[Alvin]

Originally Posted by burd

I like the A/C. I have my own personal hole in the ozone layer, lol A few years during Dream Cruise is what hotter than a masconatta, Norwood says real muscle cars don't have A/C, but I saw him get out of his Car after a short ride, sweaty like a Gypsy with a mortgage. Vinyl and no Air is a nasty combo. Lol
Ya, I want to swap out the rear gears, I met the owner of The Ring & Pinion shop at a party, we talked gears.
Bob, I was lucky when the 4" ducts were still avail at GM, I ordered 4, one was hairy. I just put a shiny one on my car. The hairy one and two more just in a pile. Lol

Surprising the different 3:42 v 3:23 gear effect on overall drivability...

[Bentwheelbob]

Originally Posted by burd

I really need to paint the hinges again, I went black, but I think it's a gray? And the hood latch Nirwood already told me wasn't back from the factory either. When I painted the latch, I masked off the cad plated pcs inside, but it looks wrong in black, Bob what did you use on both?

Burd - I used Martin Seymour Cast Gray spray paint on the hinges. I sprayed them very lightly with a dry mist to replicate a gray phosphate type finish. The finish on the hood latch is original.

[burd]

Thanks Bob, I sprayed my master raw steel too, I guess I'll leave it for now. my hood latch doesn't look rite black, you think the Eastwood bare steel or cast steel paint would look good? Do they make a flat gray phosphate paint that I could use?
I always thought the oil dip stick handle was painted engine color you. This has been a big debate over the years. Did you ever get the correct jack decal from Drake, he did a nice job correcting the 79 one for 78's.
For you guys getting the air cleaner decal from the vendors, the one being re popped is mine. Osborne reproduced my orig decal about 15-20 years ago, he never had a correct 78 400 to do. They were looking for the 350 and the 403 to do if they were different.
A buddy called me the other day, he thinks he found a few A 542 C air filters in the brown cardboard GM box. Bob, I'll let you know if I have an extra. The foam is prob in the bottom of the plastic bag these filters cam in, lol

[Bentwheelbob]

There is a phosphate imitation paint, but the reviews I have read were not good. I prefer the Martin Seymour Cast paint to the Eastwood. The master cylinder should be black. I prefer to powder coat because it is guaranteed brake fluid resistant. Not sure about the dipstick debate. Think it looks better natural. The Gold Car has its original jack decal.

[burd]

My master was black, but I remember spraying it back in the 80's, so I didn't know the correct finish, I sent my orig calipers and master out for a re- build, so they came back all nice and clean, freshly bead blaster then oiled. I used caliper raw steel paint and Dot 5 fluid. After bleeding everything with Reg brake fluid I could see all the painted things being nasty looking from the Reg type fluid. The booster I'll leave for the next time it's off but the hood latch bugs me. Lol thanks, I'll try to find that paint for the latch.

[burd]

I saw this at a local swap, my car has a AM /FM 8 Track in it so I had to get it. It's dated 1978. I've seen a few more at the same swap since. Maybe their not that uncommon

[burd]

I'm going to freshen under the Bonnet a bit, lol here's some items I've been waiting to install, I just ordered the color vac lines from Ames, now I can put the blue Valve back on, I also ordered the seal and o ring from the dealer for the seep where it goes into the trans to hopefully stop the leak there, some custom stainless tips, BWB hooked me up with the tailored orig style plug wires, and the Blue Valve, and I found some nOS WS6 front link bushings. Also some insulation for the fuel line, my car didn't have it from the factory. A guy on UFB hooked me up with a set of WS6 stiffeners, I was just out in the garage, I'm putting the orig style fuel line clams on too, another missing detail, I just was out in the garage, it's 60°, love the heat here st the new place. I'll post the progress

[burd]

I forgot to mention, Mongo gave me a set of Window Blow Out clips, can I put those on without replacing the rubber seal? There pop riveted on at the factory?

[Grand73Am]

They're riveted, but not pop-riveted. More of a brad style rivet, with a round top. Below are some pics of what it looks like.

I have what the factory called a blow-out clip "field fix package". It's for a 73-75 A-body, but they are similar to f-body as far as having frameless door glass and a blow-out clip. What they did was pull the weatherstrip to the side enough to be able to drill out the old clip rivets and remove the old clip. Then the kit includes 2 small screws to screw the new clip in place. The screws are #8 size, 1/4" long, with a 1/4" diameter pan head.

[burd]

I can't wait to replace these, ones missing and the other one is all rusty.

[burd]

The repop clip looks different. Should I be surprised. Lol. Or is thevorig flattened out? The other side is missing

[FrankieT/A]

I bought my 78 brand new as well. In my situation the original block grenaded. It's not numbers matching anymore...but I still have it. The car is in excellent shape other than the original paint is shot. My problem is trusting someone to paint it. But, its coming soon.

[Aus78Formula]

I only just saw the new version of your blow-out clip sitting on the roof, Burd. Toss it. See my post on UFB after yours showing the MCI version. Looks like your original is bent up too, window isn't going to be held up there, meant to angle down as per Steve's pic.
I pop-rivetted and then hammed flat, some also self tapper into roof through channel.

http://stillvisionstudios.com/Camaro...utClip_02a.jpg

[burd]

Thanks guys, the set I have don't even look close to the original. I'll pick up the set your talking about. Who has them again?

[burd]

Oh, just saw. Lol thanks.

[Grand73Am]

I've seen 2 different styles of factory blow-out clips. The clip on the channel in my photos above is from a Camaro, maybe 80-81. I pulled them from a Camaro at the junkyard so don't remember exactly. But I have an 81 Firebird with the same ones. So, based on that observation, the factory may have come out with this style clip in 80-81. The black plastic on it is molded over the spring metal. The plastic is pretty thickly molded on there, so it seems to hold up much better than the other type.

The other type is what is on all 4 of my 79 TA's. Below are photos of one. Looks like spring metal that's been folded over itself a couple times, and dipped in black. But the black didn't hold up, so they rusted.

Interestingly, none of the clips in Ben's link to the clip pictures look like either of my original clips. I bought some of the "ebay clips" like in the link, from S&S classic on eBay I believe, but I haven't used them, since they look too different from original.

[Aus78Formula]

That lower one is very flat and high up like Burd's. Is the glass anywhere near it? If not then you'd have to think the seal has been pushing it over for many years. I can't see how it would be functional like that. Not sure if being a t-top affects it, are the channels simply cut from hardtops? It even looks like the channel has flared out at that curved point allowing the clip to go with it.

I said MCI, mine are actually Classic Headquarters as per comparison link.

[burd]

I found 2 nOS sail Birds at the swap a few weeks ago, PG, and I dealt with the owner, he sent me the smaller 1980 birds. Now I can swap them out, got them Both for $20. Gotta love it. The guy had a small stack of diff years, I was thinkin they may not stick so I didn't buy the whole lot. Plus I gotta stop buying parts that not for my car. I bought that 1977 dealer Album just because it is complete and clean. I have it up for sale.

[burd]

[Aus78Formula]

What's that folder?