costpenn

Thanks! Standing RX? I'd never get any work done, but would be perpetually feeling great.

Going to send my booster and jackstaff in on Tuesday. Probably will be sending all my other plating into a local company here. Have you used Sparky's for anything yet?

bigin1978

what I mean is if I run out and I am out of refills I just call the doc and she sets me up without having to go in. I don't have pain killers, just relaxers. I only take it when its bad. maybe once a week I need one if I am upside down and backwards under the dash of an airplane for to long! I guess the muscle in my right lower back gets spasm and pulls my spine out of alignment pushing on a nerve. the worst part is the nerve that pinches runs thru my groin. kind of feels like getting kicked in the right nut! they put me to sleep!


I haven't had anything plated yet. I think the only thing I am going to have done right now is the booster.

costpenn

Interesting session (3 hours)

More front of the car disassembly. Removed and evaluated the headlamp bezels, surrounds, buckets, hood latch and linkage, grilles, front side marker lamps/ trim, and front fender to core support braces.

Interesting mix of original fasteners on some stuff, but hardware store types on others. For example, it is pretty obvious the fender braces have never been off the car, but the lower Supreme trim has simply by looking at the fasteners. Hood latch bell crank fasteners are a mish mash of crap.

So glad I bought those grilles off eBay that 70Post is refurbing. Mine are toast with the pot metal tabs completely broken off one side, lots of cracks and waves, and the trims shot. Also, I am missing the long bumper brace on the RH side, and the LH is bent.

Still having fun, but the scope is getting ridiculous. The lower Supreme trim has some light pitting on it.....

Jeffs71

Even with all your back issues, the work your doing is amazing. Really like following the progress, and understanding hw much work these take to look right

costpenn

Major session today (4 hours)

Front bumper came off. The bumper is a repo, and you can tell. It flexes a lot more than an OE unit. Will have to replace the bumper bracket to frame hardware because it looks way wrong, but the big carridge bolts work well to not have to jack with holding both the nut and bolt when loosening of tightening. All brackets got thrown in the to be stripped pile, and the lamp assemblies are in remarkably good shape. Already have an excellent set of used lenses. New gaskets, repaint the white inside, wirewheel the backs, clean the wires and they will look like new.

Fenders came off with no issues or scratching. Was very careful to separately bag each attaching point's shims (if any) Will repaint the insides of the fenders before reassembling. Broke one lower fender (heel area) j-nut, otherwise no casualties.

Removed the core support. Both bolts were problems - LH due to corrosion and had to grind the head off, but RH looked pristine - it just broke when I hit it with the impact. Car at some point had had a front impact. You can clearly see where the bumper had been pushed back and had dented the center bolted on section of the support. I am going to take it to my painter to fix the dent, strip and paint. Also, am going to try to reuse my original upper core support bushings - they are intact, not distorted, and will make aligning everything that much easier.

Miscellaneous parts removal - all front brake lines off the dist block, the block, back drive bracket, starter tube, intermediate steering shaft & rag joint. I was surprised because I was able to loosen - without breaking or twisting - all the lines off the distribution block. Unfortunately the line going to the LH rubber brake hose twisted and broke.

Tomorrow, remove the steering gear box, steering linkages, sway bay, & shocks.

costpenn

Slowing Down To Go Faster (9 total -4 hours yesterday, 5 hours today)

Was about to get started on removing the front suspension, but decided to get started on fastener reconditioning. I thought I might take 30 minutes and try to better categorize my existing extra fasteners, and it wound up taking all day yesterday.

Went to Harbor Freight and bought a bunch of clear plastic tackle boxes. Tried to categorize by General fastener, and also by specialized small fastener type. I also have separated out all the OE fasteners I want to have replated.

Today I spent some time going over and categorizing the existing baggies of fasteners I have already pulled off the car. As I put the baggies in their corresponding box (grouped by location), I check through the Baggie to see if I already have a reconditioned fastener in inventory if needed. If not, I am compiling a master list of items to buy from AMK in bulk and archive the part number. If anyone is interested, when done I can send the AMK list of commonly needed parts for our cars.

I think this system can save me considerable time in the fastener reconditioning. Changing out already ready to go parts without having to start/stop, having commonly needed plating already done with the AMK stuff available should make the whole thing go a lot faster than it has in the past.

Pics are of new boxes of fasteners/specialty parts, stock of left over bolts from previous projects to be plated, and baggies from the car yet to be surveyed before being put in the product type boxes

costpenn

And where the baggies are headed after being surveyed

83hurstguy

Nice... I started using those clear plastic tackle boxes last year for all my loose hardware too. It was a week of hell to get organized, but it's been worth it. I swear all those fasteners are irritating enough to make me want to quit working on my project... finally just got through finding all the right engine bolts this weekend, now off to plating.

I need to start seeing what AMK has available, if you have a list, that would be a huge help. A lot of my chassis bolts are probably toast.

costpenn

More fastener prework and a horn relay reconditioned (2 hours)
Stlil going through the AMK catalog and compiling a master list of prepackaged bolt kits theh have available that would fit most 70-72 Olds A body applications. Having to be careful since they don't catalog for Olds - having to use the listings Chevelle in their catalog.
Also, just for fun, did a cosmetic resto on the horn relay - see before and after pics.

oldspackrat

Nice work, what did you do to the plastic part? Originally it is somewhat opaque I believe, is it the same way now or is that paint or something?

costpenn

Scott, this was just for fun, but it would be OK for a driver.
I have another in inventory that the plastic is still light beige, not chalky and somewhat see through. It was painted black on the cover, so I'm hoping that the plating under the cover is still nice. Whichever one looks better will go back on the car.

costpenn

Almost finished with front end tear down (6 hours total)

Removed steering linkage & gearbox, sway bar, brake hoses and other miss parts. Joints and the OE idler arm are still tight, so it will be just new castle nuts, cotter pins, repo boots and refinishing. The frame, under all that grease is pristine. I will never bitch about a nice covering of grime all over everything - it is actually excellent preservative of the original surface finish. The NEXT car I do I will try even harder to reuse any original finish I can through non aggressive cleaning methods.

Also the hunt for the intake is over. Today Matt (rktolds) came down and delivered the correct #12 intake and a good core pair of #7 heads. Really cool guy - he took my TH350 off my hands which was beginning to get in the way. So next Friday, I'll be taking to the machine shop my 70 block which is at STD with the GM pistons in it, the 70 350 4spd crank that is also at STD, the #7 heads and #12 intake. Already have my set of SBI W-31 spec valves and springs.

Also simultaneously progressing on bolts, bolts, bolts. Will call in the AMK order tomorrow and finish up the the tear down by removing the upper and lower control arms.

rktolds

Moving along with the front end. That is going to be a very clean driver. Charlie and I had a great visit. We hope to see you at the North Texas show later this spring.

Matt

orangepower1987

Absolutely Matt. Awesome work! Can't wait to see the final pics of it. Nothing like seeing someones set up to get you fired up to do more work on your own!

costpenn

Almost done with front end diassembly and a little component cleaning (5 hours)

This was a longer session that didn't seem to be very productive. First remvoved the short connector metal brake lines from the hose connection to the wheel cylinders. I had a really bad experience with the repos I installed on the 72 -,they did not fit well at all and had no clearance with the spindle upright. Sprayed the heck out of the connections with PB blaster - seemed to work.

Removed drums and another surprise. The RH was fine, but the LH had been metal on metal once or twice. Will have to change shoes and do a brake job - sigh.

Chickened out on breaking the springs loose today so started some component refinishing by prepping the P/S gearbox and rag joint. Gearbox does not appear to be leaking, so will mask off the cover, input shaft, and Pittman arm and shoot in Cast Blast.

Placed the AMK order today. After verifying all actually fits, will post part numbers and description.

costpenn

Cold, so just a short session (1 1/2 hours)

Refinished both the rag joint and P/S gearbox. It has a casting date of 119 on the main body, and the aluminum cover has a 71 on it so I'm pretty sure it is in fact the original. Used cast blast on gearbox body, and a dulled down oiled bronze color on the Pittman arm.

On the rag joint, used soft iron paint on the cast part, then chrome paint with a very light dusting of Eastwood's cad paint on the stamped metal part. A little phosphate paint on the bolt heads, and a deep cleaning of the rubber with Purple Power. Not concours quality, but I think acceptable for this car. Will add paint markings and yellow oval tag later.

Did a little bolt cleaning/reworking while waiting for the paint to dry. Lots will get done this weekend.

Was thinking about going the 403 block with 7 heads route for a minute - will stick with the 350 block after all.

Rocketowner

Nice work. Detailing is slow work but pays off in the finished product. Your clear tackle boxes encourage me to use them to organize and clean up the clutter in my basement.
Larry

costpenn

An unsatisying but necessary day (4 1/2 hours)

This was a longer than normal session and it seemed to drag on forever. I finally got the front control arms off the car. It was nothing but a mess of grease and caked on grease with the fear of a spring flying around the garage thrown in for good measure. Also had to cut the lower LH rear control arm bolt because it was too long to come out without not hitting the frame. I still don't know how this happened - the bolt looks original and is oriented in the right direction and the frame and control arm mounts don't look bent.

I did find a coil spring tag on one of the springs. It is covered in black paint and is attached at the very top of the spring. Wii try non destructively clean tomorrow.

Engine mount frame plates are gray phosphate on this car. Will send these off for plating along with the sway bar to frame brackets.

costpenn

More dirty work (3 hours)

Started by degreasing the steering spindles and front hubs. Still going with the theme of identifying OE paint markings, and found one each on both. Both yellow, and the spindle one was way smaller than what I found on my 70 (maybe disc/drum difference? )

Next started degreasing the idler arm/steering linkage & sway bar. All of it is original Saginaw components to the car. I will post a separate thread on the linkage ends They look really different to anything else I have worked on. Also,the grease zerk is broken off at the bottom of the idler arm. Chris will do his magic on it.

Started working the frame a bit with ye olde wire wheel. It will come out very nice since there is zero pitting except for underneath the engine mount pates.

Also, I am now officially on team Evaporust. See the pic of my original plating air deflector bolts wiped down after soaking for approx 15 hours. I still have to do the crevice inside the hex head with the wooden skewer, but man this stuff works!

Still have not tried to read the coil spring tag. We'll see tomorrow.

costpenn

Glad that is over (4 hours)

Finished wire wheeling the frame from the front to under the cowling. I used a high speed grinder with a wire wheel. Does a great job but makes a mess. You must wear a respirator when doing this and be really careful to not catch a edge with the grinder - and watch out for all the wires thrown all over the place.

Also began some part refurbishment. Did the upper part of the OE idler arm, the grille to core support brackets, the sway bar to frame brackets and the brake hose to frame brackets. The pieces that hold the brake hose and pipe to the back of the spindle came out great - keeping their original plating - by just simply letting it soak in Evaporust.

Got a set of perfect hood hinge to hood bolts out of the Evaporust treatment, and 3 of the 6 hood hinge to fender bolts also came out acceptably plated. Evaporust dies nothing if the part has any paint on it. Finally, took the original tag off the coil spring. The numbers were pretty far gone, but the tag color vividly emerged. I could make out 400876 and an L. Looked in the assembly manual and this is the correct spring for my car. It is the lightest duty spring available for a Supreme with a V8.

cdrod

I love Evaporust! That stuff does a great job without eating up the parts like an acid bath would, and you can use it over and over (although it does lose it's potency). I found that if I let the used Evaporust sit for an hour or two after use all the gooey rust that was removed from your parts will settle to the bottom so you can pour off the top and get the clear Evaporust. Don't pour the goo from the bottom of the bucket, just throw that away. I've used my 2 gallons multiple times with good results. If a part is really rusty, I will soak in vinegar first followed by Evaporust letting the cheaper vinegar do the "heavy lifting" so the Evaporust doesn't have to work too hard. Makes the Evaporust last a bit longer.

bigin1978

I wish my frame was that nice. its close, but I have some pitting. Its funny when I get updates about your car that we are about doing the same thing at the same time. I wire wheeled my front frame yesterday also. Now I didn't pull the control arms. the car drove so nice and the ride height was good , so I figured I would leave that stuff alone.
keep up the good work. it keeps me motivated !

costpenn

Evaporust all around (2 hours)

Actually worked more than 5 hours, but most of the time was devoted to cleaning a bucket of OE phosphate fasteners for stock. Nice to have these in reserve for any future reqiuirements. These, along with keeping a stock of AMK kits on hand for the usual suspects that have to be replaced (bumper bracket boots, gas tank, control arms and sway bar etc...) will really speed up future restos.

I am really enjoying trying to preserve the original plating on parts. Still finding other things to try evaporusting besides bolts. For example, I had a couple of TCS brackets in inventory, so I dumped them, the bolt that holds the switch to the bracket (I changed out the nut that holds the bracket to the stud with a AMK phosphate piece), a throttle cable bracket, and a coil bracket for a good soak. The throttle bracket came out looking great, the coil bracket came out fair - the galvanizing came out tired looking, and the TCS bracket looks pretty good as well. Below are some photos of the coil bracket after I tried to give it a light coating of a silver "hammered" finish. Kind of mimics the galvanizing - kind of. Also found that the two TCS brackets I had are different from each other. I believe the one on the right with the hardware below it is correct for 70-72 - what does the other fit??

Got my M22Z transmission (with the 2.98 first gear) home from Kajun Transmissions. Due to the additional strain imposed on the midplate by the gearing, he installed a steel unit. Of course, this will not do for my OE fetish, so I'll be figuring out a way of painting it so it will look aluminum, as well as replacing the Zinc bolts with phosphate units and OE style paint markings.

oldcutlass

Fixed your post, wow you are moving right along. Looking good. I think we all have been taking advantage of this nice weather.

costpenn

Been under the weather (4 hours last Saturday)

Spent Saturday continuing working on fasteners and other pieces that can be evaporusted. Both engine mount pads came out great, joining the TCS switch bracket, brake hose at wheel brackets, throttle cable bracket and a couple of other pieces (so far) that will retain their original plating thanks to the Evaporust.

Almost finished on fasteners. I have really enjoyed this part of the resto and have now built up a well categorized inventory of ready to go fasteners for the next project.

Got the lower part of the idler arm back from Chris after he fixed the broken grease zerk.

Hopefully I will feel well enough tomorrow to get back to work on it. Caught some kind of upper respiratory infection late Saturday and had to cancel a biz trip I had scheduled for this week.

costpenn

Some light work (2 1/2 hours)

Will have some more fasteners to do when I pull the rear end out for some work, but pretty well finished all the fastener baggies. Today completed the headlamp retaining ring screws, the wheel well screws, water pump bolts, valve cover bolts, etc.

Also learned (again) that the upper control arm shaft washers originally can be either zinc or phosphate in finish. The washers off this car (in the first pic) were heavily painted over in black (either at the plant or later by rattle can). I used paint stripper to remove the black and dumped them in Evaporust. After pulling them out, they look good enough to use. I was SURE these were only in Zinc from the factory - more revisionist history.

Confirmed from 70Post that the steering and suspension castle nuts are also a darker black oxide style finish. I again thought these were zinc as well, but in all the old OE fasteners I had been doing, these things keep coming out a really nice black oxide color after all the grease that has been protecting the finish has been cleaned off and the they are Evaporusted.

Pics of those parts I keep yammering on about. Next is to refinish the center link and tie rod assemblies, and then onto painting the firewall and frame this weekend.

costpenn

Starting To See Fun Stuff (2 hours)

Finished up with the rest of the fasteners. One of the more interesting parts I found on this car were the big washers used on the wheel well to frame bolts. Again, saved the original finish, but the washer has a flange around the bolt hole. I don't think any of the other cars I've done till now have this flanged washer - anyone know if they are all supposed to have it, or is it a plant specific variation?

Got my final AMK order in - some parts for this car, but some for the Hurst. Most of the kits I've ordered have been correct for Olds. Will get that list together on a spreadsheet - anyone who wants a copy please let me know.

Placed ILT order. For some reason they gave me free shipping. Is this new? Also placed a order for miscellaneous stuff from Fusick - they still are a pleasure to deal with.

Picked up the stuff I had sent out for blasting. They (surprise) did not blast the parts with anything finer than the garnet stone media, so I will wind up having to do a lot of sanding and wire wheeling to get the surfaces smooth enough for oaint. Went ahead and had the following parts powder coated:

Front bumper brackets
Front bumper tubes
Bumper jack base & hook
Upper & lower control arms
Trans X - member
Air cleaner housing
Radiator top plate
Charcoal Cannister Bracket
Front marker light brackets
Bell Housing Cover.

Also tried having the bellhousing coated in a silver - it looks totally white to me and the quality of work on it sucks. Will have to do something about it

Finished the idler arm.

costpenn

Hopefully the last of the rust dust (4 hours)

Today I completed refinishing the front steering components. Reused all the original Saginaw components since all the joints were relatively tight. Tie rods are bare, sleeves are semi gloss black, and changed out the fasteners and grease zerks. Painted the center link & changed out the zerks. Painted the sway bar cast blast after A LOT of sanding. Took pics when finished adding in the previously completed idler arm. It's not quite up to the quality of the W-30, but this car is going to be driven - hard.

Bought the 3 1/2 gallon Evaporust size container with the strainer basket. It is big enough that both front spindles and wheel hubs fit in it. Will let it soak for a couple of days.

Tomorrow begin prepping the firewall & frame for paint.

costpenn

Firewall done (5 hours yesterday, 1 1/2 hours today)

Yesterday masked off and sanded the firewall/cowling area in preparation for paint. I removed the blower box, cleaned the sealant off the firewall and temporarily reinstalled the box to cover the holes in the firewall. I will be refinishing the box on a slightly glossier black than what I used on the firewall (which is Duplicolr Black Bumper paint). The steering column was also left in since I will be replacing it with a tilt column. Sprayed on three coats - I really like the way this paint lays on - kind of like the way Krylon used to. Will post better pics tomorrow.

Also, today refinished the blower housing hardware including the condenser. Also, for fun evaporusted some of the e-brake cable hardware. Seems like the OE hooks are phosphate - will save these pieces to compare against what comes in the ILT cable kit.

Looks like I'll wind up doing the underside after all. It will bug me forever if I don't.

bigin1978

Looks great! Its amazing how many little details with different finishes.( I sure could use one of those blower motor capacitor wires.)

costpenn

Miscellaneous Day (5 hours)

Got under the car to see what is going to be required to get it acceptable. The exhaust, while new is a all welded, cobbled together piece of crap, so I'm going to cut it out to make cleaning up the underside much easier. It really isn't that bad. Oily around the trans and the pinion seal, but otherwise a hand held drill with a cup wire brush should get it ready for paint with about two solid days of work. Going to try Waldron on the exhaust. Would love to use Gardner, but this car is not worth the additional cost.

Did lots of different parts reconditioning:

Voltage Reg - the original one
Valve Cover Breather Tube
Valve Cover Grommets
Oil Fill Cap
Original Wiper Motor Mount Insulators - these are a brown color. My W30 had putty gray ones
Hood To Fender Bumpers
Distribution Block - tried to save the original bracket finish
P/S Pump Cap - everyone I always do I have to remove the paint that someone has sprayed on the lid part

Also finished up the blower case assembly. The replacement Four Seasons motor has a vent hole, but the original Delco did not. I plugged it with that block off plug the goes in the air cleaner housing on the driver's side for OAI bases that are used in 350 or 455 automatic applications.

Tomorrow will finish up some miscellaneous underhood retainers that mount on the firewall and wheel wells, idle dashpot, and Air Temp Semsor switch.

rand5204

As always, your work is outstanding. I really look forward to reading your posts. I have a question though. After you complete your cleaning and or Evaporust process, how do you protect the finish? Are you clear coating to keep the parts looking fresh or...?

costpenn

Thank you.

It varies by the part. Sometimes I shoot a low gloss clear over the freshly cleaned surface, sometimes it is the closest paint I can find to mimic the original finish, sometimes things get painted or plated, but what I have been really working on this time is saving the original plating or paint if at all possible. It is a case by case thing. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll let you know what has ( or has not!) worked for me.

P.S. Still have another box coming from AMK and will get you that spreadsheet soon.

costpenn

A little work this AM and some pics (1 hour)

Finished up the various hook/wire retainers under the hood. Also did the dashpot, ATS and a couple of other small parts. The engine to firewall ground strap retains that gray tin finish, but it is really dull.

Pulled the wheel hubs and spindles out of the Evaporust. It is so cool to see what these parts looked like when new - not after blasting which will change the finish no matter how well it is done. Going to try some kind of Boeshield protectant on these. I really don't want to paint or clear them.

P. S. That ATS looks like crap in the pic. Looks better in person, but will rework tomorrow.

costpenn

Been a while (approx 15 hours total - 2 hours last Monday, 5 hours yesterday, 8 hours today)

Monday & yesterday were spent cleaning/repairing/refinishing more components Some of note:

Horns - had to test a bunch of used OE parts until I found a functional pair. The brackets are unique to Olds - I think the horns themselves are the same between all the divisions. Shot the bracket in a bare steel color for contrast, but I'm pretty sure it should be black. This ain't the W-30.

Windshield washer and charcoal canniter hoses, radiator saddle bushings - these are all original.Let them soak in Purple power and then simply wiped down with a black lint free cloth. The lower saddles heeded some additional scrubbing due to corrosion impregnating on the surface. They eventually came clean

Oil Dipstick and tube. Wirewheeled the stick being careful not to damage the colored plastic end plug. The tube itself was heavily pitted. I used a bench grinder passing it evenly back and forth to knock down all the high spots. Went over it with 80, and 220 grits to get it acceptable to paint. I don't these things ever got much paint when they were assembled.

Original master cylinder lines - Wirewheeled the hell out of them.

Original crossmember brake line. This thing was filthy. Cleaned, wire wheeled, evaporusted the clips and painted them.

Charcoal Cannister - Had been spray bombed at one point which really protected most of the unit very well. There is a rust discoloring where the bracket touched the Cannister. I cleaned it, then went over it with 440 grit (only where the discoloration was) Next hit it with green scotchbrite, then the white polishing pad. Still did not look OK, so then used the table buffing wheel with no abrasive and light pressure - that did it and made it match the upper finish.

OE style water pump. This was the first part I bought for this car. It is an ancient Arrow rebuilt unit - the correct part number for 71 non A/ C applications. It had a considerable amount of surface rust I had to wirewheel off.

Markings on spindles and hubs - tried to exactly match what I found on them.

Today I was working on the underside if the car. Sprayed simple green wherever I could and brushed down as much dirt as I could. Next turned to the frame rails. Got as much dirt and grease off as I could without going over board. Next Wirewheeled the brake and fuel lines, the removed the frame clips to refinish, Then I masked off the lines I had just cleaned and painted one frame rail before calling it a day. The fuel line clips seemed to be bare steel from the factory, and the 3 accessible brake line clips were one blue and two yellow. Will finish the underside to the rear axle tomorrow. It ain't perfect, but I can't take all the rust, dirt and paint getting in my eyes anymore - let alone being under a car on jack stands.

costpenn

More pics

costpenn

Undercarriage finished for now (4 hours)

Completed coating the underside of the floor pan with the 3M undercoater. Also painted the frame rails with Krylon Black satin and finished detailing and reinstalling the brake & fuel lines. Lastly installed the engine mount pads.

Next is to reinstall the front suspension.

bigin1978

Looks like things are moving along nicely! Keep it up!

costpenn

Thanks, and you do the same on yours. If I stop for too long, my interest will get diverted to something else and that's why, for me, there is such a sense of urgency in getting it done - along from the feeling of instant gratification I get when things are showing progress.

bigin1978

When I get something done I enjoy the standing back and looking at it almost as much as doing it!
I have the same sense of urgency. I want to have the 72 done for Nationals. I have to make a decision by june 18th if I am taking the 72 or the 56. deadline to register is june 19th!