Have not painted the channels yet but did find out a few weeks ago that I needed to do that. Thanks for the heads up though. Little things like that can really mess you up.

Haven't been able to work on the car as much as I have hoped to but have been working on restoring the seatbelts. Here's a few shots. Here's a before shot, they look Blue but are supposed to be black.

I removed the buckles and washed them in the Kitchen sink (sshhh, don't tell the wife). This photo gives you an idea of what clean (before) water looks like.

And this is what the water looks like after washing off 40 years of grime.

As not to smell up the house or get dye on things I shouldn't, I got a cheap pot and an electric burner and using RIT Dye began to dye the belts outside.

Then, rinse.. hang and dry. Next up, seatbelt buckle restoration.

Joe those belts look great. I just cleaned mine but you took it to the next level. I may need to rethink my method. That is the nice thing about this web site. Sharing ideas and results. Looking great keep up the good work..

Share the pictures of the buckles as well.

If you do decide to redye yours, ECS sells repro. seatbelt tags. I'm thinking of putting these on mine.

http://www.ecsautomotive.com/productdesc.php?co=c&id=51

love the thread,, looks great,, for me, i'd have to change the valve covers, to original looking ones
but overall excellent!!

Thanks for the kind words. I may end up changing the valve covers. Originally, I was going to use stock valve covers but I have never had a car this "ORANGE" I thought about doing some vintage Direct Connection Chrome valve covers but they will reflect all the "ORANGE". So, I'm not sure how it will end up. I do like the Black Valve Covers and they break up all the Orange a bit. May run it for a while and then change them out.

Joe

How did the seatbelts turn out????

Here's a photo of the polished drip rail trim installed. Hard to get a good photo of it. Considering I'd never polished trim before, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

[quote Tom, the seatbelt dying has turned out pretty good but I think I may do one more round for good measure. they are black but I think they could be a bit darker. I probably should have put extra dye in the first batch or done them longer. I did them for the least amount of time as specified on the bottle but after they dried they "lightned" a little. They are no longer blue but I think they could be a deeper black so I'll do'em one more time.

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I found the seatbelt material to be really resistant to dying. I think you got the right idea. Maybe do one more time and really let it soak in scolding water.

I can't wait to see this car finished. Its gonna look awesome in orange and black

I can't wait to see it finished too.

How hard was it to polish the drip rails? Did you have just a regular buffer and a polish kit from Eastwood? Thinking of doing mine which is why I ask.

I bought a buffing wheel from Harbor Freight on sale for less than 50 bucks. I then used it with buffing compounds that I bought from ACE hardware (they were cheapest in my area for that). Using tips from this website Buffing Website I was able to get a pretty nice end result. My drip rails were not badly scratched so I did not need to sand them, the buffing and polishing took care of what fine scratches were there. I then hand rubbed in some Mother's liquid Metal Polish and buffed it out using an old dremel shoe buffer (was recommended by another moparts member). The lower front windshield molding has a some heavier scratches and I'm sure I will need to do some sanding before I try to buff it.

It wasn't hard, just time consuming. The more you buff and polish the nicer it gets. You have to be careful and be in the right frame of mind to do it so you don't hurt yourself or damage your trim. Hope that helps, sorry it took me so long to respond. Good luck!

Looking great! Great idea on the seat belts!

I have been off Moparts for a while dealing with some of the challenges of life. Will be starting back on the car this weekend.

Richard, sorry for not seeing your post regarding the bracket until now. Sent you a pm.

I've been wondering where you went.