More inside, out.

We've removed the rear dash panel, the front dash pad, and the dashboard. Behind the dashboard is a voltage regulator that keeps the gauges going. Here again, it's going from old mechanical technology to Solid State.
Here's the old gauge regulator, it operated by making contact which activated a heater element, that causes a bi-metalic arm to deform and open the circuit, which cools it off.

This happens many times a second, and creates that Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) voltage regulation similar to what is used for the Alternator Regulator.

Here's the inside of a new one, all Solid State (transistors, no moving parts, no vacuum tubes) Time will tell if the replacement will last as long as the original. There is something to be said for technology that will function 20 years or more.

Here's the regulator installed on the back side of the instrument panel:

All those wires are for the gauges, backlighting, and turn signals.

So the interior looks a bit better, we pop-riveted a few panels to the floorboards to patch up the biggest holes, and we used some reclaimed carpet to cover the floor. Not the final product, but something to work with while we focus on other pieces of this project.

Inside

We did some prep work to do the shocks, sprayed down the nuts holding them together. To do these, you need to remove the dust cover in the trunk, and the easiest way to do this is by removing the rear seat. We also needed to remove the rear firewall, a nice addition that was added to make this '66 just a bit safer in a rear end collision.


To make this all easier, we pulled the front seats out, and did a general clean-up of everything interior. The inside of the trunk got a vacuuming also.