HAFRODs 78 Aeroback Salon build

[HAFROD]

I uncovered the Salon today and started it up. Took it down to the end of my block and back. I got on it in 1st gear while rolling and left two black marks. POSI WORKS! Lol. I have decided to get back on this car to finish it for car show season. I have parts scattered in two bedrooms, shed, attic, and garage. Be nice to have the space but the 55 and old Kawasaki GPZ parts are in these places as well. TOO MANY PROJECTS

 

[liquidh8]

Would be nice to see some more progress on this, can't wait.

 

[HAFROD]

I had a dang notebook here that has notes in it for this car. Of coarse I can't find it. It had parts needed, things to tighten, and things to check. The only things that came to mind was the black ARP hex head bolts for the AC compressor and brackets and the Ring Brothers black anodized billet hood adjusters. I went ahead and ordered them. I need to call Lloyds mats on floor mats. I got some samples from them a few months ago. I found a perfect match for my ACC carpet kit but I want to see if they can embroider the 442 logo in the correct font.

 

[clean8485]

I'd also like to see this one finished. It should look amazing.

 

[HAFROD]

Today turned into one of those days you wish you'd never got out of bed. I went through three drivers side drip rail trims. I had bought one from a 4 door aero and one from another two door aero. I picked the best one and wet sanded with 2000 grit and buffed it. Went to install and it's 2" too long at the back. I just assumed the 4 doors were the same. NOT!. Picked out the better between the two shorter ones and repeated the polishing process. Snapped it on the car. Then I moved onto the outer window felt strip for the rear quarter window. I had to buy two sets of door outer felts because no one makes them for Aero's. I cut it down and tried to mock it up. So far it was looking great until I put on the B-pillar cover. When I ordered these window felts, the guy asked me if I had big or small stainless bead. I did not know which so I got big bead. The B-pillar cover has a small spot for the stainless bead to fit into. I think I spent about $160 on this set. I already have the door felt strips and windows installed. So now I'm going to order the small beads and change the door ones out. I cannot just trim out the B-pillar cover and use anyways. It would bug the heck out of me. I've put too much effort in making this car RIGHT so far.

 

[HAFROD]

So today I ordered 2 sets of outer door felt strips with a small stainless bead. The ones I'm going to try are for a Monte Carlo because he said the bead is really small. I am getting 11 days off the last week of this month and was going to try to get a respray done on my El Camino. Just found out the wife wants to take off that weekend to get away. I think I'll give a good hard push on finishing the Salon with the 8 days left.

 

[HAFROD]

I cleaned all the dust from the Salon today. Got my heater/ac control unit installed, ran new speaker wires to the rear speakers and wired them, installed the radio, and started neatly routing my outside heater/ac box wiring. I upgraded the long style AC compressor to the pancake style. Also changed out the external switch to the dryer mounted style because it looks cleaner. I went to my local parts store and ordered a new condenser, hoses, and F-body aluminum radiator. My plan tomorrow is to finish the body work on the deck lid and core support top and get them in Z Chrome. I'd like to paint all the parts at once to save paint and gun cleanings. The heat is pretty bad but I'm going to continue the weekend and all next week of straight work about 10-12 hours a day. I should get plenty done.

 

[HAFROD]

Did some small detail painting last night and used some 3M brushed aluminum vinyl to wrap my B-pillar covers. I used a silver paint pen last year on the Dealership badge but it was very blotchy and looked like crap. I sanded it with 800 to smooth it back out. I folded a paper towel tightly in a square and used Testors model enamel silver and put it on the towel. I then wiped one direction. I had to do it twice but a day apart so the silver was nice and dry. It's the small details that make a restoration pop.

 

[HAFROD]

Installed a new lens on control panel and took the radio apart last year to polish all the parts seperately

 

[HAFROD]

I welded in filler pieces on the core support to make it smooth. I got a few small spots to sand before priming. I'll still be using the factory fan shroud and it covers the rest of the holes. I bought black ARP hex head bolts for all the stuff that bolts to the core support. Also got black anodized Ring Brothers hood bumpers. I had to remove the factory tension nuts for the stock hood bumpers and weld in 5/16x18 nuts for the Ring Brothers hood bumpers.