Eric, lacquer is shippable and Ebay is loaded with it. I got this Artic White stuff for 70 bucks a gallon!

 

I know I need to get some pictures, hopefully soon! Fenders are done as far as color and set aside. I finally got the heads done and hope to bolt them on this weekend. I paid 480.00 for 8 new exhaust valves, guide knurling, hot tank/glass beading, new core plugs intake valve refacing, seats ground and cleanup mill on exhaust side. I already had the heads disassembled and will assemble as well. Once the engine is together I will install and bolt up trans and exhaust. That will be progress. I am also working on the body and may need to do a patch panel on the lower driver's quarter. It has been patched twice and I removed tons of bondo and once again the body lines are lost there... Once the patch panel arrives for the rear lower quarter I will see what needs to be done there.

 

Had some time today to take a few pictures. Am putting the top end of the engine together and starting on some bondo on the quarters. Still need to see wht the patch panel looks like so i can decide what to do with the drivers side lower rear quarter...

 

A few more pictures.

 

Looks great Joe! I can't wait to see the final product.

 

interesting patch work on the quarter
car is really coming along nice Joe

 

Thanks guys for the encouragement, yeah that quarter has been patched in sections, too bad the body lines have been lost. I am hoping to set the engine in place tomorrow.

 

The engine is in place and now things are moving well with mechanicals. I had a small setback when I started to bolt up the trans after the engine was in place. I realized I forgot to mount the flexplate on back of the engine...duh! All is well now. I borrowed a Harbor Freight trolly screw jack which made the Turbo 400 install an ease.

 

Got a couple of pictures, engine is sitting in place and most everything is bolted up. It takes time attching cables, wires, hoses, grounds and the like. I had the radiator checked and they did find a weak spot on one of the side tanks. The guy there said it looks like the core had been replaced at some point. I should be good to go now with the radiator repair and new hoses.
I got most of the exhaust bolted up. The passenger side was cake and everything fits nice. I still need to get the driver's side situated but it is in place. I still need to rebuild and alternator and with any luck I will attempt to fire the engine next week.

 

Looks great, the car is moving along well.

 

GREAT, Joe!

- Eric

 

I got my repro patch panel, USA made, yesterday. It is not a perfect match to factory contour. I would not recommend but I think it can be worked to get the factory detail. I have seen 2 other repro patch panels advertised but they were listed as economy units. I have a lead on a 4dr parts car that I hope to look at on Saturday. The seller said he "believes" the driver's rear quarter is decent so we shall see.

Thanks Erics for the nod, nice to have followers with comments!

 

Well Joe, add another Erik.....very nice so far. I am excited to see you get the car moving under its own power. Keep up the good progress!

 

Erik #3 Thanks!

 

That is disappointing that the panel wasn't a decent match. However, I'm sure if you have to use it you will make look like it matches the factory lines. I ran into a similar situation when I was replacing the floor in mine. Some sections just didn't match up. Keep plugging away Joe!

 

Yeah that sucks, the floors that I installed came with the project. They looked a hair thinner than the originals but the went in pretty good. I did not go see the parts car Saturday cause the guy called me and said the piece I needed wasnt any good. I was tempted to see the car anyway but figured I better not else I might bring it home!

Well I started the 400 Saturday but this initial start was only 10 seconds long. The 2bbl carb was shooting gas out of the vent. Today I took off the top cover and adjusted the float for a lower level. That was the fix and now the inlet gasket was leaking. After about 5 trys and doubling up the ring gasket I finally got it to stop. I started the engine again and things seem pretty good but there is a slight rocker tap. When I put things together I ran short of bridges so installed a couple of used ones... guess that was a bad call. I also had to keep tightening the valve cover bolts as there was some oil leakage. The gaskets were new but older stock so maybe I need to swap those too. There were a few drips of coolant but a major one when the T stat bypass hose popped off when pressure started to build in the system...DUH...A hose clamp that I never tightened. I installed the new carpet and bolted in the front seat. I am hoping next time I can take the roller skates off the wheels and see if she will go out the door. There is a lot of crud to clean out from around and under the car! Still hoping for a patch panel for that driver's quarter.

 

Good to hear the car is running! Sounds like all the issues are minor. Keep it up Joe!

 

Seems there is little progress of late. I am still looking for a factory quarter cut to patch the quarter on the TC. Have been searching, posting and sending emails. I have a lead on a 66 4dr F85 so I have to check that out. The brake warning light is on all the time with key on. Seems the switch on the park brake needs adjustment or pedal is not coming all the way up. I changed the valve cover gasket that was leaking and also the used rocker bridges. I purchased a remanufactured carb because the one I rebuild wasnt acting right and decided to try another. Its bolted on but did not come with the PCV fitting, screw in type. The one on the carb I had was a press fit one so could not run the new carb yet. I notice too this new carb came with a mesh screen fuel filter instead of a paper or composite bronze filter. I have to get that out of there... never saw that before either. I bought the carb off ebay and the one pictured in the auction had the PCV fitting and rubber bushing for throttle linkage. The one they sent did not.... hmmm have to let them know about that.

 

There is a car on Philadelphia craigs I called about. Its a 67 post coupe. In my book a parts car but guy said he is not selling it as a parts car and his 3500 asking price would drop as low as 2000 but if he couldnt get that he will store it away till he can have it restored. Then I looked at a 66 F85 4dr yesterday. Again in my book a parts car, nothing special except AC. It was complete and he wanted 1500 for it. I told him I would offer 800 for it and he said he needed a grand so that one will sit there for another year or more I guess. I have decided to work with the repop patch panel. With September happening soon I am doubtful I can finish the paint before cold but I am gonna try.

 

This isn't a parts car?







Sheesh. Some people. I guess it has sentimental value.

I couldn't find the F-85, though.

- Eric

 

Here is a picture of the 66, I could not break even at 1000 and if he would have come down to 900 I would have gone up a hundred. Listed as a 1966 Oldsmobile.

 

Well I think it is, if it were a 442 or something special then no. Anything can be brought back but for this one you would need a good reason...

 

When you removed the headliner, did you mark which bow went where? I had mine labeled, not the labels got wet and are no longer legible. They are color coded on the ends.

 

Please tell us more about the drain tubes.

 

It's crazy what people think their junk is worth these day. Everything is worth to dollar even though it's a pile of crap. It's getting harder and harder to find a good deal.

 

The thing about the 66 was that few desireable parts swap over to the 67. On the 66 the trunk lid was shot, dash removed and painted silver, hood rotted. The sellable parts were wheelwell moldings, some trim, front bumper core, and the fenders were pretty nice as well as quarters. The interior was mostly trashed. The 330 and 2sp are not in great demand but the AC stuff had some value. I did not want to spend the time it takes parting and selling the car parts either... and then getting rid of whats left.

 

I decided to just use what was already on the quarter as far as metal. I ground off all the bondo and looked at what was there and really it isnt much different than the repop patch panel I bought. I hope to finish it off with way less bondo than what was there. When I drove the car out today it started right up and drove right out and then started coughing, choking and it stalled. I look and there are gas puddles all over the intake! This is the remanufactured carb that I bought from ebay. I removed the top of the carb looking for some crud under the needle and seat. To my surprise the brass float was full of fuel. I had the other carb so I took the float out of that one and got the engine running again. I am not impressed with this wonderful ebay carb. A. The fuel filter supplied was a wire mesh basket which I never saw before in a rochester carb. B. The auction showed a carb with a the grommet installed for accelerator rod, this one had none. C. The float issue, probably from China and it looked brand new. I need to call them Tuesday to see what they say.

 

You can't trust any of this stuff anymore, Joe. Unfortunately, even when you want to "sub out" a little job like the carburetor, you find that if you want the job done right, you've got to do it yourself.

- Eric

 

Man Joe, you just can't win with that carb situation over there. I am leery about buying certain things off of eBay, a carb being one of them. I hope you are able to resolve or with the seller. More importantly that is awesome that you got the old girl out on the road. Keep us posted.
Drew

 

Yeah I know about sellers on ebay but this place's specialty is remanufactured carbs with 1 year warrenty. I checked today and the float has a hairline crack not at the solder joint. I sent them a mail and got a quick response that they are deeply concerned and I am to call them on Tuesday and will be given satisfaction, will see. As for the TC being on the road....not quite. Lets just say it runs and drives good enough for me to be able to do some bodywork on it, I have a ways to go! Thanks for your support Drew and Eric!

 

As for the carb problem the seller has agreed to send me a new float and the missing gromett so I guess that will be ok as otherwise the carb seems ok. I worked some more on the quarters and they are starting to look like they should. I applied the repop air cleaner transfer for the CCC.... Wow I guess I need a lesson here. The sticky decal is so thin it wants to curl on top of itself like celophane and of course once it sticks to the part touched it does not want to come loose. Needless to say there were some ugly wrinkles and air bubbles. It looks fair but I do need to try again (with some more hands to assist) as soon as I spend another 15 bucks plus shipping for another decal!! GRRR! The surface where it sits is not flat but beveled which adds to the trouble.

 

Stickers like that can be a real PIA.

If I may make a suggestion, you may do best with THREE people - two to hold the sticker stretched out and in position, one on each side of the car, and one to slowly press it down from one point outward.

The good thing is that, unlike some two-man jobs, this one can be done by someone who's not very strong and doesn't like to get dirty, so long as she's got some dexterity, thus doubling the potential applicant pool.

- Eric

 

you may be able to wet the decal w windex and apply it, the windex will let you move it around to your satisfaction and then you can work out any air bubbles w a squegee. after that I will use a heat gun or set the part in the sun to dry. they also sell a commercial product called sticker on I think , but windex has worked well for me.

depends on your old decal but you may be able to remove it w a heat gun. heat everything slowly and evenly to prevent the decal from getting to hot and stretching, once removed wet it good w the windex and reapply, about 5 years ago I was able to remove a factory applied motorcycle tank shroud decal and reapply w that method w great succes i still have the bike and the decal is still firmly attached, when it was removed it quickly rolled into a pile of what I thought was trash but i didnt have anything to lose so i tried it and it worked out !!!

 

Good tips thanks guys!

 

The body is about ready for primer. The quarters are done as far as bondo and smoothing. The rest of the body and doors have been checked for dings and scrapes and anything found was smoothed. Too bad they are calling for rain tomorrow! Well at least I can tape everything off and get everything wiped down. I thought I would be doing this in early August, well I am hoping to have the color on before mid October.

 

I hope you were able to get the primer on today, weather was pretty good for it. Lets see some pictures.

 

Could not do a thing today. I will see what the weather is toward weeks end! I know I have been lax with picts. Will see what I can do. Thanks for the support.

 

Are you bringing your car to the NEOC show in CT this weekend ???

 

It is a good possibility that I will trailer the 442 there. Have been watching the weather and yesterday they were predicting late afternoon or evening shower chance. That would really dirty up the car on the way home... Today there is no mention of the shower. If all looks good tomorrow I will see if I can reserve a u-haul for Sunday.

 

I'm also waiting for a U-Haul trailer conformation also