Topics

1

Originality / U79 Rear Speaker Mounting

« on: November 13, 2021, 09:10:27 PM »

Can anyone describe or point me in the right direction as to how the rear speakers were mounted?  The passenger side with the hey holes match a a typical modern 6X9 pattern but the driver's side holes don't match.

Is this what is used to mount the passenger side?
 

2

Decoding/Numbers / Body Date Codes for August - November of 68 and 69 Calendar Years

« on: November 08, 2020, 01:11:17 AM »

I see build dates freely thrown around all the time in discussions but what about these the four months of 68 and 69?  I know you can refer to the VIN to determine which calendar year we are talking about.

But when someone mentions only 09B, for instance, I start to scratch my head and wonder what year are we talking about here??  I guess I have to determine the context of the actual subject I suppose.

Thanks!

3

Originality / One More 69 Z/28 Stripe Question...

« on: November 07, 2020, 05:39:35 PM »

I've researched this to no end but I am still fuzzy on one thing:

On a 01B NOR car are the decklid stripes the 68 narrow-spaced stripes?  I saw a reference somewhere that "early" cars were the narrow style but had it didn't specify a date.

4

Maintenance / Backing Plate Parking Brake Cable Holes Too Small

« on: March 07, 2020, 12:29:53 AM »

Anybody run into this? The parking brake cables will not fit into the backing plate holes. Either the hole is too small or the cable end is too big. I wouldn't mind drilling out the hole if I knew for a fact that the hole was not the proper diameter.

Does anybody have a plate laying around that they could measure for me?

5

Originality / Ignition Coil ID

« on: February 06, 2020, 10:42:53 PM »

I have a coil that is on a 68 Firebird 400. Since it's a Delco-Remy I was hoping it would apply to most GM vehicles.

The numbers embossed on it are:
410
8-R

Does anyone know if this is original for this car? How does one decode this?

6

Originality / Water Pump Back Plate Bolts, SBC

« on: February 02, 2020, 02:48:14 PM »

Did these 1/4-20 bolts have a specific marking on the head when originally assembled at the factory? I have two 3953692 pumps and both have a mixture of different head markings.  All are the real close in their design/shape with captured tooth washers.  They have been rebuilt in past so who knows which are correct.

I see in the research topic that the pics shown their the bolts appear to be all different too.

7

Restoration / SBC Plug Wire Routing Pics

« on: May 24, 2016, 01:52:31 AM »

I'd like to detail my 69 small block with original style plug wire separators.  Does anybody have some pics stashed away from one of your projects?  I could use some pics of the engine out of the car with close ups of the routing and the type of separators used.

Thanks!

8

General Discussion / Door Latch Rods

« on: June 07, 2015, 09:01:33 PM »

Did a search with no luck. Can someone explain or has pictures of the door handle/latch rods for a 69? (preferably installed) I have the rods from two cars and they both have the same peculiarities.

The pics show two rusty original ones on the inside, (they've never been removed from the latches) and two black ones from another car on the outside. The rods on the right are the driver's side. Since the ends are flat on the driver's side they are the only ones that will fit in the slot on the door handle mechanism. Everything I read is that both sides are the same; standard and deluxe interior. As you can see, both pairs are close to mirror images in addition to being slightly clocked differently. I was depending on the originals to be correct for use as an example. So now I'm totally confused!

What gives?

9

Maintenance / Loose Wrist Pin In Rod

« on: April 22, 2013, 11:18:39 PM »

What would cause a wrist pin to come loose in the rod? The engine developed a knock and upon tear down I found that the wrist pin had moved back against the cylinder wall and gouged two grooves in it. It's a stock build with 9.5 pistons and a mild cam. The engine has 1,000 miles on it since a complete rebuild.

A little background:

There have been two sets of pistons installed recently. The first set was during the first rebuild, 7,000 miles ago. The second set was after the engine overheated and the engine rebuilt again. The overheating caused piston and cylinder scuffing on two cylinders. The majority of the damage was with the same cylinder as the loose pin. The adjacent cylinder also had a little bit less scuffing.

I'm thinking the overheating had something to do with it. I'm wondering if the machine shop should have detected a little bit less force required to remove the damaged piston. I'm sure if the overheating did in fact cause the loose pin, it should have been noticed then.

At this time, the pin is loose enough to be pushed out with light tapping.

Any ideas? Thanks!

10

Restoration / Window Crank Questions

« on: March 05, 2013, 05:53:59 PM »

I have a few questions concerning the front window cranks on a 68 Firebird with a black custom interior.  I did a search and the responses were all over the place, so I'm hoping another try will help.  I'm hoping the Camaro and Firebird were the same in this area.

1.  Are the cranks different (more arch) on the custom door panels compared to the standard panels?  I was hoping someone could provide pics of cranks that are known to be original/correct of the two interiors.
2.  What color should the knobs be?
3.  I've seen window crank springs in catalogs.  Do they go over or under the panels?  What's their purpose?

It seems like this would make a good research topic. 

Thanks everyone!

Larry

11

Restoration / Matching Hood and Fender Contours

« on: January 15, 2013, 05:03:22 PM »

I've been rereading John Hinkley's report on the Camaro assembly process.  I noticed that he says the fender inner braces/reinforcements were welded to the skin in a fixture to match the hood contour.

Would this be a good way to match the hood and fender contours of repro pieces?  Last time I did this was to bang, pry, jump, etc, on the hood to match the fenders.  Worked out pretty good in the end but I wonder if breaking the spotwelds on the inner braces/fenders to align them to the hood instead of vice versa would be easier.

12

Originality / Power Feed Wire Color

« on: February 24, 2012, 04:05:59 AM »

Quick Question: On original battery cables, what color is the power feed wire that goes from the positive battery terminal to the junction block?  Red or Black?

Larry

13

Restoration / Plastic Repair

« on: February 22, 2012, 02:30:44 AM »

On the grille of my 69 there are a few irregularities, such as pits and low/wavy areas on the surfaces.  What would be a good filler to use on it, which I assume is ABS?

I heard of 3m Rigid Parts Repair.  Does that work OK when used to feather out these areas?

Thanks!

Larry

14

General Discussion / 69 Quarter Louver Fit

« on: October 12, 2011, 02:39:19 AM »

I just did a test fit by placing the louvers over the sheetmetal louver indentations and noticed that they didn't seem to align very well.  If I line up the vertical bars to the sheetmetal indentations, the tops and bottom aren't horizontal.  The top looks worse than the bottom.

I can't be sure if it's the louvers or the sheetmetal indentations are crooked.  Has anybody run into this problem?

Larry

15

Mild Modifications / Cabin Air Filter Mod

« on: October 03, 2011, 08:06:54 PM »

Has anybody tried or heard of adding a cabin filter to their car? After working my butt off building a clean and "new" vehicle, it sure would be nice if maybe this would keep a little bit of the dust out.

I was thinking of modifying the kick panel vents to accept an over the counter filter. One concern is the possibility of it getting wet and how much the air flow would be restricted.

Any thoughts?