Gottcha Gary. I thought that is what you meant. Up where I live, she is considered "petite" Yea, we got a lot of Corn fed Holsteins up here,lol. Was going to tell you that was my wife!, but if she found out, getting my car done would be the least of my worries,lol.

Hilarious - I'm sorry I missed it. Inappropriate for the site maybe, but your sense of humor is spot on. Hand it to you, I would have never suspected that misspelling "bumper" could have such an impact.

Regards - and thanks for the laugh !

Nice sanding job on the tag. You can cover up a lot of ills by destroying appearances, sometimes.

More concerning to me - how many Norwood Camaros after January had the VIN stamped on the deck ? New guy on the line, maybe didn't realize that it was a hassle to remove the alternator to stamp the VIN ?

Revolting gray paint on the spindles. All in all, somebody spent a lot of time on this car - it's pretty - but a lot of details need to be corrected. At the bid level, somebody's interested -

I've got to inspect my Z when I get home - I've always wondered what "bumbers" were -

Regards -

...  parts deleted.....
Gotta remember, lubricants after 40 years or so tend to set up like concrete -
Regards

Good point Steve; any ideas for freeing up a 'stuck pinion' in a '57 Chevy rear end?     10 days ago, I decided to resurrect the restoration of my '57 Nomad which was 'suspended around 20 yrs ago), and the past few days, I've been cleaning, priming, etc.. preparing to paint all the Frame/suspension items, and I found out yesterday that the pinion will not turn.  It worked when it was stored away in my 'dry' garage...??   Does anyone have any suggestions or tips?   I can only think of two 1) a large deadblow hammer to break it loose, and then 'try' it, or 2) a total 'chunk rebuild'...

I'd try gently working it from the pinion flange back and forth until you free it - too big a wallop will not do the bearings or seals any good. I actually had the opposite of this happen many years ago - the nut on the pinion loosened up on me while driving back from school in my '57 Belair, and caused the pinion to contact the ring gear carrier pretty violently when I let off on the gas. Sounded like a pavement grinder - scared me to death. Dropped the pumpkin out and found the problem, cleaned it up, re-torqued the pinion, and drove it 'till I sold it 4 years later, when I bought my X77.

Don't do like I did - dropped the pumpkin on my hand when I was trying to break the seal - wrist still bothers me 44 years later.

By the way - did you say that the rear is out from under the car, or still hung with wheels/tires in place ? Brake drums rusted to the shoes if they are there ?

My suggestion - it's likely the lock pin that locks the steering wheel is frozen in the upper casting where it has to slide into the lock plate. I've seen this before - you can't turn the lower locking lever on the column until you get this freed up. Cause of the problem: either dry lubricant, no lubricant, and dissimilar metals/corrosion (steel pin, aluminum casting). Take the steering wheel off, the upper cover if equipped, locate the pin where it comes out of the casting to interface with the lock plate, and shoot it with WD40, PB Blaster, Kroil Oil, or another rust corrosion breaker, and work the lower lever until it's free. Betcha it solves your key problem (it did for me). Gotta remember, lubricants after 40 years or so tend to set up like concrete -

Steve,

I had the steering wheel off recently and when I turn the key to the on position that little pin drops down into the column so I can then move the steering wheel. Are you talking about this same pin? Does this pin suppose to drop further into the column beyond the locking plate?

Thanks

Regards

If the pin moves freely, try moving the lever itself and see if the pin moves with it. If not, the gear actuator is probably messed up (broken gear tooth, or dry lubricant also). If it refuses to move, I'd say a teardown is in order to isolate it.

Also, sometimes the intermediate column (what the lever is part of) could be damaged, or rusted. Disassembly might be advisable just to inspect/clean/lube and assemble. I think the Chassis Service Manual might be of benefit to you if you have one -

Regards (and let us know what gives) -

My suggestion - it's likely the lock pin that locks the steering wheel is frozen in the upper casting where it has to slide into the lock plate. I've seen this before - you can't turn the lower locking lever on the column until you get this freed up. Cause of the problem: either dry lubricant, no lubricant, and dissimilar metals/corrosion (steel pin, aluminum casting). Take the steering wheel off, the upper cover if equipped, locate the pin where it comes out of the casting to interface with the lock plate, and shoot it with WD40, PB Blaster, Kroil Oil, or another rust corrosion breaker, and work the lower lever until it's free. Betcha it solves your key problem (it did for me). Gotta remember, lubricants after 40 years or so tend to set up like concrete -

Regards

I use to think I was upper middle class up to about 2000, but in reality it's more lower middle class now. Boy, I can't wait to see what it's going to be like when I OFFICIALLY retire in 2 years. I'm semi retired now and it sucks. 

I'm in the same boat, except that retirement is getting farther away rather than closer. I'll have to work 'till I'm 90 to pay off the college bills and eveything else - then maybe I can restart my "hobby" (also read as "affliction").

Amen. Those with money seem to be a smaller sample size than the ones without -

After the 3rd or 4th time getting stopped I installed a toggle switch under the dash and when the tailgaters were loose at night I would just flip the lights off and on to get them to back off.

Lot of guys did that - I never got around to doing it myself, but instead opted to find the parts to replace the backdrive linkage. Now if I can only find time to assemble the car around it -

I think I'd be tempted to try electrolysis. It won't hurt the galvanized surface (unless the rust is underneath the plating), but it will remove the rust. Works well on thin parts, too. Plenty of info on this process on line.

Chemical rust removal would probably work as well - I'm just not sure about what the reaction of zinc/galvanized surfaces would be.   

Marry it with this one in the local CL for $20K firm, and you might have the start of a recognizeable car - hilarious.

I don't recall seeing it, but it is local. Fact, it's been on there for some time (wonder why ?).



Should I know this car?  For some reason it looks familiar..??..

Mine did the same thing. Local cops used to hassle me about it, so I looped a piece of wire over the column to hold the lever in the right position. Thought it looked cool anyway -

As I stated earlier,a little stupidity will go a long way. I am now afraid to go look at the supposedly "original" tilt wheel I bought and installed in the early 80s. I will blame this on Al Gore for not " inventing "the Internet earlier. Yes that's it,that's why I screwed up an original 1969 Lemans Blue X-55 SS 350 by turning it into a White Z 28/RS. There was no Internet ! Now you guys make me feel like a real idiot. Thanks to this site and all you guys for putting me on the right path to a correct restoration of my Camaro! Good luck to all on your projects!

I don't care what you say, I still like you and your car...just don't mention that A*****e, Al Gore on the site again.lol.

Ya'll stop dissing my neighbor (he grew up in the county next to mine). The only thing he's guilty of (lately) is causing global warming. Hot this winter, wasn't it ?

Gas line ? Should be 3/8 single. Speedo clip on firewall ? Muncie location. Bulkhead crayon marks behind rear seat ? X3 might be there. Disc brake backing plate tags ? Long shot, but not always messed with.

Brake line under drivers door - one piece or residual valve (not always an indicator, but my X77 is a one piece, 01C January car).

4 leafs helps, but with no paperwork it still a guess. Intact TT is good. Post pics !

I've got a set of NOS outers if you need some detailed pics. Outer fuzzies for '68 upper door molds if you need a look at those, too.

Steve

Send them to me and i'll lay them side by side with the PUI's and take some good photos..       

I may wear overalls occasionally, and go barefoot, but I didn't fall off the turnip wagon yesterday - I do have some Mushrat parts I could send instead -

..       Would that be an FMC product? 

FoMoCo, originators of the Rustang. Actually, I don't mind the early ones, I just grew up not being able to pronounce car companies that started with "F", even with four letters -

I've got a set of NOS outers if you need some detailed pics. Outer fuzzies for '68 upper door molds if you need a look at those, too.

Steve

Send them to me and i'll lay them side by side with the PUI's and take some good photos..       

I may wear overalls occasionally, and go barefoot, but I didn't fall off the turnip wagon yesterday - I do have some Mushrat parts I could send instead -