[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by 67Lemons

Forward lifts are manufactured overseas and use Chinese parts to keep costs down. In the past it was a great lift and still better than anything else in its class, most notably due to its ALI certification and increased testing methods Rotary uses in its design and construction but with all that being said I definitely saw a run of pumps and cylinders failing a couple of years ago, those issues have been rectified with the newer lifts in my experience. While I would agree with your feelings on the performance or lack of performance/quality on your particular lift it is still a MUCH better lift than other import lifts, the most important part being that Rotary supports the lift with service and replacement parts. Believe it or not there a lot of lifts in the marketplace sold at a professional level of quality with zero support, warranty or replacement parts, it’s a sad state of affairs out there. The biggest problem with Forward in today’s market is that the costs due to various reasons and tariffs have brought the price to within a few dollars of the made in the USA Rotary lifts.

FWIW, our recommendations to a customer on Rotary vs Forward is if the lift is used more than 5-10 times a day than the customer is better off with the Rotary which is designed for over 30,000 cycles, generally speaking for limited use whether it be at home or light shop use we recommend the Forward, for high volume applications such as dealerships, high volume shops we recommend the Rotary products. Overall the Forward is a great lift for home shop use and you’d be hard pressed to find a better lift, especially after 5-10 years of use, the other lifts will have failed and needed replacement well before that time in my experience.

I don't want to turn my SD thread into a lift one. But I will say I agree 100% with your post. We have 32 Rotary lifts in the school I work at. All installed in 1998. Not a single failure with thousands and thousands of students using them over 30 years. When I bought my Forward lift, a Rotary equivalent was double the cost. As I said, even though I have had some issues, the service and support for the Forward Lifts has been top notch.

[7t4mula]

Man, that sure looks great! Nice job!

I am really looking forward to getting to that point soon myself. Sure wish I had a lift like that, would make it much easier to work underneath!

[Dragncar]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

Some additional pics.

Nice work.
lifts, I am in the market for one and now doing my research. Just sent off the deposit for a 30' x 60' shop with 12' ceiling in the middle.
Going to be one nice man cave foe me, Pontiac Land !

[mgarblik]

It's been another 4 months since my last post. Still working along on this car when I have a chance. We had an extremely cold winter and there were periods of several weeks at a time I couldn't afford to keep the shop warm enough to do any meaningful work unfortunately. But whenever I could, I did get out there and work a few hours at a time. I will post some pics in the coming days. I have the engine wiring harness installed and mostly tested. I have the front wiring harness installed . The headlights, turn signals, marker lights, valance panel have been installed. The EVAP canister and plumbing installed. Headlights and trim installed. Ran into a few unexpected snags and big expenses. The radiator, which had been in dry storage for 40+ years failed it's pressure test and had multiple leaks and rot so severe, I had to recore it. Was very surprised by this as it looked fine externally. It's a 4-core unit for heavy duty cooling and cost quite a bit to restore. It looks nice now and should function just fine. I was able to save all the ID tags. The next snag was the plastic fan shroud. I had an NOS GM replacement but the superseded part looked nothing like the correct original. That launched a huge search. With help from the forum, I located a pretty decent used one in MI. Made arrangements and picked it up. It had some scrapes and scratches and a small broken area. I was able to graft replacement parts from the other shroud to this correct one and spent way more time than most would believe cleaning it in preparation for careful refinishing. I am very pleased with the results. I would give it an A A-. The radiator and shroud will be installed tomorrow.

From there, I need to get it moved to my lift for under car wiring, gas tank, fuel lines, trans cooling lines, modulator line and exhaust system. Still hope to start it up in 4-6 weeks. I have to admit it has taken much longer than expected but it starting to get exciting now. Stay tuned.

[mgarblik]

Here are some pics of winter progress Pic 1 headlight/bezel install Pic 2 front end less grille Pic 3 clear coating OE lines and other misc. parts Pic 4 clear coating trans pan and some OE exhaust parts Pic 5 Battery, washer, belts, Alt, PS

[Skip Fix]

Looking nice!

[sdbob]

Looks nice. Those bars connected to fender and core support look like heavier 73s . I have those on my 73 put together car,the 74 are thinner but still substantial compared to later thin bars. I priced a lift looks like yours. I'll wait awhile to my new concrete fully cures.

[mgarblik]

Here are some pics through today. First group is the fan shroud before and after restoration.

[mgarblik]

Next group is current status under the hood. Have work to do underneath next when time and lift are available.

[Shiny]

That fan shroud looks great. How did you finish it?

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by Shiny

That fan shroud looks great. How did you finish it?

Started with an industrial ultrasonic cleaner we have at my school. It works fantastic on plastic. Then a light pressure wash to remove the residue. Then I used 00 steel wool very light over the entire piece, inside and out. Then gray Scotchbrite ultrafine on the problem areas. Finally a light re-buff with 00 steel wool. The color was a flexible SEM product called "bumper color". It has the right muted sheen and is made for plastic/rubber. No adhesion promoter needed. Just two light coats. I think it has a very natural look. The factory imperfections still show through which I wanted.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

Started with an industrial ultrasonic cleaner we have at my school. It works fantastic on plastic. Then a light pressure wash to remove the residue. Then I used 00 steel wool very light over the entire piece, inside and out. Then gray Scotchbrite ultrafine on the problem areas. Finally a light re-buff with 00 steel wool. The color was a flexible SEM product called "bumper color". It has the right muted sheen and is made for plastic/rubber. No adhesion promoter needed. Just two light coats. I think it has a very natural look. The factory imperfections still show through which I wanted.

I gave the wrong name for the product. It is called SEM Bumper Coater. Sorry for the mistake.

[Shiny]

Thanks for explaining and sharing specifics. All that work paid off. Looks great!

[Mrpontiac1013]

Is your car for sale

[Jack Gifford]

What'd you do Mike- pay attention in class?

[mgarblik]

I try to learn something new every day. This numbers matching stuff and really trying to be faithful to OE parts whenever I can is new and challenging for me. If this car wasn't so original, I would not have gone the route I'm on in many areas. Most notably the incredibly restrictive exhaust system and the stock cam choice. Trying to match bolt head markings, exact colors and hues is pretty tedious and not my typical way of doing things.

[nas t eh]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

Most notably the incredibly restrictive exhaust system and the stock cam choice. Trying to match bolt head markings, exact colors and hues is pretty tedious and not my typical way of doing things.

I think it’s great that you are for this car, that said if I was planning on keeping it for a while, I think I’d cheat on the cam a bit and keep the stock one for later when selling.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by nas t eh

I think it’s great that you are for this car, that said if I was planning on keeping it for a while, I think I’d cheat on the cam a bit and keep the stock one for later when selling.

Can't disagree with you. Just kinda wanted to see what a bone stock SD was like to own. Never being able to buy one new, this was as close as I was ever going to get. My 62 Catalina is a SD clone more or less and has 100 more HP. So for a really exciting ride, I can drive that one. Stopping it is even more exciting!!

[mgarblik]

Work is progressing once again! We have had 3-4 days of much colder than normal weather. This is allowing me to have some time to really get some work done underneath the car. It took 4 of us to push the SD into my actual shop so I can get it up in the air on the lift. I had been working on it in my other garage on the floor with jack stands for several months when time allowed. Now up in the air, things are so much easier to get done. The short list: Speedometer cable, transmission dipstick, cooler lines, shift backdrive linkage, starter, lower parts of the engine harness, gas tank, rear fuel and vapor lines, torque converter bolts and cover, parking brake cables, driveshaft, the list goes on and on.

I will post some pics in the coming days. I have 2-3 more days to get as much done as possible. Then I will have to push it out one more time. Hopefully , after the next time I push it back inside, it will leave under it's own power for the first time in 46 years!

[sdbob]

I can tell you from the factory after I broke mine in full throttle upshift into 3rd,Drive was very very firm!!!!! I can still feel it. I had installed different m40 shift kits other cars but the SD was the best. Maybe the torque of the 455. Glad for you that work is progressing. Enjoy those memories.