OY pics and plans

old yellow 78

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I was looking at some old pics on my computer tonight and found these of OY (Old Yellow) taken not too long after I bought it. It still had the Mopar poverty caps on before I put the Road Wheels on it. It's cold outside tonight and we are waiting for snow tomorrow, and so I'm sitting here dreaming about the coming spring and really getting to work on OY.

late oct - early nov 2014 008.jpg


late oct - early nov 2014 004.jpg


The grille is ok, but missing a piece on the top passenger side. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a slightly used, but SUPER nice grill from Kit Car Chris at Carlisle this past spring Carlisle Nationals 2018 - Actual F Parts!! , so that will go on after I detail the rest of it.

late oct - early nov 2014 005.jpg


late oct - early nov 2014 001.jpg


It has some very minor hail damage on the roof from living in Colorado and New Mexico most of it's life and also two annoying dings. One on the front corner of the drivers fender, and the ding in the hatch which is really obvious in the above pic due to the shadow. The ding in the fender I don't think can be fixed properly if I decide to paint the car, so I have a set of NOS replacement fenders for each side. The hail damage and the ding in the hatch I think I can have removed with paintless dent removal. The paint is somewhat faded, but I would like to try to revive it by using a good compound and wax, or possibly a clay bar, which I have never used but hear good things about it. In the future, I might have the entire car repainted in the original Classic Cream color. I plan to remove the black side strips like Raff did on his wagon, and would like to try a nice '70's type pin stripe in black or brown at the top edge on the sides. I was also really lucky to find a set of affordable NOS tailights which have perfect chrome and black accent paint. Like the grille, they will be one of the last things to go on.

late oct - early nov 2014 010.jpg


The interior will be completely redone. I have the new carpet , nice 60/40 plaid seats and matching door panels, nice crack-free dash pad, wood grained dash bezel and glove box door, dash top for stereo speakers, and, after several years of looking, the three spoke SE steering wheel. I need to get a new boot for the shifter which has a burn hole in it. Although I have the original shifter knob, I really prefer the Hurst handle that was gifted to me by my best friend. It was on his '62 Chevy pickup for many years when we were tooling around in it back in the '70s, and he gave it to me when I got OY, so it means a lot to me.

late oct - early nov 2014 013.jpg


OY has an AM/CB transceiver which was dealer installed when new, and I found the paperwork on it in the glovebox along with the mic and the never used mic clip when I bought it. On the '78's only, the transceiver came with a power CB antenna which still works. This CB unit receives, but does not seem to transmit, and is only AM radio, so a few years ago, I bought a working AM/FM stereo CB unit with mic to replace it. I also have a map light, glove box light, and the little amber "reverse" light that mounts below and left of the glove box. The '78's didn't come with that reverse light, but I kept the one out of my first wonderful '76 Volare Premier wagon, and will install it in OY anyway. I always really liked it. I also have a nice set of the fender top signal lights to splice in at some point.

late oct - early nov 2014 005.jpg
 
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Poly

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I like that spoiler on the rear gate. They really did their job.
 

Silver Bullet

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The clay bar will not help the fading. It is intended for removing contaminants from the paint. I use it all the time, it works great. Use it if the paint feels gritty.
 

Darth-Car

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It is always nice to see pics of OY. He is such a nice looking car in his own way. You truly are picking some real nits that will take him to that next level. Can not wait to see the transformation.
 

Oldiron440

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It would be nice to have a stock gas cap, it seams most were lost and replaced with the crome replacements.
 

old yellow 78

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Can not wait to see the transformation.
Thanks Darth-Car! I can't wait either. I have gone several years doing very little to OY because of other obligations, but I am really hoping to get to it this coming year. I just have so little time anymore, but one change I would like to make this year, is to make more time for myself and what I want to do. ;)
 

old yellow 78

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It would be nice to have a stock gas cap
I agree! They are not easy to find though. I did buy this one off EB a while back. The finger hold on the cap is just screwed on and the chrome trim is just held on behind it. I am going to disassemble it, remove the chrome trim, paint it Classic Cream, and that should give me what I need. :)

Aspen gas cap 3.jpg

Aspen gas cap 4.jpg
 

Oldiron440

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I think it took me a year to find mine in 89, it must have been a hard thing to hold on to.
 

old yellow 78

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Here are pics of the NOS tailights which I think I bought off CL, each at a different time from a different seller. I was very lucky to find them!

Left NOS taillight.jpg

Left NOS taillight 3.jpg

Right NOS taillight.jpg

Right NOS taillight 3.jpg

Right NOS taillight 6.jpg

Then, I bought pairs of the repop side marker lights too. Why are the amber ones always more expensive than the red ones? o_O
Red side marker lights.jpg

Red side marker lights 2.jpg
 

old yellow 78

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I bought this Chronometer a while back to install too. I will have to find that old thread on how to wire it in. Hopefully, it will be simply plug and play on OY, but I don't know, I haven't looked yet, and OY didn't originally have a clock.

Chronometer 1.jpg

Chronometer 2.jpg


This is the AM/FM/CB stereo transceiver I bought a while back:

AM FM CB 8.jpg
AM FM CB 1.jpg


I will replace the original AM/CB with this one when I finish off the interior. Not sure how to wire speakers to it. I have a nice stereo dash top with the two small grills on each side for two small speakers out of my deceased Aspen T-top, as well as the factory rear hatch set up for the two larger speakers and the brackets out of the black Oklahoma parts wagon. It will probably take some time to find decent quality speakers that will fit the mounting holes. I have thought about adding a modern aftermarket sound system, but not sure where I would hide it though because I don't want it in the dash.

July 2015 004.jpg

July 2015 006.jpg
 

7T8 Custom

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The clock should be plug and play. My 78 didn`t originally have a clock either and I had no trouble adding it in. The wiring connections are all shown in your FSM wiring diagrams.
 

Aspen500

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My '79 didn't have a clock either but the wiring and connector were there. I added one at some point but now that spot is where the digital oil pressure gauge is. The connector still came in handy for power, ground and panel light connections to the gauge.
 

old yellow 78

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I found some pics of the plaid door panels I pulled off the black Oklahoma parts Volare. Can't wait to put them on, get the seats and carpet in and install all my other collected toys! Pulled that passenger remote mirror too, but I know that will take some time and be quite a job to install.
May 2015 018.jpg

May 2015 019.jpg
May 2015 020.jpg


I had a rear window sticker made for OY at Carlisle a few years ago - just to let people know what exactly they are following! :D

late oct - early nov 2014 012.jpg


I took a break today and went to the America On Wheels museum in Allentown, PA with a few friends. Their exhibits change regularly, and the current one is Cars with Fins. It's the first time I've ever been there, and it's quite a nice display. It was sort of like going to an indoor car show in the middle of winter. Now I'm sitting here looking through my pics again impatiently waiting for spring to come. :)
 

Darth-Car

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I do like that interior. It is amazing what good shape it was in after all of these years. It is going to really class up OY!
 

Oldiron440

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While plaid interiors are not my thing I think it's cool that yours will be coming together soon. It looks like you have collected quite a few things over time for OY and it will be fun putting it all together.
 

Darth-Car

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That new interior will make OY scream, "I need woody sides too!"
 

old yellow 78

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I do like that interior. It is amazing what good shape it was in after all of these years.
Yep, I was very lucky to find it and IMO it was worth driving all the way out to Oklahoma to get it. I found the car, a black '77 Volare Premier, advertised on CL under "Tulsa". It was a fairly low mileage wagon (about 60-70K) missing it's Super Slant six which the seller had pulled and transplanted into a Dart. The wagon had some weird backstory about him not wanting his ex to drive it or take it from him, so he effectively disabled it by pulling the engine. It was a shame, because the wagon itself was in quite nice shape. After closely looking at pics and at a video I asked him for, I made him an offer for me to come out and strip everything I wanted off it and leave him the carcass, and he agreed. I got a ton of parts in addition to an excellent set of seats and door panels which I hadn't been able to find anywhere else. A great bonus was the nice set of Road Wheels complete with good tires that I put right on OY when I got home. That black wagon was a real find!

Oklahoma Kansas May 23-30 2015 007.jpg


Oklahoma Kansas May 23-30 2015 035.jpg


June 14, 2015 014.jpg


June 2015 001.jpg
 

old yellow 78

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While plaid interiors are not my thing I think it's cool that yours will be coming together soon. It looks like you have collected quite a few things over time for OY and it will be fun putting it all together.
You are right! I think it will be great fun finally putting OY together the way I want. I have collected a bunch of parts over the past few years, and also have some that I have kept from other F's I have owned. I like looking for parts, and will often scour CL all over the country to find what I want. Sometimes I have to wait a long time, but it's sort of like fishing. Just a hobby and then exciting when I "catch" something. The interior was a real challenge. I was originally looking for the vinyl SE interior, but then started looking for the plaid also. Neither is easy to find, particularly in good shape. It took a few years but when I found it in Oklahoma, I wasn't about to let it get away! Turned into a great road trip/camping trip also.

Oklahoma Kansas May 23-30 2015 014.jpg


Oklahoma Kansas May 23-30 2015 015.jpg


Here's two pics with the plaid 60/40 front seats temporarily installed in OY this past fall. I didn't like the plaid all that much in years past, but over time it has really grown on me and now I really like it. It REALLY says "Seventies" to me! :cool: Cool.

IMG_20180930_133713588.jpg


IMG_20180930_133720828 (1).jpg


It looks like you have collected quite a few things over time for OY
Yep. By far, the most difficult thing to find was the elusive three spoke SE steering wheel. I looked for one of those for several years. Finally, I found one right here on FMJ! Member Silverd1973 came through for me by answering my long running ad for one. Woo Hoo!!
WANTED - '78 SE / Premier steering wheel in butterscotch
IMG_3208.JPG


It's got a few cracks, but I am going to try to "restore" it at some point. There are YT videos on how to do it. I have a replacement for the missing center emblem, and I will probably dye the horn button and spokes. I was REALLY glad to get it, and Silverd1973 couldn't have been nicer. I also scored an excellent woodgrained glove box door from him too!

IMG_20181211_211128551.jpg


That new interior will make OY scream, "I need woody sides too!"
OY is going to wind up being sort of a contradiction. Plain Jane outside, with SE inside. I'm actually glad that OY doesn't have the woody sides. I'm impressed with how Raff's wagon looks after he removed those same side strips that OY has.
Removing body side moulding

img-9649-jpg.jpg


His wagon pictured above sort of reminds me of the "fuselage" look of the C bodies which I really like. Clean and neat! :cool:
This is what I am aiming for with OY. Actually, I'm not doing or changing anything that couldn't have been ordered from the factory in '78 on an Aspen.
Now, if I can just find the TIME to put it all together! :confused:
 
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