[Greg Reid]

That frame-rail stamping is so light, it doesn't take much paint and grime to conceal it.

[dataway]

Here are what the numbers look like on my 68 Arlington. Not quit as bad as they look in the photo, but very light. Two coats of paint and most of them were gone.

[OG68]

Baltimore was also known to stamp the VIN on the passenger side rail or not at all.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by OG68

Baltimore was also known to stamp the VIN on the passenger side rail or not at all.

Good to know, thanks.
I've looked pretty hard and not found one and the rust on top of the frame isn't that heavy. I'll look again after I blast it but have a feeling mine is one that didn't get stamped. The manufacturer of my frame was Parish and their markings on the side of the rear frame rail are pretty easy to see.

[OG68]

Originally Posted by roger1

Good to know, thanks.
I've looked pretty hard and not found one and the rust on top of the frame isn't that heavy. I'll look again after I blast it but have a feeling mine is one that didn't get stamped. The manufacturer of my frame was Parish and their markings on the side of the rear frame rail are pretty easy to see.

Some other frame locations the VIN has been found is the upper frame area under the drivers door. Mostly El Caminos, but they have a boxed in frame too.

[roger1]

Things done since the last update:

1. Finished using wire wheel the top and sides of the frame, turned the frame over and finished the bottom as well. Ground off factory welding spatter on several places around the frame with a Roloc disc. It is ready for blasting.
2. Finished with the wire wheel on the rear axle. It is ready for blasting as well.
3. Removed the ball joints and bushings on the front control arms and all the bushings on the rear control arms.
4. Wire wheeled and scraped all the under coating off all the control arms. All are ready for blasting.
5. Cleaned up the mess!

[roger1]

Today I mostly cleaned up the shop and organized parts.
I decided to remove the axle bearings from the axles that I had on the floor. It was the last thing I hadn't dismantled.

Not good news. At some point in the past life of this car, the d/s axle bearing had seized and it scored the axle. The bearing was replaced anyway. Once I split and removed the retaining ring, the bearing was loose on the axle. It also appears to me that this got very hot when that bearing failed.
You can see the smaller diameter on the axle where the bearing sits. Strange looking pits too:





Pretty sure that even though the bearing hadn't failed on the p/s axle, the owner at the time decided to replace that bearing too. It was an identical part. The mechanic didn't do a great job as you can see the mark he made right in front of where the seal rides:



This axle is Ok to use though. But I can't in good conscience
use the other that had the seized bearing. I'd appreciate some advice here.
Look for a used original or buy a new aftermarket axle? Or replace both with new aftermarket axles? In all the cars I've had I've never had to replace an axle before so this is new territory for me.

[Verdoro 68]

I'm impressed with the speed of progress here! I replaced mine with new aftermarket axles because it was hard to find an original without a worn bearing seat.

[roger1]

Looks like my link didn't work for the cam specs:
LUNATI 6902

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by roger1

Looks like my link didn't work for the cam specs:
LUNATI 6902

I have this cam in my '68. It's got a TH400 and 3.55s, a Continental 13" stall, #16 heads and dished pistons. Runs about 3k at 70mph. I've often thought about putting a 700R4 in it. It's really docile around town, but it will wake up when you get on it. I still have to watch the timing on 91 octane, it will still ping a little if I get on it in the Summer unless I dial it back a few degrees or mix it with 100. Wasn't a problem with the Crower I had in it before, but I think this cam has more dynamic compression.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by Verdoro 68

I have this cam in my '68. It's got a TH400 and 3.55s, a Continental 13" stall, #16 heads and dished pistons. Runs about 3k at 70mph. I've often thought about putting a 700R4 in it. It's really docile around town, but it will wake up when you get on it. I still have to watch the timing on 91 octane, it will still ping a little if I get on it in the Summer unless I dial it back a few degrees or mix it with 100. Wasn't a problem with the Crower I had in it before, but I think this cam has more dynamic compression.

Cool and good to know.
My block has been bored 40 over and the seller provided me new pistons and rings that are ready for assembly except for the final cylinder hone. They are dished Keith Black 346.
I'm not familiar with these engines a lot so I don't know how #16 heads compare with the stock 350HP heads I have. The seller had those redone and ready for installing and figure with the dished pistons it would be about 9.0 to 1 compression.
91 octane is the best I can get where I live but it will be easy for me to control the timing as I'm planning on installing an Edelbrock Pro Flo 4 mpfi setup.

[Andretti]

Originally Posted by roger1

Looks like my link didn't work for the cam specs:
LUNATI 6902

I made the mistake of buying the Lunati 6902 in 10510702LK kit form which included their 951 lifters. After all the pain and suffering, I ended up matching it with Sealed Powers 951R with the C clip.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by Andretti

I made the mistake of buying the Lunati 6902 in 10510702LK kit form which included their 951 lifters. After all the pain and suffering, I ended up matching it with Sealed Powers 951R with the C clip.

Pain? Please explain.
This is what I have:

[Verdoro 68]

Sounds like a similar setup to mine except I'm running a '68 Quadrajet. My block is .040 over too. I think my compression is around 9.5:1 with the pistons I have. No matter the casting number, stock 4bbl D-port GTO heads for '68/'69 are all 72cc.

[dataway]

#16 heads are the standard 350hp heads, most are 72cc ... I think some people report theirs as somewhat more, mine cc'ed to 72. And very similar setup to mine also, I'm .040 over, about .005 in the hole, 7cc dish in the pistons, 068 cam, 1971 Q-jet carb. Runs like a top sitting in the chassis, haven't had it on the road yet.

[dataway]

After examining my new set of CompCams roller tip rockers I got rid of them and used OEM stamped steel. The fit of the ball washer into the rocker body was atrocious. Did quite a bit of "power lapping" on one pair ... and still didn't fit as nice as replacement OEM Mellings stamped steel and original ball washers.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by dataway

After examining my new set of CompCams roller tip rockers I got rid of them and used OEM stamped steel. The fit of the ball washer into the rocker body was atrocious. Did quite a bit of "power lapping" on one pair ... and still didn't fit as nice as replacement OEM Mellings stamped steel and original ball washers.

I'll inspect what I've got. Don't know if they are the roller tip ones as I haven't opened yet.
Still would like to hear from Andretti to have him explain the problem he had with his Lunati lifters.

Updates:

So as I said, I have new Yukon axles on order. I have already received the Auburn Gear posi unit. Everything else for the rear should come in early next week. I ordered a complete differential kit by Standard Gear which includes seals, gasket and Timken bearings for the carrier and pinion. Also on order are a Dana 3.55 ring and pinion gear set and Timken axle bearings and seals.
I called the guy I've used a few times in the past to set up my new gears and that's a no-go. He's 81 and not doing these anymore. I'll have to find somebody new. Got a few leads.

I did visit the guy that's done upholstery for me in the past and he agreed he would do the seats for the car and the convertible top down the road when I'm ready for that. He said call him after the first of the year and he should be ready for me to drop off the seats.

I got all set up to be ready to start blasting the frame. It might not be tomorrow as there is a 20-30% chance of rain. If it rains, I've got another tarp to keep the frame from getting wet. I'll also need to keep an eye on the weather to make sure it's a good temperature to be spraying epoxy primer. Once I get the frame blasted, I don't want it to sit for very long before spraying. It needs to be above 60 to spray SPI epoxy and I'll need to have it sprayed early enough in the day so it's dry enough to move into the shop. Can't let it get below 60 for the first 48 hours after it's sprayed. Right now the forecast from Saturday going forward looks really good to be able to get it done.

[dataway]

I'm assuming you have a helper

[roger1]

Originally Posted by dataway

I'm assuming you have a helper

Yes, my wife helped me get the heavy end up on the sawhorse. The other day my neighbor wondered what I was up to making noise and came over to see. I said great timing and he helped me turn the frame up-side-down. Too hard by yourself.

[gtohurstjudge]

You are doing a great job on the car, and this is a great thread with all the pics.
As the owner of a 69 GTO convertible for 50 years and having had my car completely apart twice and restored it, your pics look like Deja Vu. I have a couple of comments regarding things that have been mentioned so far. The
hole that was cut in the right inner fender was cut out in order to replace the blower motor without removing the inner fender. I used to have a trap door
cut into mine for this until I made my car a show car, then I put on a different inner fender out of a parts car. The reason why these cars rust out so bad around
the rear wheel well lips and the rear quarters at the tail end are due to the foam
rubber caulk used to seal up the seams at these locations. This caulk which became porous foam rubber when it dried absorbed moisture like a sponge.
The other area where some of these cars rust out is on the hood about 3 inches
in front of the rear edge, all the way across, again because of foam rubber caulk
used between the outer skin and the rear hood inner brace. On the hood, if you
are lucky you have one of the hoods where latex caulk was used on the brace...these hoods never rust out. If you have a hood assembled with foam caulk, it would have had rust bubbles in it around 1975, even if it was a desert car. The hoods were made both ways, but the rear quarters always had the foam caulk in them. If your hood has rust bubbles, toss it and get another one,
because if you replace the bad section the rust will come back again next door to your previous repair. When these hoods start to rust out they are scrap metal. When you repair the front fender rust behind the front wheel well way
down low, you need to modify the fender to prevent future problems by cutting
away the bottom of the fender brace so that dirt and water just flow on through and don't get trapped in the box at the bottom of the fender. In my opinion, the foam caulk and the boxed fender braces were put there on purpose to cause rust and encourage you to buy a new car.....there is no other logical reason for them being there. You obviously are doing a seriously nice resto, so you need to have Just Dashes redo your dash. The key to having the dash come out right
when they do it is to tell them up front that you want the old vinyl and foam removed from your dash core and that you want them to apply new foam and then new vinyl. I have seen dashes they have done on 69's where they simply
cut out the bad areas on the top and didn't strip off the old vinyl except on the top......this causes the puffiness that was described in a previous post. My Just
Dashes dash is undetectable from a new original because I insisted that it be completely stripped first. Be sure on the interior that you use Legendary and
not PUI on the upholstery......the PUI pleats go completely flat a couple of months after installation, and on their door panels the chrome mylar peels off.