Topic: Rally pac tach and clock resto

[Hipo giddyup]

I'm just starting to restore an original 1964-65 rally pac and I'm already running into a few questions. First I have dissassembled the pac and one of the first items to tackle is a wiring kit replacement as the wires have been cut. Anyone have any tips for this?? I see they offer a replacement set, are they decent?? Also, I want to polish and clean up the original lenses. Any products or tips in this area??? One big question is how do I remove the clock stem?? I definitely do not want to break anything!! 
  Next, looks like the tach might have come out before as one of the screws is not original?? Guess there is no way of knowing and hopefully the tach works, (as it seems there is no way of bench testing the tach correct??)
  Lastly, (for now), should the rally pac "words" on the plastic center be painted silver or left black? These do not look like they have ever had any paint on them..
Ohh, and what type of paint is a good touch up and match?? Manufacturer and type (semi flat,etc). This is ofcourse a black rally pac, pics to follow in a minute. Thanks for any replies!!!!!

[Hipo giddyup]

Here are some pics so far..

[rocket289k]

I'm just starting to restore an original 1964-65 rally pac and I'm already running into a few questions. First I have dissassembled the pac and one of the first items to tackle is a wiring kit replacement as the wires have been cut. Anyone have any tips for this?? I see they offer a replacement set, are they decent?? Also, I want to polish and clean up the original lenses. Any products or tips in this area??? One big question is how do I remove the clock stem?? I definitely do not want to break anything!! 
  Next, looks like the tach might have come out before as one of the screws is not original?? Guess there is no way of knowing and hopefully the tach works, (as it seems there is no way of bench testing the tach correct??)
  Lastly, (for now), should the rally pac "words" on the plastic center be painted silver or left black? These do not look like they have ever had any paint on them..
Ohh, and what type of paint is a good touch up and match?? Manufacturer and type (semi flat,etc). This is ofcourse a black rally pac, pics to follow in a minute. Thanks for any replies!!!!!

I'll tackle your questions in order starting with the wiring.  The rally pac wiring repair kit worked very well for me.  One thing to note is that the repair kit provides you with quite a bit of wire so you should measure the approximate amount you'll need and trim it to start.  Leave yourself a little bit extra to work with (you can always tuck it up under the dash).  In addition, the underdash harness is reasonably long as well.  To facilitate the repair did the following: 

Wiring

1- Stripped the end of both wires
2 - Ran a length of shrink tubing up on of the end of the wires (to protect / seal the repair)
3 - Weaved the two end of copper wire into one another and soldered it
4 - Placed the shrink tubing over the repair and applied heat to shrink it
5 - Wound electrical tape over the repair to duplicate the look of the harness from the factory

The bullet connector ends on the harness fit nice and snuggly together with one another.  PS - While you have everything apart you'll want to replace light bulbs too.

Lens - I found the reproduction lens to be more than adequate and didn't both to try to save my extremely brittle and yellowed originals.  You could try to use a headlight polishing kit but I'm not sure what results you could achieve

Scripted Rally Pac (in the center) - The words rally pac in the center should be chrome in color (not silver).  There is no chrome paint I found.  Instead I bought a thin sheet of chrome from a hobby / model store and carefully applied and trimmed it with an exacto knife.  It was tedious work but I was pleased with how it turned out. 

Paint - I was lucky in that my rally pac's paint (also black) was in pretty good condition.  It just need to be touched up.  The key is to duplicate or not spoil the crinkle camera case style finish on the rally pac.  I gently cleaned my rally pac (allowed to dry thoroughly) and then with a combination of Krylon Satin Finish and Krlyon Textured Finish (Outdoor Spaces) I was able to duplicate the original sheen and not fill in the texture.  I applied 4 very light coats of paint (2 coats satin finish and 2 coats textured finish).  I turned out very nice.  I carefully masked off the chrome on the underside of the hoods to avoid any overspray. 

I've attached some pictures of the Rally Pac post paint (I couldn't find my "before" photos).

Good Luck with your resto!

Regards,

Ron

[ChrisV289]

They sell a black crinkle/wrinkle finish paint.  Used it years ago and still holds up today...

[Hipo giddyup]

Thanks for the reply. I have always had good results from krylon just never tried their textured stuff.

And also,  i have heard about wrinkle finish paints. What brand is good..

[Hipo giddyup]

Oh, and how do you remove the adjustment stem for the clock?? Thanks.

[rocket289k]

Thanks for the reply. I have always had good results from krylon just never tried their textured stuff.

And also,  i have heard about wrinkle finish paints. What brand is good..

I stayed away from the wrinkle finish paints as all of the research I did point to people need to "bake" the paint in an oven to get a good result.  I didn't want to find out on my own and since the paint was in pretty good shape to begin with I didn't need to strip the old paint off and start fresh.

Regards,

Ron

[jwc66k]

I stayed away from the wrinkle finish paints as all of the research I did point to people need to "bake" the paint in an oven to get a good result. 

That's one type, current types are rattle cans without an oven requirement. The application is tricky, practice on a tin can before trying the Rally Pac housing. My first attempt got one side great, the other was disappointing.
There is another option and that is powder coat wrinkle. I got an estimate of $125 to $150 for a "lot charge", that would be for three or four housings done at the same time, same color.
Jim

[Hipo giddyup]

Thanks for your opinions on the wrinkle finish. I really just need a fresh coat of black over the pac and i would be good. It doesnt need to be stripped in my opinion.

Ron, your pac looks great but i,m wondering it the finish looks more like a spatter texture than wrinkle?? I have looked at some results from other sites using VHT wrinkle finish, ( appearently Hondas all use wrinkle on their valve covers), and these results look great. They just recommend using a hair dryer for better , even results. Since i have a heat gun, i would guess a little greater distance might be the key?? I think i will take the advice of testing this on a metal can... I will post pics when i get there...

[rockhouse66]

Oh, and how do you remove the adjustment stem for the clock?? Thanks.

I believe the knob is threaded on the stem.  You are supposed to be able to pull the stem out as if you were adjusting the time, clamp it with needle nose pliers and then unthread the knob.  This can be tough to do - good luck!

[Hipo giddyup]

Here are a few pics of the light lens that I replaced. Luckily the 64-65 gauge cluster lens is the same exact match. I used a donor from an old cluster. To remove I just used a razor knife to lift up the edges of the blue lens. where their pegs go through the housing. These seem to have been heated once into position to attach them. Then I had enough peg of the donor lens to insert into the holes on the clock housing. I then used an old knife that I heated to melt down the lens peg to attach it back into place.

[rocket289k]

Thanks for your opinions on the wrinkle finish. I really just need a fresh coat of black over the pac and i would be good. It doesnt need to be stripped in my opinion.

Ron, your pac looks great but i,m wondering it the finish looks more like a spatter texture than wrinkle?? I have looked at some results from other sites using VHT wrinkle finish, ( appearently Hondas all use wrinkle on their valve covers), and these results look great. They just recommend using a hair dryer for better , even results. Since i have a heat gun, i would guess a little greater distance might be the key?? I think i will take the advice of testing this on a metal can... I will post pics when i get there...

Re finish being more spatter texture than wrinkle - that's what it always looked like since I've owned the car (mid-90's).  Don't know for sure if a PO didn't try to touch it up previously.  It didn't look like it had ever been touched but you never know. 


Regards,

Ron

[jwc66k]

I really just need a fresh coat of black over the pac and i would be good. It doesnt need to be stripped in my opinion.

A fresh coat will fill the grain, sort of like the effect of multiple layers of paint on doors. It will not look good.
Jim 

[Hipo giddyup]

So here is a test with the VHT wrinkle paint that I found locally. Turned out nice but will try to get away with one good coat instead of multiples like the can says since it is already "decent" paint left on the pac. I don't want it to look like undecoating..😉 I used my heat gun at a distance of about 12-14" and it changed to wrinkle texture right before my eyes.. Got to remember to be careful on the plastic center..😁

[Hipo giddyup]

Just recieved the repair kit wiring harness for my rally PAC. Can anyone tell me the correct length of the harness  that should extend from the rally PAC? I don't want it too long or too short. Thanks