overdrive

I've seen a couple of unrestored '70 SS454s that had color matched columns and steering wheels. Not all of them were black from the factory. It's possible that yours hasn't been changed. Dan

Good job of getting her in the game again. It'll make a great car Have fun! Dan

Thank you. Those big shows are in the Midwest, but not real close by. The one in Kansas was about 5 hrs away. We're going to the Street Machine Nationals in Du Quoin, Illinois in 2 weeks. That'll be a huge show. I went years ago, but this will be the first time with a car. Dan

I haven't seen many SS auction prices, but I thought this one did better than it would. Maybe I should reconsider the insurance agreed value on my car. Dan

Yes, he bought it last year, he told me. The new owner was getting the original dash to put back in. The glue in the sail panel covers had let go and they needed redone. The mudflaps would come off in about 10 minutes. Dan

There was a very nicely restored, matching numbers, triple black '71 SS454 that sold at a local classic car auction yesterday. I looked it over pretty good. The seller had it for 1 year. He bought it at Mecum Kissimmee and paid $34k plus premium. He had changed a few things to his liking. Changed the entire dash out because he didn't like the woodgrain. It had a new dash with chrome where silver would be, and in other places. It had a few things that needed attention/ repaired, but overall a great car. Power bench seat, windows, locks, tilt, non-working load leveling. It had 9k miles since being restored. I gave the new Iowa owner ( Dave) a card with this club information. Dan

The owner called me last fall and bought some load leveling system parts. His builder did an excellent job and has alot of great photos on his website. The builder called with some questions of how to get the leveling system working. Both seemed to be great guys. Gorgeous car! Thanks for the pics. Dan

The latest change to the car is a detent plate I made for the horseshoe shifter. I call it a True Slap detent plate because it allows the original shifter to be slap shifted from 1st to 2nd, and again from 2nd to 3rd. Shiftworks makes one that they call a slap shifter detent plate, but you actually have to squeeze and hold the shifter handle when you push the handle forward for a positve 1st - 2nd upshift. That's not slap shifting. I've gotten patent pending rights on my idea and will be selling them very soon. It made my car even more fun to drive. I also have designs for the overdrive transmissions. There are videos to show how they work that can be found on YouTube by searching the words True Slap detent. My new company name for my parts is DPJ Fabricating, LLC. Dan

Update: My first mass run of the TS3 plates are scheduled for production in 4 days. I only had to make a small change after getting the first proof sample cut. The laser cutting process is very accurate and the first part that was made matched my drawing very well. I'll be getting a proof sample of each of the other part numbers at the same time, and I'll test them before ordering more of those. My new company name is DPJ Fabricating, LLC and the part number and company name will be laser etched on the parts. The email address is dpjfabts3@gmail.com. I still need to check into getting a website for the company. I'll post a new thread when the plates are available. Thanks for the interest and support. Dan

My '70 SS did not have the metal disc on the brake pad when I bought it. It was unrestored, and from the Van Nuys plant. Dan

Thanks! I've ordered the first one to be laser cut. I should have it in a couple weeks or less, I think. I'll test it and go from there. I don't know how close it'll be to a working part, until I get one. If needed, I'll have them change the computer file to loosen or tighten the clearances until it is right. Dan

This is the first video (TS3) that I posted earlier. It wouldn't play for some of us, before. Dan

I made a True Slap TS4 plate for an overdrive transmission and a friend with a Chevelle let me use his car and stock looking (but not stock) detent plate to get the measurements for the location of the detents. A man in Miami called me today with a great question. He said he's been on the freeway a few times when he had someone pull up beside him and want to race. He asked if my TS4 plate will let him make a positive downshift from OD to 3rd. That wasn't the intent of my original design, but it just so happens that with the design of the the stop I already have, it'll work great that way. He said he wants to be able to jerk the shifter out of OD and into 3rd, without slipping into 2nd, or even 1st, when he gets a challenge on the freeway. It'll work great in that way, with only a slight change to the plate and I made that change today. I've made some YouTube videos. If interested, search for DPJ Fabricating. Dan

Welcome, and you have a nice car. Make it nicer and enjoy it. We'll be here with any help we can donate. Dan

Were the PA3 wheel covers not the ones with paint matching the body color? I have a set that match my car that I got with a parts car years ago, before I bought the SS. Dan

For anyone that is replacing their windshield, I ordered 4 before I got one that worked in my '70. It was a year and a half ago, so hopefully the problem is solved. The glass itself was fine, but the connector for the antenna was not. The first one was installed by a friend of mine that does glass for a living, and I. The only windshields these days are made in China and Mexico, I was told by suppliers. The first windshield was in and my friend tried to connect the antenna wire. It wouldn't connect. The original ends are rubber covered to protect the connection from water. The new one was hard plastic and too small. Auto City Classic sells alot of these windshields, so I ordered one from them. I explained the issue on the phone and was told that they sell these every week and have had zero issues with the connectors. They shipped one without checking it. It had the same junk connector. They refunded my money. I tried another local supplier that had a different brand. Same problem. Tried another local supplier and finally found one with the correct rubber connector. Make sure to ask your supplier to check for the rubber connector as soon as they get it. If their windshield has the plastic one, it won't fit, unless they've corrected the size. Even then, it won't seal the water out of the connection without some silicone caulk. The rubber connector is best. It took about 20 phone calls and 5 weeks to get my windshield installed. Dan

Looking great, Willie! Beautiful work! Dan

Maybe you can try yours and do a video that we can watch. Lol I don't know why it won't work. Dan

Good deal. Thanks for letting me know. I still can't view it, but don't need to. Dan

Tried to load a video, but it won't play. Dan 20190315_195829.mp4

Excellent job! 🙂 You might want to go ahead and knock that rivet out of the detent plate. I have your replacement ready to go. Dan

Thanks guys. Tom, your plate will ship out tomorrow. Thank you! imr, I'm considering a die to press them out, but I haven't had time to get prices from anyone. Rob, I'm not getting my hopes up much on becoming a millionaire. As you know, these plates only fit a very small percentage of collector cars, and many that had these shifters have switched to aftermarket shifters, or 4 speed manual transmissions. dblsprt68, thanks for the reply. I bought a reproduction shifter and it's slightly different from the original, even though it's suppose to be the same. The pivot point of the shifter handle on the reproduction shifter is slightly forward of the original pivot point. Thanks to Joe Holman for loaning me an original shifter for my testing. I've been able to make the plates work with both shifters. For those replying to this, please tell me which transmission you have and if you have an original horseshoe shifter, or one of the reproduction ones. Dan

Great job on the repairs! Looking good. Dan

I've recently gotten patent pending status (a first for me) for a new automatic slap shifter detent plate design for our original horseshoe shifters. I'd like to find out if anyone is interested in them before I talk to a local company that will lazer cut them for me. I have a few to sell now, that I've made by hand. I was making one that allows the user to just slap the shifter for a positive 1-2 shift, and then squeeze the handle and shove forward for a positive 2-3 shift. It's different than other aftermarket plates. Most recently, I was able to design another detent plate that lets you simply slap the handle for both positive upshifts, without having to squeeze the handle at all. I'm calling this one the True Slap Detent Plate, unless someone can suggest a better name, since no squeezing is needed for either shift, and you have no worries about going into neutral or reverse with the original style valve body and shift patterns. I have a design for the original 3 speed automatics (TH350s and 400s), the overdrives, and also the 3 speeds and overdrives with reverse manual valve bodies. I've shifted about 250 times now with my TH400 in my car and it hasn't missed 1 shift. Due to the bad weather, my car hasn't been out since last October, so up until Sunday all testing was with the car in the garage. I was finally able to get it out and drive it Sunday a little. I shifted it about 10 times and loved the way it works. Please let me know if you may be interested. I'm not asking for commitments. I just need an idea how this will go. I'll also soon be asking on other forums and on Facebook. There are detent plates available from Shiftworks that are designed by the owner of Thomson Performance, but all of them require squeezing the handle for one of the upshifts. They sell for roughly $85 to $100, plus shipping. My True Slap detent plates will be priced competitively, but I won't know for sure how much until I find out manufacturing costs. I'll see about posting a video soon. Thanks! Dan

For 1970, the SS454s were the only ones that had black steering columns, no matter what color the interior was, but we've found out recently that that was done 100% of the time. Dan