I've been a little busy lately, what with k's 2nd birthday, home improvements, doing a little car repair, Christmas, and now plans for a wholesale career change. I did purchase some car-related stuff recently; here it is. First, I got all this stuff from ebay auctions. Many decry ebay for all sorts of evils against mankind, but I still find it useful and worthwhile. How many swapmeets would I have to go to find all this stuff? I found all this (and more I didn't get) in one week! Secondly, I have found that '58 Chevy parts are relatively plentiful and inexpensive.
This is a dash panel for a 1958 Chevy. It is upside down in this photo, and this is the part where the steering column would come out the big hole. I didn't actually need this whole thing, just the upper center part (this is
under the column in the car). The scratched paint means nothing, the part is fine. This is not based on immediate need, the car will work without this, but my car is missing this part, and so when I saw this I jumped on it. $9. I could always try to sell the main part.
Ok, these I did need right away. '58 wiper arms. My car only had one, and the spring inside was broken, rendering it useless. I will need these to achieve my next goal, getting the '58 to pass inspection. I don't know how much interchange there is on these, I can't just put any old arms on there, and why would I? I want the right ones. This pair is in really fantastic condition, springs worky-work, and only $26 for the pair. Who keeps wiper arms in near-mint condition for 50 years, and then sells them for only $26? Unbelieveable. 50 years old, people!
Finally, a small STP patch. STP was invented as a motor oil additive in 1953, but really rose to prominence in the early 1960's when Andy Granatelli became CEO and spokesman for the company. Thanks to an immense and unrelenting advertising campaign, by the mid-'60's the STP sticker was everywhere. As a kid this made a big impression on me, and I can recall once getting my father to ask the service station attendant if he had any STP stickers. The attendant went and got one and gave it to us. What could be cooler than being 7-8 years old and getting a real STP sticker? Not much! Anyway, I need a new windbreaker, so I am going to get a red one and have this patch sewn on the front, and the bigger one I previously got at a swap meet put on the back. Incidentally, STP stands for "Scientifically Treated Petroleum", and STP sponsored Richard Petty for probably 30 years. STP patch: $4.
Funny pic of Mic-dog has nothing to do with anything. He's just always sniffing everything. Nose 1000 times more sensitive than a human's, and he's got to get right on top of everything to get enough of a whiff. Does it smell like a camera, Mic? Aw, we love him anyway.
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So there you have it, a couple of things I got myself for Christmas for the car. Less than $50, a couple for shipping, but the main thing is I can find what I need and get it here pretty easily, and that's what's still cool about ebay. The wiper arms alone I'd have paid I-don't-know-how-much-for; I really needed them at whatever price, and these are near perfect!
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I'll try to do a year-in-review by Wednesday (Wordful Wednesday), since it has been a pretty weird year, even if it is only my first year blogging. Hard to believe where we are considering where we started. If you can't make it back, or forget, please have a safe and happy New Year's.
It seemed like a good time to install the front seats in the car. These are used seats from a car I scrapped. They are only temporary; they're in great condition, but are too modern for this car. They are also free.
I could only get one bolt out of four through the floor and into a clear area underneath. The other three will need nuts welded into the floor. Drill clearance holes through the floor where they will go. I welded nuts onto thick plates that also have holes in them. I had a couple of welds that were not good. They looked like fat blobs just laying on the metal. I ground them off and turned up the heat. Now they are nice and melty looking. You want welds to look melty, because that's what they are; melted (and fused) metal. A small bracket like this will go bright red hot from the heat!
How hot do you want your welds? Here's a bolt I was using to hold the nut to the plate while welding, and I carelessly tossed it onto my garbage can lid. It melted into the lid and is stuck there. Yes, I use the top of my garbage can as an impromptu workbench.
I welded the plates over the clearance holes in the floor. This much will do. Incidentally the seat was in and out a dozen times getting and checking the fit. All part of custom fabrication.
Here's one seat bracket secured, using a small cutoff of round tubing as a vertical spacer.
One seat in, one to go. It's functional and comfy, and good enough for now. Doing just one seat probably took me 2-3 hours total. There's a lot of fussy fab work, and each corner is different, so they must be fit individually.
The car did not come with a gas pedal. The stock style is available, but to add a racy flavor, I used this competition style pedal from Moon. It's a beautiful piece, and a pretty easy install. It really is necessary, as it is one of the signature pieces of the car. Tell me that is not totally cool. See, you can't.
Believe it or not, there was a time before cars came with 100 airbags in them. And before that, there was a time when cars came without seat belts. Really. Of course that was 50 years ago. Since I wanted to add some seat belts to the '58, I furthered the race car vibe with these competition style lap belts. If you're going to add seat belts, make sure you have thick, wide washers installed beneath the floor to resist the bolts from pulling through the comparitively thin floor skin in an accident. I actually welded small washers over much larger washers to achieve this.
One last thing. I have my excellent wiper arms here, and some brand new reproduction wiper blade assemblies. Well, for what I saved on the arms, I spent to get the blade assemblies; they were $40. They are stainless steel, and what can I say, you just can't go to your local auto parts store for these babies. At least they should last a long time, since I don't plan on abusing the car in bad weather.
Snap, snap, click, click, and they are done. Simple and neat. Good looking too.
