Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Going with one from Auto City Classics. Kind of a no name brand but I know someone who got one. Plus I like the fan shroud. Dan how are your projects going? Going to be taking lots of video and pics when I do the carb because I will be one of the first people to have it....that's good and bad I guess but at least Quick Fuel knows their stuff.

Probably have plenty of time to get it done before we get any decent weather again. I'm hoping this isn't a prelude to another summer like last year...

John D wrote:

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Do your doors have grommets/accordion boots for the wires already?

I had to install them in "Blackie" when I put in power locks and it was somewhat of a bytch. The sheetmetal has "dimples" in it where the holes are centered, but you've still got to cut the holes...

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 John that looks excellent!!  some boots come with the kit and I have done the holes in y old white 71 but it turned out like crap.  Want to do it right this time.  Where did you get that long extension?  I need to pick one of those up for my collection.  Will have to look on amazon.com.  I will have to look for those dimples.  Considering I am doing power locks and windows I will run all the wires at the same time....

gearlube wrote:

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Going with one from Auto City Classics. Kind of a no name brand but I know someone who got one. Plus I like the fan shroud. Dan how are your projects going?

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 Slow but steady, parts are actually going back together instead of just comeing apart. Still waiting to get the carcass back form the body guy, but he is doing ok and it should be ready for the bigger chunks soon.

It's a 24" "hole saw arbor extension". That one is by Milwaukee, and fits their arbors (3/8" hex). I think Home Depot carries them. The trick is to find a standard hole saw that will work with your grommets. The hole saws are fractional - 3/4, 7/8, 1", 1-1/8, etc... the grommets seem to fall inbetween!

You'll find a lot of 12" extensions, but Milwaukee was the only one I found in 24". I use this thing nearly every day for drilling door frames & headers (for magnetic contacts) on card access doors.

One important "tip/procedure" I didn't mention in the original reply...

Take an old bath towel, roll it up, and stuff it into the jamb area between the A-pillar and door before drilling. This way when the hole saw breaks through you won't jam forward and bugger up the edge of the door or the fender!! (Yeah, the towel will get wadded up on the holesaw, but it's a minor inconvenience compared to mangling the edge of the door/fender!)

Measure the inside diameter of the grommets (the "inner ring/groove") and get a holesaw(s) that is either right on, or the next step smaller. There's a bit of slop/wobble when cutting a hole with one of these, and the hole produced will be slightly larger than the dimension of the saw itself. (1" holesaw will make about a 1-1/16" hole...) If push comes to shove you can use a rat-tail file and open up a too-small hole a bit.

Yeah... be careful when drilling the "pilot" hole - not much pressure, let the drill cut through - then coax the holesaw onto the material. The sheetmetal is really thin, and a new/sharp holesaw will go through it like butter.

Suggestion - go buy an inexpensive cookie sheet, or get a scrap/junk piece of a fender/hood and make several practice holes on the thin steel to get a feel for it.

Since the door is an only cut once deal, will definitely practice on other metal. Great advice.