What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

I'm headed up to the Barrie Automotive Flea Market tomorrow so I took today off work to shine up the wagon in the hopes of making it eligible for the preferred parking lot. The rules say that any car from 1985 or earlier can park there but it's at the discretion of the parking attendant. I'm willing to pay the parking fee to avoid not having to hike into the park from the free-parking field across the road this time.

After washing the wagon I ran a clay bar over the paint and the woodgrain to clean up the surfaces. I polished up my rims and detailed the tires. Treated the black trim to make it as shiny as possible and cleaned all of the glass with Invisible Glass (my new favourite product). One of the stainless trim panels on the rear quarter has been loose for some time. I've been avoiding removing it for fear of breaking a trim clip and not being able to replace it. Ultimately I was left with no choice so I took off the trim, cleaned all of the gunk out from behind it and put it back in place more securely. There were already two trim clips broken so I stuck one in my bag in the hopes of finding replacements tomorrow. Next I pulled off the black trim panel from the bottom of the passenger side door. The rubber sweep has been dangling for some time so I scrubbed it all and reinstalled it correctly. I may need to look for a replacement as it seems to have stretched some and doesn't fit as nicely as I'd like. Lastly I pulled the glove compartment out again in search of the mysterious rattle that's in the dash. I fabricated a washer out of plastic to address a broken mounting hole in the dash panel. Hopefully this time the rattle will go away for good.

It was pretty hot and sunny today so I didn't get to polish and wax the car as planned but I'm still pleased with how it looks. Hopefully one of the days this weekend will be overcast and cool (like today was predicted to be) and I can get a good coat of wax back on the car. I polished and waxed it last week and that's how I discovered that it was in desperate need of some clay bar work. Now I'm kinda sleepy.

 

You're sleepy?? I'd be dead!

 

Fixed my Edelbroke. Then I turfed the old buckets and have one of the new ones sitting in place so I can build the new brackets. Then I had to go get more mig gas and turns out the tank was past the 10 year mark so had to get it tested, then back to the refill station and by then I was a tad tuckered.

Will play some more tomorrow.

 

Washed and buffed the wagon, put it up on jack stands and polished the rocker mouldings, polished the wheels, blacked the tires and cleaned the white letters. Wiped down the entire interior and filled with gas. Ready for Saturdays 2 and 1/2 hour road trip. I will get pictures of all the nice wagons that are going to be there

 

What are your replacement buckets out of? Pics?

 

Busy couple of days after a road trip to Issaquah (see that thread for details).

Put the buckets in for bracket building. Those 67 T-Bird buckets are incredibly heavy compared to the new ones out of mid 90's Chrysler product. I do need to grenade the headrests though, they just don't suit, but the seats themselves are very comfortable and once again we'll be able to use the old girl (the wagon ) for long road trips :2_thumbs_up_-_anima.

With the seats sitting in the car in mock-up mode I realized that I have to have the spare tire carrier mounted on the trailer before we head to a couple of vintage trailer events over the next few weeks. So, not wagon specific but necessary if we are to use the wagon as there's no way I'm carrying the trailer spare in the back of the Safari. Had to build brackets and weld them on, then mount the spare and dick around with that because it was built for a 5 bolt pattern wheel and this trailer is 6. Then install the neat and coveted spare tire cover, which we found a year ago. It was going to be cut up for a yard light and the fellow had found it being used as a pot holder laying face down on a cement patio. These are very rare and highly prized by the vintage trailer people, particularly Airstreamers which they were on originally. This one had very old paint on it saying "For Perfect Towing - Airstream". So it is somewhat polished now, I'll do more later.

Anyway, some pics. As for actual year the seats are out of, I'm not sure, or even actual model.

 

I think your buckets are very close to the ones Tedy has in his Cutlass Cruiser.

 

Thanks for the tip KK.

Tedy, what do you think? Are they the same? If so, what are they out of? They sure are nice to sit in.

Those poor old T-Bird seats were pretty much tuckered. The power on the passenger seat was an issue and they were starting to sag almost as much as I do.

 

They look comfy.

 

Maybe a bit too comfy

They were sitting on the shop floor and the sun was pouring in through the big door so I sat down in one and the old cat curled up on the one beside me so I reached over to give him a few skritches and next thing I know my wife is standing there laughing. Both the cat and I had been sound asleep, both lightly snoring, when she came to check on us.

 

Well I decided to remove the brand new Pypes M80 Stainless steel mufflers and replace them. With the 2 1/2 pipes front to back the car is to loud for me. I bought Thrush glasspacks and welded the entire system together and made new tail pipes. The new/old ones form a couple months ago were at a 45 degree angle toward the ground and blew dust everywhere. The new ones run all the way to the outside of the car and actually give it a little more tone. Finally got the family to go for a ride in it Saturday as we went for ice cream.

 

Hubby bought a new carb, distributor, & intake manifold this week. Next big purchase will be some new wheels. BBB still has original spoke wheels.

 

Sounds like you got the hubby hooked on wagons.

 

Started the tear down for the new cam and lifters last night. 100 + degrees so my assistant Miller Lite was on hand to guide me.

 

Miller and his buddy Bud.. both great to have in the shop to help you out!