Project StinkBug: Headliners 'n Windlace! Part Four

The final part of the interior "soft" parts installation was the post boards. I could have dropped them off at the local upholsterer, and he'd probably charge me $75 to glue the extra green vinyl that Ciadella included with the interior kit to the card board pieces. I figured I'd try it myself.

The first step is deciding which material to use on the boards. In factory trim, the boards are headliner material on the top half, and vinyl on the bottom half. I went with vinyl on the whole piece, since I figured it would be more durable -- and it would also visually "blend" the post better between the doors.

I already had some good glue products like Super 77, but they don't adhere well to vinyl.
This is the only adhesive that I could find that held the vinyl, and only if clamped and left to cure overnight.

After trimming the vinyl, glue the edges, and clamp them to the board using (lots of) clothes pins.
The paint stirrers help press down the vinyl.

At this point, the board looks like a salami sandwich with ants all over it!

Here's one of the finished post boards. The board has a curve when it's installed,
so it's a little baggy on the front where I did not glue it.

Project StinkBug: Headliners 'n Windlace! Part Three

The Ciadella headliner video installation highlights the way to tug the headliner around the sides and push it behind the windlace toothed trim, as well as tacking the leading edge along the front windshield.

Here's the little money maker (buy at Harbor Freight) you can use for pushing the headliner fabric up behind the windlace trim. The tool is clean, small, smooth, and contoured - position so that it's pointing away from the trim teeth. If pointing toward them, it'll catch on the teeth and get stuck frequently. Notice the blue tape used to mark the holes for the coat hook, visors, and rear view mirror. I put screws in the holes and marked them with tape to carefully cut the headliner above them later.

Here's the cardboard sail panel with some headliner material glued on. I made sure both sail panels had the fabric match directionally, but did not feel the need to match them to the headliner itself. (It seems to match fine though.) This is a friction fit under the back glass gasket and the parcel shelf. Leave a fabric flap to let it slide under the parcel shelf.

Project StinkBug: Headliners 'n Windlace! Part Two

Here I continue with the windlace installation and will focus on the vertical runs at the A pillar and at the C pillar.

Here's the windlace guide at the foot well. It attaches with a few screws. This should be painted body color, although I chose not to clearcoat mine, since it had some minor dings and dents. I installed the windlace while this was installed on the car, although some folks may do it the other way.

When the guide is installed, you need to make sure there's some room at the edge of the dashboard, so the vinyl flap can be pushed up and behind the dash. Bend the guide slightly to make room if needed.

Here's the second place there may be a fitment issue.

Any unneeded widening of the guide should be tightened slightly so the windlace welting fits snugly.

Here's a similar tool to what I used during the headliner installation. (More on that later.) Push the welting into the guide channel firmly and flatly. This can be time consuming to get it right.

With the welting installed, cut the vinyl flap so that it can be inserted behind the dash.

Here's the finished product. I also bought, painted, and installed a set of dash end caps, since mine were missing. I painted them with the green lacquer paint from a can (and brushed them), and sprayed enamel clear on top. It was a quick fix, but looks fine. (These were slightly rusty originals on eBay for $15 instead of the $20 new ones stamped in China last month.)

At the C pillar, there's a quarter board that is stapled to the windlace backer board along the door frame, after the windlace is stapled to it.

A quick flip of the board, and you have a nice installation. Make sure the install height is correct, and the flap fits flush when folded back.

Project StinkBug: Headliners 'n Windlace! Part One

When I bought StinkBug, the only bit still installed in the interior was the headliner. The headliner was a remnant of an early 90s aftermarket interior redo at the local upholstery shop in Virginia by the previous owner. A receipt with the car showed that the interior cost $2000 for parts and labor. (The headliner in 2015 was a mouse metropolis with poop and pee everywhere. Nasty.) The windlace was missing.

I had bought a "Ciadella" Bel Air interior kit in Black and Green from Eckler's when they were having a big sale last year. I got at least 20% off the cost of the kit, but with the extra seat belts, post boards, sail boards, and arm rests (pretty sure I bought those separately), the kit was close to $2000. Ouch.

There's a Ciadella video online that shows some of a headliner install in a 2-door, but it glosses over the windlace install and doesn't mention the similar but different 4-door sedan. Not sure why they don't do a more comprehensive video series showing how to install their kits.

Here's how I installed mine. (I'm going to highlight some areas that were not covered in the video.)

The old headliner bows need to be kept in order, so number them. You also need to clean and paint them with a glossy paint (to let the headliner slide freely on them and to stop rust).

At this point, you need to install all the windlace first -- as well as run any wiring into the dome light area and door jamb switches. I cleaned and painted the underside of the roof as well to remedy the evidence of mice and to stop surface rust over time. Mark the holes (top or bottom) where the headliner bows were previously installed, even if you are painting the roof. I painted over mine accidentally...

You can use an air stapler, but I had a manual one from 20 years ago in my tool box, so I used that. (Harbor Freight has a stapler with two-sizes of staples for only $10.) You need short staples and long ones. The short ones are for the leading edge of the headliner along the front windshield; the long ones are for the windlace.

Here's the painted roof along with some strips of leftover Dynamat. The rear tangs are ready to accept the headliner board. The headliner will be inserted under the back glass gasket and the tangs tapped with a dead blow hammer to flatten them, securing the headliner. Note the windlace's toothed trim, that I cleaned and painted gloss white. It's unpainted from the factory and prone to rust.

The toothed trim follows the contour of the door and is secured by screws. The windlace is held in place along the top by this trim. You need to staple the windlace along the corners -- and vertical runs at the front and back of the windlace only, not along the post boards.

In this photo, you'll notice two areas where I deviated from stock. First, it appeared that Ciadella had pre-punched the holes in my post boards about and inch off. The only way the windlace would line up around the B pillar corners was to punch new holes. Second, I used plastic interior fasteners to tap the post boards up there securely. The factory uses metal tangs that are sometimes missing and can break easily all these decades later. I used duct tape to protect the slot in the front and rear windlace trim.

The front windlace trim has a contour that needs to be fitted well around the opening. The front windshield trim will fit up against this piece and even attaches to it. The windlace trim screws are slotted to allow for lining up the trim.

Here's the dome light plate with fresh wiring. Make sure these wires are installed correctly along the roof line, and easy to find for later fitment of the dome light assembly.

Double check that the windlace will be lined up down near the dash and front foot well, and along the rear quarter. My next posts will highlight the vertical windlace runs.

Project StinkBug: Four Doors are Twice as Much Work as Two

I've completed the two front doors on the Bel Air and will complete the two rear doors after I figure out why the rear locks don't work properly. With that said, I'm offering up the transformation of the front doors here.

The old windows had rotted rubber, tarnished trim, and window tint from the late 1980s on the original glass. The original glass wasn't safety glass and needed replacement.

All four window regulators just needed a thorough cleaning, painting, and lube to free stuck rollers. Here's the finished product. You install the regulators first (assuming your door lock systems are already installed.)

Spread out before installation on the passenger side are the window channel, vent window, and side window (both with new clear glass and new rubber.) That's also the order of assembly. Lastly, you install the whiskers on the inside and outside window trim.

Here's the fresh glass and rubber on the driver's door.

Once the glass was installed, I turned my attention to the interior door panels, handles, and interior window trim.

The factory manual lays out what waterproofing should be installed and where.

I cleaned and painted the silver access doors, cleaned up any hardware that needed it, and put strip caulk around the holes and openings.

I had some thick clear vinyl sheeting laying around, so I made some water shields. The black outlines are the strip caulk. In this photo there's a spring on the door glass regulator -- I did not use that spring, but did use the other two.

Here's the door panel installed with the original stainless accent. I used the original handles even though they were lightly pitted. (They looked vintage, which I liked.) That's a fresh armrest, since the old ones were broken. Lastly, I used the salvaged eBay window trim we had painted last year along with the original style screws. I found that replacement screws have a head that's too big to fit correctly.

I wanted to mention this issue I had with the rear door locks (that my girlfriend solved actually!) I swapped in four new door handles that had come with the car, since the originals were pretty heavily pitted. The front doors were no problem and the handles and locks worked fine. Well, I installed the two handles on the rear (where previously there hadn't been any when I bought the car) and then noticed that the rear doors were jammed and wouldn't open. Turns out that the lock plunger was a little too long and apparently needs to be cut down before installation. This is only on the rear doors. The photo shows the original rear handle on top, and the replacement handle on the bottom before I cut the plunger...

Up next is the windlace, postboards, and headliner...

Project StinkBug: Time Warp Original Interior

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when it comes to restoring a classic car to original condition, it just makes good sense. A few months ago, I was visiting Long Island and happened upon a local car show. There was an "original survivor" 1955 sedan. With thoughts of my big interior restoration haunting my dreams, I took this opportunity to photograph the interior of this old '55.

Original headliner, windlace, and window trim.

Post board between the doors...

Quarter window trim, quarter trim panel, and sail panel.

Windlace at kick panel on right side.

Windlace at kick panel on left side.

Seeing this car was very helpful. My car was disassembled when I bought it, and wasn't complete either (missing lots of interior trim as well as some exterior pieces.) This encounter gives me a guide of what my interior should look like when I'm done...

Project StinkBug: Interior Floor Rejuvenation

Sometimes I forget just how old this Bel Air actually is...

The floors looked great -- considering they were nearly 60 years old. But the fronts were drafty, so I enlisted a body man to replace them with some Canadian stamped floors I bought online.

Here's the top of the replacement floors with fresh red oxide primer on them.

 The rears on the other hand were rust free, so I just had to clean up the top to match the clean bottom.

The rears were a poop-covered mess (the headliner had lots of mice living in it.)

A couple hours of sanding with my Harbor Freight electric grinder -- and neutralizing any slight surface rust -- and then painting with red oxide primer revealed some nice floors. I cut little strips of the final remnants of some sound deadener I had laying around, and applied it across the entire floor.

Here's the blank canvas before installing the entire interior.

Next up is the windlace and headliner install and on to the doors...

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Project StinkBug: Spraying Ancient Lacquer Paint After 25 Years

I was mostly satisfied with the paintwork going on with the '57 this year, but the labor costs were adding up. And when there was a problem with the hood, and it would need to be repainted at my expense, I decided to try my hand at painting using the old acrylic lacquer paint cans that came with this car.

I bought a 21-gallon oiled Harbor Freight air compressor, and all the various bits like an air hose and fittings and paint filters from them too. I had already bought a gallon of Clear Lacquer Sunscreen and some Slow High Gloss Thinner LT-85 on Amazon. I bought a $42 spray gun from Amazon, which was kind of a splurge, when Harbor Freight guns are $10. But I liked the smaller 1.3mm tip size for lacquer. So in addition to the base coat and the clear and the thinner, which I already had left over, I spent about $275 on various things, most of which can be used again and again for years.

The challenge was trying to paint a hood to match a car that was painted 25 years ago (and I'd be using the remnants in a 25 year old paint can!) And the old paint job on the rest of the car is still great, previously wet-sanded and polished to a mirror shine. To me, the rest of the car looks like a great $10,000 paint job. So the hood had to be great, not just good. I wasn't sure I should even attempt it, but in the end I'm very happy with my results and am already planning to redo the driver's side rocker, driver's side door jambs, and rear door that my painter did earlier this year.

The painting process was straightforward, and lacquer paint was easy to deal with. I think a stunning lacquer paint job can be attained by the average hobbyist in their backyard.

The hood is all prepped, and I'm ready to lay down the green lacquer and clearcoat lacquer in my backyard. My neighbors must love me... ;)

At this point, done with the final coat of clear over the green, I really wasn't sure what to think. I thought it would have much more shine. There's 5 or 6 coats of green and 5 or 6 coats of clear. The coats were pretty thin though, so it built up slowly. The outside temperature was over 90 degrees, so the paint was drying quickly, even with 1:1 of 85 degree reducer.

I waited only 24 hours for drying and started wet-sanding with 800, 1000, 1500, and then 2000 grit paper. I really just skimmed over it quickly. Then I used a wool bonnet with rubbing compound, and a foam bonnet with 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. Most folks suggest waiting a week or longer to sand, which I'll try next time. I'll also start wet-sanding with 1000 grit or higher instead of 800.

Update: So, the clear coat on the hood was damaged two days after painting, when I placed the hood upside down (in the sun no less) to assess stripped hood bolt threads, and the heat melted the clear coat into the foam it was resting on. I ended up wet sanding all the clear coat with 600 grit, mostly where the damage had occurred, but not down to the green, and then re cleared the whole hood. It's important to not get down to the green layer or you'd have to re-shoot the green metallic. I then wet sanded with 1000 and then 2000 and then polished with a cheap wool bonnet and rubbing compound. Finished it up with a foam pad and 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. I'm surprised, but this re-do looks even better than the first attempt, and I'm comfortable with the process of fewer wet-sanding grits.

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Project StinkBug: '57 Plate for a '57 Chevy

North Carolina is clearly a car-friendly state. It's the home of NASCAR after all.

Here in NC, we don't need to display a front license plate. In fact, the DMV only gives us one plate per car to display on the rear.

There are no unsightly inpsection and county stickers required to be stuck to the front windshield either.

And interestingly, for classic cars, NC allows owners to display a NC license plate from the year of manufacture (YOM) of the car. As long as the "real"plate is somewhere inside the vehicle, if the driver is pulled over.

So I set out to find a nice '57 plate from NC. (I had considered finding a plate from Alabama, having learned that my car was sold new there back in '57. Those plates are also black with yellowish text like a NC plate. But I couldn't find a decent plate at a good price.)

Weeks ago I was able to find a nice original paint NC plate at the local Autofest here in Raleigh. I had seen similar plates going for about $125 on eBay, so I was happy to pay the asking price of $80 for this one.

A little wax and polishing and the plate looks even better then it did. I studied the plate and little bit of paint loss closely, and I'm convinced it's original paint.

Project StinkBug: More Green Bits

The '57 came with a couple cans of old acrylic lacquer paint mixed back in 1989. I wasn't sure this exterior paint would still be good, and various painters I questioned didn't think so either. And, the previous owner didn't mention which clearcoat he had used on top of this lacquer, but there was evidence of lots of buffing and polishing, which wouldn't have been possible on a metallic lacquer color coat. So, there was some uncertainty when it came to painting the remaining bits and pieces that were missing from the car when I bought it.

Here are many of the interior window trim pieces hanging in the paint shop, prepped for final paint.

 The previous owner also has been unreliable at getting me the final parts he had promised, so I haven't bothered to include him in any of the project at this point (although oddly he texts looking for information and photos). I found a painter in my neck of the woods who has been willing to work with me to figure out the best process at duplicating the previously unfinished paint job.

After the final coat of acrylic lacquer green, the bits will be getting doused in multiple coats of urethane clear the next morning. I went with urethane clear on top of all the interior bits, because it gives a great shine and no need for wet sanding at all (saving lots of time and money).

For some reason, one of the cans of paint didn't even match the car, being too light by a couple shades. But the other one seems to match very close (for a car that was apparently painted back around 1990 and then stored inside under a cover.) After some experimentation, the best match is four coats of the acrylic lacquer metallic green mixed with a high gloss thinner, with at least four coats of a clear lacquer on top.

Here's a piece of interior trim with the fresh paint job, laying on the fender and dash with the old paint job. The hood here has been painted with the "wrong" can of green paint that came with the car and will need to be redone; it's a couple shades lighter even with the very same clear urethane on top.

Hopefully, we'll have the remaining bits all green and shiny this month.

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Project StinkBug: Open Wide

A milestone day last week as the new crate 350 dressed in '57 accessories was mated to a rebuilt turbo 350 transmission and a higher-performance torque converter. I painted the transmission cast gray, which if I read the detailing materials correctly, was one of a couple correct colors for the transmission (usually a two-speed Powerglide) that year.

The transmission has a polished and finned pan on it, which probably isn't correct, but it looks good and seems high quality and leak-free. All the other bits and pieces, such as the dipstick tube, kickdown cable, etc. will be replaced for new.

Hopefully, I don't see this sight again for many, many years...

I found a stock-appearing flywheel cover (in black with no vents), and we will bolt that on shortly, along with some new linkage pieces to get the turbo 350 to work in this car.

With the radiator core support removed, the engine and transmission pretty much go right in, but the firewall area is a tight fit.

I'm hoping to have another evening or two to work on the car before shipping it back to my house from Josh's garage.

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Project StinkBug: Grime Time

In my spare time the past few weeks, I've been completing a pretty nasty task: cleaning and refinishing the undercarriage. By the looks of things, the undercarriage was completely original, and with a (pre-PCV system) draft tube venting engine oil vapor below the car, it was a grimy mess.

I had started cleaning things by the time this photo was taken, but the frame and floors were caked with dirt and grime.

After hours of work with a simple paint scraper and a Harbor Freight angle grinder using two wire wheel attachments, I could see bare steel with remnants of the original red oxide primer (by now a chocolate color). In the upper left, you can see the floor before I removed the grime.

Fast forward at least 20 hours of filthy work under the car, and three cans of Seymour red oxide primer, and I ended up with this...

and this...

and this...

and this. I used some simple Rustoleum Satin black spray paint on the frame, after cleaning thoroughly with 3M adhesive spray cleaner. (The front floors are a bit "drafty" — so some metal replacement is in the near future.) I also replaced the rotted body mount cushions with some black Energy Suspension pieces. And coated certain areas with 3M undercoating as original.

I used the opportunity to clean up the rear axle and rear suspension pieces. I used cast coat grey and satin and semi-gloss black where called for in the manuals for an original-style restoration.

I'm mostly done with the rear axle here, except for the rear brake cable, which is in the tumbler.

Here's the brake cable in the Harbor Freight tumbler before I poured in the glass beads and liquid degreaser. (Took a couple years before I found out that you add water or degreaser to the tumbler basin or it won't clean anything...) It comes out clean, and then I hose off and spray can clear it when dry.

And ready to go under the car. I was exhausted at this point and didn't realize it wouldn't roll under the car, which was on jackstands sitting too low... lol

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