A mixed bag, but at least some progress

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Dave
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A mixed bag, but at least some progress

Post by Dave » Fri Jul 31, 2009 10:47 pm

Since getting home from Carlisle, I've been out in the shop almost every evening doing at least a little something on Project Blue Bird. Yes, thanks to hanging out with Gary and Pam, I've gotten inspired to get back out there and work on what I can - even though time and money are both pretty tight.

I've been spending a good bit of time working on the aluminum tracks for the sunroof, trying to get them cleaned up to the point of being presentable. I've been a bit discouraged with the condition of the parts that I have, and have been trying to figure out what I'm going to do with everything. Some parts (the corners and the motor gear housing & cover are actually pretty decent, while the straight segments between them leave quite a bit to be desired. The long slide tracks that the door runs on are ok - but they could use some work too.

Anyway, as anybody who was following the updates from long, long ago might remember, I have 2 sunroof setups - the one that's in the car (a 19.5" door) and one that came out of a C-body (a 21" door). The front cable run parts are identical between the 2, and I've been missing (since the whole move with Operation New Nest) the two extra straight pieces, along with a couple other things, including the rear spoiler stanchions. Well, digging around in the shop tonight, I found a box that contained BOTH the stanchions and the extra sunroof pieces.

The mixed bag on the evening is that the 2 extra pieces are in a LOT better condition and with a bit more polishing time should turn out to be pretty acceptable for 38 year old parts. ;) The bad of the evening is that my one of my nicely painted stanchions collected a chip along the way, and is going to have to be repainted. I did get the other one installed though - and boy does it look sharp against the blue paint!
Dave
Founder - The Road Runner Nest

71 Plymouth Road Runner (Project Blue Bird)
71 Satellite Sebring Plus (383/2bbl/auto)

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74rr400
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Re: A mixed bag, but at least some progress

Post by 74rr400 » Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:12 pm

were yours polished from the begining? everything on my car save for the door is black. does that have to do with the difference between manual and electric or year?

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Dave
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Re: A mixed bag, but at least some progress

Post by Dave » Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:29 pm

Yes - mine are originally a natural / polished finish. It is the difference between the manual and power setups. The manual setups (available 73/74 and beyond)were still made by ASC, but were installed at the factory. The power setups (available 71/72) were installed by ASC as well - hence the requirement for vinyl top on the cars.

I've never had a manual roof apart, but from what I've seen there are very few, if any, shared parts between them and the power roofs.
Dave
Founder - The Road Runner Nest

71 Plymouth Road Runner (Project Blue Bird)
71 Satellite Sebring Plus (383/2bbl/auto)

sogtx
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My Cars: 71 hemi gtx , 69 1/2 bee, 69 rag RR, 74 chally 4 speed, 67 dodge stepside, 71/2 satellite resto mod track car ( under construction) , ?
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Re: A mixed bag, but at least some progress

Post by sogtx » Fri Aug 14, 2009 6:22 am

i started working on my sunroof car too , not inspired by pam and mike , but inspired by the fact that if i dont get this all bolted together , its gonna be hell to pack it up really quickly when my wife throws me out :lol:

so im putting her together
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Dave
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Posts: 844
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My Cars: 71 Plymouth Road Runner (Project Blue Bird)
71 Satellite Sebring Plus (383/2bbl/auto)
Location: Cleveland, OH
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Re: A mixed bag, but at least some progress

Post by Dave » Fri Aug 14, 2009 8:24 am

That's looking pretty good there. sogtx! That is going to be one heck of a cool ride when you get it done.

As an update on Blue Bird (gosh, I should probably actually update the project journal... lol) I did finally get through cleaning up the sunroof tracks. The long side tracks were the worst of everything, and I wound up going as far as 400 grit to clean them up. They still aren't perfect, but are clean enough to now match the rest of the track parts and heck, to me it's better than not having the sunroof at all. I have them installed in the car now just to see how they look together (they have to come back out for the headliner install). Of course, I cleaned up the heads of the 1,364,246,231 screws they used to hold it together. Ah for the days when labor was cheap.. heheh.

Next step is to get my drain tubes in place and run the power lead for the motor and I should be pretty much ready to get the headliner installed. :)
Dave
Founder - The Road Runner Nest

71 Plymouth Road Runner (Project Blue Bird)
71 Satellite Sebring Plus (383/2bbl/auto)

71runnerm51
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Re: A mixed bag, but at least some progress

Post by 71runnerm51 » Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:29 pm

yeah it's been quite some time since your last journal update :D some pics would be nice
Image

sogtx
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Joined: Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:30 pm
My Cars: 71 hemi gtx , 69 1/2 bee, 69 rag RR, 74 chally 4 speed, 67 dodge stepside, 71/2 satellite resto mod track car ( under construction) , ?
Location: Rochester NY

Re: A mixed bag, but at least some progress

Post by sogtx » Sat Aug 15, 2009 6:59 am

I just actually scored the headliner foam from Mr Boros .

I can look at all the illustrations and fsms and i still cant really envision how it a ll goes together and slides freely :lol:

my painter stripped a 75 doba with a sunroof last week , he said everything looks VERY similar

cant wait to see your progress ,

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/sho ... =0&fpart=2

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