1968 DeVille Convertible - Restoration

[DeVille68]

I wish i had the time space and money to do this to my 66.
Your doing a great job.

Well, the space I rent now is just temporary - I don't know yet how long I can have this garage. It is not optimal, there is no lift, roof is very low, no heating, no water, no nothing....

[DeVille68]

Last few weeks I was able to get some things done and prepared. I started by removing the driveshaft, which is quite simple, you just have to unbolt the flange at the differential, then slide the driveshaft rearward. However, this was not possible because I lifted the car up. So I had to lift the differential with another jack, to ride height basically. The problem with letting the diff hang down is that it moves forward and down preventing that I could slide the driveshaft flange out. So you will see in the pictures below that I raised to diff enough to have slide the driveshaft forward to disengage the flange. Once free in the rear one can slide the driveshaft out of the transmission, but be prepared, transmission fluid will flow out immediately!

Next I removed the upper arms, but one lower arm gave me problems. The screw must have rusted so badly inside the bushing that I was not able to turn the screw out. You can see below the bushing within a pocket on the frame. I made a special tool with a bolt "designed" to push and press on the end of the screw to push it out. You can see in the picture below how I held the one piece still while turning the screw out. This then pushed on the tip of the screw in the bushing and I was able to slowly push the screw out of the bushing. However, I would only go so far as 2 inches out of the pocket in the frame, then it was again stuck withing the rust, so I just cut it off and was then able to remove the lower arm.
The complete rear axle is now removed from the car.

[DeVille68]

The first picture shows the complete axle removed and on the floor.
Now to the removal of the upper arms, you have to drill a 1-1/4'' hole in to the floor. The shop manual has a detailed description. So just mark the location and drill it. I used a standard step bit and bought some 1-1/4'' plugs. As you can see those fit perfectly and will be installed with some sealer when I reinstall the suspension.

[DeVille68]

I also removed all the brackets I could unbolt, those for the handbrake, brake line, wheel covers, tank etc.
Now the complete floor is ready to be cleaned, with will take forever, I wonder how I can keep the motivation up to work from underneath the car with all the junk falling down on me....well we see...

I also cleaned the gas tank, it is in surprisingly good state. Just one dent that someone has put into it. My plans are now halted, since I want to remove this dent first. I somehow need to find someone that can weld on studs and then pull on them.

The work will go on.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Can you not push from the inlet (a broom stick or similar) to push the dent? If not, Metro radiators can handle your issue.

[DeVille68]

Can you not push from the inlet (a broom stick or similar) to push the dent? If not, Metro radiators can handle your issue.

I tried to push and pull the dent with no success. The problem is that the force needed to push the dent out is so large that it starts to deform the inlet. I don't want to risk to bend or rip open the mounting area of the inlet tube. Do you know someone who has a weld stud kit or is able to do the work? Something like this here: https://www.amazon.com/Auto-Shot-5500-Welder-Stud/dp/B000RT6AW6

Today my rivet nut tool finally showed up, this tool will be used to insert new threads into the windshield frame that hold to top latch mounts. More on that soon.

Best regards,
Nicolas

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

One thing you could try is to bend up a 1" steel rod, so that it extends through the filler hole, and down to reach the internal part of the dent, then with a heavy object, pound down on the outside end of the rod to massage the dent.

This rod could be bent at 90 degrees, then after it protruded at 90 degrees upwards for a distance to allow you to physically grasp the rod, and also enough length so as not to hit your hand when pounding down on the rod.

At the internal end of the rod, remove sharp edges so the actions do not damage the inside coating of the tank, as Petrol Tanks are internally "tinned" to protect from rusting.

Bruce.

[DeVille68]

Hi Bruce

Good idea, or hint. When I put the tank on the floor with the dent towards the floor and construct somekind of a "hinge" along with that mentioned rod I might be able to use force or pressure downwards. The rod would then push the dent towards the floor and the floor itself would prevent that I put a  new dent into the tank while trying to remove the existing one.

Just need to figure out how to create a strong enough hinge and lever mechanism....

I began inserting rivet nuts into the top frame. Those are 1/4''-20 UNC. The lower inserts were easy, the top one was difficult to judge the angle - I got it wrong. Maybe I can bend the sheet metal a bit or I need to drill it out and do it again.
However, I was not able to mount to top hinge because it has a boss cast into it that now touches the rivets. I need to grind the thickness of the rivets from these bosses, otherwise the top hinge will not sit right.
See the pictures below.

I also managed to motivate myself to continue scraping the undercoating of the floor and frame. Dressed in true Corona-Style I got a bit work done, lot of hours of fun can be had.... 

Best regards,
Nicolas

P.S: Strange how the forum turns vertical pictures to the horizontal. I am not able to correct this!? How can I prevent the forum from turning my pictures? They look correct on my pc and phone?!

[Roger Zimmermann]

I also managed to motivate myself to continue scraping the undercoating of the floor and frame. Dressed in true Corona-Style I got a bit work done, lot of hours of fun can be had.... 

I did 3 cars that way: scraping the underbody to remove rust and old undercoating, while on my back!

[DeVille68]

Oh, wow hope you back has not suffered! :-)
Well, I build a roller to work underneath the car. I just used some scrap wood, four plastic rollers and some packaging foam. Works pretty good! Check out the pictures below.
I also installed all three rivet nuts and used my dremel tool to massage the casting a bit. Unfortunately, I was not able to get it perfectly sitting on the frame but the passenger side is not much better. So I just let it be, nobody will notice.

Another question that I hope someone can answer:
The rear springs have a top and bottom insulator. The bottom insulator is readily available the upper not. Check out the pictures below. My spring measures: wire diameter 5/8'' (0.625'') and inside diameter about 5.4''
The rubber insulator is about 3/16'' thick.

Does anyone know where to buy such a part?

I found on summit a so called coil spring spacer: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/oer-14927
It is made out of rubber, but the dimension is for a smaller inside diameter coil, only about 3'' instead of 5.4''. The wire diameter however, seems to be about right. The thickness is 0.3'', so almost double of what I actually need.

Any help appreciated.

Best regards,
Nicolas

[MikeLawson]

For the upper spring insulator you might want to consider a length of 5/8" ID heater hose. Make a lengthwise cut through it, split is open and install it your spring. With the fabric cord reinforcement in the hose it is probably stronger than the original part.

[DeVille68]

Hi Mike

ok, good idea. I will see with what I can come up with.
In the meantime I spent another couple of hours, now I have "finished" the scraping part, that is phase 1. I scraped all the undercoating of until I reached the front floor boards. Those need to replaced anyways, not now, but no need to paint those nicely now.
Consider the picture below, where the undercoating was still intact the paint underneath it was still perfect. The color is not a semi gloss black but has some green tint I think. Not sure what color that is. Also not sure who applied the undercoating? Was this a factory option or standard procedure? Because the undercoating is sometimes in spots that are hard to reach. Seems to me that they applied the undercoating with the body was not yet on the frame. Or someone really applied this stuff very very well.

Anyone can give some insights on the undercoating story?

Next couple of evening will be spent with the wire wheel! :-D

Best regards,
Nicolas

[Roger Zimmermann]

Well, I survived the cleaning of 3 cars; it was done in a time frame of about 15 years!

It is my understanding that cars had no underbody coating from the factory and that the primer was a red oxyde color. That can be true for the fifties but I don't know if the process changed over the years. While looking at the pictures I have from my '72 coupe during its refreshing in the US, the underbody was undercoated which seems to be from the factory.
Most probably other who know more about this subject will give an answer.

[savemy67]

Hello Nicolas,

My recollection from posts on this forum is that undercoating was done at the dealership, or by another party.  Ziebart was a well known franchise for rust-proofing and undercoating here in the U.S.

My '67 has "red lead" primer on some parts of the underbody as well as undercoating.

When I was your age or younger back in 1979, I scraped the undercoating off my '60 Chevy Impala.  Then I sandblasted the underbody which left a nice surface for paint.  If you use a wire wheel, you may need to follow it up with a degreaser so that no undercoating residue is left to contaminate new paint.  Keep up the good work.

Christopher Winter

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

My '60 CDV had the red Oxide underneath.

My '72 Eldorado had proofcoating, but definitely not done by anyone that cared about the vehicle.

There were 1/2" holes drilled in the sills, doors, etcetera, BUT, some are visible in plain sight when opening the doors.   They didn't even bother to unscrew the sill plates and drill under them so the holes could be covered up.   Or even fit plugs to the rest.

Bruce.

PS.   But, at least it possibly saved the car from rusting.

[DeVille68]

Hello

ok, hm, there is no red oxide anywhere, expect on the fender that they replaced some years ago.

I will take another detailed look, but I think this is really a paint or coating from the factory.

I will use acetone after the wire wheel session, and then possibly some metal prep from POR15. This will etch the metal.

I also plan on spraying Mike Sanders into the frame rails and hidden structures, but I think there are enough access holes already. Interesting that they didn't even put plugs into the holes.

Best regards,
Nicolas

[sturner50502]

I bought drive-up ramps to be able to work underneath the car without a lift. Looks pretty funny with the car at an angle! Coming weekend I hope to get started on removing the complete driveshaft, axle, suspension and gas tank!
Stay tuned to more updates.
Best regards,
Nicolas

P.S: Let me know if you know someone that makes the correct cooling system decal. Because the reproduction you can buy is completely off. Check out the picture below. Color is wrong, logo is not sharp, font is sometimes wrong. Position is not correct.

Nicholas,

Have you tried OPGI for the cooling system labels? I bought some for my 69 and they were very good reproductions.

[DeVille68]

Nicholas,

Have you tried OPGI for the cooling system labels? I bought some for my 69 and they were very good reproductions.

Someone makes there horrible repos and everybody sells those. OPGI has the same bad stuff. (I just checked their website)
I really need to make my own.
However, the frame cleanup and paint has priority now.
Best regards,
Nicolas

[spolij]

Working under the car - you might try putting a fan on the floor blowing towards your head. It will at least blow the dust away from you.
As for the dent body shops used to use a rubber suction cup to pull dents with. I don't know if they are still available but it sounds like it would work

[spolij]

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