Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
I think Layson's is the only place that sells them at the moment. Especially the black one.
1969 Barracuda 340 Formula S - Sprucing Up and Finishing Touches
- Thread starter Qwiglee
- Start date
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Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
They are from Layson's. Another repop that I had some issues with. I was gonna post some pics eventually.
I ordered these at the same time I ordered the trunk panel and Layson's painted the inserts black for me so they would match.
As you can see in the pics, the little trunk panel inserts are smaller than original and they leave a gap when you install them.
This support post? is behind the trunk panel inserts and it was too long so I couldn't install the insert. I had to cut it down and also decided to pre-thread the hole. The screws are meant to be self-tapping but I really hate using screws like that into pot-metal. It takes a lot of torque to screw in and I am afraid of breaking a screw or the piece itself.
So a bit later after I installed them into the car, I noticed that one of the tail lights was sticking out a bit too far so I went in to tighten it down and realized that the housing had separated where it is not meant to so no matter how much I tightened the nuts, the tail light was still sticking out.
The little posts failed and didn't hold the two halves together. I was cautious when I installed these and I was careful not to overtighten the nuts.
I took it completely apart and then put JB weld around the edges and clamped it together for 24 hours. Afterwards it was plenty strong and allowed me to tighten the nuts down firmly so the tailight isn't sticking out anymore. The other tail light doesn't have the same issue but I may proactively take it apart and then JB weld it back together like the first one.
mosleyme
Well-Known Member
I bought a set from Layson's for my '68 from the very first run about 25-ish+ years ago, same thing happened. He told me I overtightened them. I used a nut driver with my hand... I roughed 'em up and JB welded them, same as you. Original does not have the split like that. And they were too cheap to redesign them to use a proper fastener.
autoxcuda
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Great progress. Hope to see it out at Spring Fling in April and at a local Cruise-In
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
Yeah it's kinda silly because you need to tighten them pretty good so the outer seal squeezes in nice and tight.
I've had a few emails back and forth with Dave Layson and from what I can gather, they order these parts in batches from factories in China. This is true of most of their repop items. Sometimes the items they receive are just sub-par and they just have to live with it. For example, I need the rocker panel trim pieces for my Cuda and nobody makes them. One day I noticed Layson's now had them in stock. I emailed Dave and asked about them and he told me they came in from the factory about 1/2 inch too long. So now they have all these trim pieces in stock that don't really fit anything. His recommended solution is to cut a notch in the wheel-arch trim to allow the rocker trim to allow for this extra bit. I will not be doing that.
340sFastback
Well-Known Member
There was a thread on here a while back guy fixing up a bronze '69 Fastback 318. He bought the reproduction Duster rocker trim shortened it a tad and got it to look pretty good
Brings back a lot of memories! The Grille work is a labor of love for sure! I Have 2 original grilles that need some love. I have saved many parts from other grilles as well.
I am glad I kept all the pieces to help rebuild the ones I broke up in my wreck last year.
Documentation is great @Qwiggle!
I wish I had, Had all the Time to have posted all my grille repair work step by step! You are Doing all the 69 Fish owners a great service in this thread!
Keep up the good work!
I am glad I kept all the pieces to help rebuild the ones I broke up in my wreck last year.
Documentation is great @Qwiggle!
I wish I had, Had all the Time to have posted all my grille repair work step by step! You are Doing all the 69 Fish owners a great service in this thread!
Keep up the good work!
Some of yall are a LOT patient than I. I would have been on the phone with Laysons asking why the HELL they cannot get correctly made parts from vendors. It's not like they don't have access to original parts to make good copies from. This is such boosheet. We already have enough to put up with.
1969cuda
Well-Known Member
I have a complete set of lower rocker moldings, and one extra side, can’t remember it was for the left or right side. I will be listing soon.
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
With hardware too? I would be interested.
1969cuda
Well-Known Member
I have some of the hardware. I’ll get it all out of the garage later today and post some pictures so you can see what I have.
1969cuda
Well-Known Member
I have one driver side and two passenger side trim and the clips shown. I have had these for for a while. They would need a little work to be mint.
1969cuda
Well-Known Member
1969cuda
Well-Known Member
I hope these pics help you.
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
Since I acquired the Cuda from Cousin Bill he has been repeatedly urging me to check out the rear upper shock washers and replace them. I finally jacked the rear end up nice and high and got under there to take a look. Here is what I found:
What a mess. It looks like the original washers are long gone and someone replaced them with whatever random washers they had on hand.
I ordered a replacement washer set from Neil at Dynamic Renovation.
I had never worked on shocks before but I assume that if you try unbolting them while the car is sitting on the ground they will be under pressure and will extend when you remove them and then be impossible to put back on. In order to take the load off the shocks I jacked the car from the center of the rear differential really high and put a pair of jack stands supporting the body and then let the jack down so the suspension was hanging at full extension. After that it was easy to unbolt the top of the shocks and slide them off the mounting post while leaving the bottom fully bolted in.
Now the new washers are installed and looks very clean and tidy when compared to before. Also, it does seem like the car rides a lot better.
What a mess. It looks like the original washers are long gone and someone replaced them with whatever random washers they had on hand.
I ordered a replacement washer set from Neil at Dynamic Renovation.
I had never worked on shocks before but I assume that if you try unbolting them while the car is sitting on the ground they will be under pressure and will extend when you remove them and then be impossible to put back on. In order to take the load off the shocks I jacked the car from the center of the rear differential really high and put a pair of jack stands supporting the body and then let the jack down so the suspension was hanging at full extension. After that it was easy to unbolt the top of the shocks and slide them off the mounting post while leaving the bottom fully bolted in.
Now the new washers are installed and looks very clean and tidy when compared to before. Also, it does seem like the car rides a lot better.
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
I finished up rebuilding the heater box and replacing the heater core. I didn't take a lot of pictures but here is what I have:
Mouse nest. Thanks cousin Bill.
Earlier I was replacing the seat belts and found a dead mouse under the back seat. It was up under the backrest and suddenly came sliding down the floorboard and made me jump cause I thought it was live.
More mouse nest around the heater core and blower fan.
Time to start cleaning. These little scotch-brite Dremel wheels make quick work.
Mouse nest. Thanks cousin Bill.
Earlier I was replacing the seat belts and found a dead mouse under the back seat. It was up under the backrest and suddenly came sliding down the floorboard and made me jump cause I thought it was live.
More mouse nest around the heater core and blower fan.
Time to start cleaning. These little scotch-brite Dremel wheels make quick work.
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
This cardboard gasket crumbled when I took it apart. I replaced this and all the other seals with a heater box rebuild kit.
The blower motor resistor is still in good shape.
Gave everything a light coating of SEM trim black spray.
This little metal plate around the heater core tubes was missing so I fab'd something quickly from a piece of sheet metal. It only exists to help hold down the foam gasket seal.
This new foam seal wouldn't stay put with its own adhesive so I put RTV silicone on it and weighed it down for 24 hours.
After I got it all back together, the blower would only work on high and even then it was intermittent. After some troubleshooting I traced it to the switch. I carefully pried the little tabs back and opened the switch to find the contacts covered in grime. I cleaned them with Scotch-Brite and put it back together, problem solved.
The blower motor resistor is still in good shape.
Gave everything a light coating of SEM trim black spray.
This little metal plate around the heater core tubes was missing so I fab'd something quickly from a piece of sheet metal. It only exists to help hold down the foam gasket seal.
This new foam seal wouldn't stay put with its own adhesive so I put RTV silicone on it and weighed it down for 24 hours.
After I got it all back together, the blower would only work on high and even then it was intermittent. After some troubleshooting I traced it to the switch. I carefully pried the little tabs back and opened the switch to find the contacts covered in grime. I cleaned them with Scotch-Brite and put it back together, problem solved.
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
Added a stealthy radiator overflow tank. I like how it is barely noticeable. I even found holes in the bulkhead exactly where I needed them. No drilling required!
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
Finished refurbishing the driver side fresh air vent.
The hinge was really stuck so opening the door would cause the plastic body to flex. I drilled out the rivets and put the hinge in a vise and carefully worked it back and forth with Kroil penetrating oil until it moved freely. Then I reassembled with nuts and washers.
The hinge was really stuck so opening the door would cause the plastic body to flex. I drilled out the rivets and put the hinge in a vise and carefully worked it back and forth with Kroil penetrating oil until it moved freely. Then I reassembled with nuts and washers.
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
Trying to track down some intermittent gauges, I decided the time had come to pull the instrument panel out. I wanted to put LED bulbs in and also have a look at the inside of the gauges and their lenses because they were dusty/dirty inside and even showed fingerprints that I couldn't clean off!
I have been having trouble with the fuel gauge, oil pressure gauge and right turn signal indicator which are all related to the main round dash connector. I inspected it before I pulled the whole panel out and found some rough looking connectors and one was in the wrong location.
The pin that was wrong is for the brake warning light so it didn't really affect normal operations or have anything to do with my gauge problem but I corrected it anyway of course.
I knew the circuit boards had been replaced so I wasn't expecting it to look bad. Upon close inspection I discovered that several of the pins for the round connector were slightly loose and had cracked solder joints. I re-flowed the solder joints and added a little bit more solder so now they feel solid.
More updates soon.
I have been having trouble with the fuel gauge, oil pressure gauge and right turn signal indicator which are all related to the main round dash connector. I inspected it before I pulled the whole panel out and found some rough looking connectors and one was in the wrong location.
The pin that was wrong is for the brake warning light so it didn't really affect normal operations or have anything to do with my gauge problem but I corrected it anyway of course.
I knew the circuit boards had been replaced so I wasn't expecting it to look bad. Upon close inspection I discovered that several of the pins for the round connector were slightly loose and had cracked solder joints. I re-flowed the solder joints and added a little bit more solder so now they feel solid.
More updates soon.
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
There was some kind of scratch or debris inside my speedo lens that was driving me nuts like an itch you can't scratch so I decided to crack it open and see what I could do about it. Whoever worked on this thing in the past for Cousin Bill was a bit sloppy. I don't know the history of this gauge cluster but once I got inside I could see that all the lenses and their bezels were super glued together so total disassembly was impossible. Fortunately, it turned out the spot on the speedo lens was a drop of super glue that I was able to scrape off with my finger nail and then finish with glass cleaner and a cloth. I was also able to eliminate 95% of the fingerprints. There is not much I can do about the sloppy glue around the edges but I am happy with the results.
Before and after pics:
More pics:
Similarly, there was more sloppy super glue on the bezel near the fuel gauge. Unfortunately, when I scraped this off, it removed the black paint beneath. I was not sure how to proceed with this. Everything is glued together so I couldn't take it apart to spray paint it. I am pretty sure that trying to brush some paint on the spot would not turn out well. One of my other hobbies is plastic model building and I have this weathering set with black. It is kind of like eye shadow. I tried rubbing the black soot color on with the tiny sponge applicator and I think it turned out pretty well. The spot is much less noticeable now.
First pic shows the old glue, second pic is after I removed the glue showing bare metal.
Before and after pics:
More pics:
Similarly, there was more sloppy super glue on the bezel near the fuel gauge. Unfortunately, when I scraped this off, it removed the black paint beneath. I was not sure how to proceed with this. Everything is glued together so I couldn't take it apart to spray paint it. I am pretty sure that trying to brush some paint on the spot would not turn out well. One of my other hobbies is plastic model building and I have this weathering set with black. It is kind of like eye shadow. I tried rubbing the black soot color on with the tiny sponge applicator and I think it turned out pretty well. The spot is much less noticeable now.
First pic shows the old glue, second pic is after I removed the glue showing bare metal.
Super-Cuda
MOPAR .. Move Over, Plymouth Approaching Rapidly!
Nice car!!
Just a suggestion..
That bulb holder for the courtesy light on the rear passenger side is live every time you open a door and can easily short out against the rear metal trim panel.
Fire waiting to happen.
Get the proper lens cover or at least tape it up until you get the proper parts to put it back together correctly.
Cheers!!
Just a suggestion..
That bulb holder for the courtesy light on the rear passenger side is live every time you open a door and can easily short out against the rear metal trim panel.
Fire waiting to happen.
Get the proper lens cover or at least tape it up until you get the proper parts to put it back together correctly.
Cheers!!
Super-Cuda
MOPAR .. Move Over, Plymouth Approaching Rapidly!
Qwiglee
Well-Known Member
These liquid chrome markers are great for touch ups to the dash. They have a pretty convincing shiny chrome look, they are not just silver.
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