Dick, I'll be pulling the pad on my 68 so would appreciate any hints! KerryP Patch panels fabricated Pinkertonk@xxxxxxxxx dte.net/57imperial Imperials -- 50 Limo, 57 roadster, 61's, 64, 68 Convert, 73, a 66 300 and a bunch of lesser marques ----- Original Message ----- From: Dick Benjamin <dickb@xxxxxxxxx> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, March 10, 2003 11:24 PM Subject: IML: Old discussion > A few weeks ago, when I was away vacating, I set myself to digest mode. > When I returned, I scanned the messages, and saw a few I should respond to, > but as usual, I never got a rount tuit! Now we're about to take off again > (to the Borrego Desert to watch the wildflowers pop up for their annual > display) and I've still not responded. > > Just in case some poor soul is waiting to hear what I have to say on the > matters: > > regarding Larry Mullican's 67 coupe, with its apparently factory installed > side marker lights. > > His car has the correct (1968 style) side marker lights, properly marked and > set into the front fenders (not the bumper!) and into the rear quarters, > exactly as if it were > a factory installation. The wiring harness certainly appears to be factory > made, as the wires from the side marker lights are not spliced into the > harness, but rather are "Y"d off from the tail light circuit right at the > nearby taillight bulb sockets. The wiring splice is rubber encapsulated in > what is obviously a factory mold, and in fact looks precisely like the same > connection as on my 1968. > > I am as puzzled by this as everyone else, all I can do is report what I saw, > and attest that I really tried to find something tacked on or mickey-moused, > but this car appears to have left the factory that way, with factory > fabricated harnesses, and apparently die cut holes. I'll leave further > conjecture to the pundits on > here. The car was built in January 1967, so it is not anywhere near the > year end. > > Since no other cars with this feature have surfaced, I assume someone has > done this to the car, but he was certainly skillful! > > > Regarding Kerry's question about the progress of the body restoration on my > 67 Crown 4 Dr, I have been collecting pictures of the process, and they are > posted on my web page, but I have not written any text to go with them, so I > haven't really kept up as I should have. > > The bottom line is: the car was stipped to bare metal, sand blasted where > there was any sign of corrosion (under the vinyl top, where the glass is set > into the front and rear openings), new metal was welded in to those spots, > then the whole body was metal finished (without filler) where there were > dents and high spots. Then, the car was primed with epoxy primer (DP-40), > and final block sanding/rework is now in progress. The car has one coat of > final color (Black), which was used as a guide coat for final long block > sanding. Right now it is ageing down the primers and a second coat of > color, and we'll lay the final color on it in a few weeks. It looks > beautiful! > > If anyone would like to see pictures of the process, let me know and I'll > send you the URLs for the pictures. > > I've also gotten involved in removing the dash pad from my other 67 (the > convertible) in preparation for installing a very nice one I got from IML'r > Larry Mullican (thanks again, Larry, for that and all the other favors!). > In case anyone is contemplating this operation (and I use the word > advisedly!), let me know and I can probably save you a lot of trouble and > possible damage to your pad - there are 14 fasteners, about half of which > are almost impossible to see and release. It can be done, but it isn't > fun! I have a set of pictures of these fasteners and their locations on > the dash pad. These are also on my web page, but you'll need a list of URLs > to download them. > > Now we're going to be away until the 15th, so don't expect any more from me > until then. > > Dick Benjamin > > >