What am/are/was/were these?
 

No idea what these things are. They look like they might be factory and maybe even go through the glass, but... Not a clue. First thought was antenna, but it's got that stupid motorized thing on the DSR fender...

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As I said before, that isn't factory.

From the outside they look like a pivot point for a rod that spanned the glass...like a hinge for louvers or something.
Of course, that doesn't explain the electric component on the inside and for that you gots some interior panel removal to do so you can see where the wiring goes.

Edit:
Further "proof" it's not Mazda...notice that the coiled wires for the heater element go through a notch in the plastic trim so they don't get crimped. The two cables for whatever-those-are are just squished under the trim, with no notch.

Maybe it's not, but the electrical part seems like it would need to go through the glass, and isn't it tempered? It would have to have been some sort of dealer accessory or something. Tempered glass on that scale has never been an aftermarket specialty.

I started to try to mess with the interior panels, but I can't figure out how the top part around the back comes out... As brittle as all these craptastic 80's plastics are, I don't want to break anything more than is absolutely necessary.

I'd be really surprised if the glass was drilled(?).
Like, really surprised.

You are correct to be leery of messing with ANY interior plastic in this temp.
Way too brittle and crumbly, it's almost certain you'll do some damage, no matter how careful you are or how warm it is, so you may as well wait for better conditions.
Much of the interior panelling is held in with insanely strong spring clip thingies which are more likely to rip out of their panel mount than pop out of the chassis hole. I'd much rather have exposed screws than hidden "one time only" clips.

Maybe a sensor for an after market alarm from the 80s? Idk just an idea ...

You're telling me... What happened to quality automotive manufacturing and rebuildability?

Its where you plug it in to recharge the rotary batteries :lol:

But anyways, idk, that is very odd looking, no markings on it you can google? And is that actually sticking through the glass? Its hard to tell

Just the "as" cast into the plastic on the outside. If there was anything on the box on the inside, it was painted over. I didn't see how it might come apart, but I didn't look too closely. I'll look a little closer tomorrow. As for going through the glass, I assumed it did. What would the wires do in the box? Seems they would do something for whatever is supposed to be on the outside of all that... It's a mystery.

80's cell phone antenna? muffy? you'll never guess where i'm calling you from!

Cb radio antenna mounts

Is that a guess or do you know?

I'm digging, and that's starting to look pretty plausible.

You should track down the vehicle history...Burt Reynolds may have owned your car.

Unfortunately, the tracking down I've done already has told me it lived in a salt state... (which explains all the rust and corrosion) Boo!!! Explains a lot, but still... BOOOOOOO!!!!!

I thought they were galvanizing bodies by the time this was made... My welder is going to get a workout! Actually, I really enjoy fabbing up panels and doing rust repair. More of that mechanical masochism coming through... What I hate (HATE) is sanding. Paint and body are evil. This will be a more interesting bit of cutting and grinding though with it so low to the ground... Most of the time the vehicle is either up on a lift or something or just tall. That'll be interesting to get figured out.

What he said..:nod::icon_tup:

Umm, did you just discover more rust than the lower fender spot?

LOL

Yup Burt Reynolds owned it.

/solved.

its made from Super SZ steel. the bottom of the car is undercoated too, up to like 6" on the sides, as you noticed.

your video went really quickly by this area, but i think its been painted before. a still camera shot that had the fender and headlight assembly seams would be good. depending on how archeological you wanna get. (we just got the radiocarbon dating back on the brake fluid, sir. it dates to 1887!)

It's in the video in my other thread; bottom of spare tire well and above the trim behind the DSR wheel, and then a bunch of surface stuff. It's really not that bad, but you know what the older cars are like. It's all relative. For what it is it's pretty thoroughly trashed. I'm going to have to figure out what to do about it when I can find some freaking TIME! Since the truck and the bug are taking up all the covered garage space, I also need weather to be on my side.

Crossing threads for a minute; before I do any of that though, I need to get the brakes sorted (#1 priority) and the engine/drivetrain baselined. I will almost assuredly swap to the 5-lug hubs to open up my brake and wheel options, so I'm hesitant to put much money into the stock brakes. They're worse than I initially thought. I still have a lot to learn and research before I can start ordering or sourcing parts.

99.9% sure

And they most likely "drilled" the glass. More like a diamond coated abrasive hole saw.

I have a something similar on mine. It is the antenna for a car phone.

This thread reminds me that I have underwear older than most of you

Hush it grandpa :lol:

I was about to say i see these all the time, most are non drill and can be an antenna for either a cell phone/car phone, or a CB. I actually had a CB one in one of my earlier cars, worked pretty good