Nice work-can't deny 69 corvette convertible is such a desirable car, but then I'm biased.

 

Thanks Berger!

I ended up starting a new thread for my homelink install. I finished that last year. Works like a charm, although there were a handful of negative-nancy's commenting on it. Here's a link.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-opener-2.html

No idea who the former owner of my vert was (I picked it up from specialist corvette dealer), but in addition to a heavy left braking foot, they didn't bother to properly bolt in the driver's seat belt.

I notice in your pic that behind your 4th gill it's body color instead of black, and body color on your rims. I kinda like the rims. Also, your lower side valance panel is silver with a black stripe, whereas mine is black with a silver stripe. Any idea which is original? Was it an option?

 

Good eye!
I noticed the blue rear-most louver opening once I installed them last year. After I took this picture, I removed that trim ring and painted the opening black, which looks much better.
The wheels (like the rest of the car) were painted a mystery blue by 2 owners ago, and I've struggled to find a good match (It's somewhere between your LeMans, and the 1970 Bridgehampton Blue).
The rocker molding (from what I've been told) is correct for late 69's. Mine has a July '69 VIN date, so it's proper - even though there have been several of those late/early content differences that don't seem to have been followed rigidly by GM at the time. I think they used up what they had on most mid-year changes, and the breakpoints were rather "fuzzy".

 

Came across your thread on a search for a Cold Case radiator. How's it working out for you? Just ordered one from Summit.

 

I have no complaints. Works as it should, and it's a good looking unit. Side tanks are press formed and look stock, aside from the fact they're aluminum. Not pieced together like some brands.

 

The beat goes on...

I finally bit the bullet and decided to pull my steering wheel off so I could sand and paint my flaking turn signal/ignition key collar on the column. I put together a homemade wheel puller and popped the steering wheel off, started disassembling the guts in the column, pulled off the turn signal assembly and wiring, removed the four bolts holding the collar...and nothing. Collar wouldn't budge. I wasn't sure how it came off and didn't want to force anything, so I reached out to Ernie @ Willcox and he confirmed that it should come off after removing the four bolts. It felt like it was stuck on there good. I decided to just pull the whole column out and see what the deal was.






After removing the column, I did some gentle prying on the collar and it did finally come off. It was a bit of a press fit, which is why it felt like it was still bolted to the column. Lots of dust, gunk, and dried up grease in the column, so I'm glad I pulled it out. Time for a little rehab.


Brand new horn button needed paint.

Three coats of color and 4 of high gloss clear.

Much improved!

My other baby in the background. Pretty close color match!

Collar reinstalled. Trying to keep the fresh paint protected.

And, back in the car. Sharp eyes will notice I have one more piece left to paint.

Had to stop for the night. Still need to bolt on the wheel and install the new horn button.

Although you can't see it in the pics, there were one or two small imperfections in the paint. Even so, I was pretty happy with the final product.

I do have to give props to anyone who does paint and body work and does it well. It takes much more patience than I have on tap!

Rick

 

Looks good

 

Checking more items off my to-do list.

Every time I would shut the door on my 69, a sprinkle of fine dust would waft into the cabin. It was due to the ancient disintegrating foam in the door panel inserts.
Time to fix that.

Step one: remove door panel, then remove the staples holding the insert in place.




Pull all the staples holding the fabric in place.



Here's what's causing the mess.



Remove the staples holding the metal prongs.



Used the old cardboard backer as a template and cut a new piece out of thin plywood. Replaced the metal prongs and stapled them in place.



Test fitting.



Covered the new backer with some thermo king foam I had left over from when I installed my new carpet. Left an extra 1/8" around the edges so the fabric wouldn't be right against the edges of the plywood.



Stapled the fabric back on.




And, back together again.



Still have to do the passenger side. I'm going love not having foam dust getting in my eyes every time I drive!
Rick

 

Moving on...
I've been curious to see if I still have a tank sticker, and I've been wanting to start rehabbing the fuel system. New tank hoses, new filler neck boot, etc.
So...




And the answer is, yes...and no. There was no print still legible. Too bad.



Oh well. It wasn't a wasted effort. It's forced me to address some things I had been putting off.

One of those was the spare tire carrier. A poor repair by a previous owner of the fiberglass tub that needed to be redone and properly painted. Still working on it, but getting there.




In the course of cleaning all the gunk off the old gas tank and then wire wheeling all the rust off, I found a pin hole in the bottom of the tank. If it had been in the top, I'd have been tempted to epoxy it and be done. But I'm not taking a chance on a leaky tank filling my garage with fumes. I'm replacing it all with new. Amazon will be delivering my new tank this week, and a new sending unit and filler neck gasket are coming via ebay. More pics to come as I get things put back together.
Rick

 

"While I was repairing the door panel I removed the fuel tank...…" (Yes...you love Corvettes!)

My build sheet was completely readable...…….

except for the fact that a mouse shredded it into about 200 pieces and made a nest with it. Being a rookie to Corvettes I threw the nest away not knowing it was a historical record of the car

Keep up the good work.

 

It wasn't quite like that. But I swear, you start one job and it leads to at least five others!

 

So, after wasting half a day cleaning up the old tank only to find out it had a hole in it, I ordered a new tank. I had already ordered a sending unit and filler neck gasket. Everything arrived last week and I was able to get it all installed over the weekend, just didn't have time to fill it and check for leaks.

Tank removed. Previous owner installed a new passenger side half shaft (why not both!!!?). Original 9 leaf spring is next on my hit list. Going with a monospring someday soon.






I'm looking forward to this weekend when I can put a couple gallons in the tank and make sure all is well sealed. While I have the exhaust off, I repainted the mufflers flat black. I'm also fixing the spare tire carrier and will paint that when I'm done. Always more to do!
Rick

 

Got everything back together and buttoned up this weekend. Spare tire tub needed some fiberglass repair, and then painting. The metal support had to come off, which meant I also had to put it back on again. Riveting is not as easy as you might think. I already had some button head rivets that would work, but not the right tool for the job. I ended up drilling/grinding a concavity into the end of an airhammer bit and used that. It wasn't perfect, but the job is done!

 

Now that looks good/neat.

 

I like how it looks too. I was a little disappointed that I had to paint the tub due to the repairs, but the flat black on it and the mufflers works well for me.

 

Would satin black look better to you? The good news is.....whenever it needs a touch-up it's only a five-minute repair.

 

Not necessarily. I had a couple cans of satin on hand also. It was just that the tub in it's natural state would've been preferable to me. The bare fiberglass resin from the factory is a dark charcoal color with curly strands of glass visible throughout. Kind of cool looking. But that ship has sailed. I'm not throwing a bunch of $ into a replacement tub.

 

Took a little bit of a break from working on the car, but I'm back at it again. Working on rebuilding the front end.

Lots of cleaning and painting going on.

 

Looks great Rick!

 

Just read your thread from day one. You sure have a beauty there and your restoration efforts are really paying off handsomely! I really like the color, very close to my '71 Mulsanne Blue...

Paul