Hiya Since everyone I know is going for smaller and more economical cars I decided that the only proper thing to do is to buy a gas-guzzling Chevy. I will try to use it as a daily driver for as long as the summer lasts and start restoring it when the weather starts to get crappy. It's not like you see those every day here in northern Europe, and I can't just go to the closest junk yard to get parts. So I have a few questions for those of you who might have more experience with these old fullsize GM's My car (imported early this year from California) is a 6 seater and it's missing all the floor mats etc from rear seat backwards. I've been trying to google for hours searching for pictures of what is supposed to be there, but with no luck. I assume the rear end is supposed to be flat from the rear seat to the tailgate? If someone has a similar age Bel Air / Impala / Biscayne and could take pictures of the cars trunk I would be more than grateful. Does the 4-door wagon use the same door weatherstripping than the 4-door sedan? And has anyone found (reasonably priced) tailgate weatherstripping or should I just go with what hardware stores have to offer? I can't seem to figure out what's the name of the vertical window rubber seal that is mounted to the door. There is one that rises with the window, but the stationary rubbers have crumpled so that the water can leak inside the door. I just don't know what they are called in English Another thing that has been bothering me, when the fuel gauge says the tank is empty it takes only 45 liters (11 gallons or so) of fuel to get full. All the specs and manuals I've found are saying that it has/should have 20+ gallon fuel tank. Then again, most manuals and manufacturers parts lists also say it has leaf springs, but its running coils on all corners. Still I'm wondering if my fuel tank sending unit is broken or if it really should have that small tank? I guess i could always siphon it and see how much comes out, but I would not prefer to run it empty since I don't know how much crap is on the bottom.
Welcome to the forum, Solar4! You've got your work cut out for you for sure on that '68..... I'll try to answer a few of your questions if I can. You can also 'search' for some topics as well. Our 'restoration' section is good - has a lot of links for good vendors, etc. For your weatherstripping, I'm not sure the rear sedan door would have the same part as the wagon. Seems at the top of the door frame, the wagon has an actual 'angle' on it, while the sedan has a 'curve' to it.... One place that is widely used for weatherstripping is Steel Rubber Products: http://www.steelerubber.com/ As for your gas tank, it probably needs to be replaced, as well as the sending unit. 43 years takes it toll........you should be able to get close to the stated 18 gallons in it. One thing could be throwing you off though - is your metric conversion to U.S. gallons or 'Imperial' gallons? ................................ Edit - Never mind. You've got it correct. You should be able to put about 68 liters of fuel in that tank (18 gas US). -- You've probably got a whole bunch of gink and rust in there. I'm surprised it doesn't have pinholes in it.... Post up ome pics when you can. And again, Welcome! Marshall P.S.: we've got quite a lot of American wagon owners from all over Europe on here.....
Welcome solar, hope you get some answers...I'm no help, but follow the advince from these guys. They'll do their best to help you.
On many models, those stationary side glass weather stripping pieces have felt or even a brush like appearance on them. I guess the proper terminology would be "door glass weatherstrip", but I have heard them called "window felts", "window fuzzys" and "cat wiskers".
1st off congrats on the car and here we go with weatherstrip 101 the rear doors on wagons are different than a 4 door at the back top corner. the w/s that goes up the front of the window and attaches to the vent window frame are called 'division bars' the w/s thats under your arm as your cruisinf with the window down are called 'window felts' by the business's...tho some call them 'fuzzies' or 'cat whiskers' as for the tailgate and all the rest...try www.metrommp.com they have some stuff noone else does and lastly.......
Thanks guys. Unfortunately neither metrommp.com or steelerubber.com didn't have the weatherstripping I was looking for. I'll keep on searching, there is no rush since I'm just trying to gather parts for the upcoming restoration. I know a local place that probably can help me but the price is high. Fortunately the tailgate-to-body rubber looks something that could be bought from a hardware store and glued on with a bit of contact adhesive. Yeah I have a whole lot to do on the wagon. It has surface rust on quite a lot of panels, mostly on the interior where it seems that the factory paint has been either a bit thin or is not as rust preventative than on the outside parts. So far all the rust I have found has come out really well with just a wire brush so I'm hoping that there are no big surprises anywhere. I know that usually the worst place for rust is the passenger side floor where heater can leak water, but it seems to be in good order. So far i'd say that the wagon is in better condition than my 30-odd years newer Mitsubishi. Then again, i don't think that they spread salt on the roads in California The brakes and the suspension are things I will first look into. I've emailed few places for freight quotas on full disc brake (with booster) upgrades and i'm hesitating if i should go with air suspension or not. I would like a self-leveling kit but then the prices go way high. Currently the car has cut coils on all corners, the stance is good and the height is really good too, the car has not bottomed out once, but i haven't yet tried with a heavy load.. The interior of the car looks quite exploded, but i'm not worried about that. I will need to make new front door cards, but they (as well as the seats and the headliner) will be re-upholstered by a professional. I'm planning on a big stereo system, but i want to hide it as well as possible and try to respect the cars original look as well as i can. Fortunately this has the room to hide the speakers Oh and the pictures, i took some. Did I mention that it's running on 20" rims and has a flat paint? There are two pictures of the car at http://solar4.wellfish.fi/belair and the last one is of the piece of the weatherstripping i was asking for. After closer inspection it seems to be just a standard rubber profile so i can most likely buy that in rolls from the local dealer that has specialized in such stuff.
Oh and as you might notice from the wet hood, the car does not actually fit under the roof. Also my neighbor has issues fitting his car on to the next parking lot
Hello from Central California! Nice to see these rides are world-wide! Do not buy sedan door weatherstripping. It will leak. I bought SoffSeals for the front doors. Fit perfectly, pins in the right places, perfect cut, but the profile of the rubber was too small and did not fill the gap. The rubber material should have had the same profile as used on Chevelle wagons and El Caminos. My wagon never had mats on the rear deck. As for the manuals, i have never had much use for the aftermarket one-size-fits-all books. The factory manual is the one to have, or Motors manual or National Service Data manuals. Happy Hunting!
