[poncho4554spd]

With the help of a buddy of mine, we were able to get the proper braces spot welded into the fender skins today. Now I need to finish stripping the exterior of the skins and epoxy prime. Almost time to start fitting the front end.

[poncho4554spd]

Couple more pics.

[keith k]

Nice work!

[poncho4554spd]

Originally Posted by keith k

Nice work!

Thanks. It is time consuming but IMO worth the effort to try to be as correct as possible.

[poncho4554spd]

One last task I had to do before stripping the fenders to bare metal and fixing a few small dings was weld up the extra holes for 79-81 flares. I know that the holes are not seen from the exterior once the flares are on but I figured since I changed all of the bracing I should weld up the extra non correct holes. I cut a few round plugs from a old parts fender and placed a magnet on the fender from behind then placed the plugs into the holes against the magnet. I welded up and ground off the excess weld

[Pepi]

Looks good, not even noticeable at all. Glad to see this car continuing on.

[poncho4554spd]

A quick update: I stripped the reworked fenders completely down to bare metal and skimmed the areas where I welded up the flare holes, along with fixing a few obvious dings with filler . I then primed them both with 2 part epoxy. They will be block sanded down the road in the near future. I also removed the components from the endura bumper and sandblasted a couple layers of paint off. There are several cracks here and there that need repairing, so I will be working on repairing that and fitting the fenders.

[necdb3]

Looks great so far!

[Judge273]

Can't see Glenn would have ever gone that deep into the fenders. Nice to see the attention to details.

[poncho4554spd]

Thanks guys. From what I read catching up on Glenn's prior work, it seemed that he regretted trashing the original fenders but was content with using the later NOS fenders as they were. I just figured that since I already had a early set of firebird fenders with the correct braces, along with the solid NOS fenders that came with the car, why not put in the additional effort and make them as correct as I can? Of course I do have some time in these things lol, but would do it again in a minute for the right car.

[Pepi]

They look great, keep up the good work!!!

[poncho4554spd]

I sandblasted the endura along with sanding carefully with 320 grit and 220 grit on a DA sander. So far the majority of the cracks seem to be sanding out but I still have some stripping, repairing and prepping before the first coats of epoxy primer can be applied.

[unruhjonny]

is it just me, or is that a replacement bumper?

I have understood to date that the yellow (more foamy/less rubbery) bumpers were from around 1976 when the same material was used to make the front and rear bumber covers;
I have always steered away from the yellow "replacement" bumpers over ones with black rubber.

[poncho4554spd]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

is it just me, or is that a replacement bumper?

I have understood to date that the yellow (more foamy/less rubbery) bumpers were from around 1976 when the same material was used to make the front and rear bumber covers;
I have always steered away from the yellow "replacement" bumpers over ones with black rubber.

I don't know. I was wondering the same thing because I thought the originals were black or gray in color. This one is brown in color. It is supposedly the one that was on the car when Glenn bought it. In fact I was told by Glenn's brother that Glenn removed the nose and had a shop paint it white at some point. I would like to know for sure out of curiosity if it is a replacement.

[poncho4554spd]

On a quick side note, the car is missing the choke pull off so we need one. My buddy Brian (car owner) gave me a few extra bucks to get some epoxy and odds and ends so I figured I would buy one if I find it. I ordered the longer correct door handles and solenoids for the shaker. (By the way Norwood did some work on the air cleaner and shaker. Excellent job Craig!!. Thank You) I looked at Ames and saw 71 listed but didn't see 72. Is it the same, if not does anyone have info or a link to the correct one? Thanks.

[unruhjonny]

I believe that replacement choke pull offs are limited in selection;
I believe 1972 choke pull offs are the metal ones - and I am unaware of sny being reproduced;
You may need to source one from Cluff Ruggles, or from a parts carburetor - there probably is at least a couple-non Pontiac applications which use the same style pull-off - that will probably be the cjeapest way to get one.

[poncho4554spd]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

I believe that replacement choke pull offs are limited in selection;
I believe 1972 choke pull offs are the metal ones - and I am unaware of sny being reproduced;
You may need to source one from Cluff Ruggles, or from a parts carburetor - there probably is at least a couple-non Pontiac applications which use the same style pull-off - that will probably be the cjeapest way to get one.

Ok thanks. Looks like I need to double check and see what is exactly missing.

[poncho4554spd]

I did some more sandblasting to the nose to remove the paint from the back side along with sanding with a DA and block on the front of the nose working the scratches and cracks down until they looked good and all of the paint was removed leaving fresh endura material. I fixed a couple small spots with 2 part flex epoxy and block sanded smooth. I sprayed 3 coats of SPI epoxy primer with a 30 minute flash time in between coats and then sprayed a black guide coat to help when blocking. I will eventually block out and repair any issues still present then apply 3 more coats of epoxy then block again. First I need to fit the fenders and nose and add to or remove material if necessary from the nose to properly shape to the fenders.

[catc]

Did something happen to Glenn?..i haven't been in this section for a while ...Glenn gave me a complete seat for my 70 and then kind of went off the radar..i couldn't ever reach him as i tried to message him a few times...

[poncho4554spd]

Originally Posted by catc

Did something happen to Glenn?..i haven't been in this section for a while ...Glenn gave me a complete seat for my 70 and then kind of went off the radar..i couldn't ever reach him as i tried to message him a few times...

PM sent.