Ginky Weeds Restoration Project

[cwmcobra]

Thanks Loren!  I'll have to scrounge up a second pair of hands....

Chuck

[schlepcar]

Nice car, If mine looked that good I would be putting it together instead of taking it apart....lol. I am guilty of the same phobia,I guess I better get back to work on the body. Mine was a southern car originally,but it definitely saw some winters. I am going to post some pics hopefully when I get back to the shop. I used the alpha lower quarters on mine and still need to block it out and prime. Your car looks very straight in the pics. What is the original colors?

[cwmcobra]

Thanks!  It was originally white exterior with black interior and top.  It was redone about 15-20 years ago in it's current black exterior with white interior, but has no top.  When redone this time, it will probably be Verde Green with white interior and top.  Seeing that you are from Michigan, I bet you can guess which university alumni I am 

Unfortunately, I bought the car with the front end in primer.  If it had been still in the full black exterior, I would have driven it for a long while before thinking about a restoration. 

Oh well, as my son-in-law says, it will make a great tailgate car at MSU football games!   

Where are you in Michigan?  I'm near Battle Creek.

Cheers!

Chuck

[schlepcar]

    We're on the east side north of Bay City. Your car definitely looked better than mine when I got it. The guy started to do a mechanical resto,but started the bodywork also. He didn't do me any favors on the body,but the driveline was pretty good. I tore it all apart and I slowly started fixing the shell back to original. I ended up cutting all of his fixes apart and putting in new trunk pans and lower quarters. The rest of the body is nice and just needs stripping and prep work. Looking at yours....you may be further ahead of the game than me. There is a lot of tedious work to be done on my shell. If it was not a four speed ragtop I may have did a "quickie" and just painted it. I am going back to the original white with white interior so I have been reading all the posts about the gray dash pieces. I thought my dash was just faded out when I got it,but the gray is correct(it is a very dark gray).  Keep the progress posted,I need motivation,Dan

Don't get started on the whole Spartans/Wolverines....you can probably guess this side of the state is largely blue and maize....stepson graduated from MSU though. We don't hold it against him.

[cwmcobra]

Yeah, all my car is solid.  Spent most of it's life in Washington state and then in Arizona.  Surface rust on many parts, but nothing that will require metal replacement.  So, no need to patch anything.  Just prep and paint. 

We grew up on the east side of the mitten and spent 11 years in Brighton.  That was way too close to Ann Arbor and the rivalry got too serious.  Still plenty of Wolverine fans over here, but they thankfully seem to be more civil about it.....

[cwmcobra]

Is it normal to have a piece of fiberglas insulation in the front quarters behind the ventilator housings?  Mine has it on both sides.  Trying to decide if I need to replace it when the time comes or just throw it out.  Seems to me, since water can get in there, that I really don't want anything in there that will hold water and create rust.

What do you guys think?

Also, am I correct in assuming that a Shat-R-Proof windshield is not original?  I've done some searching, but didn't find anything definitive.

Cheers!   

Chuck

[Mark Ascher]

Chuck,

I know of no instance where GM used fiberglass insulation, except the underhood pads.
GM windshields should be LOF = Libby Owens Ford. Tinted windshields, which were probably in most 65 GS,
would say "Soft Ray."

Mark

[cwmcobra]

Thanks Mark.  Confirms what I expected on both counts.....

Chuck

[cwmcobra]

Another quick question.  Any tips on how to safely and easily remove the power window electric harnesses from the doors?  They seem pretty solid in their grommets.  Any special tools recommended?  Also the light switches in the door posts....I can't see how they come out without cutting the wires and I don't want to do that.  Nothing else is cobbled on this car and I don't want to start now! 

Thanks,

Chuck

[Loren At 65GS]

Chuck,

 The switches in the door jamb just thread out. Put a socket on it and turn it counter clockwise.
The wire then just unplugs from the switch.

As for the power windows   

  Loren

[gs spoken here]

My 66 non AC GS had the same insulation in the same place, on both sides, and it is a fairly original unit.

[cwmcobra]

Chuck,

 The switches in the door jamb just thread out. Put a socket on it and turn it counter clockwise.
The wire then just unplugs from the switch.

As for the power windows   

  Loren

Thanks Loren.  I missed the wire unplugging from the switch.....

[cwmcobra]

My 66 non AC GS had the same insulation in the same place, on both sides, and it is a fairly original unit.

Interesting.  Was your car built in Flint also?  I wonder if it was an assembly plant-specific process?  I still think I'll take it out.  I'm not wanting it to hold moisture down there.....

[gs spoken here]

I need to l look and the vin. cannot remember. Will post back.

[nut465gs]

Chuck,

I just replaced the power window harness to the drivers door in my convertible under restoration. It's next to impossible to pull the wires through the rubber boot. The entire harness including the boot in the door jamb needs to be removed from the door jamb side. Unplug the harness from inside the door and from under the dash. Those old boot grommets will be dry and hard making it difficult to push or pry them out. There is one under the dash that pushes outward to the door jamb, plus the larger grommet that you see from the door jamb. The grommet in the door also pushes out toward the jamb. It helped that I had the front fender off, but can be done with the door wide open only.

I could not get the rear quarter window to work. Tracked the problem down to the wire in the driver's door wiring harness. After I removed the harness, I unwrapped the cloth tape enough to slide the rubber boot back. The wire to the rear quarter window was completely broken, while all but two of the other wires were cracked with bare wire showing. 50 years of bending every time the door opened took its toll. I thought about taping them up but that would only be temporary. Bought a new harness from Lectric Limited for $155. It was a prefect match to the original with all the correct color coded wires and connections.  Good luck.

John