[vette59jdwl]

Rattiac  I just searched Pontiac hood ornaments and man these people are crazy  they are trying to get rich quick lol lol  they will surely be there a long long time  Now there were two at a decent price  inclosed are pics   wayner

[chopper526]

Thanks everyone. Im just glad to cover the hole up.

This guy makes all sorts of hood ornaments. Im sure he can make something for ya .
I like this one. Its kinda funny .
http://www.ebay.com/itm/middle-finger-flip-off-ratrod-hotrod-motorcycle-car-hood-ornament-/321637467138?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae3164402


Teardrop Update;;;;;;;;


That guy on ebay has some GREAT hood ornaments. I never thought about putting one on my car...............but I'm thinking about it now

I have all my materials in the shop ready to go on (aluminum, trim, glue, screws , diamond plate).
Hoopefully this weekend I can crank it out.

[Rattiac]

After looking at some caps. I think i'll just make a round plate and bolt it to that .

[vette59jdwl]

  Na Rattiac  you need something that says look at me I AM A PONTIAC  I am a Tin Indian

 vette59jdwl

[vette59jdwl]

Rattiac  Go to GOOGLE and type in Pontiac hood ornaments  there are hundreds of choices from the big finger to the duck from the eagle to a kangaroo of all things  lol lol  fill your boots  vette59jdwl

[Rattiac]

What I meant was . I gotta come up with something to bolt my ornament to,  cause there is just a hole where the original radiator cap was.

[vette59jdwl]

  OK why not just get a rad cap to fit your car and drill it and put your mascot onto the cap,,,I take it you have another rad behind the grill shell and have a modern rad cap is this so  vette59jdwl

[Rattiac]

Back to the teardrop for ; Part 3 of the hatch rebuild . and then some.......

While I had the hatch off and was checking things out.
I decided to just re-trim the whole thing as I didnt like the shoddy trim on there. You'll see why .


And a section that was in 2 pieces . 


It all had to come off.



.

[chopper526]

I agree with your decision to replace the trim, Rattiac. It would bug me every time I looked at it.

[Rattiac]

So after searching a few RV places for trim . I couldnt find what I wanted and the stuff I liked was expensive OR way toooo much to ship in . 
Plus I needed something that would screw in from the sides and not on top .
Putting screws on the top (like RV trim)  I didnt like cause they would be going into the edge of the wood (side-walls) so they wouldnt be that strong of a hold.

I decided to make my own trim . Which means I'd have to (anneal it) to bend it  .
Using some stair-trim in 12ft lengths . I started the "annealing process" .


On the teardrop site I found a few things on annealing and was told by a friend to use
magic-marker for a temperature stick of sorts.
Long story short . Heat the sides of the trim with a propane torch till the magic-marker burns off completely . I held it there just a few minutes longer till I could feel/see the trim bending .
I did this in 3 short 1 inch  sections between the screw holes to spread the load evenly.
While bending 3 little kinks appeared and I smaked them down with a (plastic Deadblow hammer)
You can feel the aluminum stretch a bit . but I did not hit the top of the trim since it was round on top but if it was flat ya can hit there also.
After my first 2 bends I was getting the hang of it .


Once all the bending was done I pulled the trim back off and cleaned where it was hit with the deadblow hammer using a light grit scotchbrite pad and some wax&grease remover .
(warning dont use a steel hammer cause it will leave scrapes, dents, ect)

Before putting the trim back on I used putty tape and some white Polyeurathane to seal things up.


Trim on and all sealed up .


.

[Rattiac]

Another trim shot.


While letting the polyeurathane dry I skinned the hatch and mounted the hurricane hinge.


Hatch mounted and sealed .


Glad to see it back together but still need to trim the hatch and the area below it .
Thats todays project. 

[chopper526]

That looks great, Rattiac. Alot cheaper and much more satisfaction

[62131]

It does look a lot better than what was there

[Rattiac]

Finished the hatch trim just a few minutes ago and put some diamond-plate down near the bottom to cap off the aluminum at the frame.
All sealed up but just a few small things like the hatch lock w/ handle , and some rubber weatherstripping underneath .
Also sending out a diamond-plate sheet to get bent for the front tomorrow .
Man im tired , im goin to bed . 


.

[vette59jdwl]

   Rattiac  back to your mascott hood ornament. One time along time ago ,i wanted to put three branch spinners on my wheels,so what i did was to measure the hole size and then i cut a circle out of 1/4 inch alluminum and i made that circle 1/4 of an inch larger than the hole .I put a 1/4 inch hole in the center and then put that circle on the inside so it would fill the hole and with the 1/4 inch hole i could attach something to the other side in other words the top. or the ornament then tighten the screw from inside to tighten this all up.Putting a gasket wetween the top of the radiator and the ornament is optional   vette59jdwl