Messages

4441

General Discussion / Re: Production Schedule around Holidays

« on: October 28, 2013, 03:56:32 PM »

I would imagine that auto manufacturers operated their plants the same as any 'heavy' manufacturing operation, except they also had the UAW, and it's contract, to deal with.     It's all about meeting demand, and making $$ (which means minimizing costs, and maximizing sales revenue)..

4442

Originality / Re: GM silver for Rally wheels.

« on: October 28, 2013, 03:37:36 PM »

Thanks for the info on the tumbling. Next question. A lot of the original wheels we have are date code senitive and some of the stamping can be very lite at times. Has anybody had problem with blasting or tumbling and loose any of the stamping? Also once your ready to powder coat and paint that coud make the stamping very hard to read and maybe not see it at all. Is anybody doing anything special to prevent this?

I do my own sandblasting, using an old 'Truman/TIP' sandblaster (100 lb model), and at a pressure under 100 psi (typically maybe 75 to 80 lbs), and I've always found the stamped codes come out easier to read than before.  But I'm sure if the sandblaster were operated at higher pressure, OR if the operator concentrated on one area too long it might possibly harm an original surface (One should keep it moving continuously, and come back to an area if it needs more cleaning than a once over will do).  Even if the wheel were very rusty, to the point that you could not read the stampings before the blasting, I would believe that careful blasting would aide the legibility, not harm it.

4443

Originality / Re: GM silver for Rally wheels.

« on: October 28, 2013, 03:29:10 PM »

The only such tumbler I've personally seen was quite a large one which a friend of mine had in his auto electric repair shop (they did alternators, starters, generators,etc).    Their tumbler was pretty large and had a 'rotating bracketry inside it which made the media and the parts move around as it rotated.   Their tumbler used like steel shot (beads) and a solvent, and they used it mostly to clean aluminum housing parts.  He once volunteered to do an aluminum manifold for me, and what I remember most is that it made a hell of a racket as the manifold tumbled around in there, but I also recall the manifold coming out very clean and nice.   I think a manifold would be about the largest item that would have fit inside the one he had...

4444

Restoration / Re: black on tailpan on ss cars

« on: October 28, 2013, 03:20:47 PM »

semi-gloss DOES have gloss (not full gloss), but something less.    Even "flat" has a small degree of gloss (as it's extremely difficult to achieve totally flat surfaces - re reflections).

During the last 60's/early 70's all of the American car makers used some 'non glossy' black accents on their performance cars.  in some cases, it was much much flatter than what Chevrolet used.  The problem with all of those 'non full gloss' paints is that just rubbing them, washing them, polishing them, etc... made them MORE glossy!    Have you ever seen the flat black paints after they've been washed, rubbed, etc for a number of years?   They look more glossy as a result of all that.

So, talking about how glossy, or non glossy, 44 yr old 'original' paint is NOW.. is subject to a LOT of error sources.  I'm old enough to remember how these early Camaros looked when new, and I owned some then, and had many friends with them as well.  I bought a new '70 RR, with a non-glossy black on the hood, and I remember like yesterday how difficult it was when polishing/waxing the car, NOT to get anything on the black portion, as it made it look ugly when you got polish or wax on the edges of the black hood.   A lot of people would just polish / wax the entire thing, for a consistent look, even though it totally changed the 'gloss level' as painted in the factory.   

4445

Restoration / Re: black on tailpan on ss cars

« on: October 28, 2013, 04:03:04 AM »

Charley, So close I can't tell any difference from your photos to things I've painted with it, given that there will be small differences in gloss based on conditions and how it's sprayed.

4446

Restoration / Re: Who makes the correct window fuzzies without the chrome bead?

« on: October 28, 2013, 04:01:05 AM »

The Repops 'authentics are a very close reproduction to the original for my '69 RS car (except the fuzzies were 'gone' on my originals' (my 69 RS has the round stainless bead)..

4447

Restoration / Re: black on tailpan on ss cars

« on: October 28, 2013, 03:27:54 AM »

........

  Not sure where that is coming fro but nobody is doubting if you owned one or not. As for satin or semigloss......those two are very close in sheen and unless someone has a gloss meter each person will interpert it differently, if not the same. In the end I think most would agree it was not gloss and was, in fact, semigloss/satin/egg shell....whatever terminology you want to use. I personally believe the GM reconditioning black paint is the correct gloss for firewall/RS rockers and tail blackouts.
[/quote]
Until better evidence presents itself, Mike..  I believe as you do..    reconditioning black... for all the 'black out' areas..

4448

General Discussion / Re: CRG t-shirts - How to order

« on: October 27, 2013, 04:22:48 AM »

Oh boy, can of worms about to pop open
 What colors are offered? Should they be pull over? Should they be zippered front? Should they have hoods? Can we get some without hoods? If pull over, do we want hood pull strings? Are they going to have pockets? Can we get zippered pockets? Can we get Velcro pockets? Hey... Can I get it without pockets? Can we get the end of the sleeves with or with out the reduced pattern that grips your wrist? Or just the straight sleeve end? And on and on and on....

    Good news is, my two shirts came and are great. JUST a bit small. But I should be losing more weight soon. They look great!! I appreciate the effort 

 NOW.. we know how much work Mr. Steve and family put into this... SO, I have an idea. Everybody that got a shirt, and is getting a shirt... Send a one dollar bill by mail to him. Cost ya a buck and a stamp. Not a buck a shirt, a buck an order. I have done this in the past with other group efforts like this. It works great. That way it just kinda knocks it down for the family. Maybe 50 bucks, maybe 20, maybe 100 in the gas tank, maybe towards some electrical or what ever?? Then when we order our sweat shirts we throw another buck their way. Come on guys, it's the least we can do. You know this whole thing is taking hours and hours to get all plugged in. And you know they are losing money on the deal. What say ya 'all? Just don't tell the Steve  .... Danny

I totally agree with you, Danny...  Steve's wife doesn't do this stuff for her health, and it's involving quite a bit of Steve's time as well (we're getting a fighter pilot doing our administrative stuff for us!)..     anyway, I think the price should be adjusted so they make a decent profit and pay for their time (just as his wife would on any other project), but I suspect Steve talked her into a 'good deal'..       All we have to do is order the right size..

4449

Restoration / Re: black on tailpan on ss cars

« on: October 27, 2013, 04:12:36 AM »

Just came upon this site and decided to add my 2 cents (well 2 cents in '68....probably a quarter today) Anyway, read a lot of posts about the gloss and semi-gloss debate and from what I can tell almost all, if not all, are opinions. Hope this will set the record straight as I actually ordered a new 1968 RS/SS 396 Camaro from Southeast Chevrolet (it no longer exists) on Broadway Ave in Cleveland, Ohio in February of 1968 and it arrived in May. Bottom line................The tailpan was painted a Satin Black when it arrived at the dealership. It was a real striking contrast to the LeMans Blue color on the car. So, unless someone else "Actually ordered" and picked up a new 1968 396 Camaro please consider it an opinion as my statement is fact. Thanks for the opportunity to clear up the debate on this subject.

I think you are right; I totally agree with you as that is what I recall from new ones at that time..  'glossy' black on the tailpan would have really stood out too much, and my mind remembers 'satin'.      Don't you have a pix or two from the first day you bought it? S*

4450

General Discussion / Re: original paint 69 Z on ebay... "survivor"

« on: October 26, 2013, 05:44:35 PM »

That's a perfect plan..   and I totally agree on being 'easy and careful' with the compound step, given the softness and age of the acrylic lacquer used..    Good luck!..  and please don't do any unnecessary 'improvements' of the original aspects of the car.. 

4451

6-cylinder Camaros / Re: Upgrading a 230 to a 250

« on: October 26, 2013, 05:20:55 PM »

I haven't ridden in a 230 car (that I can recall), but I do clearly recall riding in a friend's new '69 Camaro with the 250 ci (3 spd) back in 69, and it impressed me with how it performed.. (similar to a base V8 I thought)..

4452

General Discussion / Re: CRG t-shirts - How to order

« on: October 26, 2013, 05:18:13 PM »

Hi Steve,

Someone recently asked about sweatshirts; since it is almost wintertime here (been in the 30's in Alabama!), I'd be interested in one also (if you were to include them)...     (even if just for the small front pocket print)...

4453

General Discussion / 67 Z28 sold at auction last weekend?

« on: October 26, 2013, 05:15:46 PM »

http://www.bransonauction.com/node/3461

The link is for a 'restored' '67 Z28 (restoration aided by Jerry M. per the ad), that sold at auction in Branson MO last weekend.  Does anyone have any further info on this car?  Or what it sold for at auction?

4454

General Discussion / Re: original paint 69 Z on ebay... "survivor"

« on: October 26, 2013, 05:14:00 PM »

The polishing compound would be a good first try, and when you've achieved what you are after, then I'd wax it good to preserve what's left.  In fact, polishing the entire car and then waxing it well is what I'd do to preserve what you have...  A 44 yr old car with original paint is going to have some flaws, but.. those kinds of flaws are 'signs of character'.. *S*    sometimes the fixes for small blemishes can be worse than the blemish..  

4455

Originality / Re: 69Z trim rings - late build car

« on: October 25, 2013, 03:54:17 PM »

My '68 and '69 Z28s had the 4-clip style when I purchased them in the '70's.   at that time, the 4 clip style was the only kind I'd ever seen on original Z28s.   Monte Carlos also used a 15x7 inch rallye wheel from '70 thru '77 which also had similar trim rings (looked pretty identical but were held on by the 'continuous fingers'..    I purchased a new MC in '77, and by then my Camaro trims had a few dents/scrapes around the periphery, and at one time, I *swapped* the trims between the cars (because I wanted the Camaro to look 'better'.         Before I sold the MC, I awoke, and swapped back the trims (fortunately) because by then I was becoming concerned about the 'originality' aspects of early Z28s, knowing that would be an issue as time went on..  so my wheels also have 'marks' from both styles of trim rings, and I'd bet (with the numbers of MC s sold over the years, that sort of thing happened a lot, both with original Z28s and with the thousands of 'clones'...).
PS:  The '70 MC *may* have used the same 4-clip style rings, but I'm positive that by '73 or so, the MCs had the continuous finger style), but I don't know exactly when that changed.