| April 17, 2001 Well, spring has sprung and stuff has happened that I thought you should know. I didn't get much done over the winter because winter is still winter, even in sunny CA. Also, I was low on funds and wanted to take some time to think about the project. How do I get the front quarter panels aligned? How do I close off the massive holes where the old body used to be? Where will I get this thing insured? How am I going to redo the interior? Can I get chrome dress up parts? What about paint? Many questions, many answers, more pictures to follow. The most important question was the insurance. Now since I've got a cool toy, I wanna play with it. I checked with several sources and they wanted stuff I didn't have, like bumpers and paint. I want it insured as it sits now. I finally found a company. JC Taylor in Upper Darby, PA. They insured it for $15,000 with a yearly premium of $404 ! No muss, no fuss. No bumpers. So, what about the other stuff? I ended up taking off the RF fender to get it realigned. Between shims and enlarging the existing mounting holes, I now have gotten rid of the 1/4" mis-alignments at the door and hood cut lines. How about those other gaping holes? Well, I used cove base moulding to close in the rear wheel wells. Since there seems to be some body flex, I wanted to use something that would give. I applied a heavy bead of glue to both the metal wheel well lip and to the inside of the fiberglass. I pressed the cove base into the glue beads, then drilled and pop riveted into the metal. Looks like it will work OK. I used heavy rubber floor matting to close in the holes at the rear of the body. This was all free form cut and glue. Since it will be covered by carpet and the supplied rear valance panel, looks weren't important here. So, what about the interior. I just started that on 4/14. I found out that most interior parts are no longer available from GM. I scoured several salvage (junk) yards this weekend, and there's slim pickings in quality used parts. There are aftermarket sources for some stuff. I got carpet (easy), and custom made seat covers ordered (also easy). I'll let you know about the quality when I have this stuff installed. Complete door panels aren't available (after 1985), you have to order in pieces, some of which you can't get. You can get them rebuilt though. What about chrome, and other, dress up parts? Found the fuzzy dice easily enough. But I can't find chrome valve covers. Anybody know where I can get a set? I have been driving it since I've gotten it insured, and it's a sweet drive. Last weekend, I took it on it's first long (200 mile) drive, and only lost one part! The cap from the overflow bottle fell off. I was wondering what that smell was. It rained on the drive, and I left the roof home. Good news, though. At speed, the water blows over the cab when the windows are rolled up. I'm entered in my first show. I'll be at May Madness, in downtown San Rafael, on May 19th. I'm working to get the interior done by then. Currently, there is no interior, unless you want to consider the parts scattered about. I'll take some pictures and post them here, on a new gallery page. April 23, 2001 Well, what a busy guy I've been! I'm not sure if the work is getting easy, or I'm getting better. At any rate, the interior is almost complete. Of course, the carpet has to go in first. I bought the replacement from Nifty Parts. This carpet isn't the quality of the original, but cost much less. On sale, I got it for about $120. It took about 2 hours to fit into the car. You'd think that it shouldn't take that long, but the carpet slides under the floor heater duct. Which doesn't come off. Which is part of the whole heater box assy. Which takes forever to remove. So I had to work the new carpet under this vent. I ended up cutting out some of the underpad to get it in. Turns out that the new carpet doesn't have holes cut in it for all the stuff that bolts down. This actually is good, since the carpet doesn't fit really well. Too big in some places, too small in others. Sigh. Well, after all, it's a five foot car. I fit the original carpet back into the rear, hardly took any cutting, and I didn't have to trim off any length. Just had to cut around the gas giller and trunk prop.I have to figure out how to fill the holes that remain in the old carpet where bolts passed through. I cut off all unneeded studs for a cleaner look, but filling the holes is needed. Good thing I kept the old front carpet. Next is re installing the interior panels. This took way less time than I expected. I did a good trim job on them last summer, and it turns out that there were still enough mounting spots that everything is screwed in place. And solid. I took it out for a drive and it sounds good. I also replaced all weather stripping. I found a newer piece in the junkyard that fits between the window frame and body, and I think that helps a lot. It was finally time to put the battery into the battery box. Since I have a side mount terminal battery, I had to replace the cable ends. It turns out that I had to do extensive trimming on the box to get everything to fit. Final look is good, in keeping with the 5 foot car look. |
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| Where the Rodster is at now. Rockers on, wheels and tires. |
| Page 8, or its Spring Fever ! |
| April 23, Cont. I also installed the gas filler neck cover this weekend. It also gets a drop catching tray, left over from the Blazer days. Turns out that this is another well thought out part. It's designed to sit atop of the factory carpet. No gaps. Pretty amazing. About the last Rodster part is the rear valance panel. Because I had a hard time mounting the trunk latch, the support bracket is in the way, so I'm going to have to figure out how to get this to fit. I haven't figured out how to get secured, so there's some more thinking to go. Some tips are in order here for others who do this project. If you need to replace the seat belts, get Blazer belts. I got extended cab pickup, they're not the same. Many parts are no longer available from GM. Those that are available vary widely in price. I found that Brasington (gmotors.com) has good pricing. Also, since my 88 is too old, get parts for later models. I'm waiting for seat covers that I ordered from Eclipsecovers. I'll let you know about the quality. $125 for custom fit. I've still got some fitting to do on the body panels, but it looks like I'm almost done here. I'm going to be looking into paint. I think I've found a company in Sacramento that can do the quality I'm looking for, for the price I'm willing to pay. I'll let you know. April 26, 2001 Well, last night I got the second steering wheel from PartsAmerica. The computer blew up while was on the phone with them, and they ended up sending two of everything. I decided to install one of them last night, and it went well. Except for the horn wire tube breaking. Damn cheap GM plastic. More epoxy will fix it. New wheel looks sharp installed. I'll be taking and posting pictures. Next was to tackle the rear valance panel. This doesn't fit at all. The trunk lid hits it when in place. And I can't see where it isn't fitting. I think that the rear body clip is too far forward. Not something I can fix, so let's take the saw to the valance. I cut here and there, removing the piece at the bottom to clear the frame, and enlarging the latch hole. Also trimmed off the excess carpet and pad that draped over the cut floor pan. I got it cluged into place, but the trunk lid doesn't contact the seal at the bottom. Oh well, it's a 5 foot car. I don't see how I could make it better, 'cause it got dark. Got the door upper trim panel and new inner door handle yesterday. Told the local dealer that I found a great source for cheap factory parts, and they gave me a small discount. Not enough to keep buying from them. Also got an email this morning on part numbers for the map pockets. Ordered them, hope they can get them, although I doubt it. I spent 20 min. on the phone with Braisington, and they said "not available for any year" We'll see what happens here. If I can get then, they cost $56, including shipping, for both sides. Now, where are those seat covers??? May 4, 2001 Well, actually, the valance panel looks pretty good in place. There is a small area that needs filling, but no bug deal. I'm just too critical about this. I still love this car! Another trick you need to know. The tail lights don't have reflectors. You can't see the lights. Answer - make reflectors out of aluminum foil. Works well. |