Just before the accident, I gave a set of cargo stainless from Mad Mooks to Kurt for his birthday. Since the Wagon was down, it seemed like a good time to install it. The carpet is ok, but the turquoise linoleum will look better.
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We also bought a reproduction wooden floor for the cargo area. This way we knew it would be correct. It was bolted in and the bolt holes spackled for a smooth top finish.
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The tailgate piece was assembled and spackled up as well.
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The linoleum is held on with spray adhesive.
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Getting the tailgate linoleum on straight was a tedious task.
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The cargo area is already looking better.
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The completed cargo area with the back seat up.
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And now with the seat down. What a difference from the starting point!
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Then we added the protective new carpet. This will be screwed in place later, but for now is just down to protect the linoleum.
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Kurt decided on power steering for the Wagon. The wide front tires were already hard to turn at slow speeds. Now with the size change, we thought this would help alleviate the strain on the steering wheel - and our aging arms. We could now install a slightly smaller steering wheel to give the driver more room.
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The new 15" steering wheel is made for a Bel-Air model. No one styles it for the 210. Since this is a hot-rod, a stock look isn't critical, so the Bel-Air one will work.
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We found that we mostly drove the classics on dry, sunny days during the spring, summer, and fall. With their large windshield, the interior heated quickly. Kurt decided on air conditioning for the Wagon. There are two options available for the vents - in-dash and under-dash. In-dash was installed at the factory and under-dash at the dealer. Kurt went with in-dash, which meant drilling 2 large holes in the factory dash. Vintage Air supplied a drilling template and we mocked up the dash.
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This shows the metal that will be removed.
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A hole saw does the best job, but there is no going back after this.
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One hole done. Now on to the passenger side.
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The driver side is complete and the vent cover installed. We will need to remove a bit more metal before the vent pipe can be installed.
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The completed passenger side.
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The Vintage Air reproduction AC box. This will replace the factory heater box.
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Since we are in this far, our son decided to clean up the wiring as he rewired under the dash for the new AC unit and another new part, an upgraded gauge cluster. Notice that there is a third pedal now. Yep, you guessed it. Kurt is changing over to a manual transmission.
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We had to locate an original bell housing for the clutch. The first one came in damaged, with an ear broken off. We finally managed to find one in good condition. It was cleaned up and repainted Chevy red to match the stock '56 engine color.
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The new Super T10 manual transmission was mated up to the bell housing.
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Time to install the transmission and modify the floor.
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The transmission bolted right into place. New, original-style rear motor mounts were used.
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The transmission tunnel was modified to accommodate the change in the shifter location. A new Hurst shifter was installed.
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The new shifter is a bit close to the bench seat. We will fix that later.
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A power steering pump (lower right) and an AC compressor (upper left) were added to the engine.
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Time to put the engine back in the car. We need the car driveable for the paint shop.
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The 327 went in easy.
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And mated right up to the original bell housing.
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One mostly complete engine bay.
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The AC lines were connected to the new radiator.
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The lines for the AC compressor were clocked to come out 90 degrees from the engine, towards where the AC lines came out of the firewall.
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The AC lines are beside and below the battery tray.
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The AC dryer was hidden in the passenger front corner of the engine bay.
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To dress up the radiator, retain a bit of the original engine customizations, and hide the ugly top of the AC condenser, Kurt fabricated a cover and mounted the Chevrolet script to it.
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The new RTX gauge cluster from Dakota Digital. It looks vintage, unless you know what you are looking for.
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The new cluster installed, complete with the protective plastic for the lens.
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Now with the engine on, you can see the modernization.
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New breathers completed the look under the hood.
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