[njsteve]

I talked with original owner "Rick" again today. He confirmed that the oil filter in the photos is the oil filter he put on in the late 1970's or early 1980s. He only used factory parts to maintain the car. I sent him the link to the SD455 Registry and he was surprised that they built so many 73 Formulas with the SD455. He thought there were only a handful so the 43 total number came as somewhat of a surprise.

This evening I used a flashlight and an inspection mirror to look under all the seats and did not see any signs of a broadcast in the springs or on the floor. I pulled the spare tire out and used the mirror to look behind the cardboard bulkhead liner and did not see anything in there either. I don't want to needlessly pull that back seat since the bottom cushions are so hard to remove and replace without damaging the vinyl.

[njsteve]

Here's something interesting I noticed about the spare tire. What I thought is mildew is the protective film that is sprayed on the white letters. You know, that blue stuff that is on the sidewalls of modern new tires when they arrive. It seems to be on both sides of the tires.

In addition to the tire, the jack does not appear to ever have been used. - there are no paint chips where the post would mount in to the base.

Here's some photos:



The unpainted spot by the center cap opening appears to be a result of the method by which the factory must have had the rim held in a fixture when it was painted. The other NOS spare I have has the very same unpainted notch.





Original valve stem and cap with small dome on the cap.



The jack in its original position

[njsteve]

Here is a panorama of the trunk for you trunk spatter paint aficianados out there:

[165th]

Originally Posted by njsteve

While changing the oil, I used the now oily camera to shoot some random detail shots:


The block VIN

Steve, I'm sure you saw this but your block is stamped twice.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing these original details.

[njsteve]

Actually my old man eyes didn't see that! I was too busy gazing the toasted image of Elvis in my grilled cheese sandwich.

[Rocky Rotella]

Steve, did he confirm he chose the Formula over the Trans Am for the dual scoops?

[blue71ta]

Steve,
curious if this car has a one-piece, continuous trunk weatherstrip? or is there a break/seam in it? I ask because my '71 T/A has the original weatherstrip and it is all one continuous piece (no seam) with a number molded into it. Haven't seen another one like it.

[Pepi]

Originally Posted by blue71ta

Steve,
curious if this car has a one-piece, continuous trunk weatherstrip? or is there a break/seam in it? I ask because my '71 T/A has the original weatherstrip and it is all one continuous piece (no seam) with a number molded into it. Haven't seen another one like it.

My weather-strip is a one-piece.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

A good chance he might not have scoped too deep into SD / Manual / No AC particulars when he was ordering .

That was in place all through SD productions 73 and 74
Probably why no one in the world has an original production 4spd AC SD
(barring any special brass car we don't know about yet)

I could understand someone removing and preserving the oil filter .
But hard to understand why the last 2 guys left it in place - if they ever did an oil change
weird

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by Rocky Rotella

Steve, did he confirm he chose the Formula over the Trans Am for the dual scoops?

Rick ordered the Formula because he liked the look of the two scoop fiberglass hood and didn't like all the plastic doo-dads on the T/A. When he first saw the car upon delovery and the wndow sricker had the $27 credit for "Delete Functional Ram Air" he thought that meant the factory substituted the shaker for the two scoop hood he wanted.

Rocky, if you are interested in doing an article on the car for a magazine, I think Rick would love to talk to you about his experiences. He is a wealth of info and very knowledgable about how things were at the time. He is also a retired ASE Master Mechanic and he owned a chain of dyno-tuning shops back in the mid to late 1970's.

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by blue71ta

Steve,
curious if this car has a one-piece, continuous trunk weatherstrip? or is there a break/seam in it? I ask because my '71 T/A has the original weatherstrip and it is all one continuous piece (no seam) with a number molded into it. Haven't seen another one like it.

There is a seam. And it is about 8 inches off of center, toward the driver's side.

[bossbirdta]

awesome storie and awesome find there Steve. i'm pretty sure that this car could NOT have went to a better owner. i did see the ebay listing and was very impressed with what i saw. the car is wonderful, but the history behind it makes it all that much better. CONGRATS. to YOU!!!!!

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by 165th

Steve, I'm sure you saw this but your block is stamped twice.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing these original details.

Possibly three strikes - I didn't want to say anything but there are several SD's that have multiple strike VIN blocks.

What were they doing (or drinking) on that line???

[njsteve]

At least all the strikes are the same number...(I hope). :-)

[njsteve]

Here's a couple more shots:

The DOT code on the spare. The rust colored dots are not rust but seem to be a residue of tire lube used to mount the tires when new.


The jack base and hold down parts:




A wheel weight with a white paint mark where it was supposed to be placed:

[Held for Ransom]

Tires were made around the 1st week of May, '73.

[njsteve]

Interesting. How do you decipher the DOT codes?

[njsteve]

I started perusing the original documents this evening and there is a ton of stuff! It actually surpasses my old Hemi Charger in terms of a paperwork archive. There are two copies of the order sheet, a handwritten yellow pad of the options and costs, the hand written purchase order, the typed sales invoice, the two page window sticker, the original loan agreement for $2200, the paid off loan agreement, the satisfaction of lien certificate, a 1973 Pontiac brochure that lists the SD455 as an available option in the Lemans, and Grand Am, the Pontiac Wide Track records booklet with all the various warranty pamphlets, the two owner's manuals, the odometer statement, a letter from Pontiac congratulating Rick on his purchase, and even the adding machine tape denoting the sales price minus the loan amount:




And all of Rick's New York registrations from 1973 to 1975 and the Arizona registrations as well. It even lists the original license plate 956-LYS. I just ordered a reproduction of that plate from the same place that made the replica Ontario plate for my black car.



I also have all the registrations and sales transfer docs from Rick to the second owner and third owners as well. It appears that Rick sold the car with 16,165 miles. The second owner sold it with 16,744 miles and the third owner sold it to me with 18,878 miles.

[Held for Ransom]

Looking at the last three digits, you'll see it was molded 18 (week) 3 (1973).

Did you find the ink stamp on the air cleaner base?

[njsteve]

Thanks for the decoding how-to.