69 Impala SS convertible

[68Formula]

Getting closer

That little gem in the background yours too?

[79 Camaro]

Nothing better than a cruise with the top down.

[68Formula]

Nothing better than a cruise with the top down.

Especially if she drives a convertible.

[JustJohn]

The bus is someone else’s. These pics are from the paint shop.

[JustJohn]

Everything my car is not:

[JustJohn]

Took the week off work to get as much as I can done.

Finished out the rear light harness and fuel pump cover, figured out as much AC routing as I could until the fittings get here, finally got to wiring some of the fun stuff today. Radio works and it’s technically street legal so I drove to fill up.





Having to order odds and ends for details I can finally focus on and I’d like to drop the front about another inch.

[JustJohn]

Almost there. Couple of small things left to assemble. 213 inches long.

[JustJohn]

Back home to my garage. Its been about a week - there was some issue posting pictures.

[JustJohn]

Stereo in. It’s been years since I’ve had the opportunity to build an aftermarket system. I had forgotten what it’s all about. All Focal drivers, 6.5” in the kick panels and tweeters in the pillars. Sub will be between the top well and a close out panel.



Still have some harness routing and clean up to do.

Also upgrading my fuel vapor system with a check valve and vent filter. 1st time at over a half tank of gas overwhelmed my carbon canister. If that doesn’t do it I can take one more step with a purge valve.

[JustJohn]

Progress but nothing dramatic. Control center is coming together and routed the AC ducting today. Got the last fitting I needed to run the AC hoses and can get them crimped this week. Also finally figured out how to mount a micro switch to get my park brake indicator working.

[andrewb70]

Looks great John!

Andrew

[JustJohn]

Discovered a small puddle this morning. Sent a note to Rick's to see what's to be done.
https://youtube.com/shorts/rexPTwK4g...8VIpOzZYeuZslr

[JustJohn]

So a lot of back and forth over these but I finally placed the order for Rocket wheels. For the money and intended purpose I just couldn't justify the extra cost. The photo doesn't show it but I'm getting about the same concavity with either option because of the offset I need, so ~ 15 degrees concave.

[JustJohn]

Had a great experience with Rick's Tanks. They called to address my tank issue and are sending a call tag to ship it back and fix it. Sucks that I have to drop the tank but it's not the worst issue I've had.

[TerryH432]

Had a great experience with Rick's Tanks. They called to address my tank issue and are sending a call tag to ship it back and fix it. Sucks that I have to drop the tank but it's not the worst issue I've had.

That's a bummer but glad they are taking care of it.

[JustJohn]

Now on to AC system leaks. Got all the fittings in and installed, won't hold vacuum.

[Vimes]

Now on to AC system leaks. Got all the fittings in and installed, won't hold vacuum.

Are you lubing the seals? I discovered the hard way many moons ago that no lube on the little green seals means slow leaks. Sometimes the seals will kind of roll and pinch when tightening without the oil in there. The parts store sells tiny little bottles of the various oils, so use the one the matches the system.

I also had to replace the evaporator in my daily driver late last year because the interior always had a faint R134a smell, and it would only work for about a week before needing to be recharged. This required pulling the entire dash as well as the steering column. It looked like the evaporator developed a hairline crack along one of the passthroughs from the passenger to engine compartment where the tube was soldered to the evaporator body. I put a new core in at the same time, and afterwards the system held pressure fine and even on a hundred degree day will freeze you out of the truck. After the interior cools down I normally have to add a few clicks of heat, or a jacket. Some parts stores may have a freon sniffer for loan, or China Freight normally sells them.

[JustJohn]

You might be on to something there. I haven't done any AC work in 6 years or so and I did not lubricate all of the o-rings.

[JustJohn]

Think I found the leak:

[JustJohn]

Have officially reached the banal stage of this project. 1 rear wheel on back order, no more wheel spacers so every stud had to be cut to size or replaced and cut to size, gas tank on the way to Rick’s for repair.

AC held 30” vacuum overnight so it’s ready to charge, oh but I need to run the engine which requires a gas tank. Had to pull the dash again to plug in the cluster lights, which means drop the steering column. Somehow managed to unplug the AC fan during all this so mild moment of panic when everything was back together.

All this needs to come back together by Sept 8 for the trim shop. The upside, damn I made this car easy to work on.