All this great progress and talk of BBQ, doesnt get any better

How can you beat this barbecue?

https://www.countyline.com/#

wow I am a deviled egg fan too! Even the bread looks great. At least I have a meeting today where they are fixing something on a big green egg. Not the same but all I get lol

The radiator is on its way here!:biggthumpup: Here’s the gauges. I had Speed Hut make them using an existing platform. They were very accommodating. They are similar to the originals, but my goal was to make a face that was identical. Every place I contacted saying, “We make custom gauges, built to suit, yadda-yadda” came back and said, “Yeah, we don’t do ‘custom’ gauges. We just redesign what we have with logos and junk’.:rolleyes2: One place was all about using an existing gauge and making the face. And then they told me it’d be two years waiting until they could get to them. In other words, we don’t want to do it.:bs:

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But I like these! It beats the standard Autometer look. Although they are a tad smaller, with filler rings I’m having printed, they’ll fit in the bezel nicely.

I’m incorporating a few factory parts to make the whole assembly appear more correct. I befriended a gentleman in Germany who works with Martelleria which is the company that restores many 507s, 300SLs, and a few other exotic makes/models, and he’s been gracious enough to sell me a few needed parts. One is the distributor cap cover for the V8 engine. Extremely rare. I’ll incorporate this onto the stock cap along with the cast valve covers I’m making and a few other things. Aesthetically, the engine will appear like the 507 V8.

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The other part is a an under hood tool kit. These are pretty hard to come by too, and he happened to have one that needed a restoration. They have a molded inside that conforms to the tools. BOING!!!!:biggthumpup::biggthumpup::biggthumpup:

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SWF washer pump and washer bottle too. They go along the passenger side inner fender support beam in the engine bay.

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Side mirror. OooooooOOOooo!!! Chrome!!!! The only thing shiney on the car right now!:eek2::drool:

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More parts show up this week!

Cheers
Dave

As we discussed early on during this build, everything on the car will be functional. Convertible top, side windows, wipers, and one of those things that I plan making functional is the heater and fresh air system. Sounds easy. Agreed. Well, it’s not.:mad2: Of course I’m not sure what exactly is on this car. I know based on my photo archive and such that the heater plenum on the cowl connects to the fresh air intake on the cowl. But how’s the whole thing work?:confused2: I was fortunate to have access to several restoration photos and owners sharing info with me and here’s the jist of it; Air comes in from the cowl and gets routed through the plenum to the heater fan box and then is distributors to the footwells and defroster vents. The air enters the plenum and curves upwards and then downward. There’s a flapper door inside the plenum which closes the air off if one doesn’t desire to smell the sewage plant you just drove by or the guy ahead of you hasn’t change plugs in his 1976 Datsun since, well, 1976. :thumbsdown: Meanwhile, any rain is captured at the bottom of the curved plenum and blocked by a little dam and then drained to the cowl via three drain holes. Easy-Peary!:bs:

I had already made the firewall cover box but had not made the intake plenum. I also notice an error on my box. That doesn’t sound right. :eek2: I noticed a fabrication detail error on the cover of the heater plenum. :biggthumpup: There’s a very slight peak at the center and it’s not perfectly flat which is what I made. Who would notice? Nobody. Who cares? Me!:scholar: So I set out to make the corrections to the heater plenum and make it not only more correct in design, but also functional. Does anybody know what time it is? It’s HEATER BOX PLENUM TIME!!!:headbang:

Step one was to get the plenum onto the work bench.
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I then formed a top piece and added that to get my slight peak that the original has. Too steep and it wouldn’t look right. Too shallow and it would be a waste. This came out perfect! I then positioned this where the cowl opening was to measure for the rear of the plenum.
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Then I added the other curved parts to make sure the plenum lines up with the cowl opening.
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After I got the plenum all assembled, I then positioned it back on the cowl and figured out the distance between the cowl intake opening and the plenum opening. There’s a gap between the two that’s connected by a rubber seal. Also, the intake in the cowl is smaller than the intake on the plenum. This is compensated by a block off plate that covers the remained of the opening on the bottom of the plenum.

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So that’s the construction of the assembly. Now it’s onto to making it functional! I know….whoda thought this much would go into a heater box!:eek2:

Cheers
Dave

I saw this random studio photo on facbook the other day. Is that your Great GrandDave in the picture?

Up next, functionality. I need an internal door to block off the fresh air if I need to. Which I find funny since this is a convertible and I doubt I’ll ever had the top up. But, everything has to work and I can’t have a box that’s just there and not have it work!:hmmm::no:

The door is cable actuated and mounted inside the plenum via a bar which the door is welded to. I formed the arm and then installed a few beads on the blocker door for rigidity. Nobody will see it, but I want it to look good in case I’m ever up for the elusive “Best Heater Blocker Door” award. The door arm rides on nylon bushings with a brass insert which should provide years of trouble free operation.

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I then positioned the door inside which allowed me to trace the pattern onto the plenum so I could install the weather striping seal.

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The result is a lever operated door that seals the incoming air when needed. :headbang::headbang:

Here’s it is in position with the updated cowl intake which is now identical to the factory intake inlet.:scholar:

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That’s just a window into the insanity. Just imagine the lengths I went for the glove box hinge latch!:thumbsdown: Oh don’t worry. I’m a lifetime member of the “Looney Tunes” division of the Henry Ford Clinic.:wink:

More to come!

Cheers
Dave

That’s the clay model that BMW made after Goertz’s original styling model (seen small in the background).

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Here’s a bigger picture of his original design. It had mini-fins.

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The 507 as we know it now went through a few design changes until the final design was chosen. My build is compromised of many makes and model parts, and would you believe, part of an airplane? :naughty:

The grab handle on the dash is something I took a little artistic interpretation in. I had replaced the yokes on my 1947 Stinson 108-2 and used the end of one of the old ones as the grad handle. :headbang:

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More to come as I smooth things over! Of course, an entire episode of the Heater plenum to heater box to floor/defroster vents is sure to keep everyone entertained!:thumbsdown:

Cheers
Dave

The fuel filler door is cut out and functional now too. The door is spring loaded shut. I will install a keyed cam lock that will keep it tamper proof and latched as well. It’s held against the body nicely with the spring loaded hinge though. Small projects like this really question my sanity in building this:frown:. Of course this will all get cleaned up in the coming months. What a work out one small part can be!:scholar:

T-Minus 242 days until delivery to MCACN!:burnout:

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Cheers
Dave

Keep up the good work Dave. I'm struggling just trying to install an original Sun Tach in the orange 69 Chevelle.... no welding required!