Topics

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?

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!

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.

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?

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?

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.

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!

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?

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!

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

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.

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

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

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

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?

I've been seaching but haven't found anyone who sells smoothed bumpers.  I saw what Year One has, but they aren't chromed.

I thought this was a popular mod so I figured they would be easy to find.

I suppose I could mod them myself and get them rechromed, but I was hoping for an easier and cheaper solution.

Anyone know who sells them?

I have a 10 bolt bare housing allegedly out of a first gen. The flange to flange dimension is 54.5" and the perches are 42 5/8".

Is there a way to determine if it's an 8.125" (8.2?) or an 8.5" ring gear?

Do my flange and perch measurements correspond to a first gen rear end? I would imagine if the measurements are for a second gen then the gear would be an 8.5", correct?

BTW, the brake hose bracket is welded to the driver's side axle tube instead of bolting to the top of the cover.  The only axle code I could decipher is "TAC"  The rest looks like it has been ground off.  The "webs" on the pumpkin aren't large enough for the casting date or casting number.

Tomorrow, I will be looking at a 69 for a possible purchase.  The rear of the car, (quarters, wheel housings, rear panel, deck filler panel, and full trunk floor) was removed.  The front of the frame rails were left attached to the body.  The panels are now installed and the rear of the body is now complete.

What would be some quick and simple checks to insure the body dimensions are still within specs?  I would imagine with all of those pieces removed, there would have been a possibility of twisting, out of square issues, etc.  It's a roller at the moment.

I thought of using a plumb to check for squareness.  I know what the datum line measurements are but I'm not sure how to use them to detect twisting.

Thanks for any tips you can offer!

Larry

Can someone tell me where the headlight ground terminals are located on a 68? I know I can attach them anywhere, but if I'm able to know the correct location, I might as well do it right as the factory had it.

Thanks!

Larry

I've run into an interesting problem. On my 68 Firebird the leaf springs were replaced at one point in it's life from the factory (I think) 5 leaves, to 6 leaves. This didn't leave enough room inside the perch and shock plate. They torqued the hell out of the bolts until the plates were bent and the rubber squeezed to nothing. There was still a considerable gap between the plate and perch.

I removed one leaf, about 12" long, from the bottom, and added a 1/4" shim between the perch and plate. Now, the new rubber has a nice clamping pressure without too much distortion.

I also sandblasted the springs and painted them. I didn't take the leaves apart. You can see the before and after pics below.

Now the car sits way too high. They are almost at the limits of the shock travel. The shackle and front mount bolts are still loose.

That's all I did. I can't think of any reason why the springs are not compressing like they used to. Anybody have some suggestions as to why this is happening?

Would someone possibly know what this bracket is for that is riveted to the housing next to the expansion valve? I can't remember if I ever saw anything attached to it. All my pre dis-assembly pictures show it to be unused.

Also, is there anything that keeps the coiled copper lines on the expansion valve from vibrating? They are pretty flimsy. They are just hanging out in the middle of nowhere. I haven't seen any pictures that show what would hold them.

I am rebuilding the evaporator asembly on the 68. Could someone check their original and see if the housing is painted? My original plan was to remove what I thought was someone elses repairs and paint job and leave it bare.

So far, I used paint stripper and then scuffed the surface with red scotch-brite. After spraying on a satin clear coat, it looks very nice. The bare surface is a very dark gray color with the fibers showing.

Thanks!

Larry

I am trying to determine how the jack in stored in a 68 Firebird with a space saver tire.  I have read about references to brackets that are welded to the trunk floor that properly locate the jack, but haven't seen any pictures.  I don't have any brackets in the trunk of the 68 I'm working on.

I have a 69 AIM somewhere but don't know if it would be the same for 68.

I have seen a couple references that the Camaro's wheel is gray.  But, it seems that the Firebirds are tan, according to the First Gen Firebird site.

Did they really go to the trouble of installing different color spares in the Camaro and Firebird? Seems like this would be one of those universal parts for both cars.

I have a 68 Firebird and I am trying to determine if it should be gray or tan.

What is the finish of the tail light housings on a 68 non-RS?

The reflectors inside of my housings are a dull chrome/aluminized plating.  Was the entire housing finished this way?

After stripping the exterior of the housing of paint and other crud with paint stripper, I was left with a dull, bare metal surface.  The interior reflector finish was unaffected by the stripper.