[njsteve]

Originally Posted by 70RAlll

NJSteve-
sorry, and please do not think I am hijacking your thread...But I have to post these pictures. I sent you a PM telling you that this style of duct was incorrect for the 70-72 and/or I posted on this thread the same. The duct you have pictured is a later design that is easily found and is incorrect part for 70-72 F body cars. The 70-72 cars used part number #477816 Grp. # 9.262 and it is no way as easy to find.The bottom part, where yours pictured has the two holes with the screws attached, is the main difference in the early vs later Firebird under column duct piece. I have enclosed pictures of the correct part for the 70-72 cars.And if you look up this part number in a MPC you will see it list's this number for 70-72 F bodys. My 7/72 dated MPC does anyway..
But, that is the incorrect part and below are pictures of the correct part..

Thanks for the info on the duct. Since I didn't have the parts I didn't know what to look for. For the moment the parts from DDMRK will work fine until I can locate the correct single bolt duct with the right part number. BTW, what are the two small bolts with the washers supposed to bolt to? Was there a bracket going across the bottom of the duct on later models? I just checked my Grandma's 75 Firebird and lo and behold it has the same duct as in your photos. But no swapping here, that would make Grandma angry.

[70RAlll]

Originally Posted by njsteve

That is the custom interior with the custom upholstery for 72. The rear seats are the originals and one of the front seat tops are original. I had to replace both seat bottoms and one top. If you go back in the thread a few years :-) you'll find the Thanksgiving holiday coverage where I did the PUI seat covers on top of the dining room table (when the wife was out of town).

Yes Steve..my eyes are definately getting worse as the years go by.. I have no idea what the holes with screws were used for. Looks like they may have had an additional plastic trip piece that covered this duct?? That is mearly a guess..
But the 70-72 cars I know for sure had no holes.. Later ones will work just fine, as yours shows.. Just not completely "correct"... then again... does it really matter?? If we are building a trailer queen, I think it does.. But I would bet you are going to drive the sh^t out of this car..I know I do mine.. These cars were made for smoking tires/red light to red light racing... SO a "correct " duct piece really doesn't matter in the scope of things for guys like us who drive our cars... I will tell you this.. If you are going to drive it.... enjoy it as it is now.. Because it will never look so nice again.. Even with careful maintenance/cleaning...they just loose that brand new look almost immediately when you start driving them. I know my 1970 did... then again... in a couple years I will refresh it all over again which will give me more fun time with my car.. I swear... the funnest part is doing the resto and getting everything back togather.. You might need a shrink once it is all togather.. be ready NJSteve... With no resto work to do.. it will be like loosing a dog, or friend...Yes you will need a good Pontiac Shrink....

[njsteve]

Shrink? Heck no, That's why I started this on-line support group back in 2004! ;-)

[njsteve]

And another site member/support group attendee comes through in a pinch! X-BIRD2 just personally delivered the door handle link I needed. Awesome guy, and he even drove up in his "camouflaged" 73 bird!

[x-bird2]

Always glad to help out. NICE cars in addition to the '72, shhh i won't say a word about the nature of your other automotive affliction! Just got home )) like i said, always looking for an excuse to exercise the bird beyond driving it 1 mile to and from work -- Miss those nice smooth NJ backroads through the woods. (woods--smooth roads ---NJ ???-- our secret)

[Nick S]

Hay guys I just ordered Honeycomb Paint from the Paddock and paid 79.95 because Classic Ind list it in the catalog but no longer on line and I cannot find another supplier. I have tried to get a catalog form OEM paint @ $10.00 but have not received one that's been over 2 months. I tried to call them but they say just leave a message and we will call you back? I called them on the 22nd of June and still no call back. I wonder if OEM is still in business or is having trouble. If there still in business there customer service and prices suck

[njsteve]

Here's a shot of the other end of the shaker wire. It's actually an orange and black wire that comes out of the harness, not the firewall. This is the lead that goes into the base of the shaker to activate the flapper solenoids.

[njsteve]

Started on the doors this afternoon. Got the drip rails and the body side door weatherstrip installed. There's nothing like the really expensive factory weatherstripping. Goes right in place without a problem. The key is to start at the molded ends and get them in place with the little plastic push pins. Then put the outer edge into the drip rail channel first. I then used a plastic scraper with a dull edge to push the interior side of the weatherstrip edge into the other side of the channel. Worked like a charm with no damage to the rubber.

The problem with starting in the middle, if you choose to do that, is that once you get the straight portion in, you will find that the molded ends are either to short or too far from the mounting holes because you either stretched the rubber seal too long or compressed it too short.

[njsteve]

Some more of the body parts getting painted today - I need the trunk and the thin panel that goes between the trunk and the rear window installed before I can get the rear glass installed. Also, the fiberglass tailight panel must go on first before the taillights and the rear bumper can be bolted up.

[70RAlll]

Originally Posted by Nick S

Hay guys I just ordered Honeycomb Paint from the Paddock and paid 79.95 because Classic Ind list it in the catalog but no longer on line and I cannot find another supplier. I have tried to get a catalog form OEM paint @ $10.00 but have not received one that's been over 2 months. I tried to call them but they say just leave a message and we will call you back? I called them on the 22nd of June and still no call back. I wonder if OEM is still in business or is having trouble. If there still in business there customer service and prices suck

I am wondering if OEM is out of business also. Classic's website has a couple of the Pontiac Engine colors still(73 and 74up) but anyother OEM paints I tried buying from their site, changed part numbers to a OER product?? Man am I glad I bought 6 cans of their 71 engine color last year. That was the closest to the 71/72 Pontiac blue I have seen.. I bet the VOC reg's in california put the company out of business. I went out to the shop to verify how many cans I still had and notice on the rear of the can there was a big "california deems contents have ingredients that cause cancer etc".. Plus it had a 80% VOC label.. They are pretty nutty out there about paints' VOC's... With the current batch of idiots we have running the country, watch they ban any paint that uses thinners.. I would store up on any lacquer you needed.. That is one paint that will last a long time sealed in a can.. Just my opinion.. But yes, I had the same problem with Classic Industries on OEM..

[njsteve]

Spent two full days just on the door guts/window install. The first thing was the outer stainless trim that goes at the top of the door line. That was nerve-wracking! There are these tiny little plastic clips that go on the screw-in studs. I covered the top of the door in blue masking tape and then used a rubber mallet to tap them into place. It's something of an IQ test as you have to have certain ones engaged before you can try the others or the ones on the curves at either end won't get close to engaging their clips. That was worth about 3 hours!



After the stainless came the inner door window fuzzies - also NOS GM parts. Funny thing is both the originals and the NOS ones were missing a mounting hole that needed to be drilled. Looks like the originals had the extra hole in the fuzzies drilled out on the assembly line.

[njsteve]

Since the wife and kids are visiting the in-laws this week, I spent all of the 4th of July installing the windows and associated hardware. It took 4 hours to do the passenger side including an hour and a half wasted after I learned that I had the window sash channel that bolts to the window, upside down. I couldn't figure out why the heck the window would only go up halfway before the rollers hit the end of the sash channel track. After repeated attempts at loosening, readjusting, resetting, manipulating, manhandling, I just couldn't get it up. (the window that is) ;-)

After perusing the assembly manual (which was no help) I grabbed the flashlight and peeked into the window channel of my Grandma's '75 Firebird to see that I had the sash channel in wrong. DUH!

Once I got the channel in the correct position, it took another hour of adjusting to get the window situated correctly. It now closes quite nicely with the NOS GM weatherstripping.





The driver's side only took an hour and a half with adjustment.



And here's the final result after another 8 hour day.

[cliffhanger]

respect man, makes me want to do that too.....too bad i've got 2 left hands
i am so looking forward to this car finished

[njsteve]

Today's project was cleaning the year and a half of dust from the engine and underneath the car. I spent most of the day on my back lieing on a creeper with a bucket of soapy water and rags cleaning off everything in sight. I guess the good thing about all that dust was that no overspray stuck to anything. I also installed the NOS exhaust tips and the honeycomb wheels and Polyglas GTs that have been sitting under wraps for 3 years now.







Took quite a while to clean up the engine compartment. My hands are pretty much shredded now from all the sharp edges and pointy bolts under there.

[blue71ta]

As usual, great work Steve! That car is going to be absolutely gorgeous!

[cliffhanger]

damn, that car is gonna be better then new.....

[aronhk_md]

Hmmm.....looks like a Charger/Superbee/Superbird under the cover behind our favorite fiery chicken...

[njsteve]

Good eye...



I've had it about 23 years.

If you want to read another equally entertaining post like the never-ending T/A restoration story, check out the never-ending haunted Charger story:

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/show...age=0&fpart=11

[aronhk_md]

Very cool story on the Charger. Interests me that it blew the hemi racing an early 70's Trans Am...lol. Amazing cars...all of them.

[njsteve]

Running out of things to do at the moment so I decided to tackle the annoying unused and incorrect mounting hole in the top of the radiator shroud that comes standard when you buy the new/repro GM shroud.

Here's the before shot:




What I ended up doing was getting a 1/2" hole saw and boring out a 1/2" plug from the burned/melted original shroud that I've had hanging in the garage:



I then carefully filed the edges of the plug with a flat file and used a small rat tail file to file the hole in the new shroud. When I was satisfied with the fit of the plug, I placed a piece of tape on the underside of the hole and filled it with 5 minute sandable epoxy. I then pushed the plug into place. After it sat overnight I used my mini-mouse sander with some 240 grit and made the excess epoxy disapear. A few mist coats of SEM Laundau Black (my new favorite paint) and the repair is invisible.