Yesterday there was no heavy lifting in the bird. went for longest ride to date and the Mrs did some cleaning of the interior,27 yrs of dirt.
she worked mainly on the back seat where she was cleaning/conditioning. she was working outside and had the top down were it was easy to see with good light. as she cleaned you could see how the belts needed some cleaning too. they are the orginal belts as is most parts on this car, date code 40 A 68.
Question: whats the best way to clean or re-condition the belting material ?
thanks bill v
69 Firebird Convertible (wifes car since 1979) Goldenrod Yellow, 350, plain Jane Car was stored in garage since 1990
I need help, if anyone see's I'm going down the wrong road--Straighten me out!
I took mine out and soaked them in a bucket of hot soapy water (with laundry detergent.) Then went at them with a good stiff scrub brush, rinse and repeat if needed, and hang outside in the sun to dry.
-=>Lee<=- Due to budget constraints the "light at the end of the tunnel" has been turned off!
The patches themselves are pretty durable. It's the stitching that holds them to the belt that is trying to come loose on mine. Just be easy with the scrubbing & you shouldn't have any problems.
I took mine out and soaked them in a bucket of hot soapy water (with laundry detergent.) Then went at them with a good stiff scrub brush, rinse and repeat if needed, and hang outside in the sun to dry.
I took mine out and soaked them in a bucket of hot soapy water (with laundry detergent.) Then went at them with a good stiff scrub brush, rinse and repeat if needed, and hang outside in the sun to dry.
First I removed all the buckles from the belts. (you get to learn all the ways to twist and turn the parts to get them off). Take lots of pictures because they are tricky to put back together the right way! Then I used Dawn dish soap. It cut the grease much much better than laundry soap. I filled a five gallon bucket with soapy water, let them soak a few hours, used my hands to swish, squeeze, plunge, etc. Dumped the grimy water, repeated this about 6 or 7 buckets of clean water worth. Then I hung them up to dry with clothes pins and hangers.
It was amazing how much cleaner they were. And then with the buckles apart, you can clean, sand, and paint any rusted parts and polish the chrome pieces. It was a couple of afternoon's worth of work, but well worth it!
I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure. I feel like I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe. 1968 400 convertible (Scarlet) 1976 T/A - 455 LE (No Burt) 1976 T/A New baby, starting full restoration. 1968 350 - 4 speed 'vert - 400 clone (the Beast!) 1968 350 convertible - Wife's car now- 400 clone (Aleutian Blue) (Blue Angel) 2008 Durango - DD 2008 GXP - New one from NH is AWESOME! 2017 Durango Citadel - Modern is nice! HEMI is amazing! 1998 Silverado Z71 - Father-daughter project 1968 400 coupe - R/A clone (Blue Pearl) (sold) 1967 326 convertible - Sold 1980 T/A SE Bandit - Sold
If non of the above works, try soaking them in Acetone and while they're wet spray them with fabric paint. I read that somewhere and tried myself and must say it worked great!