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#521
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I spent a couple hours today installing the speaker. You have to drop the steering column and remove the gauge pod to access the speaker and get to the screw that holds the speaker bracket in place. Removing the A/C plastic ductwork really helps also. At the same time I replaced the non-existent foam seal on the main A/C duct. The original had turned to dust decades ago, leaving a 3/4" gap between the heater box and the main duct. Got everything buttoned up and now the front and back speakers sound just like new (like 1970's new, that is)
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#522
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I had to do the same thing on mine Steve, including replacing that gasket, which had turned to dust! While I had it all torn apart, I washed every piece of AC duct to get the dust out of them.
BJ
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1971 GTO 455 HO 4-speed - Cameo White, White Vinyl Top, Jade Green Interior, Ram Air Hood, AC, Honeycombs and 8-track 1974 Formula 455 I Owned in 1975-1976. Now Own Its Twin From Same Dealership |
#523
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I took her to a cruise night last night. Definitely improved the air flow from the middle dash vent- always the weakest output vent in the system.
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#524
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The other day I spent a few hours trying to solve the "bent nail puzzle" of removing the original transmission cooler tubes and replacing them with new ones from Inline Tube. Quite an entertaining conundrum of turn, twist, pull, (curse) and repeat X10. Eventually got it all done with only a minimum amount of tranny fluid on the floor.
The original set had some bad kink/twists where they were over tightened onto the fitting at the transmission case decades ago. I was worried that they'd spring a leak one of these days at the least opportune moment. So I now have successfully replaced every corroded steel line in the car over the past couple months. What did I win? (piece of mind, I guess) :-) By the way, I did not use the front sections of the driver's side fuel line that goes from the front fender well to the pump, and both passenger side vent and return line sections that go from the back of the subframe to the charcoal canister, and the fuel pump. My originals were still perfect from being covered in grease all those years. Does anyone need those lines? I believe they are unique to the 74/75 to 81 cars? |
#525
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I saw this and figured I might comment (even though you made a decision on the matter):
Quote:
The grilles on base and Esprit models were left silver, and the Formula and Trans Am were blacked out; The surrounding part of the grille inserts were always left silver. Some angles might make it appear as though the whole grille insert was blacked out, that was never the way they were painted for the assembly line. [img]http://pontiacformula.free.fr/photo/histoire/firebird75.11.jpg[/mg] Quote:
I will make a mental note of it!!
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1970 Formula 400 Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car. Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left. 1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing) 2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs) |
#526
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Took the Gramma car out for a ride last night. Added 3 gallons of 100 octane, leaded avgas to the tank today. Sure smells nice!
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#527
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Oh yeah, love the smell of avgas!! /used to run that all the time in mine.
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1973 Formula 400 4 spd 04C build date Norwood assembly plant. |
#528
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Where are getting leaded at the airport?
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#529
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At my local commuter airport. It’s 100 octane low lead. It was $4.99 a gallon.
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#530
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#531
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Looky what I found!
A NOS set of the same brown/tan/orange/yellow-ish "Plasticolor" floor mats that my Gramma bought for the car when it was new. The original set got rather chewed up by four and a half decades of foot travel. Found them on ebay for $115. I have been searching for years for a set and got the search alert on Saturday morning at 6:30 AM. I immediately ht the buy-it-now button. They just arrived today. Just need some scrubbing and cleaning and they will be fine. Last edited by njsteve; 08-15-2019 at 08:18 PM. |
#532
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Nice score!!
__________________
1973 Formula 400 4 spd 04C build date Norwood assembly plant. |
#533
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I have been walking on this set for years. Opps!
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#534
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You Monster!!!!!!!
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#535
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Quote:
Thanks. |
#536
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I just used some adhesive backed foam insulation in roll form that I got at home depot in the plumbing aisle. It worked fine. Just cut four pieces to make a rectangle and you are set.
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#537
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Thank you
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#538
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Did some suspension upgrades recently. I installed a Lares 974 quick ratio steering box (2-1/2 turns). Got it from rockauto to replace the original 3+turn, over-boosted box. It also comes with the new steering coupler. It was a direct swap and uses the same original-style flare fittings for the hoses. It now has a very tight feel to the steering instead of the heavily-sedated original steering feel. It took several fluid bleedings over a week to get all the residual air bubbles out. One of the symptoms of air still present is reduced assist at idle. After a week or so the assist at idle is good again.
Today I swapped out the original 1" front sway bar and 9/16" rear sway bar for 1-1/4" front and 3/4" rear bars that I got of ebay for around $110 for the set. (Shipping was a killer though - that front bar sure is heavy!) I also installed new Prothane bushings as well. Total time for the sway bar swap was a leisurely 3 hours. New Lares 974: Old 1" bar: New 1-1/4" sway bar: Last edited by njsteve; 02-01-2020 at 02:37 PM. |
#539
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Last edited by njsteve; 02-01-2020 at 02:33 PM. |
#540
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More tinkering since we are sitting around on cootievirus lockdown.
I decided to update the speedometer in Gramma's car. In 1975 the Federal Government frowned on the blatant braggadocio of the automakers producing cars with speedometers that encouraged their drivers to irresponsibly drive 160 mph simply because their gauges encouraged them to. So they made cars with 80 and 100 mph speedometers to appease the powers that be. The 1974 and prior Trans AM speedos bolt right in place with no other parts needed. I had one sitting in my parts stash in the garage but made the mistake of trying to wipe the dust off the dial and proceeded to wipe the silkscreened ink off during the process AHHHHHHH! I did some searching on the internets and found a guy in North Carolina - Daniel at GaugeMarks who sells the silkscreened dial numerals in a kit for Camaros and Trans Ams and other cars. He was willing to sell me just the speedometer face and it worked out great. He actually has a video on youtube which shows how easy it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKHmxl0Ljs0 Anyway, here is the bad dial after removal from the speedometer. I then wiped off the rest of the numbers with rubbing alcohol and painted the face with semigloss black. After that it was easy to place the new "decal" on the face and peel away the backing. Another youtube video helped me set the spare speedometer's odometer to the exact number that the car has for mileage in its present speedometer. It took a few headscratching moments to understand, since most of the videos only show you how to wind it back to zero. But after several minutes of Rubiks cube wrassling I was able get it to 81,884. I then reassembled the whole thing. Next step is taking apart the dash to put it in. |
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