Hello Alvin. Even though you thought it was boring, I am glad you recorded the work in progress. Each of your videos are very informative. Thanks for posting them. George B. in Michigan
Thank you George, I almost skipped posting it. In the end, I'm glad I didn't skip it, people can watch if they like, or not, at least that's their choice to make, the way is should be. 🙂
This car actually has pretty decent bones. The convertibles have a considerable amount of more bracing than hardtops. The bad news is that sorting the top out will be the largest expense of the project. Assuming you're going to use quality supplies the top will still likely cost more. The good news is under the outer skin the cars are real boxy and easy to repair the metal. Keep up the good work!
Hey Jamieson, watching you brings me back to this part in my restoration of the Thelma and Louise car. Boy was that a mess. However, the top did work before I started the restoration but not very well. I restored everything so now it works great. I noticed the deck down limit switch and passenger side female screw receptacle laying down on the floor in the trunk. If you don’t want to have to sell your first born for another switch, handle that one like it were the goose that laid the golden egg, and if you decide to restore it yourself, handle it with kit gloves like it were your first born. If you break it, your screwed in a big way. Just sayin… You were talking about previous repairs and why previous owners did what they did and their struggles trying to fix the car. Most times the repairs I see are truly a head scratcher. I really wonder sometimes what people were thinking. Usually is all about money and, “how can I fix this as cheaply as I possible can.” One thing is sure, this guy who did that convertible top bypass spent a lot of time and effort to make that. The two convertible harnesses have a break right at the back of the trunk where the tail light are on the passenger side, that’s where they separate. On hard to separate plugs, use a heat gun to warm them up and then they soften up nicely and come apart easily. Get some ¼” drive swivel sockets and long extensions to get into tight spots. That’s what I use for those hex screws that hold down the relay pack plates. How many old coins did you find in the car? I had many hundreds of old coins that I collected from all the old cars I parted out over the years. One day I came home from work and walked into an empty house after being burglarized. The only thing I missed then and now is those coins, everything else could be replaced except those. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the tips Nick! So far the plugs have been pliable and not difficult to get apart. I'll take your advice on the deck down limit switch, my first born won't take kindly to being sold! lol So far I have only found one quarter, one dime, and a local bowling alley token...none of them old enough to be silver. 😒 I can't imagine being cleaned out by a burglar, that just sucks! Thanks again Nick, I really appreciate your comments!
Still holding my interest. It’s amazing how little there is to the floor of a car. I haven’t seen anyone shrink metal. I hope you can video that, I would like to see the process. Thanks again!
Hi Stephen, there are many ways to shrink sheet metal, and it depends on how aggressive a guy wants to be, that determines the method, in the floor I would just hit it with a torch, a blow with a hammer, and cool it quickly...that's the most aggressive. Any luck at all, the patch work will shrink it enough.
Alvin, You do realize that if you rented a Porta-John for the garage, bought an Army surplus cot and sleeping bag and had your wifey bring your meals into the garage the job would go a whole lot faster. Who needs a house with all those amenities when one has a 1965 Thunderbird Convertible? Just trying to put things in clearer prospective. Thank me when the work is finished, my friend. Regards, John
Hey John, when I read this comment, I thought "hey, that's a great idea", then it occurred to me that after the T-Bird was done, I may not be allowed back in the house! 😨😨😨
Another epic video Alvin!!! Although my car is a hardtop, your videos are great reference as I work through our car. I’m curious, did you shoot as you removed the interior trim panels on the doors? Also, would you mind shooting when you pull out the door lock mechanisms? I’ve got one that doesn’t want to latch securely and need to understand how it’s assembled so I can figure out how to service it. By the way, I visited Nick last month while on vacation in Colorado. He was a gracious host and spent a lot of time with me, answering questions and offering valuable bits of info on how to do these cars. Great guy. In yours, I t’s fun to see what his T&L Bird may have looked like before he started it. The car was there the day of my visit. Very nice. Thanks again and keep the hits coming! Cheers, Gordon in Michigan
Thank you Gordon! Sorry, I did not video the door panel removal, at the time I was still not sure what I was going to do with the T-Bird, and the windows were not up all the way, so I just wanted to get them up. This T-bird doesn't have power locks, just manually operated ones...I can show you that if if helps? I'll take a look at the parts car...I think it has power locks, if so I can go do that one, provided the weather holds as nice as it has.
@@amillego I will still video the door lock mechanism...in the meantime I can send you a PDF of the procedure if you don't already have a repair manual. Just send me a message to jamiesonsrepairshop@gmail.com, then I can shoot one back to you.
@@J_R_Shop Thanks Alvin. I've got a repair manual and just received the tool with which to remove the vent window crank. Hopefully, if the weather warms up a bit here in Southeast Michigan, I'll get the door panel off and the lock mech removed. Cheers, Gordon
If you have some already on hand that would be great...if you have to go and take the pictures, I can just use replacement pan pictures as a reference. My email is jamiesonsrepairshop@gmail.com Thank you tuckerjl!
Hello Alvin. Even though you thought it was boring, I am glad you recorded the work in progress. Each of your videos are very informative. Thanks for posting them.
George B. in Michigan
Thank you George, I almost skipped posting it. In the end, I'm glad I didn't skip it, people can watch if they like, or not, at least that's their choice to make, the way is should be. 🙂
This car actually has pretty decent bones. The convertibles have a considerable amount of more bracing than hardtops. The bad news is that sorting the top out will be the largest expense of the project. Assuming you're going to use quality supplies the top will still likely cost more. The good news is under the outer skin the cars are real boxy and easy to repair the metal. Keep up the good work!
Thank you novanogo! I agree, the top will be the time and money sucker!
Hey Jamieson, watching you brings me back to this part in my restoration of the Thelma and Louise car. Boy was that a mess. However, the top did work before I started the restoration but not very well. I restored everything so now it works great. I noticed the deck down limit switch and passenger side female screw receptacle laying down on the floor in the trunk. If you don’t want to have to sell your first born for another switch, handle that one like it were the goose that laid the golden egg, and if you decide to restore it yourself, handle it with kit gloves like it were your first born. If you break it, your screwed in a big way. Just sayin…
You were talking about previous repairs and why previous owners did what they did and their struggles trying to fix the car. Most times the repairs I see are truly a head scratcher. I really wonder sometimes what people were thinking. Usually is all about money and, “how can I fix this as cheaply as I possible can.” One thing is sure, this guy who did that convertible top bypass spent a lot of time and effort to make that.
The two convertible harnesses have a break right at the back of the trunk where the tail light are on the passenger side, that’s where they separate. On hard to separate plugs, use a heat gun to warm them up and then they soften up nicely and come apart easily.
Get some ¼” drive swivel sockets and long extensions to get into tight spots. That’s what I use for those hex screws that hold down the relay pack plates.
How many old coins did you find in the car? I had many hundreds of old coins that I collected from all the old cars I parted out over the years. One day I came home from work and walked into an empty house after being burglarized. The only thing I missed then and now is those coins, everything else could be replaced except those.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the tips Nick! So far the plugs have been pliable and not difficult to get apart. I'll take your advice on the deck down limit switch, my first born won't take kindly to being sold! lol
So far I have only found one quarter, one dime, and a local bowling alley token...none of them old enough to be silver. 😒
I can't imagine being cleaned out by a burglar, that just sucks!
Thanks again Nick, I really appreciate your comments!
Still holding my interest. It’s amazing how little there is to the floor of a car. I haven’t seen anyone shrink metal. I hope you can video that, I would like to see the process. Thanks again!
Hi Stephen, there are many ways to shrink sheet metal, and it depends on how aggressive a guy wants to be, that determines the method, in the floor I would just hit it with a torch, a blow with a hammer, and cool it quickly...that's the most aggressive. Any luck at all, the patch work will shrink it enough.
Alvin,
You do realize that if you rented a Porta-John for the garage, bought an Army surplus cot and sleeping bag and had your wifey bring your meals into the garage the job would go a whole lot faster. Who needs a house with all those amenities when one has a 1965 Thunderbird Convertible?
Just trying to put things in clearer prospective. Thank me when the work is finished, my friend.
Regards,
John
Hey John, when I read this comment, I thought "hey, that's a great idea", then it occurred to me that after the T-Bird was done, I may not be allowed back in the house! 😨😨😨
Still watching in amazement. Really nice job Alvin..... With that convertible.... was there a trunk ? :)
Not much of one Ron...pretty much storage for the top. Lol
Another epic video Alvin!!! Although my car is a hardtop, your videos are great reference as I work through our car. I’m curious, did you shoot as you removed the interior trim panels on the doors? Also, would you mind shooting when you pull out the door lock mechanisms? I’ve got one that doesn’t want to latch securely and need to understand how it’s assembled so I can figure out how to service it. By the way, I visited Nick last month while on vacation in Colorado. He was a gracious host and spent a lot of time with me, answering questions and offering valuable bits of info on how to do these cars. Great guy. In yours, I t’s fun to see what his T&L Bird may have looked like before he started it. The car was there the day of my visit. Very nice. Thanks again and keep the hits coming!
Cheers,
Gordon in Michigan
Thank you Gordon! Sorry, I did not video the door panel removal, at the time I was still not sure what I was going to do with the T-Bird, and the windows were not up all the way, so I just wanted to get them up. This T-bird doesn't have power locks, just manually operated ones...I can show you that if if helps? I'll take a look at the parts car...I think it has power locks, if so I can go do that one, provided the weather holds as nice as it has.
@@J_R_Shop Thanks for responding. My car has manual locks.
Gordon
@@amillego I will still video the door lock mechanism...in the meantime I can send you a PDF of the procedure if you don't already have a repair manual. Just send me a message to jamiesonsrepairshop@gmail.com, then I can shoot one back to you.
@@J_R_Shop Thanks Alvin. I've got a repair manual and just received the tool with which to remove the vent window crank. Hopefully, if the weather warms up a bit here in Southeast Michigan, I'll get the door panel off and the lock mech removed.
Cheers,
Gordon
@@amillego that's great, I hope it all goes well!
If you need or want I can send you some photos of the floor pan from a 65 hardtop not sure if convertable different!
If you have some already on hand that would be great...if you have to go and take the pictures, I can just use replacement pan pictures as a reference. My email is jamiesonsrepairshop@gmail.com
Thank you tuckerjl!