356 C Dash Project Gone Wild!

[Paul Hatfield]

With my work on the dash vent lever assembly complete (see above), I kept telling myself: “Do it right, do it once.” That translated into completing a restoration of the air vent system, not just the dash portion. Yes, I know, who cares?
I removed the cable and pulled the wire out of the sheath for some cleaning and lubrication. No big deal there.
I then removed the two fresh air diverter valves in the front trunk. These valves are so very often never restored. Nothing like a little Rustoleum and a sticker and call it good.
Not for Miss June though.
I pulled them from the car and gave them a thorough cleaning in the sink with soap and water. The foam that seals the flapper doors went to dust and went right down the sink drain with almost no water pressure at all. Totally gone.
For those who do not know, there are two doors in each diverter. See photo below. One opens and closes the air towards the footwell, the other towards the defroster. When both are closed, the fresh air is turned off. The lever switches them from defroster, or footwell, or off.
After giving them a good cleaning, I used satin black paint to touch up the front side of each diverter. I left the back side in original paint so that the code, G4 would remain. The satin black paint matched well.
After paint I color sanded the assemblies with 2000 grit sandpaper and then waxed them.
The gearing and levers cleaned up and I did not have to re-plate them.
Couple of originality notes:
1. There was black cloth electrical tape over the slits at both the opening where the air enters, and also at the exit for the air to the defroster. It was obvious only when cleaning. This was on both sides and I doubt most people ever notice this tape. It is not the plastic style electrical tape, it’s the cloth type.
2. There was clearly a green inspectors paint on the nut holding the gears in place. I took a photo of what remained on one of them and show a comparison shot of the green paint I used to replicate it.
3. My diverters had only one sticker. That is on the passenger side. Some think there should be one on the drivers side (backside and out of view). All I can say is my car showed no evidence of this and I did not put one back on there. Passenger side only.

I used weatherstrip with the sticky back to replace the old foam on the doors. This was not an elegant installation, but it worked. It seals well enough, and cannot be seen. I felt it was a 100% upgrade over the foam that dissolved.

So, that’s it for the diverters. I also cleaned the original rubber vents in the sink with soap and water. They are still in good shape.

[Paul Hatfield]

Been working on the original ashtray lately. I decided to take it apart for restoration of the body and re-chrome of the bracket and the face of the ashtray.

The bracket is still at the chrome shop. I was able to carefully remove the peel-and-stick "liner" on top of the bracket, so I'll be able to place it back on the bracket once I get it back.

Photos below of the progress.

-Paul

[Jim Nelson]

Paul, I think your interior work would go pretty well with the exterior of Justin's car....best of both worlds...

[Paul Hatfield]

Thank you Jim! Much appreciated!

[Cliff Hanson]

I then removed the two fresh air diverter valves in the front trunk. These valves are so very often never restored. Nothing like a little Rustoleum and a sticker and call it good. Not for Miss June though.
I pulled them from the car and gave them a thorough cleaning in the sink with soap and water. The foam that seals the flapper doors went to dust and went right down the sink drain with almost no water pressure at all. Totally gone.
I left the back side in original paint so that the code, G4 would remain. The satin black paint matched well. After paint I color sanded the assemblies with 2000 grit sandpaper and then waxed them.
The gearing and levers cleaned up and I did not have to re-plate them.
I used weatherstrip with the sticky back to replace the old foam on the doors. This was not an elegant installation, but it worked. It seals well enough, and cannot be seen. I felt it was a 100% upgrade over the foam that dissolved.

So, that’s it for the diverters. I also cleaned the original rubber vents in the sink with soap and water. They are still in good shape.

(quote edited)
Paul, I must say your work is outstanding! (I think that maybe I need to upgrade my standards.) I did want to restore my diverters so the flapper doors would seal and not leak air, so I drilled out the rivets and beadlasted and repainted the two halves separately, glued on new foam and reassembled with aircraft rivets. I guess I should have painted the rivet heads but didn't. I painted the lever and gears with Rustoleum aluminum, but didn't preserve the G4.

These air valves are rather ingenious the way they work with the gears and the magnets that hold the two doors together.

[Alex Mestas]

Hi Paul
Nice job on the fresh air diverter valves. Congratulations. Other than disconnecting and cleaning and waxing mine I was hesitant to disassemble them. It looks like future project. 

With respect to the ash tray, what material is the actual tray. Was it originally painted? My 63 ashtray appears to be dirty/unpainted galvanized metal.

Yours looks great.


 

[Paul Hatfield]

Cliff-
Thanks for the compliments. Yes, those parts are quite creative and really they are kind of fun to work on.
My pace through this "dash restoration" is very very slow. It has also expanded to cover many other interior parts as you can see from the photo below.
I am not going to buy any reproduction parts though. Only original stuff for Miss June and I am most excited about saving the original headliner.
Good luck with your project(s).
ps- Sorry for the terrible photo. When I downsized it for publishing here it became very grainy. There is also a reflection of the ceiling light that shows up like a black flaw in the chrome. Too bad because actually these parts are very pretty.
Paul

[Paul Hatfield]

Alex-
Hard to say what the original tray coating was, however I think galvanized may be a good guess. It is not a paint.
Hope to see you in Santa Fe. Please contact me via e-mail if you are going.
KTF-
Paul

[Paul Hatfield]

Cliff-
Just trying another photo to see if it posts any better.

[Cliff Hanson]

Alex-
Hard to say what the original tray coating was, however I think galvanized may be a good guess. It is not a paint.
Hope to see you in Santa Fe. Please contact me via e-mail if you are going.
KTF-
Paul

I'm quite sure the aft part of the ashtray was galvanized or cad plated as mine was original and in pretty good condition. They most likely did the chrome and other plating on the separate pieces and then assembled them.

[Cliff Hanson]

Cliff-
I am not going to buy any reproduction parts though. Only original stuff for Miss June and I am most excited about saving the original headliner.
Paul

Paul, how can you restore a car to the level you obviously are without using any reproduction parts? Some or a lot of the original parts are just to far gone,such as bent and scarred up bumper deco strips, etc.

[Paul Hatfield]

Cliff-
For those of us who are originality obsessed, the first attempt (and second, and third) is to retain the original part. Normally with large amounts of time and cash, the part can be restored. Not for everyone, and certainly not practical in the eyes of many.
Reference 356 Registry magazine for Sept- Oct of 2010, page 60. That article shows how many parts are date coded or date stamped on Miss June. I am not about to take parts like that off of the car- that's just my thing.
Still, I do like to restore the parts to the best possible condition. Sure some might say it is no longer original then. Ok, that's their take on it, but after all, it's my car and I'm happy with the result.
To each their own. Lots of ways to enjoy these cars.

[Paul Hatfield]

I am restoring each of the switches in the dash. Taking them apart, cleaning and lubing. I will also clean up the lights as part of this electrical system cleansing. Fog lights complete.
On to the next item.

[Paul Hatfield]

Working my way through each switch. The ignition switch is now complete.
There wasn't any problem with the switch, just cleaned it up.
Very satisfied with the result.

[Dave Whittick]

What holds the turn signal switch handle onto the chrome lever? Was is originally an adhesive? I'm trying to remove mine but it's stubborn and I don't want to crack it.