May 2013 Progress Report

May's pleasant weather and longer days have allowed me more opportunity to make progress on Tillie's  reconstruction. Those of you who have been following this blog may recall how last month I was so proud of myself getting the metal dash fascia and various pads installed...well ,one evening as I was admiring my handy work, it dawned on me that I didn't bolt in the windshield support brackets before installing the dash! A quick look confirmed my fears...getting those brackets bolted in with the dash already in place was going to be most difficult. Oh well, out came the dash and in went the brackets!

Right side

 Left side

As long as I'm going down this road, I may as well get the windshield frame bolted down and seated!

But before you bolt everything in place, make sure you have installed the vinyl covering that  goes over the inside of the windshield frame...especially the sides and bottom. I'll let you guess how I discovered this little item. Sigh!

Ok, here we are...back where I started but with the wind shield frame in place.

If there is one good thing about my "one step forward two steps backward" mode of restoration, it's the fact that I again start looking ahead for the next part to install before getting too far along. In this case, the steering column came to mind. I'm going to have many wires running right smack under the dash where the steering will be located...perhaps I need to get that column back in position! So, I get out the box labeled steering, lay everything out, and then panic when I realize I didn't take enough detailed photos of how the various parts go together!

Ok, calm down, first let's put  Art Lipp's Delrin bushings in the top and bottom of the upper column.
Going back and reviewing Bob Danielson's "how to" web page concerning these neat bushings, plus a steering column search of the 6-Pack web site,  gave me the confidence to move forward.

Getting the sequence of these spacers and washer took a bit of reading in Bentley's manual.

This looks correct !  If you're doing this project, consider a new rubber steering coupler. 

And now the top part of the column is in place and snugged down with new pieces of felt under the clamps. 

I'm always amazed at what the various vendors supply...in this case, TRF supplied felt of the correct thickness and size for the steering column clamps!

 I continue to work on wiring and I'm hoping by the end of next month to have the dash wiring in place and tested. Stay tuned.