[njsteve]

I went by the body shop today and here's some progress shots. Here's the drivers door getting the NOS doorskin fitted and tack welded. A lot of hammering and welding going on here in order to make the original factory doorskin fit the original factory door!

[njsteve]

The bodyman just stripped the drivers side fender on the T/A and the he found this. It looks like the result of a tire getting loose and caving in the fender. The metal is extemely overworked, brittle, and stretched and the best bet according to him is to weld in a section from another fender that would go from the lower body line to the upper body line. Does anyone have a regular 70 to 81 Firebird fender that is wrecked in the front that would be good as a donor? I dont need a whole fender and the shipping costs are crazy for a complete one. I am open to suggestions.

[Jim Robertson]

We use a product called Evap-O-Rust to remove rust from all sorts of things. The stuff is sold here in Abilene Texas. It works good on all rusty surfaces...but do not use it on spring steel. Example: We bought some rusty Starrett dividers and wanted to clean them up. We let them soak for a about a week and when we removed them all the rust was gone and all the springs were broken. Very strange how a liquid could snap the steel. I could not find anywhere in the manufacturers literature to not use it on spring steel. No big loss but a word to the wise.
Enjoying your progress...
Jim

[njsteve]

I had a separate post looking for TCS info so I thought I'd co-post it here, with the results. Here was the original link: http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=508684

Here was my question:

"I am trying to make sure I have everything on my car that should be on my car. (1972 T/A 4550 HO 4 speed). In checking the 72 repair manual it says that there should be a TCS (temperature controlled spark) two pronged temperature switch on the passenger side cylinder head. Mine does not have one (could have been removed by a previous owner) but it does have the single lead (green wire) temp gauge sensor on the driver's side head. The reproduction harness has this blue and yellow lead connector that reaches to the exact spot where the switch would be. My question is this: Should there be a two pronged temp switch on the pass side? and if so does anyone have a part number for it? (I would imagine it is different than the idiot light switch as the TCS switch works as an on/off switch for the TCS system once the engine hits a certain temp range."


Thank you to everyone who assisted me in this quest. I love this website!


I just found an NOS three pronged TCS sender unit #6490384 on ebay for $30. The guy had it listed as a regular auction under the part number only, with no application identified, so it slid under the radar of most Poncho guys I guess. I emailed him to see if he had a buy it now price and he said OK to $30. I installed it today and the wiring harness is now complete for the whole TCS system. Oh, happy day!

[Jim Robertson]

Very cool. I am jealous. :-)
Jim

[njsteve]

Here are some body shop shots of the the freshly stripped hood. We are still looking for a drivers side fender 70 - 81 for use as a patch panel donor for the massively dented lower section on my original fender. Anyone out there have half a fender they want to get rid of?

[thall10]

njsteve,

how did they strip under all the metal framing? Was this blasted before they used the grinder? Looks nice, just curious because I need to do the same to mine.

[njsteve]

A whole lotta hand and wire brush work (and bloody knuckles).

[njsteve]

More body shop progress today! He has the passenger fender, door and hood in epoxy primer. Yay!

[njsteve]

and some more photos...

[njsteve]

Here's the most recent acquisition for the project: an NOS rear tail panel. These things were made out of one giant piece of injection-molded plastic, about five feet wide. They were extrememly fragile and always broke at the outer section where it narrows down to the thin outer extensions. This was because people tried to remove them without unbolting the two outer studs and eventually found out the hard way after they broke it into three pieces.

The original one from my car had been repaired (badly). It looked fine from the outside but from the inside you could see that it had a hacksaw blade fiberglassed onto the back to support the broken outer extension on one side. (Nice professional repair).

I found this one on ebay. Cost about $280 (actually a bargain since the only other one I've ever seen up for sale, the guy is trying to sell for $750!)

This one was stored up in the seller's attic for about 20 years. He had primed the outside but from the back you can see it was never installed: the mounting studs have never had a nut turned on them.

[Larry Navarro]

Nice find Steve.
Judging from the pics above, that shop looks clean. Rarely have I ever seen one in such a "tidy" manner.

[blue71ta]

Originally Posted by njsteve

This one was stored up in the seller's attic for about 20 years. He had primed the outside but from the back you can see it was never installed: the mounting studs have never had a nut turned on them.

I think the grey primer on the outside is the way they came from GM. I've got an NOS one as well & it's the same way - grey on the outside, white/natural color on the inside...

[Lloyd-TX]

Originally Posted by blue71ta

I think the grey primer on the outside is the way they came from GM. I've got an NOS one as well & it's the same way - grey on the outside, white/natural color on the inside...

Ditto! I have an NOS one, bought it 30+- years ago. Primer out, white plastic in.

[njsteve]

Wow, I guess you learn something new every day. Thanks guys!

[weranc55]

I have a Nos one and no primer. Steve what is the correct master for a 72. Does it have external bleeders?

[njsteve]

I forgot the part number, but yes it does have the bleeders.

[The Boss]

My NOS 70/71 Judge Spoiler is primer grey, my NOS 70-75 Formula hood is Black.

Steve, your car is going to be spectacular!

[Lloyd-TX]

Originally Posted by The Boss

my NOS 70-75 Formula hood.

:eek

It MUST be nice, Chris. Where did you score that hood?

I was fortunate to pick up a VERY nice (and unwarped) original Ram Air Formula hood a few months back. It was off of a '73 Ram Air Formula, and still has the OEM white paint.

Steve, I can't wait to see the finished car, I don't think spectacular will be quite enough to describe it. Kudos for a great job, and for sharing your photos and experiences with us.

[njsteve]

Well, here we are home during the Nor-Easter and wondering what I can do while the water rises. I have been trying to figure out a way to remove all the black spraybomb overspray that is on the orginal honeycomb grills for the T/A. So I ended up doing a little websurfing of the term "plastic paint stripping" and wound up finding a model car website where they compared a variety of different techniques for removing paint from plastic models. We have all heard of the old "Easy Off" oven cleaner being used for paint stripping but the fumes are noxious and the results are very slow and require scrubbing which damages the plastic. Their new favorite plastic paint stripping technique now employs the super-degreaser formerly known as "Castrol Super Clean". I guess they sold the formula off because it's now just called "Super Clean." Well, anyway here is the before photo of one of the grills all covered in black spray paint: