'65 Coupe Resto-Mod and '68 Full Custom Restoration

[rbryce1]

Looking good Bob

What glue do you plan on using for the carpet to insulation? The 3M spray did didn't work as expected.

Any advice on prepping the center console for painting? I took the green scuffing pad already.

Cheers

Vito

I'm not sure what adhesive John uses. It is in a spray can and it is 3M, but they make a lot of different spray adhesives. I can find out. Something he did before he sprayed on the glue was to clean the fiberglass really well and spray it with a black lacquer primer. He said if he did not do that, the glue will not stick well. I watched him install several of the pieces of the Dynamat, and he only used a small amount of glue, and it held very well. I am only assuming he will use the same glue to install the carpet to the Dynamat as well. If he uses something different I will let you know.

As far as the center console question, I planned on getting a new center console for the '68 to accommodate a CD stereo. What exactly are you painting, the exterior or the inside or the gauge areas? For my '65, there is a light green paint that goes behind the gauges to enhance the lighting of the gauges. Not sure if the C3 uses this paint or not.

[rbryce1]

Lots of parts have arrived and more coming today and tomorrow. The new carpets came in yesterday. My new seat backs came in the day before yesterday so I can assemble the C2 seats and get them ready to install. The wire protection race for the rocker panels are here, which needs to be installed before the front carpets go in. The front kick panels which were on back order are coming today and the interior rear quarter panel covers from Al Knoch arrive tomorrow.

Our C5 is enjoying the garage while the '65 is in the shop getting the carpets installed!

[rbryce1]

Well, back to waiting for the rear quarter panel trim pieces. They arrived from Al Knoch, and someone read the code BL as Blue instead of Black!

Real nice panels of silver blue color, bit won't go well with the black interior.

Called Al Knoch, they gave it a big aw shit and shipped the right ones out the same day. Hope the same person doesn't pack the new ones!

All of the floor insulation is now installed and all that silver makes the interior look like a real big baked potato!

Now installing the carpets. Can't wait to see it when finished.

[rbryce1]

It has taken a while for all the parts needed to arrive, but they finally came last week and John has started with the carpet install. Al Knoch made good on their part just fine. John has installed the black vinyl on the upper rear section and has almost all of the rear carpet installed. The top of the rear piece is not glued yet, as I need to do some black painting first. Here is a diagram of the area that gets carpet and vinyl and the area that gets paint.

CarpetCoupeRear.jpg (88.34 KiB) Viewed 1268 times

Everything form fitted nice. The front edge is glued, clamped and drying overnight.

The carpet has been installed on the cover for the two storage compartments and the wires you see in the back are for the speaker bar. The metal brackets on the front of the wheel well are for the black vinyl quarter panel covers from Al Knoch.

Tomorrow we will finish the rear and install the front section. Once that is done, the kick panels, seats and console cover are ready to be installed. He also installed the new dimmer switch for the headlights as well.

One task closer to the car being done. Next is to get the car back home, paint the 4 wheel wells, install the side exhaust covers, the windshield and rear window, the grill and the door windows. Once the doors are buttoned up, I have the Hush Mat ready to go on the inside of the doors, then install the door panels.

Road Trip, not far away!!

[rbryce1]

The front carpets are now installed, but I am waiting for them to finish one piece on the Driver's side rear which they are sewing edging onto instead of just stuffing it against the other piece, which will make for a much cleaner job.

Once the 4 roof vents are installed, the halo can be installed (that is the large fiberglass arch which starts on one side of the interior just behind the seats, follows the inside of the roof up and over to the other side and houses the dome light), as the halo covers the screws that hold the vents in place. The last items to be installed once the halo is in place are the two rear quarter panel covers, the rocker panel covers and the console air conditioning supply ducts which go on each side of the console behind the radio. At that point, the carpet and 90% of the interior is finished.

Once it gets back home, the front and rear glass and the door windows can go in, the door panels go on, the console cover can go in, the glove box can go in and the C2 Corvette seats can go in (not the junker C3 seat from my '68 Corvette that I have been using during the restoration). Also the rear speaker bar.

At that point, I can drive the car. The only things left on the final to do list are painting the wheel wells, installing the spinner caps on the wheels and installing the front grill.

[rbryce1]

And now the Driver's side. Ready for the console cover and seats. Time to select and order floor mats!

[nwav8tor]

The end is in sight! Can't wait to see the finished product. Could you post a video tour??

Paul

[rbryce1]

Well, it doesn't seem like much progress, but it actually was. After all the painstaking work to install the Dynaglass underlayment so perfectly, when the new carpets arrived they did not fit that well. So, we did not take any short cuts or cut any corners now, but went through the task of custom fitting the new carpets. Each piece was cut and fitted perfectly and re-edged where necessary. No ugly overlapping pieces, no gaps, no bad fittups and no double sticky back tape.

Now all the carpet, seat mounts and my new 3 point seat belt harnesses are installed and ready for the rocker panel covers, the rear speaker bar and the center console cover to be installed. The extra work really was worth it. I've been waiting and working on this car for going on 5 years now, time to finish it right.

Next up is the windshield, the rear window, the glove box and completing the doors.

[rbryce1]

More progress on the interior. Takes much longer to do the final details than I thought it would, as you need to make sure you don't damage anything putting all of it back together. Very slow and meticulous work.

All carpet is in, 4 roof side vents are all in, halo is in, console is in, seat belts are in, seats are in. Glove box and door sills go in next.


The 3 point seat belts are back in. These are not stock, as Corvette did not have a 3 point seat belt with a shoulder harness in 1965. The wires are for the speaker bar. You can barely make out the carbon fiber finish on the window molding due to the low interior light. Hope for better photos when it is outside. You can see it better if you click on the photo to enlarge it.

Again, you can barely make out the carbon fiber finish on the halo due to the low interior light. P.S. The Halo is a fiberglass molding about 12" wide and starts on one side of the interior just behind the seats, goes up along the roof line and down the other side. I guess it's called a Halo because it is similar to a halo arch. The dome light mounts in it and it also supports the rear of the headliner. The squiggly line is not a defect, it is the reflection of the seat chrome trim.

This shows the tilt telescopic steering column and the new seats.

The hose under the dash is for the A/C. It gets connected to a console side cover which will hide the hose once it is installed. I bought an undersized leather covered steering wheel instead of the giant but thin stock steering wheel.

I noticed the factory interior did not have a console storage box or cup holders anywhere! $80k in car and no cup holders! WOW! I ordered a custom center console arm rest that has a storage compartment and 2 cup holders in it. That's corrected.

65 Console arm rest.jpg (9.02 KiB) Viewed 834 times

Passenger side, shows more of the carbon fiber finish on the dash if you can make it out. Glove box and cover are ready to go in as well.

Once it gets home, the front, rear and door windows go in followed by the door panels, grill and side pipe covers. Window installers are scheduled in 2 weeks as their Corvette specialist is on vacation.

[nwav8tor]

Looking good! I bet you're hoping to get it done and on the road before winter sets in...

Oh yeah, that's right - being in FL you don't have to concern yourself with such things!!!!

Paul