Dick: I will throw some trivia your way as well. You say you lived in Miami back to 1961? My aunt moved there in the late 30's lived on NW 101ST ST. She was the Pres. of the National Bank of Miami,was friends with Helen and Charlie Calahan, they ran A deep sea charter on A boat named Helen C. My cousin was A car salesman(Chevy) and sold A 72 Impala to Mercury Morris. His name was Patrick Hoban hers was Alice Hoban. The Hatians and Cubans came and there went the hood. I use to visit her but it got so bad you could not even get A pizza to deliver to her home. Just thought I would throw that out there. The 40 Buick has the straight 8,good motor, mine has the nailhead 264 when Buick cracked into V/8.
When we moved to Miami we stayed at my best friends house for a few weeks until we got settled. He had moved to Miami a couple of years before. He married Maurice Ferrera's sister, BIG MONEY, Maurice later become mayor of Miami. The lived in Bay Point a upscale neighbor hood. We later moved to a over the garage apartment on 73 st. about a block from Bay Biscayne. My friend later moved to a Huge House on Brickell Ave. It had 6 huge columns and faced Bay Biscayne, you could not miss it when returning from the Aquarium, it since has been torn down for Hi-Rise Condos. It was nice having a rich friend, got to do a lot of things you dream about. We were in the process of buying a small 3/2 house when the company I worked for moved lock, stock and barrel to Riviera Beach, Fl. around 60 miles north just north of West Palm Beach, that was in 1962. We have been in this area ever since. Yes, race relations were pretty bad back then, especially between the blacks and latinos, whites got caught in the cross fire. I was glad to get out of there, to busy, but it seems everybody moved north and now we are just like Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, but still love it. The weather, beaches, sunshine and constant car shows are great but still you always miss your roots.
Dick.
Dick; just one more,have you heard of or been to A place called the Dinner Key.I have some photo's of my grandmother with her daughter (my dad's sister,my aunt) taken in 1940 standing in front of an amphibious airplane. Some kind of tourist or air hub? Thanks Mark P.S. does it still exhist ?
Back at it again. I was off awhile and was laid up due to foot surgery (joint),and too much H E A T !!! Got the seats back and they turned out well.I did the wind lace myself and had A buddy do they headliner. He has done many and it turned out well.I hired A glass guy to do the back glass even though I did the windshield myself and the back is easier but I wasn't up to it.One problem was when I ordered the rear gasket from Andy Bernbaum it came as 2 piece( upper 3/4 and the 1 across the bottom) I thought it would be A 1 piece. I knew I cannot get A moulded one. So it took A little trimming and some adhiesive but turned out well.Going to start putting the inside trim on and the lower back glass stainless with my new rubber hose spacer gaskets.I got the windlace plastic pins from Cilps and fasteners they worked out well,I think the box was like around $5.00 plus ship.You need alot of them as my old metal one were not too good.Another thing when I got the rear gasket it did not come with the glass lock strip (A thin band of rubber used like A wedge after the install) I don't know if they forgot to ship it or I can't get it, but my glass guy had an extra in his truck and it worked well.I am going to slow the pace down on the car and stretch into winter as it will not be going out this year anyway. It gives me something to do while it snows!!!! Later Mark
Dan; I did the windlace with the dash in.I wired it through, the I think 3 holes, that are hard to get to and pulled it tight. I did it under the dash and took the side screw out and it created enough gap to see the hole locations.The windlace is from SMS,so is the seat fabric,vinyl,and headliner. Thanks Mark
Thanks for the tip Mark, l did my red car with the dash in not knowing there is a small metal plate that holds the windlass tight at that radical bend with screws. Mine is sagging pretty bad and l certainly do not want to take the dash out. The convertible was a snap because the dash was out and l could see how it was held in with that small piece of metal. I will give your method a try. If you could, please detail your method a little more. Glad you are back in gear, your upholstery looks great.
Dick
Dick discusses some of his travails with windlace - and other dashboard adventures - here. For reference, here's a picture of his windlace in place with the dash out:
I took the screw out, you can see the one in my last pic.Gently pried it A little wider to see the hole locations(the screw will pull it back in anyway) and lined up and marked the windlace tab margin to the hole location with A sharp,very small allen wrench (it needs 90 degree angle) then made the hole in the tab and crawled underneath and behind it under the dash.On the passenger side I used A heavy guage wire(coated,I think #12) put A bend on it and threaded it through the tab and into the hole,gave it A pull and twisted it and cut the xtra.On the driver side I found that A small tywrap works better. I took the lead inch or so and put A 90 bend on it and threaded it through and put it in the zip lock and pulled it tight and it mated up to the hole tightly and cut off the xtra length with side cutters.Small needle nose pliers is A must as well.It is difficult I will say but can be done. There is just not enough room to get the pins in and do it the right way with the dash in.It also helped that my seats are not in the car and I use one of those led flashlight/headband type(I like those) flashlights for hands free work. Mark
Got A little more. Xmatted the floor, put in the package tray, side panels, and the stationary rear glass trim. I also set the upper seat back in. Next is carpet. Mark
