[455Grandville]

Rebuilding the Q-Jet on my 79 TransAm
The engine is still the original low mileage 1971 455 that my friend who’s now dead from cancer installed near graduation in 1990.
I wanna leave the car cira 1990 as much as possible to remember him by.
He drove down to his mom’s house in Texas after graduation, and went to work on an oil rig, and stored the T/A garage.
It’s mostly orginal. .

[1965gp]

Last week I picked up the 58 Bonneville from the paint shop and dropped off my 68 Firebird. He has the windows pulled and has started stripping the car. Hopefully this one will be ready by summer.

[BB70]

Oiled up the engine to check things and wasn't liking the oil flow to the rockers. Pulled the lifters out to modify them. Retested and happy with the result but want to get the increased supply back to the pan.

[71GP76TA]

Quickie cleanup weekend project.

[TXSTARFIRE]

Looks nice!

[Verdoro 68]

Cruised down to Niles, CA in the '68 to meet up with the local POCI chapter and got a tour of a pretty awesome garage. Niles has some interesting silent film history as home to Charlie Chaplin's studio for a while.

[71GP76TA]

Didn't realize there was a POCI chapter in the Bay Area.

[Verdoro 68]

They just started it back up. This was the first meet.

[Shiny]

Assembled rear bumper after painting brackets and polishing the lenses.

Will be a while before it goes back on... I still need to clean up the gas door and will find other ways to continue avoiding some body work I won't enjoy.

[73_Lemans_350]

I moved the snowblower out of the way and took the Pontiac out for a cruise both Saturday and Sunday, then drove it to work this morning as well.

February temps in the 50s in South Dakota is nice enough for hot roddin'!

[srmmmm]

I had taken the Bird back to House of Hotrods as they finally received the replacement power steering pump from CVF (#3) in December, and there were a few last issues to iron out like getting the HVAC to do something other than run in bi-level all the time and be able to heat the car, fix the LF fender alignment so it wouldn't contact the tire at full suspension compression, and correct the driver's seat position so I wouldn't slide into the passenger seat on a left turn.

Well good progress has been made with new seat tracks, and the new power steering pump. The HVAC work though exposed a poor quality Chinese RAIV intake manifold that has issues with both coolant and vacuum leaks. In addition, a cracked main vacuum line to the HVAC control, a broken link on the blend damper, and two vacuum diaphragms with limited travel were found. Replacement components are on order and everything within the heater box should work again if the main vacuum switch is okay.

They'll work on the intake mating surfaces and possibly separate the crossover to address the leaks there. Not believing it will have the reliability level I want though, I'm going to replace it later this year with the port injection model of Edelbrock's new Victor Junior intake and an Aces fuel injection system. A tech at Edelbrock advised me the manifold should be in production by end of summer this year.

In the meantime, it should be ready for the Arlington car show in June.

[importsmasher]

Worked on a roof skin replacement for my son's 69 Firebird. It was the victim of a vinyl top. Got the new skin fitted and started tacking it in place. Hope to finish welding it up this weekend.

Importsmasher

[vertigto]

Looking good. Vinyl is no friend of mine either.

[BB70]

Getting ready to plop the engine back in and had been bummed I could not get enough positive camber previously. Also the steering box I got eons ago from a Monte SS was seeping pretty good. Installed some GW offset shafts and resealed the box. Figured better to do it now.

[Scarebird]

Nice day after a real battering of Atlantic storms. Time to drop the top and go run some errands. This place is along the way - I think some 79-81 TA guys would feel right at home! *ducks*

Bad news is the paint is starting to bubble on both doors. Some fool used a contaminated rag

Will need doors reshot.

[Jack Gifford]

Today I received the Pontiac 100 year stickers from the museum and placed one on the windshield of my hundred year old Pontiac!

[Verdoro 68]

Spotted these long branch manifolds on Marketplace earlier today and took a drive to snag them this evening. The plan is to put them on Cole's Ventura. I'm guessing repros given the overall condition and the mis matched date codes.

[SD455DJ]

Nice snag Ken! When is the 455 going in?

Dennis

[Verdoro 68]

We’ve been on the hunt for a decent 400 or 455 block to start with. No luck just yet.

[Gastiresandoil]

Originally Posted by Verdoro 68

We’ve been on the hunt for a decent 400 or 455 block to start with. No luck just yet.

Been telling you I've got one in the backyard for a while now........