Where to begin...?

[dascoupeguy]

Hypothetically... If you were about to get your car back from the body/paint shop and you had finished all the stuff that needed repairing, replated, reupholstered, recoated, not to mention having acquired all the rubber goods that needed replacement...
What would you do first? Where would you start?

I did one of these 25 years ago, but I'm old now and can't remember what I did first on THAT one! ;-)

Just throwing this out for 'critical' commentary! DCG

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

I started with the trim- it's hard to get the bolts easily when anything else is on. The bumpers should be easy and you don't need to get behind them, then the tail light lenses and back stuff. The marker and direction lights can go on next- you'll start to remember-

Just some thoughts

 

[Stan]

But wait a while for the paint to fully harden or cure before re installing the belt trim or you will see the paint "ripple"

 

[Ives]

Trim and Paint

I recently installed belt line trim over 3 month old
Paint and used Paul Cain's spacers as stand offs. They
work great and hold the trim about 1/8" off the surface
of the paint. I also used W&N fasteners out of Germany
and they are very well made.

Regards, Jon

 

[rsporsche]

I recently installed belt line trim over 3 month old
Paint and used Paul Cain's spacers as stand offs. They
work great and hold the trim about 1/8" off the surface
of the paint. I also used W&N fasteners out of Germany
and they are very well made.

Regards, Jon

Jon,

any pictures of the fasteners and the spacers?

 

[dascoupeguy]

I think 1/8" is stretching it... should be more like .018"?

I am considering these...

 

[DWMBMW]

If you are going to replace the rubber gasket that travels up and down with the rear windows, do that first because after that everything else will seem easy. I recently repalced mine and used one of DQ's extremely helpful posts for guidance. He noted it was difficult for him which means its almost impossible for most people (at least it was for me).

Doug

 

[jmackro]

What would you do first? Where would you start?

One rule of thumb for the reassembly sequence is to install the largest parts first. That cleans up your garage faster and makes the car look more complete. Stuff like seats, glass, bumpers, grilles, ...

Inevitably, you will need to remove one part to install another. But that's part of the fun.

 

[dang]

I'd start with a beer.

 

[kasbatts]

I'd start with a beer.

Many Many beers


For what it's worth, the Belt line trim needs to be one of the first (ish) things to go on, at least before any of the assembly of the doors and rear windows etc.


Good luck

 

[Swobber]

Id start with wiring loom, brake pipes etc ... Do the inner layers first.

 

[dang]

Post photos of what you have and we'll be glad to coach and supervise as you go! In fact, if you could install a couple webcams, we'll Skype all our instructions to you live.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

I wonder if there is some kind of official publication that goes step-by-step for production assembly- that would be cool too because it would give us the correct sequence to take them apart. Just a thought incase there are any factory mechanics out there

 

[Stan]

Is that going to be DeQuincy's new book?

 

[dascoupeguy]

Dang... First, beer is over-rated.... I'd stick with margaritas....I was under 'THAT' influence when I got the tub!

Second, the webcam thing is tempting... it would kinda be like hidden cameras in frat houses... running 24/7... just 'tune-in' anytime to see what's happening... hours and hours of boredom punctuated by 30 seconds of excitment here and there...! ;-) DCG