Messages

1291

Restoration / Re: New body?

« on: July 27, 2014, 04:46:03 AM »

Friend of mine sent his '67 ragtop body to NC and had it (nearly) completely rebodied a couple of years back, at a cost of nearly $13K. He has since put a tremendous number of hours straightening, regapping, and replacing what was supposed to be perfect when it came back. He has made a straighter car out of what someone else claimed to have completed, but he also states he would never repeat what he has just gone through. His convertible body reminded me a lot of your coupe before it went out for work -

Reason he didn't want a Dynacorn - he wanted the car to be at least partly original, but I think he has changed his mind a bit. If it were mine, I do believe before spending that kind of coin on replacing parts, I would have capitulated and gone Dynacorn. He would have been finished with the car by now, and would have enjoyed driving it sooner if he had. My vote - transfer the tags legally, and go with the Dynacorn body. You'll not have to worry about what's happening between the seams in your bruised '69 -

Just my opinion -

1292

Decoding/Numbers / Re: Decoding a Pace

« on: July 26, 2014, 04:51:11 AM »

Yes, again just my opinion and I'm not really in the loop with the latest price guides and auction results for pace cars but I believe a real, original docs, numbers matching big block, non A/C, Z/11 (especially a 4 spd car) is worth 10K more than an equivalent small block pace with A/C. I think that is a fair number.
Without giving away the location of the cars you are looking at do you have any more info or photos that you can share as far as condition and options
to compare with?

I don't disagree with the worth of a BB in comparison to an A/C equipped SB Z-11, but I would make dang sure it was an original BB car before I turned down a SB w/ A/C in deference to a made-up BB. Too many transplants around to try and make more money from the unsuspecting and/or enthusiastic buyer. I like the ability to roll up the windows and cruise in comfort (especially since my age has crept up on me).

1293

Decoding/Numbers / Re: Decoding a Pace

« on: July 26, 2014, 04:38:04 AM »

On a local level, of the three Pacers that were owned in this area, two had A/C, one did not. All three are small blocks.

I believe I knew 2 of those local cars personally..   

And the other one casually, whether you've actually seen it or not -

1294

Decoding/Numbers / Re: Decoding a Pace

« on: July 25, 2014, 06:26:37 PM »

Good question. I'll take my shot; then others can shoot at me -

Out of all the 1969 production Camaros, roughly 18% were equipped with C60 air conditioning. You can bet the percentage of convertibles w/ A/C was a lot lower, maybe 10% ? Less ? Good time for the numbers gurus in residence -

6.5% of total production (15,866) were V-8 convertibles. Of that number, 23% (3675) were Pace Cars. If you assume (I don't like the word, but there it is) 10% of Pacers were A/C cars, you would get about 367 total. How many big blocks ? roughly 200-300 from what I have read - if you apply the same formula to big 'uns as little 'uns, you'd get about 20-30. Rule out the 375 horse cars from the mix, cause solid lifter cars could not be A/C equipped by rule. My estimation - a lot lower number than that on both sides of displacement combinations. Probably saw very few in the northern climes, more in the south and southwest (which is one of the reasons I believe my Z11 was fortunate). I have seen a couple that had dealer-added underdash air, but it's uncertain at what point people added them. On a local level, of the three Pacers that were owned in this area, two had A/C, one did not. All three are small blocks.

This is conjecture on my part. I would have rather you asked how many had the ZL2 hood (lol) - we know that percentage !

Other opinions ?

Regards -

1295

Decoding/Numbers / Re: Decoding a Pace

« on: July 25, 2014, 12:16:22 AM »

One shot you might try. Depending on your state, your DMV might have saved copies of your dealer invoice, title copies and even the MSO if your car was sold new in your state. I was fortunate to have both my '69 Z and '68 Z's complete history, including dealer invoices and MSO's copied by the state, and microfiched. Cost to copy and give to me - $5.00 for the '69, $15.00 for the '68 (years later). The bad side - TN stopped doing this several years back due to "lack of funding for personnel overtime". Stinks.

You can always try it - might get lucky. If you do, backtrack the previous owners and/or dealerships involved. You never know - takes a lot of work, but it could really pay off in the long run -

Regards, and good luck. Keep us informed -

1296

Decoding/Numbers / Re: Decoding a Pace

« on: July 24, 2014, 09:35:49 PM »

BTW, the tag looks O.K, with the exception of the masked paint line on the cowl ledge. I assume the car has been painted, at least in the firewall/underhood area. A/C box intact, or removed ?

VIN looks unmolested, plus all the numbers line up with mine. The only other things you can't know for sure are the options, but at least the production timing of the car, TT, and VIN line up fairly well. The chances of someone finding a close TT and installing on this close VIN'd car are pretty remote IMO.

Regards - 

1297

Decoding/Numbers / Re: Decoding a Pace

« on: July 24, 2014, 09:18:09 PM »

It should look like this - 600+ cars ahead of mine, 973 from the body tag. My car was built 3/26, shipped to Texas. 350/350, PS,PT,PDB,A/C car. Probably same day, or a day off. Not bad -

Close enough ? I thought so -

Use Light Image Resizer software, free download. Save it as a jpeg, downsize to 800X600, or 600X480, and you can transfer them all day.

1298

General Discussion / Re: Anyone in or from the Austin, Texas area?

« on: July 24, 2014, 03:11:40 AM »

Reckon the TXDOT could back trace the old tag (shown in the first series) ? Be interesting to see if they could match a VIN up from old records with the tag - bet they could.

Keep on 'vestigating -

Regards -

1299

General Discussion / Re: any of you ever sued over a car you bought

« on: July 23, 2014, 02:52:02 AM »

If you do decide to pursue legal action, do your homework. Some states permit double, triple or quadruple damages in civil cases like this - I know of a guy that sent one across state lines, misrepresented the car, lost the out-of-state legal battle and paid a lot more than what he had sold the car for originally in his loss. It would have been a lot cheaper for him to have taken the car back (about a $75K car, ended up paying out somewhere around $250K if I remember correctly). Like a lot of the guys have mentioned, I'd hate to have to drag somebody into court, but if you have a chance of recovering your money, you could at least ask for some legal advice to see if you have a leg to stand on. Good luck -

Regards -

1300

General Discussion / Re: Anyone in or from the Austin, Texas area?

« on: July 23, 2014, 02:29:12 AM »

What's the latest ? Just curious to see if the owner found anything else out. Great potential story line -

Regards,
Steve

1301

Maintenance / Re: Running Hot?

« on: July 20, 2014, 01:40:43 AM »

Temp gauge is in the head. I always ran an aftermarket Stewart Warner in the intake close to the water outlet, mechanical gauge. 180 thermostat would always give me 180, no more.

Check your fan clutch, run a dose of cleaner through the whole system, dump and refill with 50-50 Prestone or equivalent. Older radiators over time will build up an incredible amount of scale in the lower tubes: if you haven't rebuilt the core, you might do so if all of the other remedies don't affect it. Drop in a new thermostat when you clean the system, and always run a thermostat - the restriction it offers to water flow slows down the flow enough to let it pick up more heat for transfer at the radiator. After you have checked all of the above, get yourself an inexpensive infrared handheld thermometer and check the radiator, engine block and heads for hot spots. Rebuild your water pump if you're unsure of it - sometimes the impeller can wear down and lose efficiency over time. You can also use "water wetter" additives, that allow the water to pick up more heat as it flows through the system.

Did you use block off plates for the heat riser ports on the manifold gasket ? I always do to keep the temp away from the carb and gas. Check your mixture, especially if you are running a working A.I.R. pump - too lean on today's gas can make 'em run hotter, too.

One thing I hate is an engine to run warm - I don't like to think of what heat does to an engine for life expectancy -

Regards -

1302

Originality / Re: N34 Rosewood Question?

« on: July 19, 2014, 06:20:47 PM »

Mine was a dark reddish brown. Stored for 25+ years inside, looked the same as when I bought it in the 80's. Wish I had taken the pics in natural lighting setting rather than indoors - 

Regards -

1303

Maintenance / Re: HURST COMP. PLUS SHIFTER LOOSE LINKAGE FOR M-21

« on: July 08, 2014, 11:50:35 PM »

Unsure of your description - are you looking for the spring clips/bushings http://www.summitracing.com/parts/huu-3327302 ?

Only clips short of the shifter handle shims I could think of -

1304

Restoration / Re: 1111467 distributor

« on: July 07, 2014, 02:26:39 AM »

To me, a "comfortable" date range is possibly mid-February to mid-March, not much closer than 10 days prior to build. I know there are some closer examples, and probably some farther out, but of all the ones I have seen and read about this range appears to be pretty inclusive. Probably varies a little by year, and bears some similarities to carb and alternator dates.

Just my 2 cents -

Regards

1305

Decoding/Numbers / Re: Frt Bumper Stamp

« on: July 05, 2014, 11:03:40 PM »

Gary,

Nope - stamped right into the bumper, definitely not an ink stamp. First one I had ever seen. I looked at my '69 bumpers, including an NOS one, and did not see any stamping whatsoever. My guess is that the vendor for '68 bumpers, or one of them, stamped their production bumpers: maybe the vendor changed after '68, or changed their process not to include stamping production dates.

Whoever has the car now has the evidence still attached if the bumper is still on the car. Advance Plating in Nashville did the deed(s).

As a sidebar, this bumper went through three plating events. First time, too much copper was used; beautiful job, but soft to the point the guards dimpled the chrome during installation. Redo the second time produced a "blonde" spot where the nickel showed through, third time was the charm. I wouldn't have touched them in the first place if it was my car, but the then-owner insisted on perfection (in his eyes). Pretty vehicle, regardless -