[dataway]

What color is that interior? It's not a solid color is it? Looks like a subtle pattern.

[GOAT WHORE]

Originally Posted by dataway

What color is that interior? It's not a solid color is it? Looks like a subtle pattern.

Assuming your talking about the seat apholstry it's mustard gold from legendary. It looks amazingly close to the factory.
I

[GOAT WHORE]

Here's my rant for the day..... Why, why can they not make something so simple correct? It's a friggin inner panel water deflector. How hard can it be, just cut it the same as the original! The part pictured here is supposed to divert any water back into the quarter window area, away from the carpet and floor. The paper is the original the plastic is the repop. The 1/2" left off is the most important part of the whole shield, without it the water just runs out the carpet!

[Greg Reid]

I bought some plastic drop-cloth from the HD paint department and cut my own using the original as a rough template. I know what you mean though..I just had to return some steel wheels because my original poverty caps won't fit them.

[John Eiseman]

Hey Greg
Its good to see your making some progress on granny's car. Is the dash all together with the gauges?

[GOAT WHORE]

Originally Posted by John Eiseman

Hey Greg
Its good to see your making some progress on granny's car. Is the dash all together with the gauges?

Yes John, all in. Interior should be complete next week.

[GOAT WHORE]

Got off the phone yesterday with a friend who asked me what I was up to. I replied I was in the shop working on my car. I always get the same response.... "Your still working on that car?"
They will never get the amount of time it takes. Example, I just spend at least 4hrs going thru and researching seat belts so I can get the right model #s, date codes and correct lengths when I get them restored. It's more complicated then it would normally be as I am installing deluxe belts in this car that came with standard belts and the Deluxe belts I got came out of a bench seat car. To make matters worse I think it was not a Pontiac, don't really know if that matters though.
Hers a shot of my research.

And here is a shot of the belts ready to go to the restorer.

[GOAT WHORE]

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=798028
Link to a thread I started on seat belts and some of my findings. Check it out and add info if you have any. Thanks.

[Scarebird]

Who is doing the restoration?

[GOAT WHORE]

Thinking these guys.
http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/mm5/mercha...tegory_Code=RS
Saw some they did at the GTOAA Nationals this year and they looked stellar.

[Jeff Hamlin]

Originally Posted by GOAT WHORE

Thinking these guys.
http://www.ssnake-oyl.com/mm5/mercha...tegory_Code=RS
Saw some they did at the GTOAA Nationals this year and they looked stellar.

You will not be disappointed with Ssnake, the deluxe belts in the '66 are 20 years new and still look fresh and function perfect.

[HWYSTR455]

ssnake-oyl does nice work, for sure.

I went through a similar effort when trying to replace shoulder belts in my LeMans. It came with the deluxe belts, and when trying to get the right shoulder belts, I found out just how many differences there were.

So not only are the tongues different on some types, but also the buckle/receiver size, and some even have the loop & knob style retainer.

Then when trying to update the standard belts in the 442, went through it again trying to find the deluxe belts I wanted. I ended up with a bunch of leftovers, ones I still have today.

I finally, after much searching, found a thread here where the differences were outlined, and wish I could find it now, I would give credit to the original poster. I have the original URL, but after swapping maxperformanceinc in place of performanceyears, it doesn't come up:

http://forums.performanceyears.com/f...lt+differences

But luckily, I saved the image that was posted, and attached it.

There's another good reference on a Camaro page, some applied to all GM cars:

http://www.camaros.org/seatbelt.shtml

Now, with that listed, my '71 LeMans Sport, which came with deluxe belts, had the large receiver and buckle for the front shoulder AND lap belts. All the buckles and receivers in mine were the large style, and I'm fairly certain, like 9.999% sure, they had never been replaced, and were installed that way from the factory. When I redid the interior at one point, I had all the belts out, and when I installed the headliner, I left the shoulder belts out, since I never used them anyway.

I was going to go to Summit Point for a track day, road course, and was rejected at tech for no shoulder belts, which is why I went through the effort to replace them. Hence my research, and extras.

A set of restore belts are not cheap, especially if you want particular date codes. As an example, the deluxe set I bought for the 442, which came with standard belts and wanted to upgrade, without date code/tags, was $650, and they were 'seconds'.

If you got the homework done in 4 hours, you did REAL GOOD. My fiasco for the LeMans lasted about 4 months. And on the 442, since I waited for a deal to show on eGay, lasted about 10 months.

.

[HWYSTR455]

As another note, some 71-72s, like Olds and Buick, came with retracting rear seat belts. I found a set of those and used them in the 442.

I think the seat bottoms on cars with the retractors have a slight inset to allow for the retractors, but they work fine on the bottoms I had, which didn't come with retractors.

The belt end on those rear retractors would slip into the plastic housing, making it difficult to fish out some times, which may be a reason why there aren't many that have them. As a fix, HELP! products makes a plastic button that you can install on the belt webbing to prevent that.

When I get a chance, I'll take pics and post, just so there's a reference.

.

[HWYSTR455]

Oh, if you're mixing and matching belts from different sets, make sure the buckle clicks into place on the receiver portion of the assembly and stays there (tug on it). I had some that looked identical, but wouldn't stay latched in the receiver.

.

[GOAT WHORE]

Just got my radiator back. Had some 4 row radiators and the original radiator from the car. Went to Mac's radiator in Portland Oregon. They installed a new 3 row core with the 4 row tanks.

The reason I needed the 4 row tank is that each row in the new core is much larger. The old 4 row was 2 5/8" wide, the stock 3 row was 2" wide and the new 3 row is 2 1/2 wide.
New radiator is in the middle.

In case some are curious, here is a shot of the 3 vs 4 rows stock radiators.

Tag from the original 3 row now on the new tank. This tank is the same size whether it's 3 or 4 row its the other side that's smaller on the 3 row.

[dataway]

Might not be the right place for this question ... but the standard AC GTO typically used the same radiator as an AC Lemans/Tempest ... correct?

I've got an original 68 lemans w/AC/auto that I want to use in my 68 GTO w/AC/Auto. Hopefully I can find a good local shop ... back in the day they were everywhere, not radiator shops are getting hard to find.

[MD79TA]

Yes tougher to find but still out there. Back in 60/70 one on every corner in my town, its not the same now with plastic instead of metal tanks around core. Much cheaper to replace the new ones . Doug

[GOAT WHORE]

So what is an incomplete 1969 deluxe antique gold steering wheel worth? Apparently to me it was worth $650, ouch!
I missed out on a complete one on ebay years ago for $600, well that's what bought it and missed one from Hobi on this forum for $500.
I wasn't going g to let this one go even though I will probably have to restore a center section from on of my wheels.

[dataway]

Jeez I hate UV .... just think how nice most wheels would be if older glass was UV resistant like new auto glass.

You'd think there would be more NOS wheels out there ... had to be a commonly replaced item in accidents .... or perhaps accidents that bad typically totaled the cars.

[69 RA GTO]

Good Score !!!