Recent upgrades on my 69 - 2018 time to clean things up

[bill440rt]

Trunk hinges are sweet!  Helped Bill (bill440rt) install his in the green car.  Just gotta remember they are gas charged now....twist of the key sends the trunk-a-poppin! 

They are sweet Chris.    It was Bill's advice and photos that sold me on them, they looked so good on his I had to get a set.     He said the worst part was getting the rear seat out but at this point I've done it so many times it should be a breeze. My only worry is getting the trunk aligned where it needs to be. 

Those hinges ARE sweet, Clayton! You'll like them.
Yes, the hardest part at least on my car was just getting the rear seat out. Luckily Chris was on board with his bionic knee to lend a kick. 
I marked the deck lid around the bolt washers with masking tape, so when I reinstalled it on the new hinges I was able to get it very close to where it was. IIRC it only needed minimal adjusting from there. 

Operation is smooth, but the gas struts are not like the old springs where the deck lid will sort of "hang" halfway. It will open fully, so you just need to have a hand on top of it once you pop the trunk so it doesn't fly open. I was planning on installing an electric trunk release, but these hinges axed that plan.

[TexasStroker]

Very slick!  Can't believe someone beat me to the LED headlights...I was actually going to test a set out on my truck and then move them to the rest of the fleet if they performed like I hope.  SBL's heatsink via the tinned copper is cool...when I was looking they just had the fan driven units.

Looks like the track day was a blast!

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Those hinges ARE sweet, Clayton! You'll like them.
Yes, the hardest part at least on my car was just getting the rear seat out. Luckily Chris was on board with his bionic knee to lend a kick.  
I marked the deck lid around the bolt washers with masking tape, so when I reinstalled it on the new hinges I was able to get it very close to where it was. IIRC it only needed minimal adjusting from there.  

Operation is smooth, but the gas struts are not like the old springs where the deck lid will sort of "hang" halfway. It will open fully, so you just need to have a hand on top of it once you pop the trunk so it doesn't fly open. I was planning on installing an electric trunk release, but these hinges axed that plan.

Thanks for the tips on masking the bolts on the trunk Bill.    I was going to ask about some tricks on getting the alignment right...Don't want my stripe all crooked after the install    

I have had an electric release as well for a couple years...just never got around to installing it. Guess it's going in the for sale section now.  

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Very slick!  Can't believe someone beat me to the LED headlights...I was actually going to test a set out on my truck and then move them to the rest of the fleet if they performed like I hope.  SBL's heatsink via the tinned copper is cool...when I was looking they just had the fan driven units.

Looks like the track day was a blast!

Yeah not too many people have made the leap to LED headlights on older cars yet. I've wanted a set for a while but the price was just too high but then these bulbs came out and figured it was time to try them. Might even add them to my jeep as well.     

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Got some work done over the weekend and started pulling out the old insulation and wiring. My original plan was to just replace the old insulation with replacement pieces but after pulling out the old junk and test fitting the new cowl insulation I'm done with fiberglass insulation!!! The mess these things make are just not worth it to me (even the brand new ones shed fibers like crazy!) so I added dynamat over the firewall and under the cowl. I'll snap some pictures soon as I finish up the dash harness, right now the interior looks like a tornado went thru it so I didn't take any.


Got a bit too hot working under the dash so I moved on to the outside and replaced the engine bay harnesses. Added in a 70 style voltage regulator, a beefed up ground strap, and wrapped all the wiring with braided wrap and nicely routed it all. Just need the front end light harnesses from year one (which I'm now told will be early June   ) which should be an easy swap and I'll be all set.  

[WHITE AND RED 69]

I remembered an old post from Autodynamics and Rolling Thunder where they had the wiper arms polished and always said I was going to do the same. Well I finally got around to it and I think they look sweet! But now the fresh polish on the arms makes the windshield trim look dull      so add some more polishing to the never ending list of work.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Nice polish job!  be sure to keep a pair of sunglasses handy now! 

[MxRacer855]

Absolutely gorgeous! Those Fesler hinges are going to do wonders!     

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Nice polish job!  be sure to keep a pair of sunglasses handy now!  

Yeah I figured the shine might add some glare. Hopefully won't be too bad.

Absolutely gorgeous! Those Fesler hinges are going to do wonders!      

Thanks Jeff! I can't wait to get them installed. But I have a feeling once these are installed that I'm going to want to repaint the engine bay to match the shine.  

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

I think the outward appearance will over shadow the extra glare...looks great!

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Haven't got too much work done over the last month or so but its getting there. Still waiting on the a/c box but everything else under the dash is finished. All the wiring is in and everything has been tested and works great. Really wished I would have just restored the a/c box myself though.   

But while I'm waiting I did install the road race oil pan, oil cooler, cooler lines, and an oil temp gauge. The oil pan fit in pretty good, had to do a little modifying to get it to fit but the install wasn't too bad and looks great under there. Has about the same depth as a stock pan so I don't have to worry about the ground clearance which is nice.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

And finally got my hood hinges! These are a great product, fit perfectly and now the hood has a totally different look and feel. Hopefully over the weekend I'll get the trunk hinges on.

[JB400]

The hinges look nice, but I'm not digging the look of the strut.  I'd have to paint it body color.  Have you looked into being able to get replacement struts?

[WHITE AND RED 69]

The hinges look nice, but I'm not digging the look of the strut.  I'd have to paint it body color.  Have you looked into being able to get replacement struts?

I had the option to get polished ones but I didn't want to spend the extra money. My whole engine bay is white, polished, and black so the black struts work for me. Maybe further down the line I will spring for the polished ones. 

[TexasStroker]

Hinges look nice!

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Here are some shots of the trunk hinges   

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Finally have the restored a/c box back in as well. For the price its not all that I hoped for but it looks good.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Got most of the bugs worked out with all the new wiring and new parts, still have a couple minor issues to deal with. But its back on the road so I got some new photos today. Felt great to put some miles on it!

[WHITE AND RED 69]

 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

And some photos of the engine bay all finished up...for now   

[WHITE AND RED 69]

A couple shots of the oil pan clearance.

Also moved the horns to a new location, never liked the stock spot so I built a little bracket and moved them so they are somewhat hidden.   

[Baldwinvette77]

Mmmmm as if i wasn't dehydrated enough already  

[1970Moparmann]

Looks awesome Clayton!   Glad it's back on the road!

[freddyd02]

Awesome stuff! What carb/air filter are you running? Didn't have any clearance issues with the hood? Also did you have your old gas neck filler chromed or did you buy an aftermarket one?