4) Bought Garage Door weather stripping and fit and installed the hard top. Used a sodering iron to line the holes up and that worked very well. 9 foot roll of weather stripping and a cutting tool and tape cost $32. Have not tested it yet.
5) Pulled the hardtop sides off and put the hardtop together so that everything would line up properly. Tried doing it on the truck and it was a PITA so pulling everything off and bolting it together is the way to go.
6) Having a fitment problem with the hardtop going into the b pillar holes. Stepping away for a while to think about how to correct this issue. Any ideas would be helpful.
NOTE :'I would not recommend this.' Fit isn't right and there were gaps. I have since torn the hardtop down and will put in the correct weather stripping. Its worth the extra money. 4) Bought Garage Door weather stripping and fit and installed the hard top.
This weekend I am tightening everything up on the cruiser. At this point just waiting for parts. Pics to follow. After I get all this done I will be doing my first shake down run the following weekend. There's quite a bit to do but this is what's on my plate this weekend.
Here's whats on the agenda :
1) Check wires to horn and make sure that's working
2) Tighten up ebrake
3) Install new plugs and wires and cap/rotor
4) Wire up rear tail lights and side marker lights. Already installed just need to be attached to wiring harness
5) Install aftermarket 3 pt seat belts from Summit Racing
6) Install 5 wheel studs
7) Wire up windshield wipers
8) Install new drive belts
9) Fab rear hatch beam to fit rear hatch and install/align rear hatch.
Weekend goals always look great on paper. I really enjoy working on these 40's so the 18 hours I have getting my list accomplished was well worth it.
Items 1 and 2 were a breeze. We cleaned the connectors for the horn and that is working well and also adjusted the ebrake and tested and that is working well.
Also plugs/wires/cap and rotor were no big deal. Actually funny thing is the cap/rotor we replaced was pretty new looking and the plugs were new looking as well. I'm saving those for a rainy day.
Item number 4 however was a different issue. As you all know with wiring it can be a breeze but most of the time its a PITA. Twelve hours spent on the wiring alone. We hooked up the rear tail lights and pulled the lights on and the turn signal lights were bright (like when blinking bright). Then we checked all wiring in the front and it was correct. Checked all wiring in the back and found that the factory OEM tail lights were a two wire and not a 3 wire like on the factory wiring harness. So Mike had the idea of using a 3 wire 2 lamp application we found at O'Reillys. I will post some pics of this. Entirely fabbed and sealed. Pretty cool. I was impressed.
All the time Mike spent hunting down and testing the wires worked well. We also wired up the windshield wipers and they work correctly on low/high speeds. Also all wires and connectors are carefully shrink wrapped and weather proofed and zip tied out of the way. Looks really great.
This weekend I pulled the hard top off and installed the bikini top.
The bikini top comes with philipps head screws for the tiger channel. I threw those away and added hex head self tapping screws so I could unbolt them easier without worrying about stripping the head out.
My girl got in on the fun!!! n 's.
Also used the same hex head bolts on the footman loops. They installed easily.
Saturday I installed the rear license plate and am waiting on the front lisc plate bracket from CCOT. Also ordered some OEM mirrors that bolt into the windshield frame. I need to get some new doors pins and a rear rubber mat so ordering more parts.
Saturday installed the rear license plate, adjusted the windshield wipers, mocked up the seat belt straps (waiting for the CCOT 9 inch extension), spent the day cleaning the shop and warehouse to make room for the hard top.
This week I am buttoning up the last of the build :
1) New Front Brakes and Rotors ordered and will be installed
2) New Muffler ordered and will be installed
3) Ordered New Door Hinge pins and Front Door Strikers and installing those
4) Ordered a New Complete weather strip kit (uffda...expensive) and installing that this weekend
5) Installing custom rear lisc plate light
6) Installing rear tire swing out carrier
7) If I have time will sand down the air cleaner and paint it.
8) Also install new thermostat.
Checked the brakes just to have a game plan for when the pads and rotors come in, also painted the center caps black.
Had a bit of an issue with the thermostat housing and ended up breaking it off trying to remove it. Thankfully the 79 t-stat housing worked until I can get a new one...would have been up the creek if I didn't have the 79 laying around waiting for resto...check the pic out. Still haven't been able to figure out why it won't come apart.
Update on the thermostat : Its was the age old problem of steel screws bonding with aluminum housing. I found a lower housing from Lash and will be putting anti-sieze on the bolts so there will be no issues.
New thermostat works great tho...
Installed New Door Pins from CCOT and New Front Door Strikers
Installed the new muffler last night. Everything went really well. Mocked it up, welded it together and she's all quiet except the small idle issue I have. More to come on that later.
Bought all new Vacuum lines 5/32 for the emissions and replaced those. Took off a line and cut it to length and replaced it. Did that over and over again. I also found some lines that were off its breather nipple because the line was so dried out. Issue resolved.
Parts Needed :
25 ft spool of 5/32 Vacuum Line : I didn't measure but I bought enough line to replace new hoses on the 79. Really only need about 15ft to be safe.
Flat head screw driver to pull of old line
Light duty snip to cut line
About an hour to replace all lines and check for leaks.
n 
's.
