[fyrebird68]

WOW this one's all over the place. Looks like we have a consensus?

Good thread, tho.

Bob

[Verdoro 68]

I don't think I have any pictures to back it up, but my seals were like Greg's when I disassembled my car. I've had the car 15 years and I'm sure they weren't replaced before I got the car.

Keep in mind that I also found the want ads form the day my car was built in the carpet insulation so mine may not be installed the "right" way either. However, it made sense to me to put the notch around the bolt holes so most of the insulation goes between the fender well and the frame eliminating any potential squeaks.

If it matters, my car was built in May of '68 at the Arlington plant.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by Verdoro 68

I don't think I have any pictures to back it up, but my seals were like Greg's when I disassembled my car. I've had the car 15 years and I'm sure they weren't replaced before I got the car.

Keep in mind that I also found the want ads form the day my car was built in the carpet insulation so mine may not be installed the "right" way either. However, it made sense to me to put the notch around the bolt holes so most of the insulation goes between the fender well and the frame eliminating any potential squeaks.

If it matters, my car was built in May of '68 at the Arlington plant.

BooYow!
Seriously though...I don't think mine have ever been removed either and mine was also built in May of '68 at the Arlington plant. I too thought that the notch was designed to encircle the bolt hole.
Either way, no one is going to see it once it's assembled and it'll serve the purpose either way it seems.

[LPete]

I wonder if there's any chance they changed them from '68 to '69? Can't imagine why, though.

[Greg Reid]

I didn't see them in my '69 assembly manual. Maybe they just made a decision at Arlington to put them on this way and stuck with it.

[Verdoro 68]

I'm not sure if this helps anyone, but here a pic I found of my car before I took it apart. You can see that the contour of the splash shield follows the curve of the frame.

[Greg Reid]

This was so long ago that only reading through the thread did I realize that I was almost wrong once. Just when I'd gotten over the trauma... Thanks a lot Ken!
Seriously Ken, I thought that you'd brought it back up but really, I got here through a couple of links through the back door. Interesting walk down memory lane...lol

[Verdoro 68]

12 years ago, wow! Doesn't seem like the mystery of the splash shields ever got solved, but us May '68 Arlington guys need to stick together

[Greg Reid]

Well, I mean we're right...so there's really nothing else to do..lol

[tekheavy]

Whew. For a second there I got worried thinking I had the wrong seals on my car. But then I realized you guys were talking about the inner fender seals and not the upper A-frame seals.

[68ragtop]

This doesn't surprise me at all. If I have learned anything in researching "correctness" with our cars its that they were put together a lot of different ways. Generally the same, but at times very different. When I see those shields upside-down, I picture a new guy on the assemble line that didn't follow directions, or maybe a few shields were upside-down in the pile & the parts keep moving on. Such a cool time in history.

Somebody on the forum made a comment years back that if we took a 68-69 GTO right of the assembly line, stored it in a bag & put it out for display as a restored car, it would get tore apart for how many things are incorrect. That is so true in the small details.

I have a recent thread on these shields & realized how random the staples are & how some of the upper shields where on either side of the wheel well houses. I learn something everyday by all the sharing that happens on this site.

[68ragtop]

Here's what mine look like. these wells are junk, but came from my late father in-laws 68 lemans he bought new in April of 1968. I have held on to them so I knew how to install the shields on my GTO restoration. These should help me install them correctly, or incorrectly but at least it will be the same as one guy decided was good enough in 1968.

[Greg Reid]

No doubt they came both ways but I still like the slot lining up with the bolt holes... Just looks like that cutout was made for those holes to me.
Where was that car built ragtop?

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

No doubt they came both ways but I still like the slot lining up with the bolt holes... Just looks like that cutout was made for those holes to me.
Where was that car built ragtop?

It was a pontiac MI car.

[Greg Reid]

Interesting that the two Arlington cars on this thread have them one way, all the others another way.
My thought is that the slot took some type of engineering step. It was consciously put there for some reason. Has to be to line up with those hole...or if not...why?
Looking at your pic, it looks like it's just begging to be rotated 180 ccw. Even the angle of the slot lines up with the angles of the holes..

[68ragtop]

What I wish I would have done is had the new shields on hand when I was test fitting all the sheet metal. When I did all my panel alignment, gaps, & rough in body work I had everything bolted together on the frame. I should have slid them in place & visually decided where exactly I wanted to put them, marked them & I would be good to go today. But, I honestly didn't think that far into the restoration at that time. I suppose its still possible put I would rather install them on the well before I attach the wells to the fenders. Too much risk of scratching something doing it twice imo. we'll see....

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Interesting that the two Arlington cars on this thread have them one way, all the others another way.
My thought is that the slot took some type of engineering step. It was consciously put there for some reason. Has to be to line up with those hole...or if not...why?
Looking at your pic, it looks like it's just begging to be rotated 180 ccw. Even the angle of the slot lines up with the angles of the holes..

What's worse is the original wells that were on my GTO I discarded at least 8 years ago. I knew I had these (in the picts) for a reference & never even paid attention to where they were on the GTO originals. They had some dents, rust & full of undercoating so I pitched them in favor of re-pops. Then kept the lemans wells knowing for sure they were never touched. I would probably do that different on several levels if I had a mulligan on that choice.... But My GTO is also a Pontiac plant car so its likely the same except it was built in January, not March like the one I pictured.

[68ragtop]

Actually as long as I am having regrets, my biggest regret is stripping down the lemans & junking it. One of my restoration blunders. I should have left that car sit, just like it was. I could have used it as a virtual assembly manual. I took a few pictures when I took it apart, but not enough, & not of the right things. At that time I had no intension of restoring the car to the level that I am now. It was going to be a nice driver & I was that concerned with being that original appearing. That changed some over the course of this project.

[Greg Reid]

If this thread proves anything I think it is that the guys on the assembly line probably could have cared less how this kind of stuff was applied. As long as it was installed and no one was ever going to see it as far as they believed.
Probably never even crossed their minds that someone would be 'anal-retentatively' restoring a lowly A-body 50 years after the fact!

[Formulajones]

Here's the one picture I took of the rubber shields. These are the born with, original, never removed, splash shields on my fathers 69 GTO he bought new. Baltimore built in Sept of 68.