My Cam Research for the Experts Eye

[TXChevy]

Dash Trim Refurbish .....
The journey continues.

I painted the interior face of the new retro bezels to let them blend with the black plastic retainer washers I had cut.


Here's one of the bezels with the center buttonhead retainer bolt. I think it looks fine but I may still put some sort of cover over the bolt head.


The power outlets were wired up with plugs for easy cover panel removal later if needed.


And the cover panel ready to install.


I also cleaned up the original Belair dash script. A couple of before and after pictures.




That dash script has a very specific location, not only in pre-drilled holes in the dash trim, but also corresponding holes drilled into the metal dash itself. Really helps to locate the trim panel on the dash too. I also needed new push washers for the script studs - it was much cheaper to get a complete kit of them vs the specialty "classic parts" version.


Very secure installation through the trim.


As this whole fiddly process was getting closer to installation, I made a couple of tools out of 25 cent flea market sockets to use on the retaining rings for some of the dash switches. Very easy.

 

[TXChevy]

Dash Trim Refurbish......
Finally, I can install this stuff.

An interesting note - the dash clock is used to retain the overlap at two of the dash trim pieces.
It actually still works.


And note the October 1, 1956 production date on it!


The instrument cluster had to be loosened to allow the ends of the trim to fit behind it, I went ahead and taped off any possible spots where the trim might put a scratch.


And like magic, here's the installed dash trim.




A minor note - the brushed metal vinyl wrap on the "radio delete" panel matches the same material I used on that lower left LED panel.








Man, I'm glad that's over with lol.

Next up is interior and trunk carpet installation.

 

[TXChevy]

Carpeting ......

I know there's a variety of sources for carpeting, but I've always had good results with ACC Carpet products, so that's what's being used here.

Bear in mind that in most cases, to get good results you have to work the carpet into place, including letting it sit for a few days to get the contouring relaxed. I use molded carpeting along with very careful and light application of a heat gun where needed.

Here's what showed up, a one piece molded interior carpet of extra thick cut pile and a one piece molded trunk carpet of loop pile with spare tire cutout. Both are provided with padding. The trunk carpet is edge bound and the interior carpet is not bound. Both ordered for my specific year and model.


The trunk section is nicely made, padding is attached to the back of it.
Obviously, because it's molded for the trunk contours it won't sit flat.





The interior carpet looks great, very dense weave, and padding shipped loose. I really like that because you can easily trim and pre-install the padding based on the specific floor layout. I typically will place folded up moving blankets/towels under the carpet to mimic the floor contours to help the carpet relax into the shapes.




The standard carpet is a two-piece but in this case I've installed bucket seats. I don't want any overlaps at front and rear sections and I wanted to work with the carpet as a one-piece so I can put all cut-outs and accommodations in myself. It is contoured to go over the tunnel, but it will be modified per center console requirements.


Trunk Carpeting .....

First thing was that I needed to completely remove the battery box. Pretty straightforward thanks to using rivet nuts to secure it, made it easy to just loosen the attachment bolts without having to go under the car. By doing this, it will also give me full access to the vertical body brace behind the rear seat where I will install a carpeted closure panel. Because there's a battery in the trunk I will also install a 20ga steel sheet under that closure panel to help isolate the trunk area from the interior.


When I made the box, I included a removable rear access panel to slide the battery out - much easier than trying to lift all that stuff.
Panel here is removed and the battery just pulls straight out.


There's going to be some cut-outs needed in the new carpet. Yes, you are seeing that all power cables are in pvc conduit that runs under the length of the body. More protected, cleaner, and safer than just clamping it all to the frame.


Easiest way to figure cutouts is to make a paper template that registers to marked points at the sides. When I set the carpet into place it will also use those same marked points so I can accurately locate the template onto the carpet. Measure twice (more like 20 times), cut once .......


That's where it's stopped for now. Working on this is a bit intermittent, but that's ok.

 

[Indycars]

I used some 3M brushed titanium wrap

I've never encountered this titanium wrap, what was it meant for? Or is it just an expensive sand papter?

Bet there are alot of hours in that one little piece, sure sooks good !

 

[TXChevy]

Rick, thanks. Yes, there was a ton of work on that dash lol. And at the pace I work, it was over several weeks.

That vinyl is specific for vehicle trim wrap. There's a bunch of choices and the material holds up great. Look up Vivvid or 3M vehicle wrap and you'll find lots of info.

Several years ago I used this same material to de-chrome the trim on my car. Still looks great, has a nice brushed low sheen. You use a heat gun and flat applicator to help pull and stretch it into shape. The material has memory and tiny air channels to help smooth out any air pockets.

 

[Indycars]

I completely missed it was a wrap in the first post, hence why I called it sandpaper. Oh well, my focus it shrinking with age. LOL!
.

 

[TXChevy]

I completely missed it was a wrap in the first post, hence why I called it sandpaper. Oh well, my focus it shrinking with age. LOL!
.

Lol you and me both, my friend!
I often have to pause and remind myself what the heck I'm doing

 

[Grumpy]

that might be contagious , I've on occasion had that issue also.
(now that I no longer have a wife to inform me instantly of a laundry list,
of trivial B.S. that needs to be done)(most of which is and was best ignored)

 

[TXChevy]

Trunk Carpeting ......

As mentioned, I had bought ACC molded trunk and interior carpet for 57 Chevy.
Decided to start with the trunk carpet installation since I can't get the battery box back in until that carpet is in place, meaning I can't run the car.

The trunk carpet turned into 3 "parts", so to speak, all related to each other.
1. The carpet piece itself.
2. The carpet panel that closes off the back seat brace.
3. The rear deck behind the rear seat. This one turned out to be related a bit unexpectantly.

Carpeting

Using the ACC molded trunk carpet with edge binding and with cutout for spare tire.


In the previous posts I had shown the trunk-mounted battery box that was removed for the carpet install.
In this picture you can also see the open area to the rear seatback - this will be closed off with a carpeted panel.


After the battery box removal, I made a template to see where/how I needed to cut the carpet to clear battery and power cables.


After a few dozen checks I transferred the pattern to the molded carpet.


Before doing the final cut I verified the pattern cutout locations and sizing, just needed a small tweak here and there.
I did this with the carpet in place and right up against the cables.


The effort yielded good results, the cutout was in the right place, not too big, not too small.


The edge seam at the trunk latch was in the right place, as was the cutout for the spare tire.


From the bare trunk floor to the carpeted version. I placed some weight at the lower molded part to help it relax into the area.




I'm pleased with the result, the carpet fits quite well.

 

[TXChevy]

Rear Seat Panel ....

Not that big of a deal, I simply used 1/2" plywood with a short length cut pile carpet glued to the trunk side face.
This is what will cover the opening in the rear seat brace.

A few bricks to weight the plywood while the glue dried.


And the finished panel - it's on the left. The original that I had done so many years ago was just too big, didn't need all that.
The new panel will be fastened by buttonhead machine screws into rivet nuts attached to the seat brace. Makes it easy to install.



Rear Deck ....

The rear (speaker) deck was a mess. It's going to need some new metal panels welded into it, which means the trunk carpet and rear seat needs to come out. That's what I mean when I say that the trunk carpet install is related to the rear deck.

Whoever had the car before me had pretty much butchered up the speaker holes and locations. They are too far to the back, interfere with the third brake light mounting and as you can see the openings don't really line up with anything.
Right and left sides.


Looking from below, you can see that the speaker mounting openings in the press board don't line up and that one speaker was mounted through the pressboard, not the metal deck.



This is on me - I knew this when I had built the car the first time and sort of fudged around it. The rear deck is carpeted and that hid the sins.
But this time it will be done right. I'll cut a new panel for each speaker area, then cut out the existing deck at the revised speaker locations. I'm using 6x9 ovals. I'll then cut the same size cutout into the new panels and weld them into place. This will strengthen the deck and will give solid mounting to each speaker. More in the next post ......

 

[Indycars]

The rear deck is carpeted and that hid the sins.

I think this is actually called a "Package Tray", maybe some
old person like Grumpy can tell us how it got it's name.

 

[Grumpy]

The "package tray" in the rear of a car got its name because it is a flat, shelf-like area designed to hold and securely store small packages or parcels, essentially acting as a dedicated tray for carrying items behind the back seats
on many older cars vents for the heater and air conditioners in marginally newer cars had duct work through that rear tray area

 

[TXChevy]

Lol, yes I'll be repairing the package tray. I remember that term too

 

[TXChevy]

Fixing the Package Tray Part 1.....
(Speaker Deck)

This was one of those things that I wish I had noticed when I had done the extensive trunk floor reinforcement. Had to be more careful working in the trunk now that it's been "finished" meaning the bedliner material is in place. I also had to remove the rear seat to avoid it catching on fire from welding.

Here's the 6x9 speakers I'm using - I wanted to wait to get the cut-out template that comes with them to ensure I was using good dimensions. I like music but I'm not an audiophile - these speakers have decent spec and the price was right, I'm happy with using them.





While I had the credit card out, I also got myself a front/rear dashcam for the car. We have these in all of our vehicles.


So with cut-out template in hand, I proceeded to make two templates so I could get them located on the package tray.



I then placed the templates onto the package tray to see where I needed to remove sheet metal.
You can see the reinforcement plates underneath before they were opened up for the speakers. This gave me accurate location for the cut-outs for both the package tray and the reinforcement plates.



The reinforcement plates (20 ga) were cut accordingly. The holes all over them are for plug welds.
Two of them on opposite sides are for tap screws that locate them into the same place every time.

 

[TXChevy]

Fixing the Package Tray Part 2.....
(Speaker Deck)

As mentioned, I had decided to plug weld the reinforcement plates into position - this would help to make the package tray more rigid and hopefully eliminate any vibrations from speaker operation. Plus, I didn't have to mess with any sort of thru-deck fasteners other than for the speakers themselves.

But still the usual misery of welding upside down on your back......

I took a lot of precautions - removed rear seat, fire extinguisher, etc. I also have a welding jacket, gloves, full face auto helmet.
Fire blankets are your friend, before and after pictures.



Not the prettiest welds, had issues with wire feed on my cheap mig gasless welder but they are structurally sound.
This is now a great reason to get a new 110/220 gas/gasless welder.

The package tray is now done and much stronger than before. I won't install the speakers just yet, until I get to the package tray covering.


I'm now able to move ahead to finish the trunk - carpet, rear seat panel and re-install the battery tray.

This was one of those so-called "mini-projects" that looks like it's no big deal but turns into more of a project than first expected.
But that's part of building a car!

 

[TXChevy]

Trunk Completion ....
Glad to get this done.

It turned out really nice, clean and functional.
Pre-molded loop pile carpet with edge binding and cut-out for a spare tire. I also made a carpeted cover for the tire cut-out in case I lay the spare tire flat, or if I forego a spare.


Closure panel I made at rear seat brace.


It's come a long way from where I started. What a mess.




And the package tray is ready for speakers as I get to making the top cover for it.


Next, it's time for interior carpeting.
That's going to involve some pre-work before I can lay the carpet down.

 

[Indycars]

I thought you were just going to build a new engine, wow did this project get out of hand!!!
Do you have a stopping place in mind?

I'm always impressed with the quality of your work and never taking a short-cut!

Have you had an experience where the in car cameras were helpful?
.

 

[TXChevy]

Lol, well the stopping point will be when a new interior is done.
I really appreciate your comment, I've also learned shortcuts seem to come back to bite me later. A lot of the gruntwork was fixing past shortcuts. Not an excuse but I realized that 35 years ago there was simply a lot of things I didn't know how to do, plus no internet.
Our daughter caught a hit and run on her car with a dashcam. It's really a good idea to have that always-on eye.

 

[Indycars]

Our daughter caught a hit and run on her car with a dashcam. It's really a good idea to have that always-on eye.

I figured something must have happened for you to install cameras in the 57. She's smarter then most of us. Us usually wait until something happens and then install cameras and nothing ever happens again.
.

 

[TXChevy]

It was very easy for the cops to catch up with the other vehicle at their address.
You're right, we often wait too long for stuff to happen. This is not expensive and turns on/off with the ignition, so you don't have to think about it every time.