69 Ram Air III parts restoration questions
 

Hi,
Previous owner had removed all the ram air components to restore them. He ended up losing the box with everything from the engine compartment area except the upper pan, lower pan and air cleaner lid which he had restored.
While going through the catalogs, manuals & forums to make a list of the parts I needed I came across two items that I couldn't find a definitive answer to.
1. The air cleaner stud and wing nut - Some were saying they are both black and another says stud is black and wing nut chrome. Which is correct?

2. The heat diaphragm actuators supposed to be riveted in place. Some say any generic rivets are fine while others say originals had definite bigger head/base which are hard to find. The only GTO catalog selling the rivets is Inline Tube. Not even sure if theirs are correct or generic. Any input here is appreciated.

3. Did the 69 Ram Air III use the thermostatic vacuum switch or was that hole plugged in the intake manifold instead?

Thanks!

Greg- completely off topic but I am right next door in North Attleboro! The GF lives over there in Plainville! I will be out this season- red 68 442 convertible and a green 69 Buick GS stage 1 convertible! LMK if you ever need help!

Hi George,
Thanks, I am actually in North Attleboro myself. Worked in Plainville before recently retiring. Would love to see your cars sometime.

Hi, I am clarifying my questions after getting some additional information. My car is a 69 GTO Judge Ram Air III Automatic.

The previous owner had removed all the ram air components to restore them. He ended up losing the box with everything from the engine compartment area except the upper pan, lower pan and air cleaner lid which he had restored.
While going through the catalogs, manuals & forums to make a list of the parts I needed I came across 3 items that I couldn't find a definitive answer.

1. The air cleaner stud and wing nut - Some were saying they are both black and another says stud is black and wing nut chrome. Seems like black oxide/phosphate on the stud & wing nut? Which is correct? Possibly different depending on build plant?

2. The heat diaphragm actuators are to be riveted in place. Some say any generic rivets are fine while others say originals had definite bigger head/base which are hard to find. The only GTO catalog selling the rivets is Inline Tube. Not even sure if theirs are correct or generic. Any input here is appreciated.

3. Did the 69 Ram Air III use the thermostatic vacuum switch or was that hole plugged in the intake manifold instead? I may be confusing auto vs manual trans. Mine is auto.

Thanks!

Hi Greg,

Late response due to winter hiatus :

1...all the air cleaner threaded studs are some kind of black oxide type coating (Ram Air cars use a shorter stud), all wingnuts were also black oxide except if the car was factory equipped with a chromed air cleaner lid so RA cars should not have a chromed air cleaner wingnut. That being said, given that most GTO's would have had the chromed wingnut I could see that some ram air cars could have received one inadvertently.

2...I looked at the two 69's I have with unmolested original ram air setups and in both cases the rivets look like the head is a bit larger diameter and a bit taller than what you'd see from a hardware store, but maybe they were all like that back then?

3...The intake mounted vacuum switch was used on all automatic equipped cars in 69, manuals used a female square headed plug.

Thank you!!