Chevelle SS Resto-Mod Thread

100,700 Views | 491 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by lb3
Aggietaco
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AG
quote:


  • Try to find some vintage '64 plates and get it registered.



Turner has some blem '64 plates on their site right now. And you lucked out with the even model year for black plates.

quote:

I also discovered my mystery exhaust tick and "breeze" (exhaust in the face) when standing at front of car with hood open on passenger side:


You mean you wanted that fully welded?
agwrangler2001
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AG
quote:
quote:


  • Try to find some vintage '64 plates and get it registered.



Turner has some blem '64 plates on their site right now. And you lucked out with the even model year for black plates.

THIS! Black plates will really fit with the wheels i'm thinking. Just emailed Turner about reserving them!
Thanks for the info....


quote:

I also discovered my mystery exhaust tick and "breeze" (exhaust in the face) when standing at front of car with hood open on passenger side:


You mean you wanted that fully welded?
Uhhhhh yeah, that would be great. Looks like the bolts will have to come out for that too...
lb3
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AG
Duncan Idaho
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quote:
I've got a box of old plates at home but I think they range from 68-73 ish. If I have a 64, it's yours.


I'd be interested in a set of 73 plates
Leeman
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Awesome job !
agwrangler2001
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AG
quote:
Awesome job !
Thanks! Anxious to take this car on a good cruise soon!
agwrangler2001
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AG
Ordered a few goodies the other day....mostly trim parts. Exterior is basically finished now with exception of the windshield and rear glass molding, which goes in with the glass.

Malibu emblems, new tail light lenses and whole-car lock kit!


Been wanting these for a while.



Done!

I found some YOM 1964 Plates online. No luck with Turner. I heard the older man who was running the operation passed away? Got these on eBay.
These were in pretty good shape, but had some rust and blemish area. Decided to try my hand at a restoration:

The worse off of the two.


Media blasted the plate, paint and rust came off very easy.


Put on a high build primer followed by several coats of white for the digits. Then a clear coat.


Lastly a few black top coats. This was a "satin" finish.


After that I wet sanded through the black to reveal the white lettering. This didn't work as good as I thought, next time I may need more white coats.


You can see here where I sanded through all coats and exposed metal.


Final result after some touch up and re-spraying some black best I could. Not 100% happy with it, but I doubt any flaws will be very noticeable.
Here you can see the white is a bit brighter than the original.
Hope to take a trip to the courthouse soon and get these registered!
Dr. Doctor
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quote:



Straight up legit.

Nice job.

~egon
SA-AG72
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Great job on the plates!!!
Silvy
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Hotdam
lb3
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agwrangler2001
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Thanks!
One thing I noticed about these plates is that the stars are inverted.

I've seen some of these around, but don't really know the story on them.....any one know?
The Fife
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You painted them the same way I've restored plates.

I looked at some in the garage from the late 1950s to 64 and about 1/8 had the star upside down. It's probably just a manufacturing error, it's not obviously wrong that the stamp is flipped like a letter or number would have been. The one I have with the error is a 63 truck one.
The Fife
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Dp
Ag for Life
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AG
Awesome job man! I'm itching to do some auto related stuff but it's always ridiculous for our family around the holidays.
Gigemags05
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They look outstanding!

What grit did you sand with?
Did you use spray paint?


The Fife
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For the plates I've done, normally I use a rubbing compound. It tends to work a little easier than actual sanding.
agwrangler2001
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quote:
They look outstanding!

What grit did you sand with?
Did you use spray paint?



Thanks! The finest I used was 600 wet. I tried a little more coarse grit starting out, maybe a 200-300?
I also had one of those emory boards that I used a lot. It worked good as it had a long flat surface and a little bit of padding so it would give some.

I used just regular rattle can Rustoleum epoxy, as I recall. I'm sure a higher quality paint would yield better results.

Think I'll head down to the tax office tomorrow and get them registered. Then I need the mount brackets, which will probably end up being another $100. Sigh.
Aggietaco
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quote:
You painted them the same way I've restored plates.

I looked at some in the garage from the late 1950s to 64 and about 1/8 had the star upside down. It's probably just a manufacturing error, it's not obviously wrong that the stamp is flipped like a letter or number would have been. The one I have with the error is a 63 truck one.
Did some research on the throne last night and the inverted star apparently only happened on 1963-64 plates and there was no acknowledgement of whether it happened on a specific line in Huntsville.
The Fife
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It definitely wasn't all of them because I have some 63/64s with the star right side up. Guess the felons that made those knew how to read.
agwrangler2001
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AG
So, next topic.....Classic vs. Antique plate registration. I was told by the local tax office that the plates I had were "classic" not "antique." Per the TXDOT law, YOM plates can be either:

Classic:

  • Sec. 504.501. CLASSIC MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAVEL TRAILERS; CUSTOM VEHICLES; STREET RODS. (a) The department shall issue specialty license plates for a motor vehicle that is at least 25 years old or is a custom vehicle or street rod. The license plates must include the word or words "Classic," "Custom Vehicle," or "Street Rod," or a similar designation, as appropriate.
  • (b) A person eligible for the license plates may instead use license plates that were issued by this state in the same year as the model year of the vehicle and are approved by the department. The department may require the attachment of a registration insignia to the license plate in a manner that does not affect the display of information originally on the license plate.

Antique:

  • (b) The license plates must include the words "Antique Auto," "Antique Truck," "Antique Motorcycle," "Antique Bus," or "Military Vehicle," as appropriate.
  • (c) A person eligible for the license plates may instead use license plates issued by this state in the same year as the model year of the vehicle and approved by the department, provided that a passenger car must bear passenger car or truck license plates and a truck must bear passenger car or truck license plates. The department may require attachment of a registration insignia to the license plate in a manner that does not affect the display of information originally on the license plate.

The biggest difference seems to be the limitations on daily driving an antique, as in, you can't.

Anyone have experience with this?
lb3
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lb3
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The Fife
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quote:
This thread needs daily pic updates. I won't survive the offseason if I have to visit Premium or the Zoo on a regular basis.
Don't worry, Rojo is starting a project car any time soon now. He won't exactly say when it's starting but inside sources say real soon.
agwrangler2001
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AG
quote:
quote:
This thread needs daily pic updates. I won't survive the offseason if I have to visit Premium or the Zoo on a regular basis.
Don't worry, Rojo is starting a project car any time soon now. He won't exactly say when it's starting but inside sources say real soon.
When I first read this, I started looking for a Rojo project thread.....then I figured it out.

Not enough progress to update this daily for sure, unless you want a dust layer update.

Having said that, here is another video I took after backing the Chevelle out to access garage attic yesterday.
Note all the trunk emblems etc in place.
Sound quality isn't great, but enjoy:
87IE
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Goose
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AG
agwrangler2001
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So my latest task is getting glass installed. I ordered all my trim molding that goes around the glass after install and my replacement screw in studs to which the molding clips mount.

Still waiting on a backordered replacement screw set to come in.
I was recommended this place by my classic car-loving neighbor.

He's had good luck with him, but I've called twice only to have him say, "I'll call you back."
No call back. Sorry, you're off my list.

Today I tried 1Ags recommendation at Apple. Gigi wasn't in the office, and her location doesn't service Pearland area. So they had me call the other location.

Summary:
Out the door, with tax: $962
~$180 for the windshield, installed, warranty.
~$600 for the rear glass, installed, warranty.
In-shop by appointment only, won't come to me. (due to level of care needed with older car.)


This is MUCH higher than I anticipated, and partially due to their quote for the rear glass, which seems to be hard to find. They found 1 in stock in Ohio and it's $447.75. Crazy.
Also, it's a big pain to have to trailer the car through Houston and back, so that is something I want to avoid.

So, any other recommendations for Houston area glass installers that will come to me?
agwrangler2001
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AG
Hello again auto board, it's been a while. How about an update on the project!

I've got some good updates this time, with some promise of even better coming soon, let's start with the glass.
FINALLY found someone I felt good about using for the glass install. I ended up calling around restoration shops and asking who they use. That didn't get me very far. A co-worker knew a fellow Ag who worked at a resto shop and he got the contact info for Ft. Bend Auto Glass.
Carlos has done a lot of older vehicles and had posted some pictures of them on his facebook business page.

Before I get to the install, here is the prep work I did. Drilled new whole for the molding trim mounting screw/studs, as the existing holes were too large. Siliconed up the old holes.


Side clips are a bit different than the rest.


Finished front:


Same story on the rear:



I actually ordered the glass from NPD, it arrived without issue:


The best part about Ft. Bend was that they came to me. Here is primer stage they used on the mounting area:


Next the test fit the glass and masked off where the urethane would show.



Then they removed glass and primed the masked area:


Apply urethane like a pro:



Setting glass:



The most nerve-wracking part was the trim, and they basically told me upfront, look, this doesn't always work great, there could be some paint chips because of how the moldings fit. I didn't get any pics of them installing it, probably because I was too nervous, but here is final product:



Front:



Overall I'm very pleased with the work and they only charged $100 per piece, which seems pretty reasonable considering the work they had to do on molding.

Next on my checklist was registration and license. Dropped by the courthouse with my paperwork all in order and in no time at all I had my Antique registration sticker and metal tab to goes on rear plate!

So last night I installed the plates after poking around for some appropriate fasteners.
Front:


Rear:

Notice the registration sticker tab at top left of plate. I was going to put it on the bottom, but the plate folds down for fuel filler access and the bumper interfered. The location I ended up with is tucked up out of the way more. I like it.


I'm really happy with the way the plates turned out.
So, passenger seat arrived today, I'll install tonight.
Fuel cap shows up tomorrow, hopefully it fits, it was a Amazon dice roll.
Tuner is scheduled to show up Sunday morning and his instructions were a full tank of 93 octane and good tires!
I'm planning on GoPro-ing the entire event (more or less) so that should be something to look forward to.


lb3
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AG
Silvy
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AG
Bro.

Who's the tuner?
slappy
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AG
Those plates look awesome
Goose
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KRamp90
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The Fife
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Texas lets you roll with year of manufacturer on both sides for everyday use?

Looking great though!
 
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