[njsteve]

The right side. Note how little paint got on the lower portion of the rocker panels on the passenger side. The driver's side rocker bottom got a lot better coverage. Must have been a shorter painter on the left side of the paint booth that day.

[njsteve]

And the driver's side:

[njsteve]

Here's something interesting. I have never seen this bracket on the cross member the purpose of which is to retain the speedometer cable.



This clip is on the driver's side inner frame rail:



This bracket is on the driver's side inner frame rail below the steering column:

[njsteve]

French locks on the exhaust manifold bolt:



Matching VIN on Turbo 400 transmission:



Unpainted, galvanized floor plug



Emergency brake adjuster with single, nylock lock not.



GM stenciled fuel lines on subframe with color coded spring clamps:





Fuel pump part number:



"FU" paper tag on front sway bar:



Driveshaft color coded paint stripes:



Limited Slip metal tag in factory installed position at bottom:



Orange painted "G" on the bottom of the differential. The differential center section appears to be natural cast iron, with the tubes and mounting plates painted black.



"LS2" on the underside of the radiator support, denoting the SD455 option:



Yellow crayon "53 H" on the inside of the passenger side subframe rail:



Original spiral shocks all around. The car rides very nicely on them. You can see the black painted rear differential base plates:

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Not exciting at all - maybe an action shot?

I think the front sway bar paper tag would make an awesome avatar but I'd probably get kicked off the site. ;-)

[njsteve]

And here's a comical one: Nice build quality/alignment on the rocker panel installation. It is sticking out about a 1/4" from the bottom of the quarter panel. The passenger side is flush with the quarter.

[njsteve]

Ok, here's a question: in examining the exhaust and all its bolts, nuts, clamps etc, and confirming with Rick, the original owner, this is THE original exhaust system that has been on the car since delivery. Shouldn't there be resonators just forward of the rear differentail? Or was that on earlier cars?

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Ok, here's a question: in examining the exhaust and all its bolts, nuts, clamps etc, and confirming with Rick, the original owner, this is THE original exhaust system that has been on the car since delivery. Shouldn't there be resonators just forward of the rear differentail? Or was that on earlier cars?

When I ordered my exhaust from Gardner, where you did, for your '72 T/A, I ordered a 73 SD exhaust, (shell is a 73 and he insisted on the VIN), withOUT the resonators. He said they had an original system right there, with no resonators. Your pipes seem sealed or welded near the Pinion area. All GM replacements I ever put on were clamped there, but that was GM replacement, not factory. Im sure there will be input on this subject from others..
Side note. Looks like your fuel line clip was replaced ( holds lines going to the pump) Think my '73 clip has fuel running through part of it and a clip for the other in a cast aluminum deal. I have it here somewhere. just a observation. ( could have been a TB on this now that I think about it)
Thanks for posting all those great pics!!

[njsteve]

You're right about the fuel lines. Both rubber lines were replaced and the cast metal fuel accumulator is gone. So it must have been through the TSB process or the leak was caught by someone else along the years.

That exhaust has never been off the car. I lossened the clamp and tried to use penetrating oil on the passenger side chrome exhaust tip in order to bump it in a 1/4" so it doesn't vibrate against the bottom of the quarter but it is solidly "rust-welded" in place.

[njsteve]

Started tinkering yesterday. The original master cylinder was leaking badly at the rear seal by the booster. Brake fluid was running down onto the subframe. Luckily I still had the reproduction master cylinder left over from the black 72. So I installed that one as a stuntman for the original one while I send this one out to Whitepost.

From sitting for 40 years with the same brake fluid, the bottom of the reservoir was filled to about 1/4 inch with rusty colored goo. It was a bear to get the inner far piston out. That same rusty goo was in the bore area as well and not only pitted the bore but devoured the valve itself:

You can see that these master cylinders were painted a flat black originally. Not a lot of the paint remains but it is there in places.









Here is the reproduction bleeder style master cylinder in place with the original cap and bail on it.

[njsteve]

And after driving it 75 miles or so in the past week I noticed that the car runs at 205 degrees on the temp gauge. I confirmed this with the infrared heat gun (so the gauge is actually accurate!). The temp would never rise above that, even when sitting in traffic or under throttle - very stable, just hotter than I would like.

Since the thermostat housing was leaking I decided to check the thermostat. Looks like it was the original thermostat with a Delco stamp and a 195 rating.

The unique "LS2" ID stamp on the SD455 intake, and the leaky thermostat housing:



"DELCO" on the top side:



"195" rating on the bottom side:



Since I had a spare 160 thermostat on the workbench, I threw that in, replaced the gasket and tightened everything back up. While I was there I used a little Windex and gently cleaned the area surrounding the housing. With the 160 thermostat in it, the car runs much cooler now - like 160 or so - barely hitting the first notch on the gauge on a 75 degree day today.

[njsteve]

While under the car yesterday I noticed both valve covers were leaking oil. Not wanting to open the top of the engine I looked closely at the valve cover bolts and noticed that oil was seeping out from under them. When I shut the car off I could see a little bubble of oil oozing out from underneath one of them by the main leak trail. I went to tighten it and it was barely finger tight. So, one at a time I removed each valve cover bolt, wiped it off, applied a bit of sealer on the thread and tightened them down. Hopefully that will stop the leak(s).

As you can see, the wire retainer brackets were on the engines when they were painted:



And the unique SD455 valve cover warning label:



The SD455-only oil filler cap with the PCV within it. The PCV's on the SD455s were relocated to a valve cover oil cap from the intake manifold due to the increased internal pressures in the intake valley where the regular engines have them mounted.



The stenciled hose for the PCV filler cap.

[njsteve]

Everything back together for a test drive. She sure is a "peppy" little car. Chirps second gear without trying. Definitely pulls all the way up the RPM range. The next thing on the list is to start cleaning everything by hand to get the rest of the four decades of grease and dust off.

[Pepi]

That is so great that you have such an original untouched car, that you can note these questionable/debated items such as brackets on or off when painted, or painted master cylinders.

[The Boss]

Amazing detail as always Steve!

[njsteve]

Next project is to reinstall the original 7043270 800 CFM carb. The man I bought the car from purchased an NOS 800 CFM, 17054910 service replacement SD455 carb from HO Specialties twenty years ago and installed it because he thought there was a problem with the carb. It turned out the problem was with the TCS system cutting off the advance, so he routed the vacuum advance directly to the carb and cut out the TCS system. The car ran fine then, but he never reinstalled the original carb. So I will get a carb kit and replace the needle and seat, and the accelerator pump with something that will tolerate the new ethanol blended fuels we have to put up with. Then the original carb goes back on.

Here's what's on the car now. 17054910 dated "1140" 114th day of 1980






And the original 7043270 dated "0133" 13th day of 1973:

[njsteve]

Here's another interesting thing. The hood torsion spring has a rubberized green end on it. And the radiator support is date coded.



Original A-6 compressor decal:



And date coded POA valve:



Timing/Emissions decal:



Date coded antifreeze decal:

[Held for Ransom]

Core support date looks like the last batch before the '74 model.
Nice to see an original compressor (6-22-73, 1st shift).
Oil pressure sending unit looks to have been replaced.

[Brewster]

Strange a June build car doesn't have resonators. Im thinking it was serviced and or replaced early in life since it would have been a stock item.
Also surprised that carb return spring isnt yellow??? Looks correct is shape and size and maybe just a inventory issue???

[Held for Ransom]

Did you find any stampings on the master (where the hard lines go)?