Exciting day - rebuild of 78 coupe

[johng]

Well today was supposed to be a very exciting day, but it didn't quite work out like that Having got up to date with all the household items that my better half had been waiting for me to do a couple of weeks ago, it was time to get a new windscreen fitted. I decided to try my windscreen insurance and somewhat to my surprise when I told them that I had accidentally broken the old one by slipping with my drill and catching the glass, they said that it was covered as it was accidental. Today was to be be the fitting, but unfortunately the windscreen they bought along was not the right one! It was slightly wider than the old one, but I think this would have been okay, the big trouble was that the black section at the bottom of the screen was about 50mm too small, so you could see a gap below the dash. I'm now waiting for them to come up with plan B.
Interestingly, when we trial fitted it, without any damming tape there was very little gap between the screen and the A pillar mouldings although there was a gap between the screen and the top moulding. Not sure what this means and what if any damming tape to use now.

 

[Oneball]

Well today was supposed to be a very exciting day, but it didn't quite work out like that Having got up to date with all the household items that my better half had been waiting for me to do a couple of weeks ago, it was time to get a new windscreen fitted. I decided to try my windscreen insurance and somewhat to my surprise when I told them that I had accidentally broken the old one by slipping with my drill and catching the glass, they said that it was covered as it was accidental. Today was to be be the fitting, but unfortunately the windscreen they bought along was not the right one! It was slightly wider than the old one, but I think this would have been okay, the big trouble was that the black section at the bottom of the screen was about 50mm too small, so you could see a gap below the dash. I'm now waiting for them to come up with plan B.
Interestingly, when we trial fitted it, without any damming tape there was very little gap between the screen and the A pillar mouldings although there was a gap between the screen and the top moulding. Not sure what this means and what if any damming tape to use now.

If you move the screen away from the frame the a pillar bit doesn’t change much as it’s at quite an angle.

 

[johng]

Do you mean move the top of the screen away from the frame? That would help as the top of the pillar trim was hard against the glass whereas there was a few mm gap at the bottom. Don't think there was enough for my 10mm damming strip though. As it happens the glass guys did have some thinner damming strip with them. They were keen to put the damming strip and glue on the frame rather than the window, not sure what the pros and cons of this are.

 

[Oneball]

Do you mean move the top of the screen away from the frame? That would help as the top of the pillar trim was hard against the glass whereas there was a few mm gap at the bottom. Don't think there was enough for my 10mm damming strip though. As it happens the glass guys did have some thinner damming strip with them. They were keen to put the damming strip and glue on the frame rather than the window, not sure what the pros and cons of this are.

yep that’s what I meant.

 

[johng]

Actually, thinking about it pulling the top away from the frame will make things worse for the A pillar trim. Think I might end up having to bend the A pillar trim a bit to make it fit. Unless of course when the correct screen arrives, it fits better all round.

 

[johng]

So this evening has actually been very exciting! The Autoglass man turned up with the correct windscreen. We had a long discussion about how best to fit it. I thought we should put the damming strip and urethane on the glass then put this onto the car. He was concerned that there wasn't enough room across the top of the screen for the damming tape and wanted to put the glue and tape on the windscreen frame. After a couple of trial fittings we agreed that we would do without the damming tape across the top of the windshield and since he couldn't actually fit his gun into the lower corners of the frame, we would put tape and glue on the glass.


Damming tape

and glue


in position


Top trim in position, we thought it best to get this in before the glue dried as the glue was very close to (if not all over) the clips.
The fitter was extremely helpful and asked me to check that the metal mount for the rear view mirror did fit my mirror. It didn't, so he swapped it over for me (before we fitted the windscreen!). Now I just need to fit the side trims, weatherstrips, interior trims, rear view mirror, wipers and door panels (once I've done some final adjustments to the door glass) and I think I might be finished (for now at least!)
PS I've very glad I let the Autoglass man help me to fit it, as he had a lovely electric gun for the urethane and was able to put a really consistent bead of glue on the screen. Don't think I could have done anything like as good a job with a hand pump gun.

 

[Oneball]

Great work John. Will bookmark for when I do mine.

 

[Chuffer]

Great job JohnG . You really well with just you and the Autoglass guy just working from his van . I used my local Autoglass depot a couple of years ago for my new screen and they preferred to do it at the depot so they would have everything to hand if they hit a snag . They were brilliant and put their two most experienced classic car guys on the job plus the depot manager had to lend a third a pair of hands at one point too !

 

[johng]

Most exciting day so far today. My son and I took the car for it's maiden voyage
Naturally we went to it's natural habitat



Car went well, steering and brakes seem fine, as do the wipers (lucky I fitted them yesterday as we did get a little bit of rain). However, I do have a few teething issues to sort out.
I can reverse on the flat or downhill, but not uphill.
Speedo isn't working, hopefully the cable is just not properly engaged
Something is rattling like mad in the back of the car
When I first started the car it wasn't charging, but as soon as I blipped the throttle to get off the fast idle it fixed itself ?!?
I tried to bed in the new handbrake shoes, but couldn't discern any braking effort at all.

Not sure what the exhaust sounds like from outside, but it's pretty noisy inside!

 

[Oneball]

Brilliant effort!

 

[Roscobbc]

Well done John - you're a bit late though for last Wednesdays Red Lion meeting though........

 

[Chuffer]

Most exciting day so far today. My son and I took the car for it's maiden voyage
Naturally we went to it's natural habitat

View attachment 11008

Car went well, steering and brakes seem fine, as do the wipers (lucky I fitted them yesterday as we did get a little bit of rain). However, I do have a few teething issues to sort out.
I can reverse on the flat or downhill, but not uphill.
Speedo isn't working, hopefully the cable is just not properly engaged
Something is rattling like mad in the back of the car
When I first started the car it wasn't charging, but as soon as I blipped the throttle to get off the fast idle it fixed itself ?!?
I tried to bed in the new handbrake shoes, but couldn't discern any braking effort at all.

Not sure what the exhaust sounds like from outside, but it's pretty noisy inside!

Great stuff If it sounds loud inside , it will sound awesome from the outside . Joe public should be well impressed ! Plus the hand brake sounds like it is working just as GM intended !

 

[Forrest Gump]

Congratulations mate.
It must have been a great feeling driving the car that you have rebuilt literally piece by piece.
I’m looking forward to seeing it in the flesh.

 

[johng]

Thanks guys, it was a real treat finally being able to drive the car. Thing is now I want to keep driving it, but not being able to rely on a reverse gear is a bit of an issue! I quite fancy rebuilding the gearbox as a winter project, but don't want to waste a summer's driving so I'm also tempted to just farm this job out.

 

[Roscobbc]

Thanks guys, it was a real treat finally being able to drive the car. Thing is now I want to keep driving it, but not being able to rely on a reverse gear is a bit of an issue! I quite fancy rebuilding the gearbox as a winter project, but don't want to waste a summer's driving so I'm also tempted to just farm this job out.

I would - always think that its best to let the respective experts do the major engine or transmission work. Yeah it'll cost you but you don't want to do it twice if you get it wrong again do you?

 

[johng]

I would - always think that its best to let the respective experts do the major engine or transmission work. Yeah it'll cost you but you don't want to do it twice if you get it wrong again do you?

Hey Ross, what's this "get it wrong again"? I didn't think I'd told anyone about my cock-ups

 

[Roscobbc]

Hey Ross, what's this "get it wrong again"? I didn't think I'd told anyone about my cock-ups

Only getting it wrong John in as much as perhaps you didn't check-out the transmission before your total strip-down - if you'd known about the naff tx no doubt you'd have delat with it whilst doing the engine and other stuff........."getting it wrong John" has a catchy ring to it - don't you think?

 

[Oneball]

If it’s just the torque converter that’s an easy-ish in out job.

 

[johng]

Ross you're dead right, it would have been a relatively easy job when the transmission was out of the car. Getting it out safely from underneath the car now is the bit I'm most worried about. Thinking about it, I also got it wrong on the test drive as I don't think I ever tried out reverse up an incline.

Tim, I don't see how it can be the torque converter as it has plenty of pulling power in the forward gears. My guess is that the reverse clutch isn't working properly, either fried plates or a leaky seal preventing enough pressure to fully operate the clutch.

 

[Oneball]

Ross you're dead right, it would have been a relatively easy job when the transmission was out of the car. Getting it out safely from underneath the car now is the bit I'm most worried about. Thinking about it, I also got it wrong on the test drive as I don't think I ever tried out reverse up an incline.

Tim, I don't see how it can be the torque converter as it has plenty of pulling power in the forward gears. My guess is that the reverse clutch isn't working properly, either fried plates or a leaky seal preventing enough pressure to fully operate the clutch.

I read tx as tq in Rosco’s post and thought you’d identified it as the issue.