doorgunner

Thanks Men! A late Merry-Christmas to you guys!

We went to my brother-in-law's cabin in the wooooods Christmas Day so the kids/grandkids could roast marshmallows/hot-dogs/smoors.

(Un)Naturally, a trip to the "forest" triggered a "fairly intense" Nam flashback which lasted most of the day....it was a matter of sitting quietly dealing with it while everyone enjoyed the outdoors.

Ohhhhhh well......nothing like a repressed memory "un-repressing" itself on such a wonderful day!

Today is one of those....."Whew--I made it through that one!".......kind of days!


46000

chazde3

I always hate reading about your bad days. Sorry you have to relive those experiences. I'll be thinking about you next week at the memorial wall in D.C. next week.

doorgunner

Most people have no idea of what is "going through a Vet's mind" while the "Normal World" is taking place.
I post my thoughts/experiences as they happen so others will have an idea of why uncle "Bob" or Grandpa "Tom" or "My-best-friend-from-college" seem so distant (or angry) at times.

It wasn't easy having to tell my brother-in-law what was "going on" with me, so he would understand why I had "shut-down all of a sudden".

(Also....I'm "just tickled" that THAT previous five months of being unable to accomplish even the simplest tasks is over with.....for now!)

chazde3

Totally understandable. I was in the men's auxiliary of the local vfw and talked to quite a vew Vietnam vets over the years. My best friend also spent a few tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, I know how sometimes you just need to work through it and sometimes you need to talk. If you ever need to get something off your mind just shoot me a pm.

standswithabeer

d'gunner, sir,

thought i'd share a short story about my soon-to-be ex-brother in-law. he's done 2 tours in vietnam, then 3 recent tours in the middle-east. he doesn't talk much about either, but his middle eastern tours were mainly in mosul i gather. and something about supply convoys, too. anyhooo,

he was home in maine in between his 2nd and 3rd tours, and we were stuck in brunswick traffic. i'm drivin', he's shotgun. there's a break in traffic on his side and a car zooms up right next to us to fill in the space. i could see his face tighten, but he says nothin'. some time passes and i ask how long does it take to relax after a tour.

he says "i can tell you i was pretty f****in' relaxed last night".
(i don't think that "stuff" ever leaves him).

i think we're about the same age, but my lottery number was 323. thank you for your service.

doorgunner

standswithabeer.........your brother-in-law's story sounds very familiar....veterans have those "moments" where they go back to another time and place....and then, they have to separate memories from reality. They don't let anyone know what's going on in their heads because no one can understand.

It's a shame that the war continues psychologically even after veterans return home.

It's been two days since my last flashback and I still haven't been able to work on my car or do anything else around my house......as long as it doesn't turn into another 5 month ordeal it will be tolerable.

(Amazing how a car project alternates with a "life-on-hold-project")

doorgunner

chazde3.....I sent you an email, but my internet has been acting up lately.

I'm into the 3rd day of staying inside....but will try to finish the interior-floppy console-shifter-bumping dilemma /install the door panels/put new needles-seats in the carb to prevent warm-start-flooding tomorrow....

It's all in fun..........................!

doorgunner

old damaged stud removed and the threads have been chased in the 1972 passenger's grill......




The other 1970 driver's grill stud didn't co-operate....I drilled a pilot hole into the damaged stud, but broke off the easy-out stud remover......RATS!!!





The grills will be sold or traded for a decent-looking OEM radio.

AirborneSilva

Glad to see you in the garage, sorry about the "easy out" I don't trust them damn things

doorgunner

I usually don't have a problem with them.......but this one bit me!

loup68

You could try a small carbide drill bit. You might have to drill a small hole from the back side, if possible and bang it back out the way it went in. Lou.

doorgunner

that's a good idea......a .145" or smaller drill(bit) will leave the original threads in tact so I can chase them with a tap once I remove the broken easy-out!



OOOOOPS.......postponed the above/lack of interest after I snapped off the easy-out

doorgunner

Well.......I sold one of the grills to a forum member who has the ability to repair the stud threads.

It seems the longer I work on the project, the more I am trying to make it look as original as possible which "ain't easy", since the front and rear clips are from late '70s cars. This sale worked out well since the grills were designed for those later year-model cars.

It will NEVER look like RVZIO's great project though....LOL! It will still be a resto-mod because it was hacked up so much, but it's getting closer to the looks of a '68.

Other than trying to remove a broken stud, I still haven't gotten back to work on the car (RATS!)....the latest flashback still hangs on to me.

A box of goodies from Willcox is scheduled to arrive today which will give me the remaining parts needed to finish the interior back to '68 looks, and also correct a few of the smaller exterior problems.

Ohhhh....I nearly forgot..........


Happy New Year !

............ ........... .......... ........


and thanks for all the help/advice/prayers/well wishes!

gator79

what insulation is that on the tunnel?

doorgunner

That is the heavy-duty aluminum ducting tape that HVac technicians secure their insulation with.

The tape is covering the double-sided bubble HVac heat/cool insulation....WHICH.....is covering the sound-deadening insulation.

OVERKILL? Probably......but the interior is much quieter (engine noise/header noise/transmission noise/etc)......And the summer temperatures (NO A.C.) on the floorboard/tunnel/shifter have been lowered from 150*F down to 3*-5* above ambient temperatures.......WHICH means that--------on a 90*F day......the floorboard will stay around 93-95*F (Checking the floorboard temps with an infrared gun-----it showed that the floorboard with original carpet/insulation got as hot as 150*F under the gas pedal on a sunny 95*F day!)

There are some more costly materials that I could have bought, but this $300/total cost-stuff does the job well---the drawback is-----it is twice as thick/not a good thing as it is much harder to lay it in place and also to lay the fitted carpet over it.

BUT....it would have cost me about $800 to cover the ENTIRE inner firewall/floorboard/cargo area/storage compartments/inner tank wall/underside of deck with the high quality thinner material.

I posted a write-up starting on page 27-on...click on the link to the right>> https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ght=cabin+heat

NOW.......I can hear those chrome HarleyDavidson mufflers much better!



I hope that made some sense....LOL.

doorgunner

I just made a radio purchase from a forum member....now I can finally "button-up" the interior this week and get back to that slow-starter problem.

Then.....re wrap all the wiring bundles since all the electrical problems will have been solved!



O.K......PTSD.....Back Off!

gator79

tell me more about the double sided bubble HVAC insulation. I have the reflectix down with the same aluminum HVAC tape but if it is better no problem because the complete interior is still out. mine is a big block but I did have the headers sent to jet hot and coated with there best coating inside and out. I also plan to wrap the exhaust from the collectors back with header wrap

doorgunner

You can buy the bubble-felt-stuff in the Insulation isle at Lowes/Home/depot/etc.
You need to consider how much thicker the bubble-felt-stuff will cause the insulation to be since it makes carpet installation more difficult......My total was 1/2" thick.
I was probably OCD with the coverage, but the cabin with the hardtop on the car is now as quiet as my Escalade!

Here are pics of the bubble covering the 1/4" thick sound proofing ..........1/4" sound-heatproof is only used in a few areas where the most noise/heat would be---where-ever shoes touch floorboard/also on the tunnel....felt/bubble is used everywhere else including storage compartments.....








I just wrapped the down-pipes....it took an hour of driving at highway speed to "cook-off" the smell/smoke of the wrap so it would mold itself to the pipes......

gator79

I have the reflectix sold at the local lumber yard that is reflective on both sides with bubble wrap basicly in the middle but no felt like material, or we talking about the same stuff?

doorgunner

I must have gotten mine at the automotive upholstery shop to do the floorboards/tunnel area....because it has a thin layer of Felt-looking material between the outer foil layers....it has to be cut with scissors....a box cutter can't handle it.

The seat partition/storage bins/wheel wells/deck under-side/tank-wall are definitely covered with the home-improvement wrap.....which can be cut with a box-cutter.

(The V.A. meds make me>>>>> )