Merry post-Christmas, but not quite Happy New Year everybody! Figured I’d pop up a quick little post here before starting my day.
I had a few hours here and there over a couple of days before Christmas to fabricate and weld in the end pieces for the driver’s side, so that’s now all complete.
Yesterday Mike was over, and I had to find a new project to keep him busy while I was stripping all the old primer and filler off of the fenders. I wasn’t happy with the work I had done on them, mostly because I’ve learned so much more since then. I was only using etch primer, not epoxy at the time, had Kitty Hair over top of filler, putty over top of primer, and all kinds of other small faux pas’ that I now know better.
So, off it all came, then the surfaces got profiled with 36 grit in preparation for the first round of fibreglass filler that will kick off “Fender Filler Work 2.0” later today. Stripping and profiling both fenders took me all day yesterday.
While I was busy with that, I set Mike on the next Mission Impossible: Seeing if we could successfully modify and mount the last generation Monte Carlo SS mirrors that I bought from a forum member here several years ago.
They said it couldn’t be done…
They said the mounting angles would be all wrong (which they were)…
They said there wouldn’t be any reinforcement support behind the new location (which there was)…
But we’re here to prove ‘em all wrong, we found a way to make it happen (and it wasn’t really all that hard):
Mike had to modify the plastic gasket and the bottom of the pedestal slightly to account for the different angle of the Cutlass door, then we both together decided on the placement fore and aft to find where it looked right. We initially thought we were going to have to do something custom to reinforce the backside of the new mounting position, but as luck would have it, it still utilizes the inner structure just like the old one mirror did, just in a different spot.
He still needs to fine tune the angle a bit, it’s angled up just a slight bit still. But that’s ok, just a little more time with the file and a couple more test fits will get that fixed up. He also still has the driver’s side to do, so that should keep him busy for the next little bit at least while I start filling and sanding again.
I will likely have to come up with new slightly taller gaskets, the pedestals on these are short enough that they are just contacting the belt mouldings. I’m thinking maybe having somebody 3D print a set so they still look factory, but provide the additional height needed.
Since we’re on the subject of these aero style mirrors, I would love to upgrade both of them to electric motor powered. To the best of my knowledge, only the square body ‘87-‘89 Caprice, and possibly the Fiero and C4 Corvette came with this option. Problem is, NONE of the wrecking yards around here have anything that old, or that specific in those years. I have a power switch to control them (thanks to another member here), but I really need the left and right motors.
Would anyone here be willing to find and pull a set to ship to me? I would fully reimburse you for your time, effort and expense of course. I’d take the whole works, housings, mirror glass, motors, gaskets, wiring, everything. In fact, the more complete the better. Please let me know either here or in a PM.
Thanks,
D.
I had a few hours here and there over a couple of days before Christmas to fabricate and weld in the end pieces for the driver’s side, so that’s now all complete.
Yesterday Mike was over, and I had to find a new project to keep him busy while I was stripping all the old primer and filler off of the fenders. I wasn’t happy with the work I had done on them, mostly because I’ve learned so much more since then. I was only using etch primer, not epoxy at the time, had Kitty Hair over top of filler, putty over top of primer, and all kinds of other small faux pas’ that I now know better.
So, off it all came, then the surfaces got profiled with 36 grit in preparation for the first round of fibreglass filler that will kick off “Fender Filler Work 2.0” later today. Stripping and profiling both fenders took me all day yesterday.
While I was busy with that, I set Mike on the next Mission Impossible: Seeing if we could successfully modify and mount the last generation Monte Carlo SS mirrors that I bought from a forum member here several years ago.
They said it couldn’t be done…
They said the mounting angles would be all wrong (which they were)…
They said there wouldn’t be any reinforcement support behind the new location (which there was)…
But we’re here to prove ‘em all wrong, we found a way to make it happen (and it wasn’t really all that hard):
Mike had to modify the plastic gasket and the bottom of the pedestal slightly to account for the different angle of the Cutlass door, then we both together decided on the placement fore and aft to find where it looked right. We initially thought we were going to have to do something custom to reinforce the backside of the new mounting position, but as luck would have it, it still utilizes the inner structure just like the old one mirror did, just in a different spot.
He still needs to fine tune the angle a bit, it’s angled up just a slight bit still. But that’s ok, just a little more time with the file and a couple more test fits will get that fixed up. He also still has the driver’s side to do, so that should keep him busy for the next little bit at least while I start filling and sanding again.
I will likely have to come up with new slightly taller gaskets, the pedestals on these are short enough that they are just contacting the belt mouldings. I’m thinking maybe having somebody 3D print a set so they still look factory, but provide the additional height needed.
Since we’re on the subject of these aero style mirrors, I would love to upgrade both of them to electric motor powered. To the best of my knowledge, only the square body ‘87-‘89 Caprice, and possibly the Fiero and C4 Corvette came with this option. Problem is, NONE of the wrecking yards around here have anything that old, or that specific in those years. I have a power switch to control them (thanks to another member here), but I really need the left and right motors.
Would anyone here be willing to find and pull a set to ship to me? I would fully reimburse you for your time, effort and expense of course. I’d take the whole works, housings, mirror glass, motors, gaskets, wiring, everything. In fact, the more complete the better. Please let me know either here or in a PM.
Thanks,
D.
