jft69z
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Posts posted by jft69z
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8 minutes ago, Leghome said:
We have a gal at our Axalta distributor that can tint it to match just about any color. She is amazing and always keep track of what is added so if you need more they can still get a perfect match.
My Axalta jobber plays mad scientist, lol. The chance of duplicating the mix if I needed more in the future would be nil. He's real good at most tints, but I'm usually pretty picky with color matches.
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Looks good!
Do they have any 'Tractor Supply' stores out near you? They have a pretty good selection of Grade 8 bolts there.
Just for grins, I looked near Belton, SC. Shows one about 11 miles from you in Anderson?
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Thanks RJD!
Also, very sorry to hear about both of your recent losses.
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Thanks James! My bar will be the bigger one because it's a '72 Custom. Averaged around 1.120" thick.
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Put the bearings/seals/Strange Axles in the rear diff & painted more parts today. Near the end I realized this is about it for the bulk of the dirty, crappy, cleaning part of the job. Still need to paint the interior parts, but it's certainly much lighter and easier to work with.
Ordered the paint today from a place in NJ called Kolor Korrect. Maybe I'm picky, but trying to find a good match for '72 Dark Saddle hasn't been easy. The mix the PPG dealer made up just didn't cut it. DuPont (Axalta)didn't have anything & would have been a 'mad scientist' mix. SEM has too generic colors. Tried a can from the Parts Place that they "had made especially for them" -M42...it was so far off, Ray Charles could have felt that it was bad. Called Legendary Interiors to see what they use. They sent me to the above, apparently they work pretty close with them. KK sent a couple of sprayouts, still was a little off. Then they called Legendary again and found out the dye lot for my fabric was a new batch, so they mixed some up to match what Legendary now has for their upholstery. That was just about perfect to the seats now & a good match to the existing hard parts, so it should be here next week. Really impressed with the customer service and degree of effort they put in to get me a perfect match, almost unheard of these days.
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Got the frame & suspension parts painted today. Tomorrow should be the rear diff. and a few more parts.
Also found out my radiators (old Monte & current one) are bad. The radiator shop tried to make 1 good one, but that didn't work out so well either. More parts, lol. Any suggestions on a good replacement? Not too particular on whether it's aluminum or not. Just want it to have a trans cooler. Searched here and it seems some had good results with an alum.one from Summit, another couple from Ausley's, and one from the glass place I got my windows from (auto city glass). NAPA has one listed but it looks like it has plastic side tanks, more like a newer style radiator. Not really interested in that one.
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Lots of parts today, including the Strange Axles (good idea Tom, Thanks). They only sent one bearing though, lol. Other one will be here tomorrow, but I'll be painting the frame & suspension parts hopefully. Shot a little heavy primer on the axle tubes tonight after the self etch primer to cover up some pitting. I'll sand it down real quick first thing then get to the rest of the stuff. Gonna be a busy 2 weeks on vacation....
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Looks like they're available most of the usual places. I'll order a pair tomorrow. Thanks!
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6 minutes ago, MC1of80 said:
I have Strange c-clip 30 spline stock replacement axles in my 70 SS with timken bearings.
Awesome, I just looked them up and saw no complaints anywhere. Thanks Tom
Remember where you got them?
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So I popped the axles out of the old rear end and 1 of them is not good at the bearing surface. Figured, OK, I'll pull the axles out of the 12 bolt that came in the car. Not too pleased with how they look either (very minor but the start of things to come if I use them).
So, any suggestions on where to find either 1 good GM axle to match the 1 good one, or a pair of replacement axles that will just bolt in and work. Not going to race the car. Don't need more splines, C-clip eliminator, etc.
Also bearing choices? Timken?
Did a quick search but just got overloaded. Some say the replacements were a bit long and caused issues, etc. according to comments (Moser axles-Summit). Figured you guys have dealt with this a lot so can steer me in a direction real quick. Yukon axles any good? Strange Engineering?
Thanks guys.
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More parts came today...Too tired to do much else than unload it though.
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Had a couple of hours to play after I woke up today from work last night. Got the old Monte's 12 bolt blasted today (has the 4.10 gearset). I'll pop off the backing plates and do them in the blast cabinet when I change the seals. Looks like the GMPP transmission & other parts are supposed to be delivered tomorrow at some point too.
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Thanks James. I'm going to spray it with the same stuff I did the floors and the core support, etc from earlier posts. It's 'Hot Rod Black' from Distinctive Image (DI-HRB). Mixes 4:1 with activator & it's a urethane. First I'll spray it with Variprime self-etching primer, and then the HRB can go directly over the self-etch. My paint supplier had it on the shelf and said all of his customers like it a lot. Real happy with it so far in regards to the semi-gloss sheen & durability.
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Sandblasted the rest of the control arms last night after work (dayshift) & spent this morning blasting the frame before starting a string of nightshifts tonight. Probably won't get to paint it until next week. Still need to put the bushings in all the arms & clean up the 12 bolt before paint anyways. Need to cut those brackets they welded on the frame (crooked) for the exhaust too.
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Congratulations & good luck! Like most people, you'll probably be so busy, you'll wonder how you ever had time to work. I'm about 2 1/2 years from finding that theory out.
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Passenger side
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Ordered the AC from Classic Auto Air today. Got the Stage 3 upgrade kit with the newer Sanden type compressor. Also has the parallel flow evaporator & condenser. Car was an original AC car, but the prior owners removed that too, so I pretty much needed everything.
Started out just to clean up a bit but ended up playing with the front control arms for a few minutes. Looks like the original upper ball joints were still in there by looking at the rivets & in surprisingly good shape. Still, going this far, they had to go... Air chisel makes it a 30 second job
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On 10/8/2019 at 8:26 PM, imr said:
How did you strip the frame
The slow painful way right now, with wire wheels & coarse abrasive sanding pads on an angle grinder. It's actually going pretty quick since the frame isn't really rusted. Going to follow up with sandblasting in the hard to reach spots.
On 10/8/2019 at 8:28 PM, Rob Peters said:Were you trying to cut the springs? You succeeded in warping them. The spring compressor is truly a life saver on removing those front springs. Even with a spring compressor it scares me a little. Keep up the good work, I can almost see it in black paint already. Keep the pictures coming.
rob
No Rob, I didn't do that to the springs (I've done some stupid things before, but not that stupid, lol). Some prior owner did it to lower the car. The back had BMR 2" lowering springs. Apparently it was much easier to heat the springs to lower it than doing it right & replacing the fronts with matching BMR ones.
Probably won't be black for at least a couple of weeks due to the work schedule. In the mean time I'll sandblast all the control arms and pop new bushings & ball joints in the front & rear arms. Need to bring the old 12 bolt with the 4.11 gears up from the basement and clean that up too. Probably pop the axle seals out and replace them too since it's been sitting a long time. Good chance to inspect the axles for wear as well.
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Off work this morning from the night shifts & back tomorrow days for awhile. Had a little time to break the frame down though. There's a picture to show how not to lower your car....with a torch to the front springs. Another with the "rolling chassis".
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USPS, FedEx & UPS drivers have been busy lately... Christmas in October.
Expect the Transmission, tq converter, fuel tank in the near future. Now all I have to do is get the frame cleaned up & painted, new bushings and ball joints installed & arms painted. After that, the bulk of the dirty crap work as far as cleaning is done and the fun can begin.
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27 minutes ago, imr said:
i just googled these numbers and they look the same both years
Here's what I looked at. "Ring, Mounting" item 15 for the 1970, item 12 for the 72.
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I'm at work & can't find pics of my '72 parts, but found some part numbers from a parts manual on my laptop. For 1970 it looks like 924535 & 5957684 - left & right. For 71-72, the part numbers are 5961886 & 5961887-left & right.
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7 hours ago, 420ponies said:
I think you like the GM brand? Very nice shop to work out of. Plenty of toys.
Thanks James. No kids or college funds to worry about = toys.
Always had GM since I was a kid. A couple of used Ford F-250s along the way, but like the GMC 2500 much better. Sadly, they jerked me around a few years back with some warranty work on the CTS-V. Dragged it out for 6 weeks, made it to GM corporate, but all they kept saying is "NO, sorry". Just happened to be in the market for a new daily driver when this was going on. Told them I liked the old GM better than the 'new GM" (after their financial crisis) and apparently they didn't need my money any more. Ended up with the German car and haven't looked back since. Obviously not selling the stuff that I already own, but moving forward on brand new was a different story.
Eventually I found a number for the actual person who was screwing me with the warranty and had a good chat with him. He wasn't happy that I called him direct, but approved the repairs (that had GM Service Bulletins already), but by then the damage was done. Countless hours on the phone with customer service, reps (some very rude), supervisors, corporate, etc , and the lies they told to avoid the situation was enough.
Engine Opinions Wanted ...
in Engine Tech
Posted
Number 3! It was an original BB car though, any thoughts to a ZZ427 or ZZ454?
This should be fun! Nice score there Mike.