"The Beater Bee" becomes "The Better Bee"

[Woj]

Saweeet Dave. You da man!!!!

[68l30]

Dave, Are those tail light screw caps a tough item? Curious, I think I have a drawer full someplace....???

BIG

[A12pilot]

BIG,

Yeah....They are very difficult to find. If you have a drawer full, I'll give you pennies on the dollar..... PENNIES I tells ya!!!!...... for this drawer you speak of. Now tell me, where you gonna get a better deal than that!

Cheers

Dave

PS: glass goes in next Friday, hood just about done, and radiator should be back next week too. That is it!!!!

[68l30]

Ha! Never said it was a BIG drawer...

BIG

[68l30]

I used to hit the dash mounted Rev light indicator with the factory Hurst....A V- Gate fixed that problem.

BIG

[A12pilot]

Steve,

Exactly right, man, but...... this is a console car, and the console shifter is way farther away from the pads than a non-console car. My 69 RR was a non-console car, as was a 69 Charger RT I had and same thing: That 2-3 shift was a knuckle buster! And yeah, for those that don't know, 68-69 lower dash pads were pads. But in 1970, they went to plastic pieces on the Chargers (don't know about other 70 B-Bodys since I've never owned one, but I'd guess the same) and they're a little nicer looking, IMO.

BIG....those are not the same ones as the tail light panel caps, unfortunately. Those are the speed nuts for things like side marker bezels, tail light housings, etc. But hey....don't lose 'em...I may be a callin'!!!!!

So, moving on, an astute person will notice the brake pedal to the floor. That astute person would also notice that I have decided to commit myself to an insane asylum. While I was putting on the steering wheel and laughing at others who may not be at this stage on their project, I had noticed I put the brake light leads on backwards and while down there, I just happened to see a trickle of brake fluid seaping out of the back of the master cylinder. Karma being the thing that she is, and since I just spoke bad about others not being where I'm at on my car, that'll be one major leak running down the firewall to deal with now. Oh, that's just great. So, down comes the column and in doing do, I busted that ever so eloquently engineered, octopus-required crimping tool needed, 18 piece steering column to box joint.....AAARRGGHHH!!!!!!

Cheers

[A12pilot]

Out comes the master cylinder...and lemme see here with my lookin' eye.......

Hmmmmm.......

[A12pilot]

Yep.....that be a leak, and pretty darn rusty already!!! SEE!!!! I knew these Mopars rusted coming down the line, and here's proof!!!!! Chalk that up to being authentic! Time to ditch this whole "right" thing and paint that bad-boy steel colored with brake solvent resistant paint. I'll take the point hit, and then I'll hit the judge giving me the hit! Nah. I better not. Moving on.....

I did some fiberglass work on the hood and it's about 95% there! WOOHOO!!!!

Cheers

[A12pilot]

So, you may be asking yourself, "Self? What's left on this thread to talk about? What is left to do on this restoration? Why hasn't this guy been refunded his Paid Member money and booted off this site?" Well, lemme answer those questions, if I may

There's not really much left, or is there!?!??!?!? From a restoration standpoint, there are four things left: Glass installation, painting the hood, installing the radiator, and applying the rear Bee stripe. And that will wrap up my restoration. But, here's where it gets entertaining again...

What we have to look forward to, is..."I don't remember the engine knocking like that..." And, "Why is there a bunch of white smoke coming out of the exhaust? Must be this new-fangled gas they have now a days...." And of course, the dreaded..."Whoooaaaa...easy big fella, time to slow her down....CRAP.....Dead pedal.....no worries...lemme hit that emergency brake and {pop}[TWANG!!!!](as that little round ferrel pops off the repo brake cable and dings my truck then bounces and hits the Bee dinging the driver's door glass with a BB mark).

Oh yeah, stay tuned.....more to come!!!!!

Cheers

[A12pilot]

Did a few small detail items which was paint the grease on the trunk hinges.

Ya know....I find it amazing I'm replicating slop.....

Last shot is the trunk done with delivery floor mats (upside down, of course to protect them for right now!) waiting to be laid out on the interior floor.

cheers

dave