Off season Aspen projects have begun

[Aspen500]

Got the mufflers swapped today. Didn't go too bad. Had a struggle getting the right side one off the pipe and ended up resorting to desperate measures. Had to cut a slit in the pipe with a die grinder before it would even wiggle.

It's raining (big surprise, NOT ) so someday I'll get to find out how they sound and if the interior drone is gone, or at least reduced to tolerable levels.

 

[Aspen500]

The title of this is "Off Season....." and it should have ended by now but it never stops raining so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the off season projects continue.

Spent the afternoon polishing the bare aluminum window trim and sealing it. The front end and wheel lip trim is bright dip anodized (was all NOS) but the other trim was in bad shape so I stripped the anodizing, sanded and buffed it all. Downside is you have to polish it every so often or it starts turning whitish looking. Need to get that aluminum sealer stuff but for now, Griot's Liquid Gloss Poly Wax. Should help at least somewhat.

 

[BudW]

Those mufflers look huge under there.

Is that 2½” pipe?
BudW

 

[Aspen500]

They do look huge in the pic but they're not really. The body is 14" long, 4 1/2" thick and 9 3/4" wide only.
Yes, 2 1/2" pipe. It was a heck of a thing to get a pair of 2 1/2" t-pipes out the back, both running on the right side of the fuel tank. It's close, but they clear and don't touch a thing.

Had the rare dry time and took the car out for a short drive. Didn't go far, dark clouds coming in from the west..................... Got to a spot where I could get up to 55 for a short distance and the drone is pretty much gone. Now about all I hear is the exhaust noise from out the tail pipes. It's going to make the car so much nicer to drive. Now a person could have a conversation or listen to the radio no problem.

If this crap weather pattern of the past couple months ever goes the f*** away (pardon my language), I'll get to try it out at 65 or 70 mph. Probably be fine there too.

 

[Aspen500]

The latest "off season project" is done. Swapped the throttle pedal for one with a bezel. It's actually an NOS one for early B-body so it's 2" longer below the pivot. Works perfectly since my pedal is mounted an inch higher and an inch to the right, along with the cable hole in the firewall, so the cable clears the head without kinking. Made it awkward to use but now, it should be just fine. Found an NOS brake pedal bezel and just put it on today. The parking brake bezel was on the car when I bought it 32 years ago. Holy crap, was it that long ago? How time flies.

The next project to get my behind going on is the still unfinished luggage compartment. I've got 2 sheets of the compressed cardboard panel board ( stuff used for door panels) along with another roll of carpeting so, no more excuses. Got the board and carpet from Automotive Interiors.

Before and after on the pedals:

 

[BudW]

Learn something every day.
I like the longer petal and the chrome trim tops it off.
BudW

 

[Aspen500]

I'm not sure if the longer pedal would work with it mounted in the stock location. Above the pivot pin, it's exactly the same though.
I originally bought a repop brake pedal bezel, but they're made for '74 and older A/B/E body with a flat pedal. Newer pedals are curved and there's no way to make the flat bezel curved. I didn't realize this until I got the part and then, DOH! Found a correct NOS one for the curved pedal, paid more than I really wanted to but, it is what it is sometimes.
Worst part was, I found an NOS one on Ebay on Dec 25th, the listing ended on Dec 24th. Price, $10 + shipping. Son of a........................

 

[Duke5A]

I can't believe I haven't gone through this thread sooner. I love this car. You're attention to detail is amazing. Sweet ride.

 

[Aspen500]

I can't believe I haven't gone through this thread sooner. I love this car. You're attention to detail is amazing. Sweet ride.

Thanks bud! It's the culmination of 11+ years of work (2002-2013) and that's after the car sat in the garage from August '96 until I finally got to it the winter of '02.
Funny how a trans overhaul (no third gear) and a little body and paint touch up turned into a total and complete rebuild. It was a case of the "might as well", "while I'm at it" snowball syndrome. In the end, literally not a single piece, nut or bolt was left untouched before it was done. This is NOT meant to be bragging (good or bad, I have no ego) but the only thing not done by me in my garage was machine work on the block and heads, rechroming the bumpers, and upholstering the front seats. A shout out to Ron (Silver Bullet) who came all the way from SE WI to help hang the doors is in order. I can never thank him enough for that and also to my "wife" Linda for helping at times along the way AND for keeping me motivated on it. There's one other I have to thank many times over and that is XfbodyX. If it wasn't for him, the car wouldn't be half what it is today.
Of course, a car is never done and so, the project continues! Keeps me out of trouble I guess

 

[Aspen500]

After a bit of a learning curve working with the compressed cardboard panels, think I've got it figured out. Pic is where I'm at so far, mis-cut and all. That'll need a piece added in but should be fine after the carpet is glued on. Lots of work to go but at least I FINALLY got started on it. It's only been on the off season project list for 5 years. No sense in jumping into things you know.

 

[Oldiron440]

It's called mission creep.

 

[Aspen500]

After patching in a piece where I cut the panel too short (by the hinge area), got the carpet glued to the panel board.

Good tip I forgot was, if the panel isn't flat, don't try to glue the whole thing in one shot. Contact adhesive doesn't really give you a second chance once the two pieces touch. Managed to save it though.
Need to get some Velcro strips for attachment, and probably to hold the floor carpet flat where it overlaps the side pieces but so far, it's not turning out TOO bad.
Now that I've got the procedures more or less figured out, the rest should go much better and maybe a little quicker, not that there's any big hurry.

 

[Poly]

Your work is incredible "500".

 

[barbee6043]

That is outstanding!

 

[Aspen500]

Thank you as always. I'm new to this panel/upholstery thing but am learning as I go.

 

[Aspen500]

Learning from the mistakes doing the passenger side, the drivers side went much, much better. Will have to make a carpet piece that gets glued down to cover the silver that's still uncovered. Darn fuel filler pipe and the needed bump in the inner fender anyways............After some grub before I pass out from starvation, want to tackle that part yet today.
Ran out of adhesive (had just enough to finish what's done) but because of the fog with a 25 foot visibility range, getting some more isn't happening today. It's one of those things I was going to pick up last week but totally spaced it. Oh well, business as usual

 

[Justwondering]

I really like that carpet look on the inner, sides.
My 87 Fifth avenue just had cardboard that had been painted black.

Was the carpet standard or did you decide to do it because it looks so bodacious?

JW

 

[old yellow 78]

Your coupe is simply beautiful Aspen 500! I really envy your work and talent!

 

[Aspen500]

Thanks! When I bought my car, the trunk was bare except for the taillamp cover panel. No idea if it ever had the floor carpet or not. The floor carpet came from Deconstuctor Jim. Doing the rest because I've always wanted to finish off the luggage compartment.
Far as I know, F-body never had the side panels. There was a carpet option but it was only thin carpet glued to the inside of the 1/4 panels. Don't know if it was a stand alone option for all years or only came with the early fold down rear seat cars.

Why my car has the tail lamp cover, I don't know. Maybe the original owner added it or it could have came from the factory that way, which would be kind of odd. The world may never know, I'm just glad it does have one. I covered it with black, foam backed headliner material. The bare plastic just didn't do it for me.

 

[7T8 Custom]

You should do the hinge covers to match the tail lamp cover to complete the look. Looks like it would be alot easier cover them with that then carpet with the shape they are anyway.