Optimus Prime - The '68 Coupe

68xstang · Feb 3, 2011

gregski said:
Then it was time to remove the chrome piece which was held on with 9 easily removable screws and one not so easily removable screw... surprise! Nothing my trusty 4" angle grinder couldn't persuade. After the screws were removed I learned that this piece is glued on using what appears to be some sort of a double sided sticky strip... out with the spatula. I also taped the rain gutter with blue tape to prevent it from getting scratched as I worked my way around the roof line to pry it off.

I had the same problem getting the "double sided sticky strip" off in one piece. Now I have been searchin for a new one, but without success.
Does anybody know from where I could order a new one?? The weatherstripping pages in a few catalogues (MU, NPD) does not have the answer....

You will have the same issue, gregski. Great job with your car by the way!

Red5oh · Feb 3, 2011

Yep, I had a hard time finding it as well. I used a 3/16" closed cell foam about 1" wide with adhesive on one side. I got the roll from a refrigeration service company. The sole purpose of this foam is to compress (and almost completely) to seal off the space between the stainless weather stripping holder and the body. If it is too thick, it will play trouble in not allowing the door to close with the window up and tearing the weather stripping.

gregski · Feb 4, 2011

Door Texture Question

How do I prime/paint the inside of the doors? I mean they have that wrinkle texture finish which I like and would like to preserve, so do I shoot the same epoxy primer over it? I think not, as it will fill the grooves making it flat. The brown paint that I am stripping off of them now doesn't seem to have any primer under it, could that be so?

65ShelbyClone · Feb 4, 2011

It's probably not what a restorer would do, but I have been using the rattle can "interior lacquer" with pretty good results. Well, good if it's not shot over enamel...

Red5oh · Feb 5, 2011

The wrinkle texture inside the door is sound deadening material. Just shoot over it and it will be ok. You shouldnt be shooting that much primer to cover up something 1/8" thick....

65ShelbyClone · Feb 5, 2011

Oops, I was thinking of the inside side of the door, not inside of the door.

Yeah, I think that stuff is a rubber or tar type coating. I would shoot over it too. What I want to do to mine is remove that crud(some is already falling off) and replace it with something like Dynamat, but it's such a pain working through those sharp-edged holes. I found that out when my window regulators bound up.

Red5oh · Feb 5, 2011

65ShelbyClone... no, I think you are right... I am the one talking about the inside of the door sheet metal where the window brackets are. I can see where everyone wants to 'see' what is happening and I have been stuck in the house for 4 days with all this snow... so I am the crazy one!

65ShelbyClone · Feb 5, 2011

I think it's funny that you guys are getting snow and we're getting sunny 70° days. It's only fair though; the rest of the country was getting mild weather when we got ~8-10" of snow about a month ago.

gregski has probably been taking advantage and working on the car....or he's burned out already and left to have some fun.

gregski · Feb 6, 2011

First Week In February

So it's the first week of February, just put in 10 hours in the garage today, got a lot of stuff done. Man it was over 70 degrees today perfect weather to shoot some primer, too bad I wasn't ready yet. So we're about 90% done with the doors and the door jams, so let me catch you up with some pictures.

gregski · Feb 6, 2011

Couple more things to remove

Of course there were more things to remove from the A pillar (the post on the left and right of the windshield) and the rear door sill, yeah I save the old bits even if they are to be replaced just so I know what to order later and to make sure I get the exact same part, don't forget to label your stuff, (sometimes I share bags for like items, it's not an exact science), sure you know where it came off of today, but will you remember 8 months from now? lol

gregski · Feb 6, 2011

Quarter Latch Pillars

if I didn't get the spots I missed already, I will, but regardless lots of work, and it's gonna be done right and not caked on a third layer of paint, and I'm still trying to get that striker plate off, wish I could find the gorilla who put it on

65ShelbyClone · Feb 6, 2011

gregski said:
I'm still trying to get that striker plate off, wish I could find the gorilla who put it on

An impact screwdriver would probably do the trick. A Craftsman will set you back about $20 while Harbor Freight gets $7 for theirs.

They're mandatory for working on old Japanese motorcycles that are almost entirely held together with Philips-head screws made of tofu.

68GT500KR_Vert · Feb 7, 2011

I heated up the screws and put wd40 on the backing plates; that's what got mine loose.

gregski · Feb 7, 2011

Coming to a grinding halt.

It was 70 degrees, the birds were chirping, and I was grinding and stripping the paint off like there was no tomorrow... and then... it all came to a grinding halt! My trusty 4" angle grinder died, kaput. I checked my extension cord, all looked good and plugged in but this thing would not turn on.

Crazy thoughts ran through my head, why do I have to be so cheap, I should have bought a Dewalt for $300 bucks, etc...

But I didn't get my panties in a bunch, instead I decided to fix it! So here's what I did. The angle grinder has brushes, like the starter on you car. Sometimes they just wear out with use. So I removed both the brushes, there was one on either side, using a flat screw driver. I noticed they were concave and probably were no longer making good contact.

Then I carefully ground them flat using any sand paper I could find. I popped them back in, said a short prayer and flipped the switch, whalla, she spun up like new...

maybe sharing this tip will help someone down the road

gregski · Feb 9, 2011

what goes up... must come down - a bonehead mistake

i decided to use a wire wheel on my angle grinder to remove the hardened black goop off the interior side of the door, while the driver side door was still attached to the vehicle

well it worked, it worked really well, HOWEVER, all that goop had to go somewhere, right? I mean it doesn't just vanish into thin air?

I am sharing this with you because I don't hide my mess ups, we can all learn from each others mistakes, right

so the shredded goop ended up on the newly primed roof of my car, so now my Mustang has freckles on it

probably not the end of the world, and though just wiping it off with a rag did not work, maybe some grease and wax remover will do the trick

in the meantime the passenger door is already off the car, and will be stripped outside in the yard, (away from any vehicles)

lesson learned is: when in doubt cover your car, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Rusty67 · Feb 11, 2011

65ShelbyClone said:
An impact screwdriver would probably do the trick. A Craftsman will set you back about $20 while Harbor Freight gets $7 for theirs.

They're mandatory for working on old Japanese motorcycles that are almost entirely held together with Philips-head screws made of tofu.

Oh man, thats because when you work on Japanese stuff they use Japanese philips. They don't have the same angle on the tip as the standard American ones do. The Japanese philips are called JIS. They have a little dot on the head of the screw... looks kinda like this: (.+)

Get yourself a set of JIS screw drivers and that should really help when taking stuff appart. You wont jack the heads on the philips anymore. Now if the screw is stuck.... brake out the liquid wrench and the impact screw driver you know and love/hate.

Sorry to go off topic....

You are doing a great job gregski, keep it up !

gregski · Feb 11, 2011

continuing with the tangent, having had 7 bikes, 6 japanese, all used, one free, rule number one about rebuilding the carb is take out every screw driver you own, and then borrow your neighbors, I don't know anything about a japanese philips vs an american philips, but I do know that no two screw drivers were created equal, so I try them until I find one that fits really tight really snug, then I try to remove the screw, its a PIA but it works

Rusty67 · Feb 12, 2011

Here is where I got my JIS drivers from:
Miniature Precision Hand Tools from RJRCoolTools.com

There is a good deal of info on his main page about it. I bought a set of the Vessel Megadora drivers and I've been super happy with them. I wish I'd known about this when I first got my bike.

65ShelbyClone · Feb 12, 2011

Rusty67 said:
Oh man, thats because when you work on Japanese stuff they use Japanese philips. They don't have the same angle on the tip as the standard American ones do. The Japanese philips are called JIS. They have a little dot on the head of the screw... looks kinda like this: (.+)

Get yourself a set of JIS screw drivers and that should really help when taking stuff appart. You wont jack the heads on the philips anymore. Now if the screw is stuck.... brake out the liquid wrench and the impact screw driver you know and love/hate.

That's why I replace them with metric Allen screws; I hate Phillips screws for holding engines together and I especially hate bastard fasteners like the JIS Phillips head/metric screw thread stuff the Japanese used for so long. Honda even used a British tapered pipe thread on some of their automotive engines from the late '80s to mid '90s while the rest is metric. There is no reason for that.

bnickel · Feb 13, 2011

68xstang said:
I had the same problem getting the "double sided sticky strip" off in one piece. Now I have been searchin for a new one, but without success.
Does anybody know from where I could order a new one?? The weatherstripping pages in a few catalogues (MU, NPD) does not have the answer....

You will have the same issue, gregski. Great job with your car by the way!

I like to use camper shell topper weatherstripping, you can get it at just about any parts store like autozone or advance, etc. it's closed cell foam with a rubber coating on the outside so it won't absorb moisture and rust the the door frame like the original stuff did.

it comes in a roll and one roll will do both door/window channel frames and will leave you with almost enough to do another car or to use elsewhere on your car to help prevent wind/water leaks by building up existing weatherstripping. just put a small piece under the weatherstrip where it's leaking. also good for fixing squeaks and rattles, cut a small piece and place it under whatever is squeaking or rattling.

after we put the trailer hitch on my wife's Escape the muffler kept slapping the hitch frame, a small piece of the camper weatherstrip about 4 years ago and it hasn't rattled since!!!!!

one thing though, the camper stuff is only sticky on one side so you'll have to use weatherstrip adhesive ion the other side. I stuck it to the chrome weatherstrip channel and used the black 3m weatherstrip adhesive on the body side that way if I have to remove the channel again the camper-strip will stay with the channel and won't be a big pain to try and reinstall, also made it a lot easier to install it in the first place. and of course i have little pieces of it all over the car, especially under the dash and behind the door panels to fix a bunch of annoying little squeaks.

Optimus Prime - The '68 Coupe

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