While waiting for the undercoating to dry, the right side firewall got some attention that morning before it got too hot.


It was wirebrushed, the old sealer removed, and cleaned up with solvent to remove the refrigerant oil and other crap. New 3M seam sealer was applied to the seams.

Good progress for 4 hours work.



Now to decide what to do with the firewall - repaint it completely or spot spray it. I just hate to loose the original stampings...

 

InLine Tube offers the rubber stamps and ink if you wanted to duplicate the original markings.

 

I checked their website and could not find them. Have a link?

 

here ya go... http://www.inlinetube.com/PDF%20cata...dsmobile01.pdf

 

Hmmm..... No NN square stamps.

 

Rob, here's another thought. Check with your local office supply companies because some of these places will make rubber stamps. They do it for signatures etc. If you provide them with a tracing or drawing of what you want, they can make it for you. Get the paint from ILT or find something in a spray can in a store that will be close. You can spray the paint onto a piece of plastic and dab the stamp on it. You'll need to look at your letters to see if they are made with a satin finish paint or if they were glossy. I'm thinking they are satin or even flat but not sure.

 

Hey - good idea - prolly cheaper than a car resto product, too.
I never thought I would be getting this **** about details.
This one takes the cake for sure...

The heat here must be roasting my brain.

 

Rob, pull that heater core out while your in there.

 

Mr. heater will stay for now. Should I need to pull it later, all I have to remove under the hood are the 4 speed nuts on the AC box - all the rest can stay.

When my neighbor next door brought dinner over this evening, he looked at the car and said "You'd be f'n crazy to not pull what's left of that motor out of there!"

 

Before I put the front end on my car, I replaced my blower motor and heater core just because they were easy to do then and I didn't want them to crap out in a month. I remember those blower motor bearings howling on my parents car. I assume my heater core was origional too but it wasnt a leaker. It's still in my garage if I ever need it so... Nice work. I'm following this and Imma pull my wiper motor later today.

 

Two schools of thought there, like first, if you knew from the start you were going to drill down this far, pulling the engine trans together would have made a bunch of what you've done so far easier. And not that much more work.

Second school of thought: When it does come time to do the engine, everything around it will already be done.



.

 

Blower motor was to be replaced, but I found out it already had been not too long ago. It was pretty clean!
Heater core does not require much work in the engine bay, just the 4 speed nuts on the evap case. Everything else comes out from the inside.

I'll select skool o' thot #2!

 

Condensers:
I called Old Air last Friday and asked again about a condenser. He said the regular crossflow 143 was universal. Forget that. After some prodding, he came up with their #11-31760 which measures the same as the original. From what I have researched, it is the same as the stock condenser, only with the fins being more dense to improve heat transfer (but at the same time blocking airflow.)
So I decided to keep my old condenser and had it tested and flushed for 25 bucks at the local A/C shop. It is in good shape – good news! It will be great for R12 but will work (with a small decrease in performance) with 134 – I can deal with that for a $300 cost savings.

Hoses:
Judging by photos of their work - looks like Old Air products does a good job on restoring hoses, despite some random crimp colors and an diameter increaser thing for some larger hose. For their price it is worth it. Classic Auto Air charges 25 more per hose and they are probably "Pebble Beach" grade, something they boast about for other things.
So OAP gets my hoses to restore except for the liquid line. That will be purchased new for less than restoring my old one. Here they are before they were shipped out a few days ago...



Evaporator mayhem:
I also found that 3 places make evaporators for these cars.
Four Seasons make the auto parts store grade. I looked at one at O'Reilly's and was disappointed.

The POA valve would have to be rotated 180*, putting the charge port on the back side. Also the curve on the pipe does not make a 180* bend - its more like 120*, putting the POA at a sloppy angle. Hoses would not bend correctly as a result, creating more strain on the connections.
The core is also 0.65" wider and has no mounting tabs. Even for a ‘low’ 209 +tax, I passed.

Old Air Products has a new one for 265 that is almost exact, except the top pipe is bent in 3 sections instead of the nice curve.



Classic Auto Air has the third type, which has a very close top pipe curve. However, it is wider than the original and appears to lack the mounting tabs.
http://classicautoair.com/cair/images/store/EVAPORATOR_68-72GM_A-Body(01-211).jpg
While a wider evap sounds good, only a certain part gets air blown across it. Not sure what the point of this is.

The local A/C shop found no other sources for evaps for this car.

So I decided to buy a good used evap core from Carl (HAMM36 on CO) and sent it to Classic Auto Air for pressure testing and restoration.

 

My original restored brake booster came in Friday from brakeboosters.com – looks rather spiffy next to the repro MC!!


Friday evening I pulled the fan shroud and treated it to a bath of oven cleaner. I did the top of the evap canister and a few hoses that had overspray and red dirt stains on them.
This stuff works wonders on rubber and plastic. Afterwards I rewashed with simple green.
Here is the fan shroud that I thought was already kinda clean:


I washed up the disty cap and wires with just simple green to rid the dust. Old coil (Borg warner) was removed and the new AC Delco one retrieved from the trunk.

The spindle parts that were hanging in the shed were all reassembled into whole spindles…
Alternator was cleaned up also – not too bad a job.


Good progress for the only 2 hours of under-98* evening temperatures (that have some light)…



Sunday morning I sprayed the inside fenderwell flaps with undercoat as well as the big washers and bolts, too.
They look better this way. The section that is not coated will ride on top of the control arm so no need to coat that.

 

Looks good rob! How hard was it to reattach the staples to the inner fenders?

 

Thanks...
Very easy when reusing the old staples! The new flaps were very soft, so they penetrated easily. Just have to have a backing plate held on the other side to keep the staple from backing out.

 

So last night during the "two tolerable evening daylight hours" I worked on the firewall. Wiper motor was pulled off, along with the voltage regulator, cable clips, and whatever else that was in the way. More scraping, wirebrushing and cleaning of the firewall with simple green took place.
I took it from this:


To this:


Obviously this is not good enough so I called it the night and thought about it that night...



This morning at 8 I cleaned it again with Eastwood’s PRE paint prep, which is the same solvent their lacquers are made of – super strong and will get you high as a kite… It remove a lot of black but it did not look better.
Old sealer around the wiring, cables, and parking brake nuts was removed and resealed.

Brake lines were wirebrushed and the upper sections painted with the last of the Eastwood Brake Gray.


Before the heat forced me into the house, I tried Eastwood’s Rust Encapsulator on the lower left corner of the firewall.


I like it!
Now to figure out how to spray the rest of the firewall while the car is in the garage. I wonder if the shop vac will suck away the airborn overspray and filter it?


I need to see if I can save these cool stampings, too.


Looks like a job for next weekend…


It was 90* by 10am, so i have only a 2 hour "comfort" time in the morning. Humidity is bad though...

 

Rob,

Where did you buy your repro master cylinder? I've been eyeing the AC-Delco ones on Rockauto. Except i have 4-wheel dums..

Cheers,

Tony

 

Pirate Jack's rod and custom. http://www.piratejack.net/
It was the preferred authorized dealer by the maker of these repros.
It was 75 bucks to my door - no issues all with them.
I did paint the body with Eastwood's brake gray to keep the rust away.
I think they have an all drum version, too.

 

Hey, again, nice work. About the stamp have you considered cutting a potato and using it as a stamp? To me it seems kinda silly, but I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work. You're only stamping once anyway.

Very easy to try.

 

Hey Rob, I've been a follower of all your project threads and I have to say they have been very inforamative. I've been also following a guy who've been rehabing his Cutlass and posting them on Youtube . His first project is engine and suspension detail. Take a look, he has three videos thus far:

http://www.youtube.com/user/wsmcdowall#p/a/u/0/eVoFFYAEeVk

 

Knowing me I would eat the potato before I finished carving it...
I thought about cutting cardboard and gluing it on to a rubber chunk.

I may see how well the colors blend in the paint and see if i can just mask those off carefully.

 

Robb, you need a tilt column. I have a brand new rebuilt waiting to go in so I'm watching your progress. thx for the BST you're going though.

 

On Saturday, the starter was pulled, along with the torque converter cover.
Starter barely made it past the exhaust…


It looks original, with Delco Remy USA part number 1108386 2C20 but possibly rebuilt in the past, judging by this engraving:


Both parts were degunked and the plastic TC cover was cleaned with oven cleaner to remove the Georgia red dirt stains.


Some of the wiring was cleaned up and the firewall was prepared for painting, including final cleaning, masking, and sealing.
Another handful of bolts were degreased and derusted and my custom cardboard valve covers were cut down and taped in place. Hard to believe this was 5 hours worth – the heat must be making me slower, though it only hit 105 today…

Painting of the firewall took place at 730 am Sunday morning when I was finally able to get the sheetmetal below 88*. If any warmer, the finish is rough. This meant waking up at 530 to crack the garage door and crank up the overhead exhaust fan. I HATE getting up early on weekends! I hate opening the garage door when it is dark, because critters tend to wander in. Something is out there now with a glue trap stuck to it…

I used one good coat of Eastwood’s rust encapsulator on the firewall, which was about a quarter of a can. It has a shade and sheen very similar to the factory finish.
I used a shop vac to inhale the overspray, keeping the nozzle about 10” away from the area being painted. Exhaust fan helped to bring in fresh air and pump the fumy air out through the above turbine vent on the roof.
Here is before…


A few hours later I removed the most of the masking and had this for an end result.


While not perfect, I had to leave well enough alone – it was much better than the factory new finish though…
Work time was 1 hour.


Yes, I am SURE Mr. Robb needs a tilt column. Let's rag on him to get one! On the other hand, Rob does not - he prefers to leave his installed...

 

The finish looks good from the pictures Rob, what's wrong with it?

 

I guess if you cannot see it, I won't tell!
Actually, the compression of that last picture shows the black as multiple shades. I posted some below and I still see them - looks better in real life and my original pics.

 

Not much going on; it has been way too hot to keep motivation.

Last Monday, the starter and TC cover bolts and the positive battery cable tube were cleaned up and the tube clamp was removed for painting.

Wiper motor was removed, partially disassembled, inspected, cleaned up and paint touched up. New rubber mounting grommets were installed, as the originals were a hard crumbling mess.


Checked out the washer pump and all looks okay in there – seals and flaps still soft and flexible.

I had got the A/C hoses back from Old Air Products in Fort Worth, but was not too impressed on their work.
Before I sent them, they said they would restore my original ends, bead blast them and clear coat them to prevent corrosion.
In reality, they simply replaced the ends. The POA to compressor hose fittings were off by 90* so the hose must twist 90* so the fittings line up like they are supposed to. The muffler end was not touched at all.
Here they are out of the box…


A call to their customer service confirmed they did not do what they said they would do and pretty much blew off my problems. Just twist the hose they said… So in preparation for install, I twisted the hose and clamped it in position, and put it out in the sun on the hood of the car. It was 110* out in the shade, so that ought to help soften it up a bit. It seems to be working.


Some of the A/C compressor wiring and the A/C muffler was cleaned up with oven cleaner. This discolored the aluminum muff a little, but it removed the caked on crud and paint overspray. Some aluminum polish should brighten it up!

Next I checked the service port valves (where you hook up the charging hoses.)
These ports have little Schrader valves in them, much like a tire valve.
Over the decades, the rubber seals in them dry out and shrink and deteriorate, causing leaks.

These can be removed with a valve core removal tool - available anywhere auto or bicycle parts are sold.
The high side valve was just BARELY snug. The low side valve was loose - as in no snugness at all. In fact I thought my tool was not even on anything.
Upon removing them, the black seals were dry, hard, and breaking. The sealing surface had pits in them, too.
Heres what they looked like:


So I am convinced these were a cause of my major leaks. I am thinking that if I had snugged these up when I had just bought the car, I would have still had A/C for a little while. I do know the evap core was leaking, too, just because oil was dripping from it.
I will stop by the local A/C shop for some new valve cores. I doubt tire valves would be appropriate in an A/C system.
Lastly I spent 15 minutes polishing up the pretty brass high side port cover – looks like a gold nugget now!

So there goes another 3 hours…


A partial weekend…

Friday evening I masked off the lower front fenders with tape and paper in preparation to paint the insides black.
A forgotten compressor bracket was wirewheeled and cleaned up, and the condenser prepped for paint and more fins straightened. Those two hours flew by…

Saturday morning was a wash – literally. IT RAINED!!! A whole ¼” – the most we have seen in this friggen’ desert for the past 3 months! Temperature was lower afterwards but was humid as heck. I had to work this whole weekend so no big loss.

Sunday morning I was able to get out in the morning and spend an hour and a half on painting.
I sprayed the lower inner fenders with Eastwood’s rust encapsulator, like I did on the firewall. Matched the factory paint well. Shop vac helped suck in the overspray.
Also I painted some bolts, the battery cable tube clamp, a forgotten compressor bracket, and the condenser. The latter was done with Eastwood’s radiator satin black – made especially for radiators. Also I repainted the steering intermediate shaft with underhood black – the correct color.
Parts were stored in the shed with the A/C on 85, as it shot right back to 100+ again…

 

Send this thread to Old Air Products, and tell them that the Olds community now knows that their customer service sucks, and, unless they fix your stuff, no one else will buy from them.

 

That's a great idea, and it's not just Olds people who will read it either. This post will pop up on searches too....

.

 

Looks awesome.

 

Rob,

Thanks again for another great thread.

I think this may be the 3rd time you've been awarded Jamesbo's much coveted "Great Thread Award"

 

I like the wiper motor you have there!!! Very nice!

 

I thought about this, but the issues were not quite bad enough where I would raise heck about it. Anyone who finds this thread would hopefully know what they REALLY do. The overall replacement quality was good, sans the twisted end which the heat is fixing for me.
HOWEVER, the local corner AC shop would have charged me only half of what those ******** charged (incl shipping). I would have gone local if I knew part would just be replaced.

Thanks - it is finally taking shape!

It's about time to earn it on this one! Where have you been, anyway?
I need to get the "Sweaty Ape" award as well for doing this project in a record heat wave!!

It cleaned up very well - I was surprised. Note the "Made in USA" stamp on it. Did you see the brake booster and MC up above? I hate to even put those on the car...

 

Great job Rob!!!! I'm jealous.......

 

Yep, I never thought I would see this time…

Monday only gave me an hour of time before yard work, but was at least something…
The LH side cable clip on the firewall was first, then the fan relay, then the horn relay, then the voltage regulator, then the heated seats relay…

Some odd forgotten parts were cleaned and repaired, like the plastic firewall cable clip, negative battery cable strap, engine to body ground braid, and vacuum hose tee.
That plastic cable clip was so twisted and deformed, I used a binder clip to hold it in position and baked it in the toaster oven on 300* for 7 minutes. It’s back to normal now and was reinstalled…


I snuck in a couple more hours Tuesday to clean and rewrap the wiring harnesses with the wide non-stick tape. Also, one-by-one I restored the electrical connector terminals in critical areas like the HVAC blower circuit, regulator, and alternator.

Rob’s Skule of Terminal Repair
First terminal was removed by inseting a jeweler’s screwdriver into the connecter to release the terminal’s tab. Often you can feel the tool pop into place. The wire and term was then pulled out the bottom. The screwdriver was then used to pry back up the tab that was depressed. If not burned, the terminals just needed a quick hit with the wire brush on the dremel to remove dirt and old dielectric grease. They shined up like a new penny! I then reapplied dielectric grease on the contact area and poked the terminal back into the connector. Do them one by one so you know where each one goes.

Insert tool... Remove terminal...
Clean terminal... Grease terminal...
Insert terminal back into connector!

The A/C blower resistor connector crumbled in my hands while working on it, so I need to get a new one. I just discovered Rockauto has one for 6 bucks and 5 to ship.

So now I have some parts installed and some wiring connected – good news!


Now the bad news…
Classic Auto Air called me to let me know the evap core I sent to them is leaking like a sieve. It looked so good though! I know mine leaked from all the oil in the evap case. The guy there (Don) says this is a common case for these old evaps. So rather than trying to source a new old core, I think now the best solution is to just buy a new one for an extra 200 bucks. Geez…

Many thanks… I hope the end result is worth all this pain.

However I should envy you – the one with all the good weather to attend shows and win prizes.
I have been sweating my butt off for the past 2.5 months in temps of 100+ working on this thing, with no desire to actually go to a show because it is WAY too hot. I really look forward to winter…

 

Well, I just could not leave well enough alone… I kept the two-hours-a-day trend going this week but now I am pulling more parts off…
Wednesday the bottom plastic radiator seal and air dam was removed – darn filthy thing. A few more clips and such were pulled from the frame. Anyone know how to get the clip holding the tranny cooler lines to the frame??
I prepared some more parts for paint, like the A/C blower wheel (finally derusted), tranny dipstick, bolts and clips.
The tested and flushed condenser was brought in – looks much better after painting with Eastwoods radiator paint!


Thursday I decided the carb needed to come off in preparation to paint the engine. Then the choke tubes, then the fuel line…
The choke housing was about to fall off the carb – the screw used for that was the wrong size. This is a service carb that was monkeyed with long ago, but since it works, I will not rebuild it – just clean it a little and reinstall it.

The curse of the shrunken bolt…

After pulling the choke tubes out, I thought I would remove the choke stove, as it really needs replacement. The right ½” bolt came off after breaking it free from it’s rusty hold.
The left bolt is about the dumbest thing I have seen lately – a non-standard bolt head size! A ½” 6-point socket is too big. A 12mm is still too big. A 11mm and 7/16” is too small.
Nothing I tried fit it and would probably only round it. It is rusted solid, so vice grips did not work. Geez… It must be cursed from the shrunken head I have over the work bench…

My solution was to reinstall the right bolt and leave it alone. I did check the stove to make sure it did not leak in the manifold, so looks like it will stay as is.

The throttle cable end was wirebrushed and painted black.

So now the engine is as bare as it will get.


Lastly I went out and cleaned up the radiator lower seal / air dam with oven cleaner. As shown in the before-after pics, it came out great. Minimal scrubbing, too. The white streaks are part of the rubber that was used. In the background are the parts awaiting painting tomorrow.


I got a call from Classic auto air that my new evaporator was tested, expansion valve installed, and scheduled to ship on Monday – nice. I will see the damage report when the CC bill comes in next week...

 

If you have a welder you can weld a nut on top of that bolt. The heat from welding and a head you can get a socket to fit should get it right out.
It'ss one of theose things that once you start you are commited to finishing if the bolt snaps off. Maybe you did best by leaving it for now.

 

[QUOTE=B964;313605]If you have a welder you can weld a nut on top of that bolt. QUOTE]

I like that idea but the only issue I see is the current valve covers are not fireproof.

 

Neither is the manifold with Rob running a welder...
With that said, I do not have one and only used a spot welder - once. I made pretty little spots in sheet metal, more like holes. What did actually melt and stay intact looked more like what ducks leave on the dock...

Good idea of the nut trick tho.

 

Rob,
I had the same problem with some bolts on an exhaust manifold where i could not find a standard or metric socket to fit the bolt. I thought I was losing my mind. I went and bought some Grip Tite Super Sockets from Sears that are supposed to work with rounded bolt heads. They worked great! I was able to remove the rusted bolts with no problems at all. It was money well spent.
I am a big believer that you can never have too many tools!
Good Luck!
Jeff