Great car and documentation. You can tell it was well cared for over the years. Liking how your preserving as many original parts as you can. Probably would be easier to do a full restoration but they always lose part of the soul during the process.
Dustin

 

The car has been at a local body shop since March 14, 2025. Out of sight, out of mind! I know the painter and I discussed a 3-month turnaround, which I knew wasn't even a reality, and I'm hoping for at least a freshly painted car by spring. I have too much work at the shop now so that would at least give me the winter to clean all the parts I removed from the car!

I've slowly been picking up parts that I've had blasted and powdered.

The factory 3-core radiator I sourced has had its core replaced and is now ready for paint.

My buddy did a great job on the vapor blasting of the bell housing and thermostat housing.

I finally sourced all the parts to do a correct distributor rebuild using NOS parts on everything. I am asking my distributor rebuilder to configure it for a stock W-30 stick car spec.

I will post some pictures over the next few weeks as I slowly creep back in to the project after taking the entire summer off from the project!

 

I gathered all the distributor parts for the rebuild and sent it to my guy Ken at Everyday Performance. I requested him to rebuild to W-30 specs and curve it on his vintage Sun machine.

We're going to use NOS D106 points 1931988, NOS condenser D204 1932004, NOS rotor D426R 1852722, NOS vacuum advance D-1377 1115261, and an NOS Delco cap. I'm trying to validate the length of what I believe to be an NOS primary lead wire as well. I had a spare set of NOS shields with the tag so I tossed those in as well. I'm hoping he can clean the base and leave the factory paint markings.

For whatever reason, the NOS vacuum advance was a tough find.



The factory distributor has been modified for modern electronics. We're going back to OEM points.



NOS primary lead - I think. The rubber boot was definitely a '70 detail, however, I don't recall the length of the wire on my survivor cars.

 

Trying to get organized around the shop. I have managed to get most of the parts from the car into 6 large bins with the exception of the interior components. I have quite a few parts painted already and almost everything blasted that needs paint.

Both the console and spoiler sold to a friend and I am just waiting for him to scoop up the parts.

I ended up taking sheets of plywood and lining the loft with them to store the bins and interior components for the moment. The plan this winter will be to work on each component one at a time and stage it for reassembly when the car comes back from paint in the spring.

The following sub-assemblies are out with rebuilders / replaters:

1. Distributor - Everyday Performance
2. Wiper pump - Hackel
3. Manual steering box - powersteering.com
4. Hood hinges, MC lid, hood latch - Brakebooster.com
5. Alternator - Patton Glade this November
6. Powder - Fox Valley Sandblasting and Powder

 

A good friend of mine owns a Dry Ice Blasting company and was kind enough to use his extra dry ice to blast the M21. I opted to leave the shifter and rods connected to the trans and everything was well calibrated prior to tear down. Unfortunately, I didn't see a KA stamp in yellow. The numbers all match which is great. Again, the amount of undercoating preserved the dichromate finish on the rods.

Before:












After dry ice blasting:

 

If anyone is looking for dry ice blasting of parts within the Chicagoland area, contact my buddy Steve at https://nationalcoldclean.com/
He has a mobile operation, too. Give him a call or drop him an email.

 

I picked up another batch of parts from the shop I use for powder.

I also locked in on the cooling part numbers and sticking with what would have been the original configuration from the factory which would have included:

1. 4 blade fan 19 1/2" (fan was pulled form a '73 Delta which shares the same part number as the '70)
2. 2" spacer
3. 404584 water pump
4. FE 3 core radiator
5. KN pulley
6. 3 core top plate with "built in" metal shroud

The general consensus is the car will likely overheat. We'll see. The radiator has a new core and I'll upgrade the thermostat. The reality is I hardly drive my cars, and when I do, I certainly don't drive them in 90* heat.

I picked up the factory bellhousing after having it vapor blasted. It looks better than new. I also picked up the OAI base finished in a red that matches the Thornton red adapter.

The car is still at the body shop. No surprise that they're way behind schedule. My ask was to get the car back late April / early May so we'll see how the next few months play out.

If I get free time this week, my goal is to remove the factory E heads as I'm having fresh unmolested E heads built for the car.

Having fun recreating the red OAI from the '70 W-Machine brochure.





Bellhousing vapor blasted. Flywheel has been correctly resurfaced.



I saved the original bucket seat trim as the repop plastic chrome looks cheap and tacky. I'll swap this on to the new white seat backs. I blasted the A pillar interior covers as well as the rear door panel arm rest fillers. Patton told me to use SEM Super White for the match so that's now on order.



The core support has been blasted and powdercoated a black that feels close enough for my liking.



This is the factory KN pulley I removed. You can see signs of the original spacer.



Sand blasted the pulley.



Different angle of the KN pulley blasted.

 

Observed the factory dipstick tube installed incorrectly. My assumption is that it snapped last time the engine was out as it is “joined” with a ton of sealer while the bulged portion sits on the pan side. I am having a tough time getting the broken part of the tube out if anyone can offer a suggestion.

 

Received an update from Ken at Everyday Performance on the distributor rebuild and curve. The plan is to have this car ready to run Pure Stocks in '26 so he curved the distributor accordingly.

 

Only had one side of original rubber grommets for the OAI adapter. I cleaned each piece of rubber with soap and water and let air dry. I'll use ILT repops for the other side.

The factory therm sensor was removed from the factory air cleaner base. The original gasket was shot so I traced it on a similar sized cork to recreate the gasket. Amazon sells the thin cork material which is what the original gasket was made from.

The smaller rubber grommet has the number 2 and FO 9.

The larger rubber grommet has the part number 403617 and below that is HJ 4441 4.

 

I used the green paint and stamp kit I used on my last restoration to stamp the date code on the air cleaner base. It stamped much better on the black versus the red.

 

Today, I gathered a bunch of parts from the plastic totes and dumped them in an Evaporust bath. In the bucket right now is the radiator overflow hose clip, both motor mounts, the transmission mount, and the hardware for the mount to the trans as well as the crossmember to the mount. I also tossed in the back drive linkage which appears to still have traces of its factory yellow dichromate finish.

Lastly, I disassembled the accelerator pedal arm and spring. The previous owner intentionally cocked the pedal at an angle so it was “easy for him to drive.” The pedal is soaking in a soap bath, and I will use tooth rush to detail the 55 years of debris from the original plastic.

 

Great progress! I have to agree with you on the seat plastic. The repro stuff is thin, "fragile" plastic... Not like the original, slightly flexible ones...

 

I probably had the parts in the Evaporust bath for a day or two too long and it took off a little more of the factory plating than I had hoped.

The rod for the pedal cleaned up nicely. Surprisingly, the plating on it still looks great. My other cars have also had really nice finish on this part.

The trans mount turned out better than I thought. The hardware for the mount looks a bit tired in terms of plating so I'll see what I have in my AMK bin to replace. I still think a heavy spray of T9 will help.

The distributor was returned and is fully rebuilt.

The motor mounts are still degreasing. I didn't see any assembly line paint markings on them, and they're covered in blue overspray from the previous owner. Has anyone tried the Thornton engine mounts? For under $20, it probably makes more sense to just replace them.

 

Worked on a few items at the garage tonight.

Soaked the original 455 mounts for a week in Evaporust and cleaned them tonight with a soapy mix. The factory white paint markings are now visible as is the part number 406436. I am sampling an old can of Eastwood rubber coating as I may touch the mounts up a bit prior to reusing them. I did a test spray, and I’ll let it dry overnight. As long as the rubber spray isn't tacky, I will give it a try. The previous owner also touched up the blue paint so there is significant overspray on the mounts I'd like to cover.

I noticed a chip on the metal nub that screws into the bellhousing for the clutch fork so that’ll need to be replaced. The ILT rubber boot Is a nice replacement part for the clutch fork.

Earlier in the week, we removed the jammed dipstick tube with the pan off. The previous owner broke it in two pieces and proceeded to jam the ends together.

The gas pedal arm and spring received a light coating of T9 and will go back into plastic baggies until it’s time to reinstall.

I also realized after 14 months of owning the car I never verified the VIN on the block. I knew it was numbers matching, but it was nice to actually put my own eyes to it finally.

The factory E heads should be coming off this week.



A bit of the rubber coating from the mounts has vanished over time.



I've had this new in the spray can for years but never tried it until last night.



Early results on the paper towel tell me this will be a nice product to lightly touch up the motor mounts.



406436 mounts with the word 'white' next to it. White paint markings supporting the number.









The part number from the 1972 parts catalog.



Nice rubber boot from Inline Tube. The bellhousing was previously vaporblasted.



The dipstick was a disaster but it's out now.



A chunk of metal missing from the ball for the clutch fork.



Paint thinner and a scotch-brite to get the pad clean.





I use a cardboard box as my "spray booth" for the T9.

 

Earlier this week we pulled the factory heads off the engine. The heads appear to have been off the car before as older blue Felpro head gaskets were in place. The owner I purchased the car from mentioned the car had been off the road in the '70's due to a valve issue which would make sense as the heads had replacement valves and washers in place as shims. The bottom end is original and the camshaft is still a mystery but will be next in the tear down once I get the timing chain and gear removed. The previous owner mentioned the factory camshaft may be in the engine but they also swapped in a W-30 cam for a bit but vaguely recalls removing it due to power brake issues (which actually would make sense).

The oil that appears on the head is a result of having the engine turned upside down on my stand for the last 12 months. I also turned the engine by hand a time or two which I believe created a bit of a mess.

I ordered a product called GM Top Engine Cleaner that I'll use to wipe down the carbon on the pistons and clean all the surfaced. I still haven't decided how I'll clean the exterior of the block for repaint.

A correct dated W-455 aluminum intake manifold has been procured and a set of rebuilt F heads have been identified as well.





The oil has to be from having it upside down on the stand.





Assume this is an appropriate amount of carbon build up for a 67K mile engine?





Pulled a lifter to compare it to the NOS set of lifters I plan to install, and it appears these have been replaced at some point during the life of the car.



Plan is to use a set of NOS steel shim gaskets for when we piece it back together assuming I can remember where I put my last set in the garage. I might have used them on the W-31 build but cannot remember.

 

Nothing too major to report on. The e-brake assembly was a rusty mess so I let it soak for 72 hours in the 5 gallon bucket of Evaporust. From there, I scrubbed it with soap and water and gave it a coating of T9 to protect the bare metal before placing it in a sealed bag for whenever I need to install it.

I removed the pedal pad and scrubbed it.

I removed and detailed the switch.

The julian date is now visible.

Before:



After:





Julian date:



I'm sure I could touch up the black paint but I'm going to leave it as is. The thought is that the interior and underside of the car are going to remain 100% factory in "survivor condition" or at least as close to that as I can make it.

 

I was having a hard time removing the Hurst shifter lever from the shifter base. I created a tool using a putty knife where I cut off the edges so it would fit in the hole to disengage. After some help from the penetrating oil, and a gentle tap on the putty knife with a rubber mallet, I was able to remove the lever. I suspect why it presented itself as such a challenge was that the lever was actually pulled up so I had to push it down a smidge and that seemed to help. The lever is off to Brazil, Indiana as I'm not putting the console back in and made a trade with a friend for his non-console lever.

I had to put a foot on the case and pull up with all my weight to get the lever out.





This is the simple tool I "created" to get the lever out. I tried several feeler gauges and ended up bending quite a few in the process. This worked well because of the handle.



Chrome is actually pretty nice on this. It's off to a '72 W-30 ragtop now.

 

Great progress! Question regarding the distributor rebuild. Were you able to reuse the original "427" vacuum canister? Was it rebuilt if so?

 

Not much progress to report on. A few additional parts blasted. When the weather warms up, I'll have bins of parts to paint.

The black plastic bushing for the Z-bar was cracked so we removed it and blasted the part. I picked up an ILT "rebuild kit" for the Z-bar.



'GH' stamping on the factory Z-bar.



Sandblasted factory blower motor.



September 1969 manufacturer date on the blower motor for a 10A car.

 

Maybe you mentioned it already, but I'm curious why you are getting rid of some of the original equipment like power brakes and the console?

 

A fair amount of parts weren't original to the car so they were sold.

 

Moving slowly but still moving. Parts have been stripped, blasted, or cleaned up using the tumbler. Pics and details below.

I've never used the tumbler before so this was a first, and I'm impressed with the results. We threw in some water pump hardware along with valve cover tabs.



The valve covers have been stripped. The one cover will need a little bit of filler to fill the pitting.



More parts blasted. The starter brace and frame bracket for the Z Bar flash rusted pretty quick so I tossed it in an Evaporust to clean that up before I can prime and paint this spring. Each part that needs paint is tagged with the prep and color, and then the part is organized into a bin.



I traded NOS engine parts to a friend in exchange for these XT / IF wheels. I had them blasted and coated in black.



Pretty rare to see an untouched coil with the proper screws and corresponding parts.





All the hardware is bagged, tagged, and stored in the appropriate bin.



Since the entire underside of the car is factory untouched I thought it made more sense to use these recently acquired NOS trumpet tailpipes. I'm going to dry ice them to clean some of the rust off. The headpipes are new from ILT but my plan is to use a flat black cerakote finish on the headpipes.



Crazy to me that these types of NOS parts are still floating around out there!





Acquired an NOS dashpot for the '70 442. For whatever reason, this NOS dashpot is relatively difficult to find. I was searching for an entire year.

 

The alternator restoration is finished. Thanks to Patton for another job well done.

1100880 alternator that was original to the car.

 

The original horns need some work so they are boxed and ready to go to the Horn Shop in Wisconsin.

 

Stopped by the body shop today for the first time since March '25. Progress is slow but that's okay. Targeting October to have the car in color but we'll see.

While I was there I pulled the heater box, pushed out the firewalls insulation plastic screws, and removed a few random clips. We also used a torch to heat up the hardware for the lower fender braces to get the screws loose.

Overall, the car is pretty straight. There are a few areas where you can tell someone patched a few things up. I'm pretty pleased with the shape of the metal and the glass channels both front and back.

The hood is incredibly straight as are the doors and flat fenders.

 

Dam my olds got done in 2 months
alittle mig welding strip n paint. $4500

Before with Vinyl top and rally two’s

After no Vinyl and rally one’s


Renew Auto collision Alex Deerpark N.Y.