[roger1]

Originally Posted by gtohurstjudge

I notice you are using a repro brake booster....... On the ones I have installed on numerous GTO's including my own, I had to install a flat washer
on each stud for mounting the master cylinder in order to get the proper clearance at the master cylinder piston to push rod interface to prevent the brakes from dragging........no big deal, just put one flat washer on each stud...
not noticeable once the master cylinder is installed.

I am sure glad you gave me that tip! Thanks again. I had to put 1/16" thick washers behind the master just like you did. If you hadn't given me this tip, I can't imagine how long it might have taken me to figure out what was wrong! I think I would have have suspected a bad master cylinder first.

Updates:

Got the master cylinder installed and brakes bled using my vacuum bleeding canister. I always think I can do this without getting fluid on the floor but it seems to never work out that way.



I thought about painting the master with cast paint but decided to try something new this time. I had read that coating the bare cast iron with this protectant works well so I bought some to try. I haven't applied it yet though.



The car now moves under it's own power. I moved it outside briefly so I could get my floor cleaned up. I stacked up some outdoor furniture cushions to use as a seat.



Oops. Couldn't resist:



I haven't gone through the Edelbrock tuning procedures again yet but intend to do so soon.

Receive my bumper back from being rechromed. Looks like they got all the dings out perfectly and I think it looks very nice but I wouldn't say the chrome quality was absolutely 100% perfect. But, I'm happy enough with it so no complaints.



Before installing the bumper, I removed the trunk lid extension stainless trim from the quarter panels so I could color sand and buff the paint in that area and reinstall the trim. They can't be removed once the bumper is in place so this needed to be done first.
When installing the bumper I was surprised to see it didn't fit the same as it did before. I guess all the ding straightening they had to do on it changed the general shape a little. It was the passenger side the wasn't fitting the same. It was a little low and too far out. To correct, I needed to loosen the both the bumper and frame bracket bolts so I could move and realign the bracket. It time consuming and pretty much took the better part of the day yesterday to get it to where I was satisfied but I did get there.





The trunk lid extension trim stainless is polished but I haven't done that to the other 3 trunk lid trim pieces yet. They are just mocked up for now.
As you can see, I have bulbs in the taillights and they are working. And btw, I know I raised a few eyebrows when I mentioned I bought the plastic repro tail light bezels but I really like them. I see zero wrong with going this route.

I had read that using oven cleaner works well for stripping the paint off of the plastic front grille pieces so I bought a can and gave it a try. I did 3 applications and it did work pretty well but I will finish it off with Scotchbrite to remove the few spots of paint remaining.