RARE MC

I was told they just wouldn't put skirts on a SS454. Something kind of wrong about that. Makes sense doesn't it?

I mounted a switch on the shifter with a couple of drilled and tapped holes. It activates on the bar that the shift lock handle controls. Squeeze the shifter and I get direct drive, let go and it's over drive.

Abandoned the 9" idea. I don't think my sway bar will fit. It is a 1-3/8 dia. bar from H-O specialties. Going to put Strange 3.91 on the series 3 carrier. Getting the gears and install parts from Tom's Differentials in Idaho. Tom built my 12 bolt about 20 years ago.

I'd check/replace the modulator. A blown diaphragm can have similar symptoms.

Cross member is done. Had to cut it almost all the way through. Boxed and gusseted the other side to hold the load. Now I'm looking to put lower gears and a 9" behind it. Thinking of ~3.90 with 275/60 R15 MT ET Drag Radials. I had offset all figured out with the 12 bolt, but now can do whatever I want with the Ford. Maybe go with Corvette "AZ" wheels?

Keep in mind too that if your cruising RPM is less than your stall, you affect gas milage.

CROSS MEMBER NEEDS TO BE NOTCHED FOR T400/454 No where did I read that I was going to have to modify my cross member (again). However, when it didn't fit, I was able to find both good a scary photos on the internet. The scary one left a toothpick between the two halves and welded plates on the faces of the cuts. Another was from Racetech that added material to the front and notched the rear. I'm going to do something like that except better. I think if I'd known, this may have been a deal killer and I'd go with the 4L80. Fortunately, my fabricator buddy Gregg Peterson (with Rob Markworth & Jimmy Shine) who boxed the frame and did the cross member 25 years ago is still available.

All you need to get the calipers off (once the tires are off) is a 3/8 "L" key (Allen wrench)and a short pipe for a cheater bar or preferably a breaker bar and 3/8 hex drive socket. Best solution with the calipers is send your originals to Stainless Steel Brakes and have them rebuild them. Do not let the calipers hang by the hoses. If you are going to replace the hoses, take them off now or put a small piece of vinyl tubing on the bleeder valve and route that into a can. Take off the outer pad only and retract the piston with a 6" C-clamp. Check the condition and color of the brake fluid. It is likely rusty and not something you want to send back up to the reservoir. Bearings should be OK, but check for noise in the bearings by rotating the rotors after you get the calipers off. You should be able to hear or feel if the bearings are corroded. Remove the middle cap with a screwdriver. Straighten cotter pin with needle nose pliers or vise grips. Remove cotter pin. Remove nut. Wipe out grease with paper towells. Measure thickness of rotors with micrometer, caliper or take to your NAPA shop for measurement and bearing inspection. They can install new bearings and turn the rotors if they are not to thin. With 70K miles, they should have plenty of material on them. You will need new rotor seals also. You'll see these on the back side of the rotors. I've been getting most of my genuine parts on eBay. NAPA or Chevrolet Parts is good too. The best part of doing this work yourself is you can clean all sorts of things in there while you are at it. Speaking of all sorts of things, check the rubber bushings on the A-arms. If they are bad, they will look off center or show signs of metal to metal contact. Also check for play in the middle steering link call the "drag link." Have someone hold the other axle or rotor and see if there is left to right play in the steering. Grease the upper ball joint while it is accessible too. Have fun and I hope you stay cancer free for many years to come.

I had mine powder coated. Trapped sand somehow got loose in the process and I had to rub out the whole frame to get it to look decent. I am using a Deft 2 part polyurethane for semi-gloss black now, but paint chages every year in California.

I'm with MG. Stay with the 2.73's. I had 2.56's and went to 3.31 and can't stand them. I am spoiled by my OD cars. Installing a GV overdrive now. Not sure what new gears I'm going to need to go to, if any.

My 1970 SS is also a Van Nuys Car, slao built in 1969 has the California Emissions Option NA9. This includes addition of a charcoal canister, fuel tank vent lines and a different carb whose float bowls vent to the charcoal canister also. Assembly manual shows details. It doesn't matter that the car was built in California, it is where it was sold that would most likely dictate the requirement for NA9. This would be shown on the build sheet. I made my car into a LS6 and this option was tricky to do correct.

Paint may not suitably match your chrome. You can fix chrome scratches with a self adhesive metal foil commonly used in model making. I considered a reproduction dash, but it had that "painted silver look." The metal wood grain is glued to the 1970 dash and it can not be removed. So, having the dash rechromed was out. Here's the foil. Use the #001. The #004 is too thin to work with. http://www.bare-metal.com/bare-metal-foil.html It is highly polished aluminum foil with pressure senitive adhesive on the back side. It may sound horrible, but it isn't that bad taking the dash out of the Monte. After I did mine, I was able to get another out of a junk yard car within an hour. I took off everything off the inside of the dash that would come off. I think there was at least one bracket remaining. I very carefully masked where I didn't want to paint using regular 3M blue tape. I painted several black coats with Krylon semi-gloss black plastic paint #2421: http://www.amazon.com/Krylon-2421-Fusion-Spray-Paint/dp/B000C0158E I then set it on the dining room table for a project that lasted at least 6-months. I borrowed a 6X binocular microscope that made seeing what I doing possible. If you are used to working by the braile method, this isn't your job. It is much more visual than tactile. You might be able to use a ring light magnifier. I could only work on it for a short while until the eyeballs decided I'd be better off with a margarita. I used an Exacto knife and burnishing tools such as a ball on a stick and an angled chop stick. I cut strips on the BARE-METAL sheet then peel them up holding one end with the exacto knife. Cutting then to size was more time consuming than cutting them wide and then triming to size. I'd put on wide strips and then very carefully cut them after they were in place and burnished to the dash plastic. On the small curved items like the turn indicator lights, I cut curved strips. The three large gauge holes could be done with straighter strips. If the foil has a wrinkle, it will tear there very easily. Sometimes it is broken in many places when you buy it. I got foil from the manufacturer and from model shops. Don't buy horribly wrinkled foil. You should also have an Arkansas hard stone to resharpen the Exacto. It has to be very sharp to cut and not bunch up the foil. It's easier to make straight cuts with a slighty rounded tip compared to the #11 Exacto sharp point. The keys to doing this successfully is 1) a lot of patience and 2) some way to magnify the work. The results are stunning.

Al, You need to get an assembly manual. The diagrams Darren posted are from the manual. http://www.amazon.com/CHEVROLET-CHEVELLE-CAMINO-Assembly-Manual/dp/B0007IN9U8 It takes awhile to figure out how to read it, but it gives you part numbers, descriptions of everything and shows where almost everything goes. Every option on your build sheet is in this book. Due to a small 25 year lag between taking my car apart and putting it back together, I'd have been in big trouple without this book. 3-hole punch it and put it in a 3 ring binder.

The instructions say to measure your shaft angles before removal. I didn't do that and don't want to reinstall the engine to do it either. Instructions say angles have to be greater than 0.5 degrees and less than 3 degrees. Has anyone had vibration problems?

Will the control box fit in the console?

My GV is on the way. Found one NIB $1,825. I'll need to change speedo gears. Jeff at GV will give me the GM part #'s.

Here's a photo: http://www.firstgenmc.com/ubbthreads/ubb...amp;#Post192935

I was able to stop into Gear Vendors in El Cajon this morning. Talked with Curt about switch options. There is a very nicely made hand button and a very stout floor button that looks like a dimmer switch. The floor button is my first choice. They have a unit installed on a TH400 in the showroom. I took a picture of it, but not sure if it came out OK. Curt showed me the two high spots on the unit that will likely interfere. A ball peen should do the trick. At first I didn't think I could take a hammer to MC, but I can see the tach and gas gauge way better than something that far under the car.

Will a Gear Vendors overdrive fit in the MC's tunnel? I am running a 454 with a TH400.

I am ready to do something. Not happy with 4,000 rpm at 85 mph. LS-6 454, stock cam, 3.31, 275/60/15, TH400. I'm thinking GV or 4L85-E. I'd hate to have to pound my floor. But I can't see that nearly as much as I do the inverse relationship between my tach and gas gauge.

My 70SS had 2.56, but I changed it to 3.31 using a correct stamped rear end from a 70 396SS El Camino.

Does not finish as easy as bondo, but try AllMetal.

Dan, My car was Sept. '69 Van Nuys and had power beams. I bought a pair of T3's a long time ago for the look, and like you, I'll wait for the Power Beams, but at least have something cool for now. Tom

First unhook the upper vent cable. Angle the kickpanel toward the middle of the car. You can get the rear to come out of the vent hole then get the rest out. Nice conversation with myself here.

The lower vent butterfly valve is on pins. The upper one is spring loaded. If you pull down on that pin, the butterfly comes out and things get a lot looser. It might come out at this point if you know where to bend the plastic, but I needed a 9/32 wrench to loosed one more screw top forward on the passenger side.