iceman

I had a guy two years ago at a cruise insist that he had a 17K mile original SS454 LS6 4-speed Monte. His mother was the original owner. I must have been in a mood that night because I told him that I had a pink elephant in my back yard. When he looked at me I gave him the standard line about no documented examples have ever turned up. He said that he'd bring the car to the cruises with the documentation. Guess what ... no car has turned up! Big surprise. Gotta love those who profess to know everything. If I knew everything I'd run for GOD! The last time I checked ... it wasn't an elected position!

You can get correct metal clips from Performance Years Pontiac. The clips were the same as 64-67 GTO.

If you are careful, you do not have to remove the sail panels (ear muff boards). I just replaced the tray in my SS this winter and did not remove them. You just have to be careful on how you slide the package tray tabs behind the panels. You may want to have some small pieces of foam to use as shims under the package tray to make sure that it stays level over time.

There's a guy that sets up at Carlisle in the Spring I think that sells NOS power beam headlights for $50 each. I know that he is in P row by the fence, opposite end from the Turnpike. Most of the lights he has are the heavy duty bulbs (6014 I think) rather than the 6016 which were factory (I may have those numbers reversed ... I have to check my inventory).

Thanks Larry ... I knew that I saw those somewhere. Now ... the air is escaping from the what I think is the regulator valve at the top of the second print. There is a schraader valve at the bottom of the regulator and a small hole above it on the side of the service vavle. I don't have the cover that fits over the regulator. In the assembly manual, it appears that this is just a rubber cover that snaps over the lip on the regulator. I can't imagine that that would hold 140 psi. Thanks for the help. Larry\'s prints

Does anyone have their Level Control functioning? I'm trying to sort out my compressor and need some help. I'm trying to fill the compressor so that I can get air to the shocks. It looks like there is a hole in the regulator that won't allow the system to be charged from an off-line source such as an air compressor. I can't make heads or tails from the assembly manual (and I'm an engineer). Maybe it's because I don't have pictures of the special tools that GM says are required. Any troubleshooting information or ways to charge the system using an air compressor would be appreciated. Iceman (SS with a sagging ***)

I have my system up and working with a set of Gabriel High Jackers that I repainted in Dove Gray to look correct. If I can find a set of correct shocks they would be on the car. I've looked for 2 years and haven't found a set yet. The only thing that I need to do is follow the ride height adjustment procedure in the chassis manual. It seems to me that the rear is sitting a little low after I had it out for a rebuild. The ride seems fine for the few (3) times that I've had it out for troubleshooting. When you put your system together, watch out for the threads on the fittings. They are some kind of custom pitch, not pipe thread or any standard thread that I can remember. You can still get the correct compression fittings from GM.

It's difficult to comment on the performance because I changed so many other things when I rebuilt the motor (BAD BBC Crate motor).

There is a pic of my hood in the 2004 meet photos. It sounds like Paul and I did things the same way. I started with an NOS Chevelle hood purchased about 100 feet East of the Club tent at the 2005 meet!

You don't necessarily need to look for a CRN coded block. All you need to find is a block with a 3963512 casting number and a casting date of about 2-3 months prior to the build date of your car (easier said than done). You can then restamp the block with your VIN number and the engine number from the Protect-O-Plate. Expect to pay a premium for the block with the correct date code because the blocks are sought after by Chevelle and Corvette restorers (and we all know how deep LS6 Chevelle owner's pockets are). Also figure that they made 3823 Monte Carlo SS454 cars, about 9000 Chevelle SS454 cars (combining LS-5 and LS-6 production) and maybe 5000 454 Corvettes (estimated ... I haven't researched that number) during the 1970 model year. Divide that production by 12 and you are talking about approximately 1500 engine blocks made during the correct date period. Now you need to find cylinder heads, intake, exhaust manifolds, carburator, etc. all with correct date codes to create a correct engine. You could easily spend $10K in this venture. Now that I've divulged this information, SGT Ed of the SS454 police can arrest me for providing information on the cloning of an original SS car in such a way that it would be very difficult to tell that the car is not correct

My SS has one hose that has GM printed on it and one plain hose. I know that the GM hose is definitely original to the car. The clamps should be the Wittek "tower" style clamps.

The SS was built in May of 70 so the early car theory is out. Does anyone else have their POP and does it call out the power disc brake code? Ed, pics are coming as soon as I can get my PC to communicate with my camera. Darn technology ------------------ If you get out of your car without needing to change your pants, you weren't driving fast enough. 70 SS454 clone - Cortez Silver with functional cowl induction 70 SS454 Shadow Gray

Has anyone seen an SS454 with manual drum brakes? I was decoding my POP tonight but the disc brake code isn't there. I can't imagine trying to stop this car with manual drum brakes! ------------------ If you get out of your car without needing to change your pants, you weren't driving fast enough. 70 SS454 clone - Cortez Silver with functional cowl induction 70 SS454 Shadow Gray

The head lights should be power beam models. The 2 headlight system using T3 lights was discontinued in 1969 I think. As far as I know, the jack should have a plastic cover. ------------------ If you get out of your car without needing to change your pants, you weren't driving fast enough. 70 SS454 clone - Cortez Silver with functional cowl induction 70 SS454 Shadow Gray [This message has been edited by iceman (edited 09-19-2003).]

The squares should be silver but the wide groove around the squares should be black. ------------------ If you get out of your car without needing to change your pants, you weren't driving fast enough. 70 SS454 clone - Cortez Silver with functional cowl induction 70 SS454 Shadow Gray

Are the intake bolts supposed to be painted orange like the intake or left alone? I'm trying to get my SS back together in stock trim and just wondered if I should paint the bolts. Also, what about the dipstick tube ... orange or black? Thanks for the help. ------------------ If you get out of your car without needing to change your pants, you weren't driving fast enough.

Although there is no functional difference, the front lower control arms are different on SS and possibly all BB cars. The bushings are round on BB cars and oval on SB cars. ------------------ If you get out of your car without needing to change your pants, you weren't driving fast enough.

I run a Holley box with my factory tach and had no problems. I ran a brown wire to the tach lead in the harness. No adaptors. I verified the tach reading with a strobe tach and it is accurate. ------------------ If you get out of your car without needing to change your pants, you weren't driving fast enough.

Mark, I just replaced my chrome pieces before Commerce. I reused the original clips. Fortunately, the 3 clips on the drivers side were split on one side. I assume that they were broken because the passenger side clips were not split. If you are careful with a screwdriver you can carefully work the plastic tabs on the chrome out of the clips. When installing the new chrome, slightly bend the teeth of the clip towards the visible side of the door panel. This will allow the clip to bite into the chrome and hold it in place. Make sure that the holes for the arm rest base are lined up with the holes in the door or else the arm rest bases are a pain to reinstall. ------------------

I am running a Holley Red pump. It sounds like a new car with an in-tank pump. I can't hear it when the car is running though. The best thing about the electric pumps is the ease of tuning the carb. If you wire the pump so that you can turn the pump off without turning the engine off. This way, you can run the carb mostly out of gas. This is also great for winter storage as the gas won't sit in the carb and wear out the gaskets.

Chris, Good luck finding them. If you have your old ones, there is a company called Restoration Specialites in Windber Pa that can repop them for you if you have a pattern or a worn orginal to duplicate.

Dave - The fan shroud is in 2 pieces. The piece towards the engine is the same for BB and SB. The part that attaches to the radiator is different. Chicago muscle sells repop BB shrouds but I think that you only get the radiator piece and you must salvage the other piece. The 2 pieces are held to gether by staples so it they aren't hard to separate.

I used Heddman shortys on my BB. They fit well. I just got new ones to get rid of the AIR tubes and sent them to Jet-Hot. I have never heard of any problems with their coatings unless the headers that were sent were rusted to start with. I would stay away from full length headers to keep your ground clearance. When I had the SB in the car I would drag over speed bumps with the full length headers. My shortys don't even come close to touching even with the front end sitting a little lower than stock. [This message has been edited by iceman (edited 06-13-2001).]

I don't believe that adjusting the idle screws will help the hesitation. They only control the idle air/fuel mixture. I had this problem on a Holley and increased the jet size to correct it. I believe that Q-Jets us metering rods although I haven't had one apart. Try adjusting the metering rods to richen it up. Be sure to drive it for a while after making the first adjustment, not just around the block. After driving, let the engine cool and read the plugs. If the plugs are OK now, keep going on the accelerator pump. Most of all, be patient and record all of your adjustments. It is very easy to get lost if you make too many adjustments and don't keep track of them. It realistically could take quite a while to get the car running the way you want it to.

Thanks for the info. I am not running a really big cam. The intake profile is 226° at .050 and 0.540 lift. The exhaust is 234° at .050 and 0.564 lift. The lobe are on a 107° center line. The cam is installed 3° advanced. Nothing radical, just a little more than stock. I rebuilt the engine this winter and changed the cam but the only difference is a slight increase in exhaust lift and duration. With the old cam I had 14 in. of vacuum at idle and about 24 in. at cruise speed. I did talk to TCI and they believe that the diaphragm in the valve could have dry rotted from sitting over the winter. I have never heard of anyone replacing these valves as a preventative maintence measure. Thanks for the tip on the adjustable valve. I'll have to look into this.