[egchewy]

Definitely one of the most frustrating parts of my build thus far. I generally regard my spacial orientation as pretty solid, but this bending and twisting of the posts got the best of me. I'm glad that I got the Whitby SS inserts and I totally would have stripped the stock brass ones long ago. The issue I had was that I was able to get the bottom 3 screws in place, but there would be a slight gap at the top and the top screw wasn't long enough to reach the threaded insert. If I put the top screw in first, then the bottom 3 would be slightly off. I tried opening up the top hole a bit but because of the chamfered edge of the post, it kept pulling the top screw into the same position. I tried opening up the chamfer but didn't want to strip away any more chrome than necessary. Getting a longer screw was an option but I didn't want to risk having a longer screw touch the glass/grommet leading to a crack. I finally decided on putting a stud (longer screw w/ head cut off, slotted w/ a dremel for a flat head screwdriver) in the top screw hole on both sides with an acorn nut on the end. IMO it doesn't look too out of place. It also helps a lot when replacing the posts. I just hook the top hole on the stud and then attach the bottom screw loosely and then attach the other ones.

I also drilled and tapped the windshield posts w/ a 1/2"-13 tap. I marked the holes with the WS 27" from the top screw hole to the front lip of the door opening, then transfered the location to the center line of the post. Man, drilling that hole was a violent event. bits of brass thrown about with several arm-jerking events that almost ripped my shoulder out of its socket. I had to open up the body holes a bit with the posts sitting a bit diagonally to the original slotted holes.

 

[phileas_fogg]

Hey Chewy,

Don't lose sleep about the side screws cracking your windshield. As you can see when you look into the frame, the bottom of the metal channel of the frame will keep the screw from creating a pressure point on the glass. The screws to worry about are the ones at the top for your sun visors; there's no metal between the tip of the screw & the glass (same for the originality guys installing a center windshield support).

Go ahead & get half a dozen of the slightly longer screws for the top hole of the post. You can use a grinder to slightly shorten the screws a tiny bit at a time; with several sacrificial screws you can tailor the length to just enough to catch & minimize any pressure on the channel.

Todd at Build School gave me some great advice for this phase of the build: "Take your time; this is not a job to tackle after a bad day at work." Follow his advice & you'll be just fine.


John

EDIT: One other tip - you might have to cut the steel insert in two midway between the top & next-to-top holes. This gives you the "wiggle" room to get that top screw started.

 

[tom welch]

Trans tunnel is back from upholsterer. I decided to stick with the stock rubber accordion boot. I felt matching leather would have been too much brown in one place and the black breaks it up a bit. Also made a dead pedal from the leftover hood latches. I'll get these powder coated with the quick jacks. Got under the car to attach the heater switches and checked pinion angle again since I've reset ride height. Came in at 2.5*. Oh, and for those super critical, the DS seat is adjusted at the 2nd setting on the breeze mounts while the PS is all the way back, so 3/4" forward. This was the most comfortable position for me.

Thinking of putting DS outer footbox wall on. I'm pretty happy with how all the pedals feel. Is there anything else I need to consider before riveting on the wall? Can I easily access the DS windshield post with the wall on?
View attachment 360538 View attachment 360539 View attachment 360540

 

[tom welch]

Trans tunnel is back from upholsterer. I decided to stick with the stock rubber accordion boot. I felt matching leather would have been too much brown in one place and the black breaks it up a bit. Also made a dead pedal from the leftover hood latches. I'll get these powder coated with the quick jacks. Got under the car to attach the heater switches and checked pinion angle again since I've reset ride height. Came in at 2.5*. Oh, and for those super critical, the DS seat is adjusted at the 2nd setting on the breeze mounts while the PS is all the way back, so 3/4" forward. This was the most comfortable position for me.

Thinking of putting DS outer footbox wall on. I'm pretty happy with how all the pedals feel. Is there anything else I need to consider before riveting on the wall? Can I easily access the DS windshield post with the wall on?
View attachment 360538 View attachment 360539 View attachment 360540

Chewy, love the Brown on Black look. I'm thinking of something similar. How did you attach the transmission tunnel cover and get the clean lines between the leather and the carpet?

 

[egchewy]

Chewy, love the Brown on Black look. I'm thinking of something similar. How did you attach the transmission tunnel cover and get the clean lines between the leather and the carpet?

I cut the carpet just below where the tunnel cover sits. Actually cut a bit too much off and there was some aluminum visible bugging me. Ended up spray painting that area black to hide the seam, same as around all the other carpet seams. Tunnel top is attached with 1/4-20 screws at the front and back corners along the sides of the cover with nutserts going in to the tunnel frame.

 

[egchewy]

Minor victories. After messing with the windshield posts for the past few days, I finally got my windshield installed. Tapping the posts made installation much easier. Used 2 1/32"shims on the PS bottom bolt and a 1/64"on top. I discovered that the provided trim plates can be slid on from the top of the windshield just in case others think you need to install them first on the posts before putting the posts into the body. I measured 27-1/4 +/- 1/8" from rear door opening to top screw center. Bottom of WS gasket seems to fit contour of body well w/o any gaps. Posts are not touching body.

I decided to remove my fitech to install a phenolic spacer underneath as well. Replaced the throttle body/ intake studs with longer ones. Then realized that I didn't have a spare gasket. Could've sworn i had one but must have thrown it out when cleaning up one day. I'll button the throttle body up tomorrow after getting new ones.

 

[egchewy]

Decided to fabricate some panels to block off the gap in the front part of the rear wheel well to prevent the rooster tail of water from soaking the cockpit if driving in rain. Will spray with truck bed line before installing.

 

[jhargrove]

Nice Chewy