some hole alignment issues, must be off a 57 or something.... so we'll fill those in and get them re-drilled correctly. Next, we need mounting brackets for the radiator. These were made from some 16 gauge cold rolled steel..

















We do now have much better clearance around the radiator petcock with the new improved version of the lower baffle..








Kyle had learned some Tig welding this past weekend at GatorMeet, from Gator's boy Dakota. Dakota is quite accomplished for his youth, having won the state competition for welding. Here Kyle runs a couple of practice samples to get the machine dialed in... Seems he forgot his long sleeve welding shirt this evening.











I had shown him how to tack without using filler, and gave him more aspiration by showing him a no-filler fusion weld. All in due time..


Practice aside, here is the hole filling effort in the baffle panels...





While Kyle worked on filling the holes, I had directed attention to the condenser and the holes we would need to add to the passenger side baffle prior to powder coat... just as shown in the book..





....only Murphy had other plans, it appears our condenser was intended for a cross flow radiator...











Hmm..... don't think this is going to work. So to back up and punt, the plan is to make a mounting bracket that will hold this universal condenser to a top flow radiator all while hiding those ugly holes that scream "I'm a universal fit". Then we'll have to get some new hard lines made up that fit correctly.





Layout of the mounting bracket...





Don't try this at home, it was done on a closed test track...











The ears inside will be folded inward to use the same bolts on the side of the radiator.. Here we are making the top and bottom folds in the magnetic brake, this design will help to hide all those holes..











....and we'll finish the mounting flanges next time..

If Kyle can master tig welding on sheet metal, the sky is the limit for him. Tig welding sheet metal takes much less filler metal than mig does. This can be a difficult transition to make. A small tungsten and .023 or .031 mig wire may help him here. The back side of the tig weld should look just like your mig photos show with full weld depth. Good progress guys.

Wow you guy really pay attention to the details. This is an awesome restoration to follow, that inspires us all. I wouldn't mind getting some mig tips from Kyle!

Thanks for taking time to respond guys.


More progress on the condenser mount... The flange fold marks are run through the tipping wheel to better show the bend location. I've found that when using the press brakes this helps to "feel" when the upper die is located properly, less guesswork with the eyeballs where it's harder to see in the press brake dies..








Clamped in place for a test fit..





The side folds add some stiffening as well as hide the bolt heads for the core support baffle plates.





Test fit of the condenser...


















Radiator brackets got a nut welded in the bottom hole, the condenser mount will get nuts welded in place for the top 2 sets of holes, so everything will bolt in from the outside in..








Making the slots for the radiator brackets, used a cone shaped burr....





Found that this cutter had less chatter when the cutting edge was perpendicular to the hole opening...

Some more details to iron out on the condenser mount, the corners seemed to "roll" a bit, so some corner braces are in order..

Using 16 gauge cold rolled, holes drilled to provide an inside radius to help prevent stress cracking..









Plug welds to hold things together..





Bob Heine over on GJ suggested using a Corvette antenna as they use an escutcheon with a flush fit, so I had a Corvette part delivery over the weekend, size of the business end is rather larger than the aftermarket one we had. As this fit in the void behind the A pillar (see in background between cowl vent and A pillar) and also needs to dodge the hinges closing, this did cause some interference. Dan thought this was from a late 80's/early 90's..





The biggest issue with the universal power antenna we have is that the top of the fender is considerably rounded, and the antenna escutcheon is designed for flat. So we are also looking at the factory piece, to see if we could adapt (drill hole larger) to use with the power antenna.

Just a thought, couldn't you cut off the teardrop portion of the universal mount leaving just the round portion. This would be easier to shape to the fender and there should be enough meat left on the round portion to drill and tap for mounting. If needed, an underside piece could be fabed to stiffen things up.

Jack.

Another thought, leave the universal as is and mount it from the underside of the fender leaving just the round portion to stick through the fender. This may require some reshaping of the top of the uni mount to fit the fender and you would have to find a new way to attach the mount to the fender. With your skills that should not be a problem.

Jack.