rotinrob

The accepted color is gray phosphate plating. rotin

For the LS5 engine the starter is non-illustrated and says assembles the same as the L34. Doesn't mean the part number is the same though. A quick check of GMpartswiki shows the production number to be 1108430 and the service part number to be 1108429. Lots of information in the assembly manual but part numbers are sometimes not in them. Digging a bit deeper into the M40 assembly section once again we find it is non-illustrated assembles same as production see BOM or parts list. So the L34 illustration shows the part number for a standard trans no the TH400. rotin

Yes my car is night and day to what it was stock, time to work on the rear but I still want to keep the air ride that was stock. Not sure how that will work. nothing terrible about the stock parts (usually lighter than tubulars) that can't be changed in a number of ways. I needed new spindles and A arms anyway so I went the way I did. You can accomplish the same geometry gains by using tall ball joints but it is a compromise with the stock upper arms. Also bump steer isn't the greatest with the stock spindles, not that big of a deal though. What's nice about the JGC box is it is stiffer than the stock box (heavier "T" bar and not a variable ratio) and about $35 in a salvage yard. Need a different rag joint and need to convert the hoses to the metric fittings in the box, no problem the stuff is readily available. If you really want to remain "stock" the guts will fit inside the original casting. Don't use a TA box as the internal stops are different, you won't be able to navigate a parking lot (but you can change the stops). There is a lot of interchangeability (inside and out) in the Saginaw box that the aftermarket takes advantage of at the expense of your wallet (worth it if you don't want to or can't do the work). Plus the general hasn't made these things in years so it is nice that the aftermarket is filling a void. Be wary of part store rebuilds as you can't be sure of what "tune" is inside. rotin

Glad to see you have your car driving the way you want, What did you replace your control arms with? Stock or tubular? I went with chassis works AFX stock height spindles and BMR tall spindle arms. The car sits about 3/4 inch lower with stock size and rate Eaton springs and BMR big sway bar. Also you should consider the Jeep Grand Cherokee steering box. Gives the stock look and will get rid of the mushy feeling around center of the stock variable ratio box better feel too. rotin

No SS's in 1972 as we know. Not really promoted as an SS or a clone just a 454 car which was available. I don't have an issue with the added SS454 emblems as long as it isn't sold as an SS. I see some issues that would cause me pause at that price. Like the turbo 400 bleeding al over the place. Did the 72 454 option require the F41 suspension? There is no rear sway bar or the boxed in lowers. Also appears that there might be some (hidden) rust issues but hard to tell from the pictures. Bottom line for me it was well sold and not well bought, but that is my opinion. Without an in person inspection I'd be out of the bidding at $15k or so. rotin

Glad you got her running again. Just a point for safety, if you suspect that it isn't getting gas pull the air cleaner and cycle the throttle and look for the accelerator pump to squirt, a good solid stream and the carb has gas. A lot safer than squirting flammables around the engine. Not that I don't do it, I always prefill float bowls on new engine builds, carb rebuilds, and first start after winter hibernation. I just don't do it if it isn't necessary. rotin

I managed to find a NOS dealer install kit for my Monte. When I replaced the dash the parts car had a switch hole (and switch original car didn't have the blower) in the dash but only the fan shroud and nothing else. So when I found the kit for only about twice what I was willing to pay I jumped on it. Now the switch runs the blower (not sure why but at some shows the judges like to see these things working). Might come in handy for those really hot muggy nights we sometimes get around here (not in February though). rotin

Not going to comment on the age issue. I'm on the other side of that lake, got about a foot last night. Nice thing is we get so much of it that a foot is treated like snow flurries. Not unusual to get a couple of inches every night, great for the snowmobiles bad for the muscle cars (and bikes). We grill outside, eat outside and generally don't let it change us, except we can't play with the cars like we would like, that's why we have sleds (1000 Mach Z, 780 Mach Z plus other). When the salt crust gets washed away about April or May the cars/bikes/boats come back out. rotin

Definitely makes me happy that mine never had a vinyl top. I would remove it entirely and not 2 tone it, but that is just me. I see it has the rear window blower, does the switch work? The switch alone would probably bring your price on flee bay. I am surprised that someone hasn't formulated a simulated vinyl top textured paint. Seems it would be a great way for the factories to charge for a vinyl top but only invest pennies. rotin

Mine went right on no problems. I do think I used the original bolt though. You will be amazed at how much better the steering feels in your car. Next thing you will want to do something about the steering geometry, the upgrade that I did is also light years ahead of the original set up. I need to figure out a cheap way of adapting my 1Le rotors to my new spindles. I used to have "B" body Cadillac spindle that have integral caliper brackets for the bigger brakes the AFX spindles use the bolt on bracket and I haven't found anyone making a bigger brake bracket for the standard type caliper. When it stops being winter here (got a foot of snow last night) I hope to do the same to the rear end, but other than age the stock geometry isn't terrible, except mine has the air ride (SS car) so a decision has to be made about the rear shocks. I will probably go with a disc conversion in the rear while I am at it. rotin

Good luck with the sleuthing. Dieseling and continuing to run are two different things, after reading these post not sure which is the problem anymore. Anyway electrical issue can cause you to pull your hair out. Regarding the electrical diagrams use a highlighter to highlight the circuit that you are working on. GM service school used to give out really neat wiring booklets that showed individual circuits in color. Unfortunately I worked at a Cadillac dealer so can only help with your Deville. As the other rob said the key buzzer is supposed to annoy you anytime the key is all the way in the key switch. On a 70 it is part of the horn relay not sure on a 72 but if not there it is under the dash somewhere, just follow the noise. I've repaired/restored a few (don't ask me why but the judges like to see that stuff work). A factory clock doesn't really pull any power from the battery. It has an ingenious mechanism that rewinds the clock spring about every 45 seconds or so (the same judges listen for this by the way), can't take more than a few milliamps for a few milliseconds. The battery loses more charge across the terminals due to humidity than to the clock. Healthy sparks indicate something else wrong, I use an inductive DC ammeter to find latent amp draws. There are also short finders that can help find shorts. Just because the door jam switches turn on and off the dome lights doesn't mean that something else isn't trying to use that circuit for a ground path. That's why I asked if the dash lights (didn't make the clear before) went off when you close the door. rotin

This will be tough to diagnose from afar. A pinched wire usually makes itself easily found, just follow the smoke, but not always. Anything else work when the key is off that shouldn't? The wiring on these cars is interconnected in such a way that something that you would think is unrelated can cause electrical gremlins. The door is open when the lights are on, do they go off with the door closed? Thinking it might be a ground or a fuse issue, power back feeding into an unrelated circuit, but the lights look to be too bright for that. I have some ground issues with my car but the lights are much dimmer and my car is a gauge car so the gauges do some strange things. Too cold here to do anything about that. Time for a wiring diagram and a test light and some poking around for stray power, a multi meter comes in handy also to check for voltage drop. I would start with anything that you unhooked when changing the starter and work from there. rotin

Did you replace with a standard GM starter or a mini-starter? Also do you have an electric fan on the radiator? rotin

What's the gap/offset like at the front of the rocker panel? Might be able to move the door and still make the front work. If not I recommend adding to the door much easier than adding to the door jam. rotin

Are these for the front on a stereo dash? Hard to fit a modern speaker into that spot. Did you consider using Turnswitch.com replacement speakers? $90 a pair and they fit in the dash using the original brackets. If you are using an original radio they come in 10 ohms so you won't fry the transistor in the amplifier. They will also work for aftermarket radios with slightly reduced volume. They will sound better than re-coned speakers any day. rotin