[njsteve]

Lol. Battery tray was that way when I bought it. I think I gave you some old photos of when the second owner attempted the restoration of the car and had the front clip off the car.

If I recall correctly, I found some Rustoleum pastel color spray paints that were very close to a couple of the clip colors. (My wife had them from some interior decorating adventures from a few years back).

[The Boss]

That's one brave man with some mad skills to try to improve upon that!

[njsteve]

Yes, indeed. The car will be amazing when the top side looks as good as the bottom! (and Bob gets rid of the 1980's Canadian Gravel Guard on the lower 8" of all the sheetmetal) :-)

The frame rail replacement we did, came out well. Those reproduction frame rails that donated the lower front sections and rear spring hanger portions were excellent pieces.

[Bentwheelbob]

Well, when you pull out the trunk mat the car is pretty much stripped. Here is the original trunk mat that was in the car. I don't know if it was "original" or a GM replacement, but it is actually in really good shape. However, I bought an NOS mat that is pretty incredible. Here are a few pictures. The "original" has a part number embossed on the bottom of the mat. The NOS has a part number embossed on top that I did an impression of, and another number stamped on the bottom. Sorry about the orientation of the last two pictures. Photobucket is acting up today.

[RamAir]

I'll take one of those off your hands Bob if you don't need two ;-)

[njsteve]

The "original" mat was one I got from someone here on the site (I think). It was NOS but due to being stored in a rolled up position for decades, it cracked in several places. As a result I got it much cheaper than buying a mint NOS mat. I tried using rubberized tape to repair the underside and keep the cracks from spreading but was not too successful.

[Bentwheelbob]

The Black Car is about ready to go. There's a few stripped screw holes that need fixed, and the front sway bar brackets need to have rivnuts installed to replace the bots that were welded in. Other than that, this car is ready to move in with Tom for a while. I'm leaving the forward lamp harness and condensor for Tom, since that is easier to do with the valance off.

Steve - On the trunk mat, MPD wanted me to ask to why you didn't use black duct tape? We've found your tracks everywhere, including on top of the gas tank, and it's become a running joke. More truthfully, I think the tape on the trunk mat didn't work so well because the foil backing limited its' flexibility. I have some butyl rubber home construction tape that I am going to use before sending the mat to its' new owner.

Here's a few pictures.

[njsteve]

I tried the black duct tape on the mat but it wouldn't stick well. I'll send you a complimentary roll of the official black duct tape to match your snazzy new black paint. :-)

[Bentwheelbob]

Parts are slowly starting the rebuild and refurb process. The alternator is the first. The case was glass beaded and refinished with Aluma Blast, and the internals totally rebuilt. The fan and pulley still need to be replated, but it looks good and it is exciting to finish deconstruction and start heading in the other direction.

Here's a few before and after pics. I would appreciate a little help with the date decoding.

[johnta1]

I would appreciate a little help with the date decoding.

Dec 14, 1971 for the 1972 model year
1101015 - 80 amp for the HD 400 OR HD 455 OR A/C and REAR DEFOG



New web page on alternator code search:

Alternator Code Search

[Bentwheelbob]

Thanks John, I appreciate the help. How about another decode for the master cylinder? The hard to read number in the second picture is 338. I've got it and all the other small parts blasted and ready for powder coating. After conferring with OPH I have decided to use the 481040 water pump pulley instead of the smaller pulley. We'll see how it works out. I think the air cleaner is all that still needs blasted for the powder coater, and it's going to have to wait. The weekend is over me....

[njsteve]

I hunted far and wide for that date code correct alternator you have there! It's two weeks before the car's build date. The one that was on the car when I bought it, was from 1975 - and it is now happily spinning under the hood of Gramma's car! I had the case tumbled to get it returned to the original rough cast finish, as I am not a fan of painting alternators to look like their original finish as the surface always ends up looking painted. (I have never been able to find a correct looking paint to duplicate the rough cast color)

That master cylinder was donated by a yenko.net site member. It came off a 1972 Firebird. I had it rebuilt by Whitepost. Check to see if there are three tiny stamped numbers on the front flange where the front brake line fitting goes. Here's an example from the SD, which is CS3190 = 190th day of 1973. The CS matched the paper tag on the master cylinder bail.

[FunctionalShaker]

To paint the clips you could buy a set of Testor's model paints and mix them to match, then apply with a brush or air brush. I did that with my drum brake springs since the aftermarket colors are not correct.

[Alvin]

Hey Bob, this was posted in the lobby http://youtu.be/DGT20ghWMZA and thought you and MPD could have a blast making a hybrid of this just beware of the wet spots

Seriously - a cheapo solution

[Judge273]

A hack saw to cut a circle out of 1/2 plywood? Makes me think...

[johnta1]

How about another decode for the master cylinder?

Not sure on that one?

Off hand just by the cast numbers, possibly April 19 1978?
Is that an 'R' slash '8' after the part number?
(might be for 'revision 8'?)

The 338 could be a Julian number or possibly the 'run' of the casting line?

I would agree with Steve on the stamped number.
But that may be just when they built the master cylinder?
(the cast part may be sitting for awhile before the added parts installed?)

[Bentwheelbob]

Thanks John. I think it is 1 1/8 as in 1-1/8", likely for the bore diameter??? The master cylinder has already been delivered to the powder coater, so I don't have it handy to check. Once it comes back the numbers should be a little easier to read.

MPD also delivered the M22, shifter and reverse lockout linkage to Dennis Maroudas for rebuilding and replating. Dave was extremely impressed by Dennis's shop, friendliness, and the quality of work he saw. That says a lot because MPD is a little picky. Dennis is going to go through the tranny and check everything out, rebuild the shifter, and replate the shifter, mounting bracket, linkages, and reverse lockout linkage. Also, all the fasteners in the transmission had been replaced with stainless bolts and Dennis volunteered to switch those to original bolts from donor transmissions he has on hand. Pretty cool.

Here is Dennis's contact info:

Dennis Maroudas

DME, Inc.
phone: (606) 237-6648
internet: [email protected]

[Judge273]

I met Dennis at a GTOAA Nats a few years ago. Bought a restored shifter linkage assembly that's on my GT-37 now. He does great work!

[Bentwheelbob]

I am easily excited and must admit that my newest tool has me pretty excited. I just received my heavy duty rivet nut installation tool, and Fastenal had the 3/8" x 16 rivet nuts and 17/32" drill bit I needed. These will be used to fix the sway bar mounting brackets (hopefully it works), but after that I can envision lots of uses for such a cool fastener. I never knew these existed a week ago, and now cannot wait to find additional things to use them on.

[Formulabruce]

We used whats called a "Huck Riveter" At the dealership for this job, its pneumatic and has the balls to do steel rivets. This looks like it should fix you right up though !!