[njsteve]

I pulled this off the Firebird today and was wondering if it is a reproduction or an original AC filter from way back. (If so that worries me if it has been running the same oil filter for 40 years)

[njsteve]

Enrico "Rick" Stein emailed me this evening. Here's what he said:


"Dear Steve,
Printed your e-mail this morning and impelled to write back. As I write this it is 9:45 a.m. MST here in Scottsdale and raining.

The sight of the old girl in your enclosed photos brought tears to my eyes. To me it is almost incredible that in all the years since I let her go none of the successive owners has attempted to "improve" on the factory original. I can tell from the photo of the rear that even the chrome exhaust tips are exactly where I put them. Additionally, your conformation of the slight flaw in the paint on the right front fender confirms that this car is a rare original, never restored or molested by an ignorant owner.

While I never had what is commonly referred in the collecting hobby as the "build sheet" or a "broadcast sheet" I will put my provenance on the car against anybody. In this case photo memory, total recall and obsessive compulsive syndrome serve as well.

Depending on class breakdown and other factors beyond your control you should easily win first place in Chicago.

In order to give you any edge that I can, along with the original steering wheel which, by the way, is in factory brand new condition I'm sending you the original window sticker as well as a original factory service manual. The steering wheel is being shipped in the factory original box that the Trans-Am steering wheel currently installed came in.

Any other pertinent data that I research from my files will follow when I've had a chance to go through them, Anything I can do to facilitate your beating the competition with "my car" let me know. I'll be happy to help.

Enrico A. Stein, Jr "Rick"

[njsteve]

What an amazing guy!

The exhaust tip story he is referring to is the fact that when the car was delivered it showed up with the tips looking cross-eyed, pointed heavily toward the center of the car and not straight out the back. He adjusted them so they point straight back (and incidentally rub the inner quarter on the passenger side.)

And the paint flaw consists of a weird couple of pieces of fuzz and hair in a line on the passenger side fender where the assembly line painter must have dragged the air line across the car when it was being painted.

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by njsteve

I pulled this off the Firebird today and was wondering if it is a reproduction or an original AC filter from way back. (If so that worries me if it has been running the same oil filter for 40 years)

Steve, we had NOS ones on the parts shelf for years. Last I saw in '82 there was still 20 or so from 6 cases that were bought in the early 70's It IS an original..probably not original to the car, but its vintage! Nice find! Chis has some repainted and PY sells the new 24's
PS you give your swifer duster away with your 72?? hehe you LUCKED out with white!!

[njsteve]

The original owner ID'd it as the one he installed in the late 1970's.

You bet the white is easier to keep clean! Before Bob's guys picked it up I washed the black car and then went to wash the white car. When I was done washing the white car, the black car was all dusty again.

[RamAir]

Steve got me thinking about my 72 T/A that is supposed to have the original spare tire & wheel. The story goes that the original lady owner didn't like the size of the spare since it didn't allow any trunk space. She removed the tire and placed it in her carport exposed to the Florida weather. The second owner kept the tire & wheel in his garage for 28 years prior to me buying the car. The DOT, sometime in 1970, established a different numbering system called "TIC". This system was utilized through sometime in '72. The first two digits being the date code. In this instance CD indicates the 12th week of 1971. This would coincides well with my 09C build date