Re: 76 Laguna parked in 2002

by jpowen49 Sun Apr 16, 2023 9:09 pm

My 76 Laguna S3 was about 10 years old when the dash pad cracked through the speaker grill and center ac vents. The summers in Alabama can be real hot. Even back then Laguna parts were hard to find. With no internet you had to look mostly at local gunk yards. One day I was looking in a gunk yard about 15 miles away , I found a good dash pad in a 4 door Malibu. I asked at the office what would it cost if I took it out. They laughed and said
" you take it out and you can have it for 10 dollars, if you mass it up you still got to buy it." Hell yea !

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I have had it ever since waiting for the time to put it in the car. Hopefully it won`t be to much longer.

by 77camino Sun Apr 16, 2023 10:05 pm

Wow! What an amazing score for $10. My dad’s 77 El Camino’s dash cracked around 1980. He went to Chevy to inquire about a new dash. At that time they told him a couple hundred to put in a new dash but he would be back in a couple of years for another new one because the replacement would crack also. He decided that it was a waste of money to replace it and have it happen again. Although my El Camino rarely leaves the garage, I’m always as careful as possible to keep it out of the extreme heat. I will even put a reflective sunshade up at some car shows to repel the heat.

by Mitchell Murphy Mon Apr 17, 2023 5:49 pm

Looking at the dash pad, is it a 73 one with the three holes on the passenger side? The 1974 thru 1977 had the insert square on the passenger side, This one doesnt have one, is this a coverlay cap? Never seen one without the emblem insert. Thank You

by jpowen49 Mon Apr 17, 2023 11:00 pm

Mitchell Murphy wrote:Looking at the dash pad, is it a 73 one with the three holes on the passenger side? The 1974 thru 1977 had the insert square on the passenger side, This one doesnt have one, is this a coverlay cap? Never seen one without the emblem insert. Thank You

This is the upper dash . I just bought the top didn`t need the lower. Took about three hours to get it out. Had to go slow since I didn`t know what I was doing. The emblem on the right was (Malibu) the best I remember. I cut a small peace of walnut and cut an inlay on the back, epoxied the malibu emblem in. I then epoxied a type S3 emblem to the front. I found the S3 emblem on a door panel someone had pipped off a door and threw it in the back seat.

Dash pad attached to my original lower dash and redyed

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 100_3510

Pictures of the dash emblem I made.

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Dash_p11

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Dash_p10

My original emblem

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by jpowen49 Mon Apr 17, 2023 11:14 pm

A few more pictures of the dash

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76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 100_3512

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 100_3513

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 100_3514

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Tue Apr 18, 2023 11:09 am

Dash is looking good Jerry! What paint did you use to dye it?

by jpowen49 Tue Apr 18, 2023 5:25 pm

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 100_3516

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 100_3515

Dupli-color- medium blue

I painted everything, dash, console , door panels ,trim, everything plastic.

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 100_3518

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 100_3517

by crice63 Thu Apr 20, 2023 10:15 pm

Great work on the dash paint and on the emblem. To answer Mitchell's question, this is a one-year style of emblem. It attaches through the holes and sits a little above the level of the surface. It's a plastic frame with a thin embossed aluminum insert glued in it. I have been wanting to make my own as well, since the dash I got was out of a laguna and going in an el camino. I kept thinking I would try to print something that would fit in the frame but your idea is great!

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Laguna10

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Laguna11

by jpowen49 Fri Apr 21, 2023 7:34 am

Thank you crice63, I wish I had paid more attention to the year and model of the Malibu the dash came out of. The day I found it (1986) was about 98 degrees and all I had on my mind was a dash with no cracks.
Good luck with your El camino .

by jpowen49 Fri Jun 02, 2023 4:13 pm

Painted my bolt on parts and tail panel the other day. Wife sad that blue paint with white stripes sure is going to stand out and draw a lot of attention going down the road. I said, and the loud mufflers gona make it worse.

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Thumbn75

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Thumbn74

by jpowen49 Sun Nov 26, 2023 12:28 pm

Waiting on the paint shop to call so I got it ready to make the 4 mile trip.Rollback cost 250 to load plus mileage. Made a short video, first time on the road in over twenty years. Went around the block ( 1 mile ) with no issues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pFgTwLpF60

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Sun Nov 26, 2023 4:45 pm

Looking and sounding good Jerry! Can't wait to see it painted!

by bracketchev1221 Mon Nov 27, 2023 8:32 am

Looks good enough for me. Just have somebody follow you and you'll be fine for 4 miles.

by jpowen49 Mon Dec 18, 2023 3:05 pm

Got my car back over the weekend. Now I have to find everything to start putting it back together. I plan to paint the stripes after I get it back together. Looks lost without the stripes.

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Thumbn84

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Thumbn85

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Thumbn86

by jerry46765 Tue Dec 19, 2023 3:00 am

Nice work. Wait until you see that color in bright sunlight. You may not want the stripes.

I have one with really loud exhaust and I regret not taming it down because I don't drive it as much.

Thanks -

by jpowen49 Thu Feb 01, 2024 7:59 pm

Looking for recommendations . I`m attaching my rear emblem to the rear panel but it only has one stud remaining. At first I thought I would delete the emblem so I filled in the mounting holes, then I changed my mind.( The reason there is only one hole in the panel). I`m thinking glue or tape, how have you handled a similar situation ?

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76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Thumbn88

by zucchi Thu Feb 01, 2024 8:21 pm

I would use a mill bit to drill a shallow flat hole into the emblem where the pin broke off. I would fabricate a pin from brass then see about silver soldering it into the hole. If the metal can handle being heated better, I would braze the pin in place. If that doesn't seem appealing or feasible, I would mill a shallow flat surface the size of a dime then fabricate a pin with an integral head; something that looks like a roofing nail then epoxy it in place. The large head will provide a much larger surface for the epoxy to bond.

by bracketchev1221 Thu Feb 01, 2024 9:38 pm

How much does the emblem weigh? I think I would try good double sided tape. You can leave the pin to index it and let the tape hold it. Mine have double sided tape on them

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by Keith Seymore Fri Feb 02, 2024 8:06 am

bracketchev1221 wrote:How much does the emblem weigh? I think I would try good double sided tape. You can leave the pin to index it and let the tape hold it. Mine have double sided tape on them

Two sided tape would be fine.

All off the bright trim on this vehicle is held on with two sided tape. The pieces are machined billet aluminum, polished with clearcoat, so they have some heft to them.

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Attachment

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Attachment

Closer to home, one of my "454" fender emblems is held on with two sided tape.

K

by jpowen49 Fri Feb 02, 2024 3:00 pm

Thank you all for the ideas. Double sided tape would have worked , but I just wanted a little more hold. I used two brass #8 wood screws and J-B weld. I believe the brass studs are stronger than the original stud.

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76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Thumbn89

by Mitchell Murphy Sat Feb 10, 2024 10:01 am

For what its worth, I bought some Alien Tape at our local Hamricks store. The tape is really, really good. It will definitely hold your emblem in place. The tape is surprisingly good.

by jpowen49 Wed Mar 06, 2024 12:48 pm

Started working on the interior. Rear speakers- hat rack- trunk divider-floor insulation. I have an ACC two piece carpet I`m going to try and install. I have never installed a carpet in anything so any ideas or suggestions welcome. Car has swivel buckets with center console .Videos- glue, double sided tape ?

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76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Thumbn98

by g3chevy / Mr Pontiac Wed Mar 06, 2024 2:26 pm

Coming along nicely! I would highly recommend getting a carpet knife to do all the trimming. It will save you from very sore hands for days if you use a scissors. The carpets I've replaced fit very good so I never used glue. But I purchased cars where they glued down the carpet under the sill plates and toe boards. Don't think you'd need to do the whole carpet.

76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Carpet10

by jpowen49 Mon Apr 01, 2024 10:33 am

Installing my dash with a new wiring harness but I can`t remember where this bracket bolts to. Need help, thank you.

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76 Laguna parked in 2002 - Page 6 Thumbn99

by zucchi Mon Apr 01, 2024 6:49 pm

jpowen49 wrote:…I can`t remember where this bracket bolts to.

What's that bracket holding up?

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