Hmmm...no comments on the accident. Guess it happened to a lot of the cars from back then and many were worse than this so maybe that's why nobody said anything. Was going back through some pics and found a pic that shows the difference in the shading I was talking about. I don't know but possibly a good body guy could buff it an make it look even closer. It doesn't look bad, but it is noticeable. Not gonna matter at all if the future owner decides to repaint. Picture:

 

If someone was wanting a driver and drive it as is, In my opinion it could be buffed to match much closer. I am not a paint and body guy but I think it would be worth the investment to have a paint guy look at it before you sell it. See if he could make it match a little closer. I wish it would have worked out for my body guy to stop by when I had it here. I would just be happy driving it as it is. You sure you don't want to trade up to a restored one?

 

Thanks. Yes, I just don't know who is the expert paint and body guy around here, so it is hard to trust something like this with just anyone as you know.

Digging the swimming pool out now. We can work out that trade.

Take a look at this work....I just put about an hour into getting the paint off:

 

Your red inner fenders are very nice ones with great color still. I remember that core support also. That one and the one on my W-30 are the two best ones I have seen in years.

 

Thanks. I won't have as much time in removing this paint as you do restoring a pair, but it might be close. I'm just carefully scraping it away. No chemicals. Another 1.5 hours gets me this:

 

Lots of progress now. Got smart and changed my method. Steamer at a distance and still the plastic scraper. Pic:

 

Looks great! The spot drilled for the header tube can be fixed without to much trouble. With as nice as the color is on them it would be for sure worth fixing and not replacing, even for a high end restoration.

 

This job is not fun at all. Good thing I'm done...with this side. Still need some final cleanup in a few more spots and shined up...but it really surprised me how it turned out.

The main reason why I even started this project was that I wanted to have the red showing when I get the car listed. Some people would assume that the car wasn't a "real W-30" because of the black paint. Not that I won't have plenty of other W-30 items to back it up, along with the broadcast card, but still...people think W-30 and they think those red inner fenders.

Speaking of the black paint, I'm not sure what this is, but it is obviously the toughest paint he could get. Which makes sense because you wouldn't want the tire throwing debris up and chipping away your paint job right away. But something tells me that whatever he used might have been an industrial paint. It is taking way too long to do this. Probably 8 hours in it so far.

Yes, that drilling into the fender...well I happen to know just the specialist I can refer the future buyer to.

Today's pics:

 

Passenger side today. Another 8 hours with a 10 min lunch. That's hard work. Not the final cleanup, but this side went about how I thought it would. Filled my garage with some A/C and some 80's metal to help the job go faster.

 

That is a lot of work....came out great...

 

Thanks Sammy. I got lucky every once in a while and had about a square inch of material that would just peel off. HAHA!

 

I feel your pain, lol. Looks good though.

 

Starting under the hood...I see red! And pass side for comparison:

 

Look outstanding!!!

 

Thanks Eric, not close to done as you know...but I was surprised how these pop the way they do.

Finally got that pic of the VIN derivative on the block...removed the part you suggested and got the pic in a few minutes. First part is still a little faint, but I think that with all the background on the car I have, it should be no issue. Pic:

 

Got one additional picture but the 7 was cut off. Shows the 30M a little better:

 

And the pass side...still need to hit the small stuff. I don't plan on cleaning the firewall. Unless someone speaks up and says I should. But even then nothing besides a rag and some water. Gimme your thoughts. Pics:

 

I have a few super secret projects going on with the car and I want to surprise everyone when I post the car to eBay. It is going to be hard not to mention what they are. But I'm sure everyone will like them.

When cleaning up some today, I saw an interesting residue mark on the radiator cap, which is probably where that little label went that I see on the restored cars. I'm headed out to try to get a pic of it.

 

Oooooo, NOS residue. The sale price just doubled!

 

your a good salesman

 

HAHA!!! Well it was just interesting for me to see it...in the world of those assembly line labels/stickers I know it is minutia, but I liked seeing it. Does that mean I have a sickness???

I also ordered a few other stickers from OPGI. I don't plan on adhering them to the car now because they would look a little out of place until a full restore, but for a few bucks it was nice to see where they went, crooked and all. The one for the air cleaner I didn't take a pic of.

 

Thanks! I've sold many things in life, but this is by far my most important. And actually I barely consider it mine....

However, I would like to let everyone know that I personally won't be doing the 4 speed on the car. I'll let that up to the new owner. So scratch that one off the list of surprises.

 

I took a picture of that cap also. I noticed that the first night you had it here. Those caps sell for a bundle now days.

 

The W-30 that I've read was written on the inner fenders, if it was there...it would be up in the spot I can't see right? Do you think I would be able to see it with that inspection camera?

 

It is possible you could see it with the inspection camera. Look from the open door jamb area or from under the hood between the cowl and inner fender. Mine was found below the 442 W-30 emblems on both sides. The easiest way is to take the back of the inner fender loose but I highly advise not to. With not having experience with them it is very easy to damage the fender to inner fender holes if the bolts are stuck at all.

 

Nice work on inner fenders. Surprised your selling.

 

I can see where you mean, but unfortunately there is a light coat of dust in there. I could only check the driver's side as the pass side is pinned in with the other car. Will check soon. Also I thought there was W-30 markings on the plastic somewhere too? I know I saw a pic of that somewhere but am unsure where or if it was even legit.

 

Thanks. Yes, lots of work. I wanted to get it done mostly because that's how people recognize these cars, but also in the case if a future owner was of the age they were driving these cars back then. Removing that paint would be a project they definitely wouldn't want to tackle. I know I lost at least 5 lbs of sweat because of it.

 

Does anyone want to comment on that emissions label? The Assembly Manual (section 0, page 108) says that a TS-code engine (W-30 with manual trans) is supposed to have an "SP" emissions label. Anyone have a picture of an original they can share?

 

I hope someone does have an original to share. OPGI showed this as the correct 4 speed label, so if I got the wrong one than a lot of other people did too. Thanks for asking and maybe we can get this figured out.

 

In other news, I let curiosity get the best of me and started on this tonight...Eric, I bet you didn't see this, because it was under layers of greasy grime and apparently more black paint. Or maybe that is caramelized grime...no chemicals used on this to prevent additional fade, just gently used my plastic scraper and I'm still working at it. Pictures:

 

Ok, I took the emissions label out of the package here it is: The W-30 script is different than what Fusick shows and also the label has more blank space at the bottom. Also when I lay it on the car where the original was, there it lines up perfect from top to bottom, but has about a half centimeter of residue still to cover from left to right.

 

I should note these are official GM repro labels according to the paper on the back...whatever that means. Because on the air cleaner label, here is a huge size difference, just a little in height but a lot in width and font size.

 

"official GM repro" Only means that GM give them approval to make and sell them. It only means it will work in place of the original, not that it is the same. The emission decals are very different between the repop places. I do like that one for the plug gap. The originals I have seen had the .030 in black and most repops have red .030

 

Hop this helps . I'm sure there's other's out there in better condition .

 

That does help, mobileW-30! Thanks! I wonder what is up with the one I ordered. Like I said, I wasn't going to put it on the car now anyway, just give it to the soon-to-be new owner...but still I don't want to do that if it is wrong.

Could it be that there were different labels for the cars with AC? Or the California Emissions cars?

 

Great pics and info. Such a Kool W-30.

Many on the early blocks had the curved three used on the VIN derivative which later had a straight / flat top, most of the time. Your engine block should have the non-serif "F" cast into the front it.

As far as crayon markings; I have also seen W-30 markings on the inside of the front of the fender, usually just one fender and usually the drivers fender.

Here is an original 4 speed emissions label.

 

Get used to it. Most reproduction parts differ from the originals in at least some small manner. And stickers and labels are notorious for being wrong. Let's put it this way: the less it costs to reproduce a part, the more likely that some schmuck will do it wrong. Labels are easy.

A W-30 with A/C most certainly does get a different emissions label, as it would have the TT engine, with an automatic transmission behind it. I don't think that a California car would matter; the Assembly Manual doesn't make any mention of that as far as this label is concerned -- only the engine code matters.

I will say that page 108 does show a blank line with rev letter K next to it. Rev K was implemented on 3-2-70 and consisted of "408830 Removed." So it's possible that was label OP. Also, since there were so many revisions to this page, with Rev K they deleted Revs A - J. It's easily possible that label OP did exist and was used on the early TS engines. I'll see if I have an earlier copy of this page.

 

Thanks Stefano, that means a lot coming from someone who lives and breathes these cars. Yes, it has the F style you speak of. I didn't find any markings on that fender, but I'm not real great at using that inspection camera. However, tonight I did find this cool number on the firewall when I was gently cleaning it with a rag and water. Looks like "73."

 

That 73 you found on the firewall signifies paint code 73, which is Rally Red. Kool find.