[2manyT/A'S]

Lookin' GOOD!.................

I don't think you should have any problems with the rear end or transmission....unless you miss a shift.....or sidestep the clutch.

Those Super T-10s are pretty tough........that's what they put behind the SD's......

Maybe not HO tough....but definately SD tough.....

Your "skinny" tires will save you......slicks or drag radials and you could break something.

[Alvin]

Thanks for posting more of your "Pontiac Porn" pix Bob!

Wondering about what the welding repair was on the one head - prior crack perhaps? Appears only on the top side by the head bolt hole - yes?


Will be interesting to see "the whole enchilada" come together. Thxs for keeping us in the loop & posted.

[Bentwheelbob]

Yeah, I think Dave must have hit a thin spot or pocket in the casting and had to do a little touch up. It's the back right head, so that spot will be buried by the evaporator box if it's even visible after painting.

[The Boss]

Text me your address Bob - I've got an early Christmas present for you. I was going through an old box of stuff (toy trucks mostly from the shelves of my old office 15 years ago) and came across this....

[Bentwheelbob]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Text me your address Bob - I've got an early Christmas present for you. I was going through an old box of stuff (toy trucks mostly from the shelves of my old office 15 years ago) and came across this....

How cool is that. I have to admit that I am little touched. I'll text you my address and give it a good home. Just for this I promise to do a burnout when I get the Gold Car done....

Well, I probably would have anyway, but you get the point.

Thanks.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Text me your address Bob - I've got an early Christmas present for you. I was going through an old box of stuff (toy trucks mostly from the shelves of my old office 15 years ago) and came across this....

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

How cool is that. I have to admit that I am little touched. I'll text you my address and give it a good home. Just for this I promise to do a burnout when I get the Gold Car done....

Well, I probably would have anyway, but you get the point.

Thanks.

That IS pretty cool...and a reminder of how many of those I have - in & out of original packaging.

Gotta hand to The Boss for treeing me "on the idea that I never thought of" giving Bob a Gold TA! Well done sir!

Side note: I remember actually shopping for and purchasing another vehicle w Gold Wheels and creating my own pseudo Y88 as it wasn't available from Hot Wheels @ the time. Talk about me being ate up, sheeze!

[The Boss]

No biggie, I had a ton of matchbox's and other 1:18th scale cars in their original boxes, those have gone to Toy's For Tots. Two other boxes (1 cubic foot each) went to the sons of friends of mine today - lots of people smiling today & this Christmas from stuff I haven't looked at in 15 years!

[Bentwheelbob]

Well, the weaather is crappy here, but the project marches on. It's time to get the front end degreased and get the last of the undercoating removed. We moved the car and lift out to the driveway and everything has been given a liberal spay of diesel fuel and PB Blaster to dissolve and soften over night. Tomorrow morning the fun starts with the tyvek suits and pressure washer. Honestly, I don't think it will be that bad, but it will still suck. It sucks in 70 degree weather and will suck even more with a high of 40 tomorrow.

Lots of other stuff got done today, but nothing big. All the bolts that have been removed have been cleaned, wire wheeled and cleared. The steering box has been finished up, and the plastic cover that goes over the steering coupler (rag joint?) has been sanded down and painted with plastic paint. It looks really good. Hopefully by this time tomorrow the Gold Car will be back inside, free of 36 years of grease and oil, and warm and dry. We'll see. Here's a couple of pictures.

[Bentwheelbob]

So did I say I thought it would suck removing the grease, oil and undercoating in 40 degree weather? I should have spoken more strongly....

Well, at least the job is done. 36 years of grease, oil and undercoating is gone - mostly. I'm not sure you could get it all without total disassembly and I am not going that far. However, I am very pleased with the result and ready for the next step. MPD and I got lucky today, as Tristan showed up and we just happened to have an extra Tyvek suit. Tristan is the 18 year old young man that helped us shuttle cars to the car show and his showing up today was pure coincidence, but a real blessing. We worked from 10:00am until 6:00pm and just barely got finished.

We started the presoak last night with diesel fuel and PB Blaster and I am glad we did. We did several cycles of pressure washing with hot water, soak with more diesel, and then blast again. After three cycles of that we switched to Tornado 50 degreaser which is to Purple Power what Moonshine is to beer. This stuff is industrial tough and will flat out cut through grease, grime and skin. The Tornado combined with scotch brite pads cleaned everything up nicely. The only spot that I couldn't get any real positive results on was the firewall. Every place there was a penetration through the firewall the factory sprayed some type of thick sealant. There is no comparison to undercoating, as nothing would soften it. Needless to say, I am going to go with the factory look and leave that sealant in place. I'll paint the firewall and over the sealant, as the cost benefit of trying to remove it is in the "only twelve more bolts" league...

A few interesting discoveries were the original factory sticker on the left from coil spring, and inspection paint marks on the spindles and left front lower A arm. All in all, this thing is amazingly well preserved, with almost no rust or pitting except where the battery has leaked at some time in the past. Here's a few pictures. I included some before and after....

[2manyT/A'S]

Nice Job!

[The Boss]

WOW!

[Alvin]

Hey Bob, couple Qs:

1. How do you move the lift in/out of the garage w car still on it; wheels imbedded/recessed in 4-corner posts, or? .

1.b. To roll it in/out do you use cable and electric motor, or?

2. Knowing that the temps were low and appears high humidity, what are you doing to prevent "flash rust" on all of those bare areas? Assume that it was too damp to clear, yes?

BTW: Please let us know what you do w the NSX and any links to that build I'd appreciate, as I'm interested in most all brands, make & model vehicles.

[Judge273]

Another great weekend of progress!

[Bentwheelbob]

Originally Posted by Alvin

Hey Bob, couple Qs:

1. How do you move the lift in/out of the garage w car still on it; wheels imbedded/recessed in 4-corner posts, or? .

1.b. To roll it in/out do you use cable and electric motor, or?

2. Knowing that the temps were low and appears high humidity, what are you doing to prevent "flash rust" on all of those bare areas? Assume that it was too damp to clear, yes?

BTW: Please let us know what you do w the NSX and any links to that build I'd appreciate, as I'm interested in most all brands, make & model vehicles.

Alvin - the four post lifts come with removable wheel assemblies that function on the lever and fulcrum principle. See this attached youtube video. I usually have a neighbor come up and move it with his riding lawn mower and a tow strap, but this weekend he was unavailable and three men and my Child Bride just pushed it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7VCCJeTSZA

While it was nasty outside, the Hot Rod Garage has gas central heat. I cranked up the heat to 75 and turned on the two 24" fans on the back wall to dry it as quickly as possible. I also used a leaf blower prior to bringing it in to remove as much moisture as possible. There was much flash rust I could see, but prior to painting I'll probably wipe it down with Eastwood Afterblast which works well.

Not much to report on the NSX. It's as pristine as can be and is happily napping under it's winter cover. There really isn't much to do to it besides keep it clean, maintain it and drive it.

[redonred81]

Excellent.....What you guys do on a weekend would take most of us 3 months to do, maybe 5 for me lol .Great job guys.

[Norwood]

Nice work Bob, Dave and Tristan, How about a picture of the driveway under the car when you were done.

[The Boss]

I'm sure they power washed that as well - probably got off all of those Armor All half moons too.

[Bentwheelbob]

Well, most of the powdercoating is back and I am happy. The parts look really good. Still waiting on the master cylinder and inner fenders. I had them use 60% gloss on anything body related, and 50% on parts associated with the drivetrain. Honestly, I cant't tell much difference. The cost for what you see plus the MC is ~$400, which works out to a little more than $17 per part. I'm not sure if that is good or bad, but it is a price that I can accept for the quality of the work and the durability. Here's a couple of pictures.

[roundportponchos]

Bob, looks great.... would love to bring Tylers 78 blue W72 down

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

I am so completely stoked...Back when I was 15 years old in 1978 I would spend summers at my grandparents in Hart County, Ky. My grandfather was a subsistence farmer and raised 5 kids on whatever he could squeeze out of 114 acres. Four of the kids were boys and they all became engineers. A Phd Chemist, a Phd Nuclear, a Masters Metallurgical, and a BS Metallurgical. Growing up they all had to share a bed. My dad was the eldest and the first to die when I was 9 in a hunting accident. My mom was a saint (and still is), but I was angry ass as a teenager because....In the summers I got sent to the farm to give me and mom recuperation time.

It was great for a young boy. I spent summers fishing the local ponds, working the hay wagon on neighboring farms, shooting groundhogs, suckering and cutting tobacco, and smoking cigarettes in the caretaker shed of the Aetna Grove Baptist Church cemetery. My grandfather John Henry Bennett was my best friend. He was also a Pontiac man. In the summer of 1978 his 1974 Catalina needed to go to his dealer in Munfordville, Kentucky for service and a tune up. At the dealership in the showroom was a gold Trans Am. It was love at first sight. I took back to the farm with me a 1978 Pontiac sales brochure and every night I would lay in bed and look at that car and try to figure out what would be required, and how long it would take, to save enough money to buy it. At the end of the summer the brochure came home with me, but eventually the dream faded away and was replaced by other dreams.

As it turned out it would take 36 years before the dream became reality. Many cars have come before it, why I am not sure. I could have bought one long ago, hard work, determination and luck eventually meant that money wasn't the issue. I have the Green Truck, Red Car, Yellow Car and Black Car, but I never really chased the Gold Car. It seems sort of like one of those facebook romances between men and women who knew each other in High School and 30 years later connected on facebook. It started out innocently, but quickly became an obsession as they remembered what they wanted so long ago.

Well I wanted a Gold Car long ago, and now I have one. It should get delivered in the next 7 to 10 days and I can't wait. ....It's got all the good stuff - Y88, W72, WS6, M21, 3.42 Posi, tilt, gauges.....It a 53K survivor with original paint and pristine interior. It needs some work, mainly under the hood. There's something funky about the dark blue paint on the intake, and the guy who checked it out for me said the right side head also was that same dark blue. We'll see, it'll be part of the adventure and I look forward to that

Here's some pics....

Bumping this OP # 1 for review of how far we've come along for the ride so far. Thxs for sharing Bob.