5/30/00 I’m Back!

O.K., for all those who were looking forward to my weekly posting, I apologize for not working on the car last Friday, but it was Memorial Day weekend, and occasionally it’s all right to take some time off from the restoration. Right? Actually, I had a wedding to go to up in Cape Cod, so I couldn’t work on the car even if I wanted. The good news is I had a couple days off this week to make up for lost time, so here it is:

Last week, I started looking at the window mechanisms, and what I could do to adjust them. After fiddling with the right door, I figured out how to get the mechanism to move more smoothly, but this week, the story is a little different. I discussed my windows with François, and whether I should replace the felts in the window channels. François gave me his usual pregnant pause when he hears me justifying cutting a corner, and replied, “You know me…,” –I’m pulling the window frames out to replace the felts.

I had one seized capture nut in the left window frame. It’s pretty badly rusted in place, and had to be drilled out. Getting the rest of the stuck bolt will have to be addressed eventually, but I’ll have to let the swearing and the anger subside before I go back to that bolt!

Both window frames eventually came out, and were put aside for safe keeping. They’re pretty flimsy pieces because they’re made out of chrome plated brass, so I have to be careful not to bend them when they’re not attached to the door. The chrome on these frames is acceptable, so I won’t be sending them to be plated. Besides, I don’t think my restoration budget can take the expense!

One piece I am plating, however, is the window felt channel. This this strip of brass is screwed to the top of the door, and is only accessible after the whole window assembly is removed. After I put the door back together, it will be extremely difficult to pull this part out, so now is the time to send these pieces out to the plater. The chrome on these pieces is also worn off, so it will look very bad next to the newly painted doors. My chrome pile is getting larger!

Another sub-assembly needs to be shipped out. The headers need to be ceramic coated, so I boxed them up today. I’ll probably send them out next week, after I get the right mailing address, and shipping information. I think I’m going to send them to “Jet-Hot” since it seems to be the popular choice these days for a durable finish.

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