I'm about to re-install the stock 69 sidepipe covers and can't tell if the top of the covers screw into the birdcage (i welded in a new lower member so no holes in it) or just use the threaded nuts that come in the mounting kit by putting them behind the slots in the fiberglass portion that runs along the bottom (on the outside of the birdcage).

When i got the car Bubba had just used selftapping screws right into the birdcage.

Any help would be appreciated.

Mike

 

Th sidepipe covers use the same holes as the lower trim molding

 

Not on mine. I bolted the covers to the fiberglas and not the frame.

 

They go into the fiberglass that mounts the standard lower trim moulding. They do NOT go into the frame or the birdcage. (Both of the other responses are saying the same thing.....)

 

Thanks! That makes it a lot easier.

Mike

 

I'm in the middle of replacing my old covers. Just put on the passenger side tonight. Problem is I had to replace the oversize jack nuts (1/4" x 20) that the previous owner had used in order to use the smaller 10/24 pan head screws to correctly mount the top side of the cover to the car. My covers came with the installation hardware but I could see no way to utilize the 10/24 flat bottom threaded inserts. There is no way to install these with the pipes already on the car as the pipes block access the lower channel. Even if I remove the pipes I don't see how the flat bottom inserts are retained/affixed to the vehicle. I tried the 10/24 inserts with the teeth/spikes but they have nothing to bite into as just behind my fiberglass bottom channel there is a steel back/support.
I could pry the fiberglass away from the steel channel and slide the inserts between the steel and fiberglass but I don't think the glass will flex out that far without cracking/breaking. How do you intend to handle this?

At this point I either need to locate some 10/24 jack nuts or cut a narrow slot at the bottom of the fiberglass just below each hole and then slide the provided insert between the glass and rear steel support. I'd like to use well nuts but they aren't available in half inch diameters for 10/24 thread sizes.

I'm interested in hearing any suggestions.

 

I just put the covers back on my 69 after getting them re-chromed. What a pain. The "right" way to do it is to use the threaded inserts that come with the installation kit, if your car's original inserts are rusted or stripped. The way it comes from the factory, there are threaded inserts spot welded to the back of the birdcage. There are slots cut in the fiberglass where the inserts poke through on the outside, and the cover screws thread into them. Easy, right?? Wrong.

If your inserts are rusted/stripped (as mine were), then (do to it right) you need to drill out the old inserts, reach up between the frame and the birdcage and put in the new insert. The tricky part is that they need to be riveted to the birdcage so that they don't spin. Drill a 1/8 inch hold in the insert and then drill a 1/8 inch hole in the birdcage (using the insert as a gauge for placement of the holes so that they line up). Place the insert behind the birdcage, line up the holes for the rivet and pop 'er in.

Easy, right? No way. It's a total pain in the behind, but it comes out looking right (you can use the original flat black panhead mounting screws) and it is solid. Don't tighten the screws too tight or you will either crack the fiberglass (voice of experience...) or pull the screw right through the glass.

Of course if you want to "cheat" and do it the Bubba way......

Of course you don't.

Good luck. It's a good weekend of work, if you need to replace all 8 of the inserts.

 

Well after hearing that I don't feel so bad spending three hours installing just one cover. You can easily bubba one on in less than 30 min but I spent time test fitting and making sure the cover didn't bind once the front and rear supports were pulled down tight against the frame.

My factory threaded inserts were MIA and the previous owner had installed jack nuts in their place. They work but they are too large for use of the correct 10/24 pan head screws (he used 1/4"x20 cap bolts and they looked awful). I finally picked up some nylon push blocks/nuts and installed them. They worked like a charm but I'll need to check them to see how they hold up to the heat in that area. May have to go with the pop rivets in the end. You'ld think that the provided inserts would have instructions for attaching them. There's no way to weld them in at this point.

 

Now I'm confused -so the inserts do go into the bird cage? If so, the flat head screws that came with the mounting kit are too short to make from the thick covers, past the slots in the fiberglass and into the cage??

Mike

 

I think you may be confusing the cage with the frame.
If you look at the fiberglass attaching point (where the top row of screw holes on the covers align with the body) you should see three things. The outer most contact point is the fiberglass body. It's pretty thin at this point, nearly 3/16" thick. Just behind, and touching the fiberglass, is a steel frame/channel that's maybe an 1/8" thick. Between this fiberglass & steel attaching point and the frame is a gap of perhaps 1/2". I believe that the steel channel just behind the fiberglass may be what others are referring to as part of the actual "bird cage". If your flat head screws are like mine they are plenty long (about an inch) to reach through the cover and then into the retainers if they are fitted into the fiberglass/steel channel.

After reading the previous post on pop-riveting them onto the car. I'm thinking that they could also be attached with the threaded hole pushed into the fiberglass vs. installing them from the backside (making the threaded inserts much closer to the covers) and riveted on from the outside. My concern here would be fit & finish as the rivets would create small high spots at each attachment point as well as strengh as the flat part of the insert would be pulling on the rivets vs. creating a sandwich effect when installed from the rear.

I'll have to look at that alternative tonight.

 

Not a bad idea, Fred. Hadn't thought of that. I just looked at the way that the factory did it and tried to replicate that process (as closely as possible-obviously the spot welding thing won't work with the body on the frame), but you may have a way that would work out nicely. Like you say, fit and finish would be different and it would be obvious that there had been a repair once the cover is removed, but with the cover in place (and the rivet placed such that it didn't interfere fit-wise with the cover), it might just work.

Too late for me.......but let me know what you think in case (heaven fobid) I ever need to do this operation again!!

By the way, your definition of "birdcage" is the one that I have been using and I think the other guys too.

 

Well, I took an even closer look at this tonight as I still have to mount the drivers side.

First, the stock sidepipe covers do not mount to the same screw points as the original lower trim molding. I have a 2nd 71 with stock trim sitting just feet away from the one I'm working on and the screw holes are in two different places. With the lower section of the car exposed it's easy to see where the original side molding attaches vs. the attachment points for the sidepipe covers. Placing the new cover next to the car with the original molding the difference is even more obvious.

So, that said, there must be a way to attach the supplied 10/24 retainers but I cannot see how. I looked at riveting them to the glass/steel lower section but the existing holes for the previously mounted covers are nearly 1/2" in diameter so there is not enough material on the supplied retainers to attach them in that way. As an alternative you can use get the exact same "tee nuts" from Lowe's with star point on them but again, holding them from behind the fiberglass while mounting the covers is not practical.

Took the passenger sidecover for a spin tonight just to see how the nylon 1/2" blind thread plugs took the heat. In a word they're perfect.
Couldn't be happier with how easy they are to insert and how firmly they hold the cover to the vehicle. Think I'm going to go this route again for the drivers side. Gotta get that done soon because with just one cover on I'm forced to drive the car clockwise around the block so my neighbors only see the finished side.

 

Where did you place the push nuts, behind the glass or the thin metal (birdcage)? My flat head screws do not reach the metal portion. . I might just try to find similar flat heads, but longer and drill holes in the thin metal and just push in the flat bottom threaded do-dads, or try to tack weld them on the thin metal cage.

Thanks,
Mike

 

Well, first let me say that I don't know if the existing holes are stock - but they do look so. They are 7/16 in diameter.
The previous owner installed factory side exhaust on the vehicle some 25+ years ago. The holes I'm working with align perfectly with the new reproduction covers which says something for the quality of the reproductions. They look exactly like my old covers only shiny.

Unfortunately, at sometime in the past the previous owner decided to go with larger 1/4 x 20 cap bolts which, of course, required larger retainers in along the side of the car. Thus, each retainer hole has a 1/4 x 20 jack nut in it (self locking blind anchor much like a drywall anchor).
I, like you, want to go with the much smaller and better looking 10/24 pan/flat head machine screws supplied with the covers. Best option I've found are the blind (installs from the front of the hole) nylon anchors. You simply push them into the existing holes (not mounted from behind) and when the 10/24 machine screw is threaded into the anchor, the rear of the anchor expands making it impossible to pull back through the hole. You can get'em at Lowes in the speciality fasteners drawer for about a buck a pair. They're labeled as ".375 x .616 square nylon anchor nut". Yes, they're square and not round like the hole but they do work and if you don't like them you're only out $10 and they pull right out once you remove the screw.

 

Thanks, I'll hit Lowe's this weekend and give it a try.

Mike