Saturday morning, April 18, 2026 2:45 a.m.

I’m finally making progress on my 55 wagon’s driver’s door rehab project. Finally was able to install the door glass and get it positioned so it would bolt up to the roller track. The secret? You have to nearly withdraw the wing vent assembly to give the glass room to move and line up with the roller track. Once I did that, it all came together.

Tomorrow I’ll finalize the wing vent and get it bolted properly in place. The weather is going to be nice this weekend, and I’m wanting to get the Chevy out and drive it!

This evening was the first Depot Street car show in Bloomfield. Due to the trouble I was having with the door glass, I wasn’t able to make this one. I really wanted to go.

So tomorrow I hope to wrap up the wing vent, then clean up the front seat and floorboard. I have some wiring hanging down under the gauge cluster I need to tie back up out of the way. It shouldn’t take too long to have the Chevy road ready.

FLUIDS CHECK. Before I take the car out, I need to check the coolant level and the oil. I had intended to change the oil over the winter but never got around to it.

A/C PLANS. My wife insists I add A/C to the car, and I’m hoping to use one of the less expensive 12v compressor kits. The only catch might be that I my not have enough clearance between the radiator and the hood latch assembly.

According to what I’m seeing on eBay, the fan/condensor assembly is about 4-3/4 inches wide, and that’s thicker than I have room available between the radiator and the grill — unless i do some surgery on the hood latch assembly to give me more clearance for the A/C unit to mount in front of the radiator.

My car has a V-8, but the radiator support is still the original six-cylinder one, which places the radiator on the front of the radiator support rather than the rear side. The A/C condensor is 18 inches wide, so I’m thinking I may just need to modify the hood latch to create the needed clearance. I think I’ll try to buy a used one and modify that. That’s my plan at least.

The 12v compressor will mount under the hood, probably on the passenger side fender well. The evaporator will mount under the dash, mostly on the passenger side. I’ll have to shift the gauge cluster from the middle of the under dash to closer to the driver’s side to make sure there’s room to mount the evaporator.

Once I get paid for some political ads on the website I’ll probably go ahead an order my 12V A/C kit. The sooner it arrives, the sooner I can get it installed and working.