[Judge273]

Nice and all. When the wheels getting restored and poly steel rads going on? You driving that to nats? Time is running out...

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by Alvin

Damn, you two do great work! Sano Results!

The men from GLAD.......

Nice job on the undercoating removal........can I send some over for the same treatment?

[Bentwheelbob]

Originally Posted by Judge273

Nice and all. When the wheels getting restored and poly steel rads going on? You driving that to nats? Time is running out...

Thanks. I'm still trying to figure out the which direction to go on the wheels, but wanted to wait anyway until after the undercoating removal which turned out to be a good thing. This car isn't coming to the Nats. I'm bringing the Black Car which has been nicely fluffed and is resting under cover. Not sure that I am driving it though, probably put it in a trailer since my neighbor has one.

Johnta - thanks. You get the award for the dog comment. I figured Chris would pounce on that first. Surprised there has been no reference to the Michelin or StaPuf marshmallow guy.

The gas tank has been dropped this morning. New shocks going on and tail pipes and splitters getting routed while the tires and shocks are off. Stay tuned.

[Held for Ransom]

Psst, it's Stay Puft (says so right on the cap) Marshmallow Man.

[Bentwheelbob]

Originally Posted by Held for Ransom

Psst, it's Stay Puft (says so right on the cap) Marshmallow Man.

Thanks for the help keeping me straight. As many S'mores as I have made for Mini Me you would think that I would know that by now.

Well it's hard to measure progress when all you do is start three jobs and finish none, but I think some progress was made today. The gas tank is out and a new Spectra is on the way, along with straps, silencers and a USS stencil. The shocks have been removed and the new ones are ready, but not installed. Most significantly, the exhaust system is in the process of being fitted.

I bought a 2.5" Pypes system with crossover. The mufflers are Dynomax. The fitment went pretty well, but it is somewhat fussy. I can't imagine doing it with a gas tank, shocks and sway bar installed. With the splitters and a dual exhaust setup you have to cut the tailpipes and fit an adapter for the splitters. They make a tailpipe for the transverse muffler setup that accommodates the TA splitter, but not for a true dual system. Seems sort of shortsighted, but that 's the way it is. There are no real directions where to cut the tailpipe and it's not marked, so you just have to use logic, intuition and luck to make an educated guess. I think we got that right and the system is fitted from the splitters to the mufflers, but that is where progress ended. I ordered the wrong exhaust flanges and before trimming the X-pipe assembly I would like to have the head pipes installed.

So, no gas tank, no shocks, and no exhaust. To top it off the interior is still ripped apart as I continue to wait for the dash bezel from Randy Combs. Progress can sometimes be hard to measure.

One neat thing today. When the rear wheels were removed to get the shocks off you could still see clearly the inspection paint marks on the axle hubs. In addition, the rear drums were held on with the original copper press on clips.

[The Boss]

HOLY CRAP!

That looks really good & I know easy is the wrong term but quick would probably apply!

[Judge273]

Making good use out of all your toys and resources!

Buy a dry well-kept fun car and give her nice new stuff and the services to make her purrrr....

All within your own home with your wife's blessings. Win win

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

Well it's hard to measure progress when all you do is start three jobs and finish none, but I think some progress was made today. The gas tank is out and a new Spectra is on the way, along with straps, silencers and a USS stencil...

Did your tank stencil look like this one below?
IIRC "IRWIN" is a steel plant in Pittsburg area as told by ROUNDPORT "just down the road" from him. http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=757727

I did not know that - constantly learning something new on 2nd Gens.

[Bentwheelbob]

Alvin - I'm not sure as the tank is coated with a heavy application of undercoating. Not sure it is worth trying to expose. Roundport's car is Norwood and mine is Van Nuys which might make a difference.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

Alvin - I'm not sure as the tank is coated with a heavy application of undercoating. Not sure it is worth trying to expose. Roundport's car is Norwood and mine is Van Nuys which might make a difference.

I stand corrected and many apologies:
Somewhere along the line I crossed info & mistakenly thought that Roundport's Martini Blu '78 was a Van Nuys T/A like yours and mine...
perhaps since he purchased it from original owner in Vancouver BC? It's an USA to Canadian export , so who knows eh?

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by Alvin

I stand corrected and many apologies:
Somewhere along the line I crossed info & mistakenly thought that Roundport's Martini Blu '78 was a Van Nuys T/A like yours and mine...
perhaps since he purchased it from original owner in Vancouver BC? It's an USA to Canadian export , so who knows eh?

First post on Roundports thread (78 T/A) shows the buildsheet from Van Nuys plant.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

Alvin - I'm not sure as the tank is coated with a heavy application of undercoating. Not sure it is worth trying to expose. Roundport's car is Norwood and mine is Van Nuys which might make a difference.

Originally Posted by Alvin

I stand corrected and many apologies:
Somewhere along the line I crossed info & mistakenly thought that Roundport's Martini Blu '78 was a Van Nuys T/A like yours and mine...
perhaps since he purchased it from original owner in Vancouver BC? It's an USA to Canadian export , so who knows eh?

Originally Posted by 2manyT/A'S

First post on Roundports thread (78 T/A) shows the buildsheet from Van Nuys plant.

Ahh, that's where I saw it, Thxs here it is http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...9&d=1405746985

That's the reason that the PA Built USS Gas Tank was interesting.

Anyway - BTT, roll on Bentwheel Bob! aka: The Y88 Dude

[Bentwheelbob]

How cool is this.....The Gold Car has a new gas tank and the steel was born on my 15th birthday. Well, not really, but it sure looks that way now.

The original tank on the car was super coated with undercoating. I tried (sort of) to remove it, but for some reason it was a lot "stickier" than the floor pan undercoating. I gave up pretty quickly since the old tank needed to come out anyway. I bought a new Spectra and it looks OK. It matches the old tank very well, but I am a little PO'd that it had a small crease in it, and it needed a lot of work with OOOO steel wool to get dark blemishes off of it.

I bought the stencil from Inline Tube and once I got it I decided to do a little customization. I moved some of the numbers around and voila ended up with a tank made from steel produced on my 15th birthday. Ah, the little victories. I also moved the DO on the stencil so that it was sequential with the numbers following it like on Roundports original tank. It all went pretty well and was mostly straightforward. It was a pain pulling the stencil backing prior to paint and making sure it left all the little pieces and parts inside of letters like "O's" and "e's", but with a pick and exacto it wasn't that bad. I plan to satin clear it before installation.

Here's the picture. It still needs cleaned up where it was masked off and where I reconfigured the stencil, but I want to let the paint set up good first.

[Alvin]

Bob - You realize that you've warped the time space continuum as to future Pontiac "self proclaimed experts" who will document your tank stencil "as built" and all others will be unacceptable?!!!

[Bentwheelbob]

Two steps forward and one step back. The exhaust system install moved forward today, but it turned out I got the wrong head pipes so we are only finished from the tail pipe splitter to the X-pipe. The correct head pipes should be here Tuesday and then it should be easy to finish. I got the Pypes SGF11 system which is true dual with 2.5" pipes, X-pipe crossover and the TA splitters. Joey the welder came over and he TIG welded all the joints and man it looks pretty. It was pretty straightforward, but with all the joints it was pretty fussy. We found that the pipe which goes over the axle tube did not have what I would call adequate clearance, so we sectioned it removing 1" and Joey welded ot back together. This change helped a lot.

We used the new tailpipe hangers from the kit. These mounted in the factory holes and differed very little from stock. For the muffler hangers we were able to use the original pieces once we sectioned the pipe. I can't wait to get it finished and to hear how it sounds, and to see how the car runs with the freer flowing exhaust.

Here's some pictures.



The circled area is where the pipe was sectioned

[Bentwheelbob]

The interior fluff also got finished today. The dash bezel finally arrived from Randy Combs and it looks really nice. Probably an 8.5 out of 10. The overall interior looks great and it should as there was lot which got cleaned up and tweaked. New gauge lenses, new center AC vents, restored dash bezel, refinished right side duct below the glove box, re-dyed shoulder belt retainers, new heater core, new dash bulbs, lubed door latches, locks and window mechanisms, new door handle trims,,,I'm sure I am missing something, but that's all I can remember for now. The only thing which remains is a new decal for the defog switch.

Here are some pictures...The carpet and upholstery are original.

[Held for Ransom]

Bob, what did Randy do/not do, to rate it lower than a 9? I think it looks great.

[Bentwheelbob]

Originally Posted by Held for Ransom

Bob, what did Randy do/not do, to rate it lower than a 9? I think it looks great.

Let me start by saying the bezel looks great, and that I am very picky...With that in mind, points were deducted for:

1) Areas where the gold finish was applied more heavily making it darker such as around the pulse wiper switch
2) The defog switch plate is darker gold
3) The turn signal windows are not in good shape, Worse than my original. This was a "core swap"
4) The finish did not completely cure prior to being bubble wrapped leaving shadows of the bubble wrap in the black upper mounting plate
5) There was some drama in getting the item shipped. I received a picture of the "finished" piece and paid, after which it took over 3 weeks to receive the bezel

Make no mistake, the bezel looks really good and the price is reasonable. I would use Randy again, but have a different set of expectations.

[Bentwheelbob]

While we are on the topic of restored original parts, I should receive tomorrow a restored set of WS6 SE wheels. I ultimately wussed out on doing the work myself after hearing about how hard it is to remove the original finish. I also like the idea of having the wheels CNC'd to remove road rash and true them up.

I ended up getting a set from Detroit Vintage Wheels. These are original and true WS6 SE wheels that he had in stock and restored. They were completely stripped, CNC'd, and the gold and clear coat is powder coating. He gave me a great price. The price delivered was less than the cost of having my existing wheels restored by another vendor, and that is before paying to ship them to the vendor which would have been at least $200.00. Also, I will still have the existing original wheels to do something with.

I hope they score at least an 8.5.

Here 's a link to the website and a picture.

http://www.detroitvintagewheels.com/o.e.m..html

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

While we are on the topic of restored original parts, I should receive tomorrow a restored set of WS6 SE wheels. I ultimately wussed out on doing the work myself after hearing about how hard it is to remove the original finish. I also like the idea of having the wheels CNC'd to remove road rash and true them up.

I ended up getting a set from Detroit Vintage Wheels. These are original and true WS6 SE wheels that he had in stock and restored. They were completely stripped, CNC'd, and the gold and clear coat is powder coating. He gave me a great price. The price delivered was less than the cost of having my existing wheels restored by another vendor, and that is before paying to ship them to the vendor which would have been at least $200.00. Also, I will still have the existing original wheels to do something with.

I hope they score at least an 8.5.

Here 's a link to the website and a picture.

http://www.detroitvintagewheels.com/o.e.m..html

Great stuff Bob. Did you notice the incorrect lug nuts on the sample wheel shown above?
You might want to suggest they use a set of L82 Corvette / WS6 Trans Am Lug nuts & reshoot the photo and post it...for us Picky, Picky, Picky detail gurus.

The good thing is they DID use the correct Steel Center Cap and Emblem, instead of the usual incorrect for '78 "honeycomb" plastic cap used on 80 & 81!