'59, gift to my daughter

[V-John]

Working on the interior now. Pulled out the black/purple carpet, degreased and prepped the flooring to put more KBS coating on the rust. Driver side was more rusty with a minor hole which will be filled. Once the driver side coating is dried thoroughly I'll start cleaning the passenger side to do the same. That should finish up my can of KBS RustSeal.









Used KBS' RustBlast that leaves a zinc coating for better adhesion of the rust coating.


The only real rust hole in the front


RustSeal




Also re-did the wiring harness. I use the stuff that Harbor Freight sells.


I bought a 4'x24' roll of floor padding/sound deadening material from JC Whitney for less than $60. That'll go over most of the floor and behind and under the backseat. I took the gunk-filled master cylinder off and will clean that section of the firewall for painting, and then install the new one. Once that's in I can finally start bleeding the brakes.

Then, new tires to replace the old Firestone 721's that are really shot.

[V-John]

A couple of pics of the insulation install. I ordered new seat covers and foam and hopefully get them by next weekend. The carpeting is fitting perfectly, which I'll fasten in once the seats are back in and bolted down. I also ordered the double speaker to replace the original speaker.




I'm ready for tires. A friend is running these Coopers on his Regal, 215/70/14's. They also come in 225/70's. Will 70's be too short? They don't have 75's of any size.

http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Passenger/COBRA-RADIAL-G-T.aspx

Your thoughts?

[Guest]

I bought a 4'x24' roll of floor padding/sound deadening material from JC Whitney for less than $60. That'll go over most of the floor and behind and under the backseat. I took the gunk-filled master cylinder off and will clean that section of the firewall for painting, and then install the new one. Once that's in I can finally start bleeding the brakes.

Do you have the product number for the padding? I tried searching for it on their website, but couldn't find a roll.

[V-John]

Here's the 4'x24' padding:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/bonded-logic-heat/sound-insulation/p2010475.jcwx?skuId=328425&filterid=u0j5

Sign up for JC Whitney emails and get some pretty good discounts like 15-20% off with no minimum, plus the free shipping.

Do you have the product number for the padding? I tried searching for it on their website, but couldn't find a roll.

[Guest]

Here's the 4'x24' padding:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/bonded-logic-heat/sound-insulation/p2010475.jcwx?skuId=328425&filterid=u0j5

Sign up for JC Whitney emails and get some pretty good discounts like 15-20% off with no minimum, plus the free shipping.

Thank you very much!

[simplyconnected]

I am concerned about water that gets trapped under padding. It's a recipe for disaster unless the floor can breathe.

You're going to think I'm nuts but I went to my favorite box store and bought artificial grass carpet. It's plastic, makes a great insulator and it holds no water. I laid the carpet over it and I was done. There's no need to glue it.

This stuff is hyper allergenic, won't mold and it breathes easily.

I learned from living in Michigan with a Mustang convertible. We never know when it's going to rain, even on a very nice day. All it takes is a short trip to the store with the top down. Yes, it happened to me. There I was in the checkout line when all of a sudden it came down in buckets. I ran out as fast as humanly possible but it didn't matter. The floor had a half inch of water and I spent the next two days drying with towels and fans, trying to prevent mold.

All that padding under the carpet did a great job of holding water like a sponge. The tar-like sheets on the steel floor kept water trapped for prolonged periods to promote rust. For our daily drivers, winter brings plenty of snow and ice. Rubber mats are good to hold melted snow on top but underneath, the carpet always gets wet.

So, the floor needs to breath through the carpet so it can evaporate and dry. Your headliner is the same story. Ever wonder why all those pin holes in a vinyl headliner? Without them your roof will rust from the inside because water condenses when warm moist air hits cold metal. The roof literally sweats inside. Also, my mufflers have drain holes for condensation. (Warm air on cold metal.) - Dave

[V-John]

Thank you very much!

I've got plenty left over to use on some of my other cars. I also bought the aluminum tape from JCW so I can join pieces together.

[V-John]

I installed my RediRad to the radio this morning. We tried it out using the old speaker (new one is backordered) and it sounds great. Well, for only having one speaker. The first song my daughter played off of her iPhone was from Elvis, naturally.

The ACC is very touchy and I had to get the key just right to get power to the radio. Would that be a tumbler problem?

[simplyconnected]

Check the wires on your Key Switch, and make sure they are tight. If they are, I see a new Key Switch in your future.

The switch comes with no lock cylinder, so you can transfer the one you have to a new key switch. - Dave

[dgs]

... I'm ready for tires. A friend is running these Coopers on his Regal, 215/70/14's. They also come in 225/70's. Will 70's be too short? They don't have 75's of any size.

http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Passenger/COBRA-RADIAL-G-T.aspx

Your thoughts?

Even the 75 series tires are a bit shorter than the original bias plys. The 225 70s are almost an inch shorter than the 225 75s. Here's how the tire sizes shake out:

800-14 - 27.58" tall - 8.10" wide
215/70R14 - 25.85" tall - 8.46" wide
215/75R14 - 26.70" tall - 8.46" wide
850-14 - 28.10" tall - 8.35" wide
225/70R14 - 26.40" tall - 8.86" wide
225/75R14 - 27.29" tall - 8.86" wide

As you see, modern tires are wider and shorter than the originals. There is no modern match, the 75 series radials are as close as you can get.

Coker and Diamond Back sell 215/75R14 and 225/75R14 tires, but they aren't cheap. If you go with the Coopers, get the 225s. They'll work OK, but your speedo will read a bit high (3-4 MPH at 65) and they won't quite fill the wheel wells, but should drive OK.

[V-John]

Even the 75 series tires are a bit shorter than the original bias plys. The 225 70s are almost an inch shorter than the 225 75s. Here's how the tire sizes shake out:

800-14 - 27.58" tall - 8.10" wide
215/70R14 - 25.85" tall - 8.46" wide
215/75R14 - 26.70" tall - 8.46" wide
850-14 - 28.10" tall - 8.35" wide
225/70R14 - 26.40" tall - 8.86" wide
225/75R14 - 27.29" tall - 8.86" wide

As you see, modern tires are wider and shorter than the originals. There is no modern match, the 75 series radials are as close as you can get.

Coker and Diamond Back sell 215/75R14 and 225/75R14 tires, but they aren't cheap. If you go with the Coopers, get the 225s. They'll work OK, but your speedo will read a bit high (3-4 MPH at 65) and they won't quite fill the wheel wells, but should drive OK.

Thanks for that info. I was going to ask a shop if they knew the dimensions of these tires. Now I won't have to be a nuasance taking up their time.

[dgs]

Modern tire sizes are pretty easy to figure out. The first number (215, 225) is the width in millimeters. The number after the / is the height of the side wall as a percentage of the width. So a 215/70 tire has two side walls that are 70% of 215 millimeters tall or about 150 mm. From there, it's just converting to inches (divide by 25.4) and adding it up.

You can also use an online calculator like the one from Discount Tire. For older tires, I look 'em up on Coker's website.

Individual tires do vary, however, so the tires you're looking at may be slightly different that that, but not much.

[tbird430]

P225/75R14 all the way!!

[V-John]

I spent today getting the new carpet and front seatbelts installed. The seatbelts are in temporary until I get some stainless hardware for them. The gas pedal is new since the other one fell apart at the rod.





I'll be cleaning up the console and its chrome and will try to get that installed this week. I took off the U-channel brackets that holds the kick plate panels by the door. They need to be cleaned up and repainted. Since the vinyl isn't really white, does anyone have a color suggestion in spray paint?

I finally have everything to get my seats re-done.

[Restifier52]

If it were me I guess I'd paint 'em black.