1968 DeVille Convertible - Restoration

[Highwayman68]

Are these the covers for the front seatbelts mount on the floor in the rear? I can look at my 68 Fleetwood later today and take pictures of what is there. I don't think the rear seatbelts have covers because they mount under the seat.

[DeVille68]

Hi Nicolas,
Let me look in my parts tomorrow and see what I can find. 
Regards,
Don

Hi Don,
Please do, thanks a lot.

Are these the covers for the front seatbelts mount on the floor in the rear? I can look at my 68 Fleetwood later today and take pictures of what is there. I don't think the rear seatbelts have covers because they mount under the seat.

Hi, yes exactly! Those that are readily visible and easy to damage! :-)
Would be great, thanks!

Best regards,
Nicolas

[dwbic]

Hi Nicolas,
Attached are a few pictures of the parts from my car - they are very similar to the picture you show, but are a one piece molded rubber part with no snap feature - they just push into place.  Hope this helps!




This view shows front of cover on one part, back of cover on the other.

[Highwayman68]

Here is what is in mine

Driver side Top


Driver Side Bottom


Passenger Side Top


Passenger Side Bottom

[Bill Young]

Yes those seat belt base covers you showed with the snaps onm the inside are correct for your 1968 DeVille Convertible. On another note don't be afraid of using SEM Products interior trim paint , the stuff works great when used in conjunction with their vinyl trim preparation spray that fully cleans and moistens the vinyl's surface. Just a thought.

[DeVille68]

Thanks guys! Consider yourself lucky that you still have your originals! :-)

I am looking for those in dark green for the last two years now....

Yes those seat belt base covers you showed with the snaps onm the inside are correct for your 1968 DeVille Convertible. On another note don't be afraid of using SEM Products interior trim paint , the stuff works great when used in conjunction with their vinyl trim preparation spray that fully cleans and moistens the vinyl's surface. Just a thought.

So you suggest to by just the "generic" GM version - at least that the bolt is covered?

Any one willing to sell me some dark green (or any other color) correct seat belt covers for 68?

Best regards,
Nicoals

[DeVille68]

Hi guys,

I finally found time to update this restoration blog. I did various thing on the Caddy since my last post. And I also did a lot of road trips this year.
I will try to write and report on the work I did but not in chronological order.

I removed all my interior door panels again since I am still restoring my roose wood veneers. They are now being clear coated and so I need to remove the panels in order to attach them again. While the interior is removed, I started to continue my restoration of the wiring harness. I already restored the wiring harness within the passenger door, now the driver door needed some attention.

First you need to unscrew the kick panel (and the still plate first), then there is another little panel that hides the wiring harness. After that you should be able to just unplug the three connectors down there.
I disconnected everything from the door too (motor, light and controls). Next is to remove the two screws securing the rubber piece for the conduit on the door itself. The rubber piece on the conduit on the body sheet metal has no screws. I then pulled and pushed to harness from the body side through the conduit and removed it trough the opening in the door sheet metal skin.

See attached the pictures showing the harness behind the kick panel, the rubber conduit and the full door harness.

While removing the harness I also removed the door jamb switch and the power window relay.

[savemy67]

Hello Nicolas,

Good job!  How long did it take to get the harness out of the car?  I may have to do something similar as all 4 of my '67's windows work, but only from the master switch.  I have removed the switch and I can see that someone has altered the wiring.  I suspect something broken in the rubber conduit.  My car has vacuum door locks so the conduit (to the driver's door) is packed with wires and hoses.  Does your car have vacuum door locks?  Did you use anything special to help with the removal of the harness?

Christopher Winter

[DeVille68]

Hi Christopher

Yes, my wires are also broken. If you look at the last picture you can see the part of the harness that goes through the conduit and there the wires break. Luckily only  non window relevant wires were broken.

I would start to diagnose the problem first and see which wires are really broken. The orange-black wire above has +12V from the battery. The red-white has power when the ignition is on. There is a power window relay (see my post coming up) that connects the orange-black to red-white. The cutout switch (emergency switch) does the same when you hold it in emergency mode.

So then, the power first goes through the red-white to the cutout switch. In the above picture you clearly see the three wires going into the cut-out switch: Orange-black, red-white and pink-black. In normal operation the cut-out switch connects red-white (ignition controlled) to pink-black. Pink-black then runs back through the conduit and supplies all other windows with power.

If you command your windows from the driver door the corresponding wire for up or down is connected to 12V and these wires run from the master switch through the conduit all the way to the corresponding window.

So here is what I suspect:
1) all the individual up and down wires (dark-blue-white; dark-blue;  brown;  brown-white; purple; purple-white) are ok.
2) Your power window relay (ignition relay) may function properly.
3) The only fault that comes to mind is the cut-out switch. This switch should connect red-white to red-black (supply of all other windows) in normal mode.
If this switch is broken, then no power will be supplied to the other windows.
4) or everything works as intended but the wire is broken.... 


First list the window console from the door panel and check if the switch is working correctly.

If it works you can the conduit by unscrewing the kick panels and use a voltmeter with the beeper and check the above mentioned wires from the window console to the unplugged connector.

This way you could also verify which wires are really broken.
If only one wire is broken you could maybe just try to cut the conduit open and repair this single wire.

[DeVille68]

Here is how I repaired my two relays - the ignition relay (or power window relay) and the horn relay

Ignition relay:

• It is hidden behind the driver kick panel. It is screwed directly to the sheet metal and sits in a little pocket.
• There should be a three-wire connector to it. The wires are: 18 Pink, 10 Orange-black and 12 red-white.
• It function is to connect red-white to orange-black when the pink control wire is supplied with 12 V by the ignition switch.

• The first picture shows the ignition relay with the three terminals
• The second picture shows the relay. The middle terminal is the power supply (orange-black). The right terminal is the output (red-white). The left terminal is the coil control wire (pink). The ground is not a terminal but the housing itself.
• If you look closely you see that some id*** soldered the internal wire of  the coil command (pink) right back to the coil end wire. So the coil start and end is on the same potential - hence the relay will never function.
• This relay works by supplying 12V to the pink wire. Power then flows through the many windings and creates and electric field. This then "sucks" the metal bow down and connects it to 12V (orange-black). The bow is made out of two pieces, because the middle piece will eventually touch the coil core, which is also on 12V, and hence a very stable connection results. This is needed because this relay is always on and needs to supply lots of current
• So the third picture shows how I removed to wire you can see in the second picture (the one that comes around from the back. Now I soldered a wire to the end of the coil wire (on the other side of the coil). This wire then has to connect to ground - that is the housing.
• The housing should have a spot where they originally soldered or crimped the wire to. I just run a drill bit through and passed the little wire through there and soldered it on.

So, this little soldering exercise saved me about 120$! (relay, shipping and tax).

[DeVille68]

Horn Relay or Buzzer

• The horn or key in buzzer is mounted on the firewall on the left to the steering column. It is mounted with plastic screws.
• It has four terminals. Red is the main 12V supply. Dark green is the "output" that supplies 12V to the horns. black-white is the horn switch. and white does to the ignition switch and further to the door jamb switch
• Description of the horn: Consider the schematic of the horn relay below. The horns are wired directly to ground (terminal 3, green wire). The terminal 1 is the supply by 12V. The horn blows when connected by the relay to the 12 volt source. The relay is actuated by the horn switch which connects the end of the coil to ground. You can see the end of the relay wire connecting to the left stem. The start of the coil is supplied by the red wire to 12V. So when you depress your horn switch you close the circuit around the coil from 12V to ground, this flow of current then creates a electric field which pulls the tap down and connects terminal 3 to 1 -> horn blows. 
• Description of the buzzer: The buzzer system has its own tap, which is normally closed (n.c). In the schematic below the buzzer system is drawn on top of the horn system. So normally when your key is in the ignition and the door is closed. Hence the terminal 4 is open.
  
  Power ist supplied to the solenoid by terminal 1 (always) and when the door jamb opens the switch grounds the wire / terminal 4. Hence current flows through the solenoid and through the normally closed buzzer contact to the door jamb. This then pulls the lever towards the solenoid and cuts the current. The solenoid basically disconnects itself from the power. The lever then jumps back, contacts again and is lifted by solenoid again. What you hear as a buzzer sound is the solenoid vibrating.
  
  The horn will never blow, because the distance the horn lever needs to travel is much larger than the distance the buzzer needs to overcome.

My buzzer was not working and after oping the relay you can see that the black wire is broken off its base (terminal 4). Picture 2 below.
So I then just soldered a new wire to the terminal 4 and the top of the lever and voilà the buzzer works again! (see picture 3)

I could save again about 100$ worth of shipping and tax.

[savemy67]

Hello Nicolas,

Thanks for the detailed write-up and pictures.  Some months ago, when the weather was warm, I did some preliminary testing on my power window wiring.  As noted earlier, I got as far as figuring out that someone had "modified" the wiring.  Since my car is outside, I have to wait until warm weather returns to resume my window wiring fix.  I have the shop and body manuals for my car, and your post here will compliment that information.

Christopher Winter

[DeVille68]

Still looking for some interior pieces in dark green. I am missing the seat belt covers for the mechanism and those for the screws. I am also missing one cover for the power seat rails.

Anyone?

[dwbic]

Nicolas,

Do you want the parts in the original color or are you willing to paint them?  If you are willing to paint them I may have the parts you need in my parts car.  I used SEM Color Coat and have changed the color of the dash on my project and the result is pretty impressive.  Let me know. 

Before


After


Don

[Rob Troxel]

Yes, very impressive paint job!

[cadman56]

Hello all,
A short note in regards to the ignition relay for the power windows on the 67-68 cars.  Since these are not visible use a modern 50 amp rated relay that works like the original.  I did that on my 67 Eldorado when I had it completely apart.  It was less than $12 at the time.
I have not kept up with the restoration blog, sorry.  I think it might have been Nicolas who inquired about the Dk. Green covers?  I have the covers but not that color.  Someone else inquired about a upper control arm heat shield on the left side.
I have started my 68.  The body is ready to come off the frame, engine is in machine shop.  I still haven't decided what cam to use, leaning to the MTS #5.  The engine is bored +.040 & crank is .010/.010.
I do most all, except body/paint, of the work myself, so it is slow going.
Good luck,
Larry

[DeVille68]

Hi Don

ok, very good. Well I don't have much choice. I'll have to try painting them. Could you send me some pictures of the parts you are willing to sell?

Hi Larry
Thanks for your reply. Don't worry - I am working on mine since more than three years now! :-)
What covers do you have? Those for the seat belt screws?

Send us some pictures of your restoration!

Best regards,
Nicolas

[cadman56]

Well, just got started on the car.  I will have to read how to post pics.  I think I have spares of both flexible & hard covers.  I don't get out too much in the cold.
Larry

[DeVille68]

Hi Larry

You can upload the pictures by clicking on "Attachments and other options" just below the text window.
Let me know what you have.

Why would you want to upgrade the cam?
Any substantial power gain?


Hi Don
I guess I need to buy some parts in different color and try to paint em. What pieces do you have?

How did you match the color?
I could not find dark green as a standard color on the SEM website.


They write that their system is not a dye but a paint. What is a dye?


Best regards,
Nicolas

[DeVille68]

Today I finally finished all the repair work on my interior panels. The last panel that needed work was the passenger side rear panel. (Picture 1)
When you look closely you see that the carpet & panel is badly warped. (picture 2)

So I had to fix this issue. I started by removing the carpet with a heat gun and a scraper. (be careful with the heat! The carpet will melt immediately!) (picture 3 and 4 and 5)

After removing the carpet I needed to figure out a way to remove the old glue. I did not want to use a sandpaper or a machine because the heat would make the glue flexible and the sandpaper would get clogged. So I used a high frequency vibrator with a scraper attached. The tool is called "fine tool" (www.finetool.com)
Picture 6

After that I sanded the area with a 60 grid paper. Picture 7

Picture 8 shows the large recess. The hole there is for mounting the panel in the car.

Picture 9 shows my little epoxy lake! :-)  I just used about 50gr of epoxy for the first run. Just make sure that your orientate the panel such that it is flat. I still put some tape around the edges  because the recess was so large. A second "goat" of about 20gr was needed after a few hours of curing.

In the meantime I cleaned the carped thoroughly (picture 10) You can straiten the carpet with a little help from the heat gun.

Picture 11 shows the amount of "build up" that was needed to make the panel smooth again. Picture 12 shows the area sanded smooth, ready for gluing the carped on.

And finally, picture 13, shows the restored panel with a nice flat and clean carpet!
:-)

Came out real nice.


Hope this little description will encourage you to work on your panels as well!

Best regards,
Nicolas