Breathing Life Into a Neglected '75

tvmaster said:
The one bulb feeds ALL the center console lights, correct? Including the large, center display that notes the heating/defrost/air words. That's the display that's partially unreadable. The four other buttons/switches have enough light to be clear, as does the the "Close For Max Def" display. Just the lower 'AIR <> HEAT" display is mucky.
Oh, wait a second, there IS a separate bulb for that one, lower display - correct? I purchased some LED's from superbrightleds for that socket, but they didn't work for some reason.
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There is a tiny bulb that goes into that piece of plastic with the ideogram for the sliders. I vaguely recall a hole in it that holds the bulb.
 
jimmyx said:
I got the right side floor covered and am still waiting for the L/S pan to finish up the floors.

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I cut the left side sound deadening and had some left over so I pulled out the original rats nest insulation in the spare tire well and finished that off as well.

View attachment 42246View attachment 42247

Moved on to the rear of the car to find and mitigate any other rust issues. I was expecting the worse on the lower trunk floor, but was really surprised by what I found. Really rare to find an early in this condition.

View attachment 42248

Only have found a few rust issues on this one. A dime sized hole in the back corner of the battery box. I wanted to keep this repair undetectable, so I cut out the damage (approximately 1/2" x 1/2") and JB welded an 18ga. patch in from the bottom. Finished it off from the top with Devcon epoxy putty and sanded smooth. Both floors had a couple of relatively minor problems and one 1/4" spot above the tailpipe on the valence that will need a small patch welded in. All in all it's really amazing for a 46 year old that has a reputation of turning to iron oxide.
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Forgot to ask - what brand of sound deadening material is this? Did you mention it and I couldn’t find it? All I could find was "generic Dynamat", so I'm assuming that's an aftermarket brand, hopefully much less expensive than Dynamat? Thanks.
 
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tvmaster said:
Forgot to ask - what brand of sound deadening material is this? Did you mention it and I couldn’t find it? All I could find was "generic Dynamat", so I'm assuming that's an aftermarket brand, hopefully much less expensive than Dynamat? Thanks.
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I finally had to bite the bullet and order a targa top from MWB to replace the nasty "sunroof version" that came with the car. Just a quick note on tops. The one I received was a late model top. It does require fitting the windshield frame weatherstrip from a '76-'88. The car is equipped with corner blocks on the B pillar which do cause interference, so to make the install seamless, plan on changing over to the one-piece door/targa weatherstrip that's on the later cars as well.
 
Slight upgrade today. Decided to replace the stock 14" steering wheel with a 12" Luisi. I'm only 5'10" and 150 lbs. but the stock wheel still hits me in the legs. Much better now......

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jimmyx said:
www.ebay.com

Noico Black 80 mil 18 sqft Car Sound Deadening Mat Sound Deadener Insulation | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Noico Black 80 mil 18 sqft Car Sound Deadening Mat Sound Deadener Insulation at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
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Do you think the Noico would do any good on the inside of the door skins, sound-wise? While I have the door panels off, may as well think about it. After doing the spare tire well, I'll have some leftover I should think.
 
tvmaster said:
Do you think the Noico would do any good on the inside of the door skins, sound-wise? While I have the door panels off, may as well think about it. After doing the spare tire well, I'll have some leftover I should think.
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Yes, but you don't need to cover the entire inside of the door. A good sized rectangle is all you need for an effective sound control.
 
From the "never time to do it right, but always time to do it over" file, we now have a total reset on the front fender repair. Many thanks to @Rodger who sacrificed his parts car so that another X may live, and saved me untold hours of body sculpture! First up was the removal of more than a few spot welds. Will clean this up and strip the fender completely before scrubbing up for surgery. I'll try and post if and when some actual progress is made...

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jimmyx said:
From the "never time to do it right, but always time to do it over" file, we now have a total reset on the front fender repair. Many thanks to @Rodger who sacrificed his parts car so that another X may live, and saved me untold hours of body sculpture! First up was the removal of more than a few spot welds. Will clean this up and strip the fender completely before scrubbing up for surgery. I'll try and post if and when some actual progress is made...
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This is to replace the one you did all the lead work on? Not happy with the outcome? Seems like more work to cut off the entire fender & deal with sealing all those welds, no?
 
lookforjoe said:
This is to replace the one you did all the lead work on? Not happy with the outcome? Seems like more work to cut off the entire fender & deal with sealing all those welds, no?
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The existing damage came out about 90% right, but the real problem area is the subtle curves shown in the picture below. That area on the original was really crushed directly on the feature line and takes filler to get it close. It's too small a detail to get it where it needs to be in lead alone. Aside from the tedious process, it ends up with filler as an edge which may work in the short term, but not the best solution. The original also had rust in the marker area forward that had pitted the metal. It was on and between the two side feature lines and not really a candidate to cut the section out and replace. It was blasted and shot with rust converter, but clean metal is always better. The replacement is being seamed in the middle of the wheel opening which is the shortest section to weld and the only outside seam to deal with. Should be able to finish it off in lead, so the hopefully the repair will have zero filler beyond a skim coat to deal with any pinholes. Will plug weld the upper edge and won't require sealer as per the original construction (hard for any water to levitate uphill). I can get my spot welder on about 70% of the lower seam through the headlight opening. I'll hit the top of the seam in the very rear with the mig, and seal it from inside the cavity so it will be hard to spot. The X is unusual in that it has three very sharply defined feature lines that makes correction very difficult if they take a hit directly on a line. So that's the plan so far, hopefully it'll work.

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jimmyx said:
Yes, but you don't need to cover the entire inside of the door. A good sized rectangle is all you need for an effective sound control.
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Where do you think it would be more effective, replacing the original vapor barrier barrier stuck to the door frame, or on the back of the door cards?
 
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