With the AC work almost done and the new front wheels still delayed, our friend opted to do the transmission swap. Being an older gentleman, the clutch was hard on his knee. We all understood that issue and would rather drive the car rather than see it sit, so an automatic 4L80E transmission was located. While we waited on the arrival of the transmission, we removed the carpet so that we could start planning the reconstruction of the hump area and found this mess.
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Someone had used galvanized sheet steel for household heating ducts to fabricate a transmission hump. The panel was just screwed in place with no sealant, allowing for water, heat, and exhaust fumes to enter the passenger compartment. No wonder the inside was hot in the summer. The driver floorboard is also showing surface rust from the water leak.
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And their idea of heat proofing was roofing insulation.
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The original wiring harness was held in place using duct tape.
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To make matters worse, when we removed the patch panel, we found another partial panel underneath. Factory Chevelles with an manual transmission had a hump to clear the shift linkage. This modified patch panel was someone's attempt to duplicate that original hump without finding a correct donor panel.
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And when we removed that, we found this poorly cut hole. We get to fix this mess.
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We located a 4-speed 4L80E automatic transmission at a local transmission shop. They rebuilt it and brought it to our son's work. We pulled out a Munci M20 4-speed manual. That will get sold on. Our friend complained about excessive RPMs at highway speeds, so the replacement has an overdrive gear.
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Finally, the transmission was installed along with the new rear cross member to support the back of the transmission. Note the original bolt holes for the manual transmission cross member. We had to relocate the new mount several inches back.
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Before installing the fabricated replacement cover, we cleaned up the butchered hole as good as we could.
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The fabricated replacement panel was put into place to test fit it. Clickos hold the panel in temporarily. Because we can't weld in the interior, we will have to use screws and sealant to seal up this panel. Not the best solution, but this will seal up the hole.
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Our friend opted for the 1968 center console with the U-shaped shifter. We test fit the new console with the fabricated transmission hump to be sure both would fit together nicely.
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The fabricated transmission hump cover was sprayed with etch primer, then with black paint to better protect it.
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This is the new 1968 Chevelle console our friend chose.
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And the U-shaped shifter for the automatic transmission, gated for a 4 speed transmission.
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The new radio supported front and rear speakers, so our friend decided to add speakers to the rear package tray. Since we were still waiting on the front wheels, we have time to tackle this. When we pulled out the fiberboard panel, we found holes had been cut into the body at some point in the past. And not cut nicely, but rather butchered in, probably by the same person who did the transmission hump.
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Both sides had been hacked up. Since we can't weld, we will need to fabricate a panel before we can mount any speakers here.
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We fabricated replacement panels. Pop rivets and seam sealer will have to be sufficient here.
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Clickos hold the panel in place while the seam sealer dries and we get the pop rivets installed.
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The completed rear package tray with new black Pioneer 6"x9" speaker covers.
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Time to protect that original floorboard from further damage due to water in the interior. We used POR 15 to seal the floorpans.
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The completely coated floorboard. Just this is a vast improvement, but we are not done with the floorboard yet.
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Seam sealer was applied to the seams that had started deteriorating and the new transmission hump cover was sealed into place.
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The shifter was installed temporarily so that the mounting holes could be drilled.
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Our son had to do some intricate drilling for the mounting of the console. Someone had removed the original console mounting brackets.
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Our friend had complained of the noise and the heat inside the car. With the fake insulation removed and the floorboards protected and sealed, it was now time to add some very effective heat and sound proofing.
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Dynamat was installed on the floorboards. The rubberized aluminium backed mat provides both heat and sound proofing. However, it is like juggling razorblades - or playing with a young cat. The scratches and cuts are hard to prevent. But I'm getting better at this job.
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The floorboards covered in Dynamat. To stop sound reverb, you only need small chunks. To stop heat transference, a full layer works best from what we have found.
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The original wiring loom was attached to the floor using the same aluminium tape we used to seal down the edges of the Dynamat.
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A new speaker was installed in the factory dash location. Unfortunately, the depth of this speaker caused us minor problems with the AC vent hoses when reinstalling the dash.
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With the floorboards now protected, the speaker wires ran to the front, the rear seat could be reinstalled.
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Once all the wiring underneath the dash was done, the dash was reinstalled and then tested. No magic smoke was released and the new digital dash and radio powered on perfectly.
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The front carpet and console were installed as well.
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