The Oldest Question - 411 Windscreen replacement?

[Borganism]

Howdy, 

 

I recently bought a project 411 wagon in Adelaide, Australia and although it has most parts, it is missing the windscreen. I was aware before buying that its very hard / impossible to find one, but has anyone had any luck in getting a new one made? Any suggestions of companies to try?

 

I seem to have most of the internal bits but I think im missing the drivers door window winder, interior handle and door pull. The two tail lights both have cracks in them and need replacing, but I can only find replacements with red indicators. In Australia we use orange indicators. Any ideas?

 

Engine and gearbox seem to be complete and originaly (j13 and 4 speed manual), but I think its a non-original alternator, the fuel inlet on the fuel pump has been hacked off and the engine was left outside for a time and water drained down the carby and got into the head. Havnt pulled that apart yet to see the damage but the motor does spin (if I grab the flywheel) and bits move in the head.

 

Im planning on a full strip and rebuild as there has been some dodgy repairs done. I have chipped off 4mm of body filler from the bonnet from where they couldnt get panels to line up, so they just filled it. They didnt even sand back the original paint, so it hadnt adhered properly anyway.

 

Anyway, I just bought a year long project and Ive never restored a car before. I'm going to attempt to do everything right and get skilled people in to help where needed but do the bulk of the labour myself.  Its a '67, so I have a few years to get it all sorted before the cars 50th birthday party.

 

Paul

[Borganism]

Oh, and I'd love to put some disk brake fronts on it as well. Ive seen the massive custom brake thread that has been posted, but I was wondering if parts could be found from a RL411 disk brake setup and just bolt in place. I assume the person who did the custom build thread thought of this and discounted that idea for some reason but does anyone know why?

[Swedishcadillac]

I have rl411 disc brake front end I'd sell. Its in Bend, oregon. Don't know what shipping would be to Aus. Think you can use your a-arms, just replace spindles.

[Borganism]

Sounds like it might be an option. Is it possible to get some pics and maybe some measurements of bits after that to see if it will fit? Has anyone tried this and know if it does or doesnt work?

 

I currently have the car attached to a rotisserie with the doors off. Next step is to remove the undercarriage and clean bits up, replace bushes and re-do the protective paint after repairing the one rust hole in the floor.

[MikeRL411]

As to the tail lights, if all the problem is cracks and not missing chunks, get some acrylic cement and glue the pieces together.  In the USA there used to be tail light and front directional light repair kits that had the proper filler mix and dye [clear, red, or yellow] and included several patterned molds [for lack of a better terminology] that matched the diamond patterns of the tail light's diffraction and allowed a replacement casting in place to replace missing segments.  A gentle application of finishing compound matched the exterior contour and restored OEM appearance.

[Borganism]

Thats the backup plan. I'd prefer a new lense though and will even look at using the existing ones to make a casting and remake from scratch. I have an account at a resin supply company through work so will see if they have any ideas. Finishing that part of it is a long way down the track though so I have plenty of time to figure that step out.

 

I'll try and post some pics in a day or two.  Not that there is much going on or even attached.

[Swedishcadillac]

Here's some pics. Front suspension off 1967 411 SSS.

 

 

 

A knowledgeable 411 guy told me the arms are universal and the disc spindles will bolt right up to the drum A-arms.

Instead of rebuilding calipers or trying to find 411 I also heard early 510 calipers will work. Pm me for price.. Mahalo!

[Borganism]

Looks like that might be a good option while I retain the stock motor. I'll have a look around Adelaide for some early 510 parts as im sure postage from Hawaii is going to hurt. 

Ive managed to get the rear diff off, and striped down the passenger (left side) front suspension for now. Need to get some wire wheels to strip bits back as I only have a brass one for a drill and im sure that wont cut it.

 

As mentioned before, here are pics. Starting from how it was when I bought it, and how it sits in the shed.

 

[Swedishcadillac]

Rotisserie! Nice. I made some 3foot wooden pedestals to work under mine. Good luck! Careful on that undercoating. I grinded mine down to bare metal wearing a respirator, gloves & long sleeves and got sick right after. Could have been a coincidence or ????

[Swedishcadillac]

You would still need 411 SSS spindles. What I was saying is the calipers which bolt to spindles could be early 510 not the whole setup. 510's don't have a-arms. : (

[Borganism]

I got the rotisserie for cheap off ebay ($650) and was a bit worried about its quality.that is until I picked it up. It weighs almost 200kg and is pretty damn solid. Would easily handle a bigger car. Im not all excited about stripping the bad bits of undercoat off but waiting for my fancy mask to show up before I tackle it. it is worth stripping off everything, or just the bits where it has either worn through, or looks like it might be an issue?

 

That makes more sense about the spindles, I'll be in touch. Im not even sure if I will be able to find the right calipers over here though. I'll make some calls and try and find out from local suppliers.

 

Ive found some bits of rust in the doors sills that have been 'repaired' but the other people that attempted to re-do the car. Trouble is they just dented the rusty bits in, put some fiberglass stuff over it and then bondo. Thats just asking for trouble. Hopefully I dont find too much more but I will end up stripping all of the paint to be sure.

 

Anyway, I should go do some work to distract me from playing on the car, or researching more.

[Johnlorio]

510 calipers will work perfectly, they have a metric thread for the brake line instead of the SAE thread the 411's use.   The brackets holding the calipers are different from the 411, though I think the 510 brackets could be modified to fit with some judicious grinding.   I swapped in SSS spindles and brakes into my PL wagon,  and used new 510 calipers.  I found them on RockAuto.

 

John

[jluna94]

Hi I read a old post of your just now, and I was wondering if you ended up doing a sr16 swap even though it's fwd, hopefully you get in touch with me. If you have any specs or anything whatsoever, I gladly appreciate it. Cause I wanna do a sr16 swap. So hopefully I hear from you soon. Take care as always.