Fixing up a '71 Grand Safari

The Progress is looking great. Next time you paint something try the can in hot water trick. I've done this many times and it works great. The 57 looks awesome in the background of your trim painting pic. Just let me know when you want me to come pick it up. The trim in the trim cleaning pics also looks great. It's like someone else mentioned, it's the attention to detail that separates a nice finished car and an amazing finished car. You my friend will have an amazing ride when this is all done. Then you'll have to change the pic for your avatar and no one will recognize you.

 

The Beginning of Reassembly

For whatever reason, this bolt that holds the core support to the frame is missing on the driver side. I'm going to have to try to find one from someone parting out a similar Pontiac because the computer system at the parts houses can't seem to locate such a part.

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It has been pretty cold and wet the last few days so it has held up progress. Today I was finally able to get The Clam over to my house. I wouldn't say getting it into the driveway by myself was an easy job, but as it turned out it wasn't overly difficult either. First I dumped the car in the street.

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Then I pulled The Blazer back as far as I could into the driveway. I ran the cable out and winched The Clam up the hill little by little, making sure to go down and steer when necessary. As those familiar with using a winch will know, the rug is for safety. If the cable were to break it can sever arms and legs, or heads, which I can't imagine would feel very nice at all, so the rug stops the recoil.

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I pulled it up as far as I could. A little later on my neighbor Rick and his friend happened to be in Rick's driveway so I asked if they would mind helping me push the car the remaining few feet. Even though the hill doesn't look that steep in the pictures it was enough to prevent me from being able to push the car by myself. Also, the fact that the tires are low contributes to the fact the car is difficult to push.

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If you own a clamshell wagon, this next part is very exciting. The rear window and tailgate seals have long plagued owners of these wagons. They are not reproduced, there is not a big enough demand to get a company to run a production of new ones, and once they deteriorate, which almost all have at this point, they leak water into the rear causing rust issues as well as ruining the electric motors and mechanisms that operate the tailgate and window. Member LowLow37 discovered that the cowl/hood weatherstripping from a late 80's Chevrolet full size, G20 van can be modified and used as a substitute, so you can all thank him for this amazing news. After a little research I found that the van's weatherstripping is interchangeable with the trucks and blazeers that share the same bodystyle as my Blazer.

Yesterday, because it was raining and I couldn't get any real work done on the wagon I went to the Pull-A-Part yard and got three of these moldings. I found that the van weatherstripping actually requires a ratchet but the trucks of the same year are held on by plastic tabs. Because I had looked at The Blazer's weatherstrip before I left and had seen the plastic tabs I didn't take any sockets with me. Because of this, I didn't get any parts from the vans but that worked out just as well because after a close comparison I feel the truck weatherstripping is actually shaped better and it is much, much easier to remove. It essentially just pulls right off once you get one end started. These moldings are reproduced and I could have bought new ones however when these moldings are new they are rather large and round in shape. Once they have been on a truck several years, smashed by the hood being closed, they take on a shape that not only fits the car better but actually is aesthetically much better shaped for the portion that can be seen from the outside of the window.

The old rubber is held to the car by a metal plate that mounts to the inside of the rear pillars with screws that go from the inside of the car out through the rear pillars. I used the original screws because I had been warned that using screws that were too long would leave dents in the chrome trim that will eventually cover the rear pillars.

When you remove the old rubber and clean it off the metal plate this is what you end up with.

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Even though these rubber moldings are pretty old they have remained in good shape because of their original location on the trucks. They are mounted to the bottom of the hood, tucked up under nice and safe and away from any real sun or water damage. After cutting one piece to the right length I used a little soap and water and it looked almost as good as a brand new piece. Here is a picture of a dirty piece next to one I just cleaned.

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I used a marker to locate where the holes for the screws should be and used the sharp tool in this picture to poke holes in the correct locations. After that I screwed the metal bracket onto the rubber before mounting. It was important to pay attention to the orientation of the metal plate and the rubber on the original piece before removing it so that the new rubber piece will follow the same direction as much as possible. I left extra material on the end of the bottom side so that I can trim it to an exact fit later on when I can determine where the tailgate will meet with this part of the rubber.

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Here is a before and after picture of the driver's side before I replaced it and the passenger side after I replaced it.

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The reason the driver side interior rubber trim piece was still attached on the driver's side was because I couldn't remove this screw when I was over at the barn due to the fact that the head of the screw wanted to strip out. The impact made easy work of it back at the house.

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With all that finished I began putting all the pieces back on the tailgate. This was the very first step in the process of reassembly and it felt good to finally be going in that direction rather than taking things apart.

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While I was working on the tailgate my neighbor Craig stopped by to check out the new paint job. He restores old motorcycles and is currently restoring a 60's Toyota Land Cruiser, one of only two Japanese vehicles ever worth not spitting on in my opinion. While he was there he helped me move the hood into the garage and sit it safely on some foam.

Fortunately, past me had left detailed instructions on where each part went and which screws to use. I'm glad that he was aware how little I'm able to remember when it comes time to put these things back together.

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I actually have no memory what so ever of these pieces being on the tailgate. The bag I had them in let me know they went on the bottom sides of the tailgate, but I couldn't remember which way they went or which side they went on. After I took the tape off I saw that past me had left present me a "P" and "D" on each one, indicating passenger and driver sides. Even though sometimes we don't get along, past me can sometimes be pretty smart. Future me is more of a wildcard. I never know what that guy is going to do.

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I don't really know what these pieces do but they have "Do Not Remove" stamped into them with raised letters. It seemed that the tailgate could drain any water that might get in it much better if these weren't there but I suppose because of the warning I should trust whoever went to the trouble to put it there and put them back.

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I used steel wool and polish to get the top piece of chrome on the tailgate nice and shiny but I couldn't locate the bottom piece of rubber shaped like a "V" that the bag of screws had mentioned. I headed over to my dad's barn to look for it and before I got out of the neighborhood The Blazer just quit very abruptly, as though I had cut the key off, with no sputtering or any other warning. My best guess is that this must be something electrical. I walked back to the house and took the Camaro over to the barn and found the missing piece. As April got home Nick came over to check out the new paint job. I borrowed my dad's truck and the three of us went to tow it back to my driveway. Unfortunately I couldn't find the keys to The Blazer anywhere. Finally I found them at my dad's house. When I left the Camaro there to borrow his truck the keys to the Camaro and The Blazer had stuck together and were there in a drawer. After finally getting The Blazer back to the house Nick helped me push it the rest of the way up the driveway and it was a good thing he was there because it took everything both of us had to get it up the hill while April steered.

The shims that go between the arm that lifts the tailgate and the tailgate itself were rusted. I didn't want this rust causing any issues so I polished the rust off and put on some primer and paint.

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By this time the day was ending and it was getting very cold. April helped me cover The Clam with a car cover and then I put a huge tarp over it.

I called the company that will install the windows a couple days ago. They said that they want to put the moldings back on the windows to ensure they have the window aligned correctly so that meant I had to have the window clips on hand before they show up. I ordered the clips online and they showed up today so hopefully if I call tomorrow they can show up Monday to install the windows.

 

Great progress!!!

 

Thanks. I'll be glad to get the glass in and the doors on.

 

I think you are about to turn the corner and into the home stretch. The glass will good to get done. Progress is looking great as usual.

 

Nice work my friend! lol and those do not remove pieces are in fact drain covers there are 2 rectangular holes on the TOP of the tailgate at each end of the rubber where the window seals. I belive those 2 holes and those drains let water free flow thru the gate so it doesn't accumulate at the window bottom. I like to take and blow my gate out 1-2 times a year to get the dirt and gumbah's outta there!

 

Thanks for the inspirational comments. I think I'm on the home stretch now, provided the engine plays nice and there are no catastrophic break downs or a'splosions.

 

Tailgreatness




It was time to get the tailgate on. To prepare for that I had to lubricate the tracks for the rear window and the tailgate. Both of these features are known to cause trouble if not kept lubricated, but especially the tailgate due to the fact that the force of the arm that raises the tailgate comes from one side rather than being equally distributed to both. This can cause severe binding and even tearing of weak metal if not kept clean and greased.

I did both sides of the window track.

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Then I did both sides of the tailgate tracks. Surgical gloves are a lifesaver here.

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After finding a prop the right height and making sure there was plenty of cushioning between it and the painted surface of the tailgate I began bolting the gate into place. For some reason I had a temporary type of mental dyslexia and switched the passenger and driver side in my mind, causing me to put the bolts in the wrong side. I used plenty of anti-seize on all the bolts I reapplied today. I first started all the bolts in the tailgate and then took them back out one by one to apply the anti-seize because of the alignment of the gate as it was bolted on.

This is how a mere mortal tailgate would appear when open, but not a clamshell. This is just the beginning. You can see the shims sitting in the back that I finished yesterday.

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After getting it bolted up I did a few very careful test slides to make sure there was no rubbing.

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After checking the alignment I propped it up so I could measure and trim the new rubber strips I installed yesterday. I also had to have it propped up because the tailgate motor is what holds the tailgate in place and it had to be up when I installed the motor if I wanted the tailgate to stay closed.

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While I was manually rolling the window down I noticed that one of the bolts to the track was loose. This would have caused the window to sit too low and not make contact with the rubberstripping so I raised the track and bolting it back in place.

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With the tailgate propped up as far as it would go I installed the tailgate motor, but didn't hook any wires up yet.

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I was pleased with the alignment. The gaps looked very good. These tailgates can have a tendency to sag on the passenger side but this one doesn't appear to have any problems.

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The very first thing I did this day was glue the rubber back on the rear pan and let it dry. The nosy cows had torn it off one day when I had sat it next to the barn and gone to lunch. Fortunately they didn't tear or otherwise damage it, though it did get a good coating of cow snot. After I finished with the tailgate and window I reinstalled the much-heavier-than-it-appears rear pan.

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After installation.

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I didn't put the rear bumper back on because I want to clean and polish it while it is off. Also, I called the window company and they are going to be here early Monday to install the windows. Today is Friday and I will be gone all weekend so that meant I had to finish polishing the rest of the window moldings.

Until Monday The Clam will have to ride the storm out under the tarp.

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Looking extra good, extra good there Brandon! :2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

I a-door The Clam

Today we were supposed to go to Kentucky to see April's family but she wasn't feeling great last night and woke up feeling pretty bad today. She didn't want to take the risk of getting sick while pregnant so we stayed home. I called my friend Nick and he came over to help me hang the doors. I cleaned and primered the heads of the bolts so I can paint them with a brush once the doors are fully in place and we are done using a wrench. We only managed to get one door hung.

We started with the back door to make the alignment easier. The first door went on without any more difficulty than you would expect from hanging a very heavy door. It began to snow pretty heavy for a time but it didn't last long.

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After trying a couple different methods and a lot of physical pain we finally got the front door to support its own weight on the hinges, but for some reason it was sagging too far to close without hitting the rear door. After some maneuvering we were able to get the door to where it could be picked up and made to sit in the right location but when we would tighten the bolts and let go of the door it would sag back down. After inspection I found that one of the door pins up front was missing its bushing. At some point during all of this restoration it has fallen out and is completely missing which was causing only about 1/16 of an inch or less of movement at the hing, but that translated to 1/2 to 1 inch of movement at the back of the door. We had to take the entire door back off and I am going to have to replace the door pins. It was so cold at this point we called it a day and didn't bother with any of the other doors.

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Great job, Brandon. It is really looking like a wagon now! Getting the doors on makes a huge difference! While those other 3 doors are still off, and you have to do bushings on one hinge anyway, let me suggest doing the bushings on all the remaining hinges. They are not expensive, and not hard to do, but if they do need doing down the road, and they will, it means taking the door(s) back off. Seems easier to do it now, while the doors are off anyway. Those brass bushings are notorious for wear, especially with the heavy door on that wagon. Almost as bad as the doors on the 2 doors.

Keep up the good work. It will be a car before you know it!

 

nice Brrrrrrrrrrrandon.

 

Brandon...the color looks Bitchin !!!

shes gonna be looker

Im green with envy

 

Windows and Pins

The guys came today to install the windows. They both turned out to be really nice guys. They soon found out that the brand new clips I ordered were useless because even though I ordered the correct clips they are cheaply made and not shaped exactly right which made them have a loose fit which in turn would not allow the moldings to snap into place.

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He applied a black coating over the windows' edge that protects the window glue by blocking the sun's UV rays. He explained to me that they legally are no longer allowed to use the same type of glue that was used originally on these cars. The new type of glue is much, much stronger.​

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Because the new clips were junk they had to use what was left of the old ones I had saved. Fortunately there were enough of the old ones to put in all the crucial places and have one for every other stud in the rest of the places. I hate the cheap Chinese made products that companies sell these days. Fortunately the glass guys said that the old clips fit good enough that they would hold the molding just as well.​

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They had a big, battery powered gun that applied the black glue​

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Then they placed the windows and pressed them in place​

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It's starting to look more and more like a car again​

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Because it was President's day April had the day off. After the window guys left it was lunch time. While April made lunch I starting removing the tape from the rubber luggage rack mounts. The tape had been covered with primer and paint which had made it harden like a rock, which in turn made it very difficult and time consuming to completely remove.​

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There was a storm moving in, with 100% chance of rain, so April and I covered the car up. The wind was blowing so hard and from so many different directions it was almost impossible for the two of us to get the car cover and tarp over the car and get it tied down. It took a while, but we eventually got it. ​

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After lunch I went to the parts house and picked up some door pins. I wasn't able to grind the head off of the pin so I cut the middle section out so I could use a punch to hammer each side out​

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Although the computer at the parts house said that all the pins were the same I was not surprised to find that they were not. The bottom pin for the rear door is supposed to be smaller than the others so I had to mark the new pin, cut it and then bevel the end​

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I had to chisel the head off of the bottom pin to remove it. If you take into account the height of the head, these old and new are now the same size​

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Removing the bottom pin was quite a challenge. Putting the bushings back in wasn't very difficult though. I used a socket to lightly hammer the top one into place and because I couldn't get access with a hammer for the bottom I used a pair of vise-clamps to squeeze the bottom one into place​

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When it came time to replace the top pin I ran into another problem. Because of the curvature of the door I wasn't able to hammer the top pin into place. I had to remove this part of the hinge from the door, install the bushings and pins, and then reattach it all as a whole. It took a bit of time to get it lined back up exactly as it was, using the paint outline as a reference. If I didn't get it right I'll have trouble getting the door back where it should go.​

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Despite trying every idea I could come up with, with every tool I had on hand, I couldn't find a way to get the spring back in. I even tried compressing it in the vise and holding it with zip ties, but that didn't work either. I'll have to borrow a tool used to compress them I suppose.​

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As you have so often shown us, Vette....where there's a will, there's a way. You'll git 'er done! That car is brand new! Great work and I admire your patience.