[SD455DJ]

While we were working on the interior of the GT-37, we had to rehang the loose master cylinder/booster that was starting to slip from it's wire hanger a bit and noticed the machined pad on the front of the master cylinder had what looked like a stamp impression showing the surface rust and dirt. We cleaned it off a saw 'EB' and the number '2' stamped in the machined pad.

Is this the original master cylinder? We both aren't really up on all the factory stamps/codes on non-engine parts.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

We installed the refurbished (restored seems too strong a description) gas pedal, brake/clutch pedal assembly, the new front speaker, defroster duct, and assembled (newer) dash board back in the GT-37. We also installed the forward harness (original '71) and engine harness (new M&H). It was a puzzle reconnecting all the wiring and vacuum lines under the dash, but the assembly manual and lots of disassembly pictures helped, not to mention Dan's familiarity with the A-body underdash! The original rear seat speaker and remote trunk release wires were still present and intact, so are now reconnected in the harness.

Working on the steering column next.

[SD455DJ]

Dan had a nice '70 gas tank to replace the '68(?) tank that Mike had on the car. It just needs a new sending unit and rubber hose connections. The original US Steel ink stamp is still visible. We decided to stick with the non-EEC tank and since it was already set up for the early system and all the '71 plumbing bypassed...the easy button.

The 'new' IC Formula steering wheel is replacing the sun destroyed original. It's in pretty decent shape with 'patina' to match the cars.

Also installing the finishing touches (intake manifold thermal vacuum tree and water temp sender) to the 455HO before it goes in in a couple weeks.

Dennis

[vertigto]

I'd really like to get my hands on a Formula wheel like that...looks great.

[SD455DJ]

We got the splash shields on both inner fenders and the passenger side inner fender is reinstalled (and cleaned of the desert dust). The engine compartment is taking shape with the replacement wiper motor and pump.

All the replacement (original) wiring, dash, wiper motor/pump, radio speaker, and lots of little stuff came from Lyn (carguy66cars - who went waayy out of his way to help find what I needed...THANKS LYN!).

The steering column and new carpet are on deck for installation!

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Well, 'on-deck' meant today and the carpet is installed after all the test fitting, trimming, cutting, and making tiny little holes for the seat beat bolts in the floor. Got the steering column in, connected the harnesses, installed the refurbished column cover plate/clutch rod bellows and gasket at the firewall, and the new parking brake mechanism and pedal.

Tomorrow will be the Formula wheel swap and the rest of the dash stuff...glove box, deck lid control, radio, and the rest of the ductwork. We're going to fill in the few cracks in the dash and try to make it a little prettier.

The new (old) tank has a stamp on the top side that looks like it has a date of '1970' in it...pretty cool.

It's starting to come together and we're making slow, but positive progress.

Dennis

[iceman411]

Looks great! Your efforts are really showing and coming together nicely.

How difficult is it to put the wheel house flaps in... do they come with the staples?... I always wondered that.... all the Pontiac’s I’ve had that I refinished the wheel houses and never put new flap seals on... Mike...

[SD455DJ]

Thanks Mike! I see you're from GR too! Have we ever met?

We use the softer wire staples rather than the industrial strength wire supplied with the repop shields. They are sooo much easier to bend and are more than strong enough.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Has anyone seen this particular stamp before on a '70 A-body gas tank?

I think is says Wheeling...Pittsburg...LONG TER???...46...DQ...1970...MADE IN USA.

Thanks, Dennis

[Shiny]

Is than an NOS tank or repro?

Not to detract from your question but it's interesting for me...

I don't know squat about the part but the "TERN??" is likely "TERNE" which is referring to the sheet metal used for fabrication... probably a continuous process for electrolytic or hot-dipped galvanized steel (zinc). This material probably carried specific claims for corrosion protection and the process may have been proprietary to one mill or supplier, hence the labeling.

Here's a related sad note:

https://www.timesleaderonline.com/ne...mill-building/

[SD455DJ]

Thanks for the article Shiny! I think you nailed the missing letters as Terne, from the zinc plating process for protecting bare metals, similar to galvanizing. I didn't make the connection and the article refers to it...so cool, and sad at the same time. Former mills like that are now EPA nightmares...ah, the good ol' days.

We believe this tank is an original take-off, or replacement tank from the early '70's maybe(???). We can't recall where or what car it came off of, or how long we've had it. We stumbled on it after moving some cars around. We will scope it to make sure it's not rusty, as well as give it a thorough cleaning before it goes on the car.

Dennis

[455HOGT37]

Looks good Dennis

Reviewing the last few posts I have a few comments:

First and foremost, your brother's "T" is what put this car on my radar in the first place. I saw all the magazine press Dan was getting and when this car dropped in my lap I was just beginning to appreciate the model. Up to that point it was GTO's or nothing (Easy to say in the mid '80's).

I do not recognize the "block off plate" in the cowl, but as stupid as I was back then, it could have been me.

As for the master cylinder, I "think" I never changed it. It worked when I left Illinois with the car in '88, and it was "driver" immediately after that, so its highly likely that is the same MC that was on the car when I bought it. Keeep in mind though, that car was a bit like Car Craft "Project X" in the respect that I swapped engines, trannies, and rear ends, interiors and other stuff on a regular basis. I've had a smogger 350 and automatic in that car as well as a pumped 455 and 4:56 rear in it. Good times.

[455HOGT37]

I appreciate this thread because its a little like an archiological dig - though I owned the car far longer than the original owner, some of it is uncovering areas of the car I never seen. Other areas are layers of the onion that go right to some of my very personal memories. This car is a time capsule to my youth, and though I always new this car was special, there is still evidence of the typical abuse of ANY 20+ year old car.

On that note, I bought this car in 1987, and as a 16 year old car, it was pretty typical of the half dozen or so muscle cars I'd owned up to this point - in other words it was beat to hell. I look at my 19 year old Yukon and my 12 year old Corvette (both purchased new off the lot), and note that both still appear new despite far more miles than the GT-37 or almost any other musclecar of my youth. The GT was 16 years old when I bought it and looked like a wreck (though it was "tight" and drove great)... Looking at the corollary, a 2004 model car today often looks much better than the 16 year old GTO's and Firebirds we were buying back in the 1980's... Why is that?

[PontiacJim1959]

455HOGT37 - "The GT was 16 years old when I bought it and looked like a wreck (though it was "tight" and drove great)... Looking at the corollary, a 2004 model car today often looks much better than the 16 year old GTO's and Firebirds we were buying back in the 1980's... Why is that?"

How many guys do you see racing and beating on a 2004 4-cyl car? How many desireable 2004 "muscle cars" were produced having 350 and up horsepower, 4-speeds, and posi rear ends ........at a cheap price you can afford used?

When was the last time you saw a 2004 car light up the rear tires and go sideways with its posi kicking it to the right?

How many 2004 cars had engines that over powered their suspensions and getting all crossed up was an art to get the car straight again before slamming into "that tree."

And if your old muscle car still remained together, however beat up and dented with its replacement engine, trans, and rear end that had gotten blown up by the original owner or one of the other 5 owners before you, the salt put down on those northern states ate the body away and replacement parts were not available like today, and who cared anyway...........you just junked the car because it was an old beat up rotted car.

Of course today's technology has much to do with longevity as well as the materials used throughout the car which last far longer than the old cloth/vinyl seats back then.

[455HOGT37]

I can think of quite a few 2004 model cars that would rip the paint right off the muscle cars that I was buying for a few hundred bucks in the mid 80's.

But the point remains - the 60's and 70's cars I was buying were of so called "higher quality", yet the paint was beat, interiors torn and drivetrains on their last legs at just a bit over 100k miles. And the cars I was buying were hardly the so called factory race cars that one would expect to be beaten to death. This GT-37 was a LOADED car - not a stripped racer. And I was the second owner. My primary car in HS was a LOADED 68 GTO with power windows, air, and a base 400 and TH400... Hardly a dragstrip terror. It too was beat to hell at 17 years old with a burned valve and bodo loaded quarters.

[SD455DJ]

Hey Mike! Good to see you posting on this thread again...I was hoping you would sooner or later to add some color commentary and some clarity to some of the little idiosyncrasies you always find on these old cars. I like your archeological dig comparison...so true. Dan and I have enjoyed going through the GT-37 and have chuckled and raised our eye brows at some of the modifications we have found, but nothing serious, or disturbing...just things we all did to these cars when we were young, poor, and had to do what ever we had to in order to keep them on the road.

Your comment regarding the master cylinder has me thinking that it is the original one and it sure looks like the same one in one of your 'back in the early days' pictures you sent me with the Chevy Q-jet and 13 heads.

Gosh, I can remember 4 year old muscle cars we looked at (circa 1973/74) when we were hunting for our first car purchases and many were roached beyond belief, and back then, 40,000 miles on a muscle car usually meant it burnt oil and was beat to hell and back.

Well, at least a 455HO engine is going back in, but with a BW ST-10 tranny (2.64 1st gear - wide box) that should work great with the 3.31 gears out back (we'll have to dbl check that they aren't 4.56's haha!). Don't be too disappointed we aren't doing a whole-hog restoration in her...I want to drive it with the patina. I did get the repop GT-37 stripes (red & white) and we'll figure out how to use them on the car and make them 'fit' the paint patina. We are going to spray the gray primered area on the passenger quarter panel and the new hood tach shell with some Canyon Copper paint with flattener.

If you ever find more pictures and the missing build sheets, you know where I am!

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Today's progress got the gas tank assembled with the new sending unit and vent tube for the pre-'71 style/non-EES tanks. Spread out the headliner to de-wrinkle it prior to installation...when Dan removed the rear view mirror, wind lace and sun visors, he saw a gap at the top windshield along the driver side roof and found that the windshield wasn't installed correctly, or it slipped down and was only held in by the bright trim (!!!), all the dum-dum was dried out and fell right off. It also cracked, so time for a new windshield and locating tabs to place it correctly. One nice thing is the dash corners at the A-pillars are perfect and solid, so we're going to paint the metal top portion while the windshield is out. Fortunately Dan covered the new carpet with a drop cloth as a ton of desert dust fell down from the top of the windshield into the interior when he pulled the windshield. The headliner install goes easier with the windshield out. We decided to pull the rear glass out now as well. We do know there is rust holes in the channel and will glass them in for now to keep the trunk dry (from above at least).

More archeology, Dan even found an old chunk of the mesh package shelf as it has a factory rear speaker.

Dennis

[455HOGT37]

Windscreen was replaced in 95 or 96 by one of those mobile repair places. Original was cracked when I bought the car.

Never noticed the slip, and it never leaked water when I was driving it. Probably the decade of living in my shop at 110 degrees and single digit humidity took the toll.

[SD455DJ]

Here is the glass installers...Auto Glass Unlimited...they still around?

Recognize the yellow and orange tag remnants?

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Was the yellow window sticker for BEALE AFB by chance?

Dennis