The New, Newer Project: Part Tres... - Page 10

**njsteve** · #1 09-21-2013, 01:22 AM

And before you ask...there is no way in hell that I will be driving on these tires. The recalled Firestone 500 Steel Radials are known to explode while just sitting, on display. There are several first hand accounts of Corvette owners experiencing these tires self destructing while stowed in the underbody trunk wells of mid 1970's Corvettes. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/no.gif[/img]

The car will be on display at the Musclecar and Corvette Nationals (MCACN.com) this November. I will be bringing them with me to mount on the car when we arrive. I won't chance the car jouncing in a trailer for 800 miles on these tires. They are like hand grenades with loose pins.

**napa68** · #2 09-26-2013, 11:08 PM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: njsteve</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I want to give a shout out to members "KevinW" in NJ, who found the Milwaukee craigslist ad for two NOS tires, and "67442" (Paul) in Wisconsin who then proceeded to play the middleman and run down to the seller's shop and pick up the tires for me and then wrapped and shipped them to me. I now have a full display set of 1973 date coded Firestone 500 Radials. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

The original spare (in the middle) and the two original tires (on the left) from the car are date coded the 18th week (late April) of 1973. The two NOS tires on the right were produced during the 25th week (mid June) of 1973, which makes them all perfect for the late July built car. And best of all they all have the unique, early 1973 white Firestone shield logo which was discontinued in late 1973.

I also got a tip from Paul on how to get rid of that white waxy stuff on the tire surface that no solvent would remove. Paul said it was the original mold release material that outgasses from the rubber over time. He recommended using a hair dryer to melt it and to let it soak back in. I used a heat gun set on low and whodathought but it worked great! I would heat the stuff and it would instantly melt into a glossy liquid which could be wiped away. Then another application of heat and the remainder would soak back into the tire!

Here is the original spare before:

And after using the heat. (disregard the white in the treads, that is tire dressing that hasn't soaked in yet)

</div></div>

I just found out who you bought those from. I was telling the story about your car to a customer of mine and WHAM....................the world got a little smaller.

**KevinW** · #3 09-21-2013, 03:09 AM

Thats great Steve! Glad it worked out. looking great as usual!

**Xplantdad** · #4 09-21-2013, 03:19 AM

That's cool...Yenko.net members helping each other out!

**napa68** · #5 09-21-2013, 05:59 PM

The power of cheese [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

**njsteve** · #6 09-22-2013, 02:26 AM

I rebuilt the original 7043270 carb last night. All of the jets and metering rods were the factory installed pieces. No one had messed with the internals. I installed one of Cliff's accelerator pumps, and high flow .135 needle and seat assemblies. Threw on some new gaskets and replaced the float which swelled and was wedged in the down position. So I was rather glad I opened the carb up to check how things were inside, after all. Also all the screws were barely tightened - I guess the gaskets shrunk after 40 years.

She runs great! It's hard to keep any traction when hitting the gas from a standing start!

**Xplantdad** · #7 09-22-2013, 04:24 AM

Cool!

firstgenaddict · #8 09-22-2013, 06:33 PM

So are you leaving air pressure inside the spare tire?

**njsteve** · #9 09-23-2013, 01:24 AM

I aired it up just to see if it would hold air. But it would be a good idea to deflate it. BTW, the exploding 500s in the Vettes were original spares with no air in them: the steel belts just seemed to violently unravel on their own.

**njsteve** · #10 09-25-2013, 12:32 AM

Looky what the FedEx man delivered today: The original three spoke steering wheel that Rick took off the car in 1975 and replaced with a Formula wheel.

For those who are not in the know, the "Formula Wheel" was the official name of the foam-rimmed, aluminum three spoke wheel that came standard on the Trans Am but was optional on all other Firebirds. Don't ask me why they didn't call it the "Trans Am" wheel...that would have only made sense. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Rick even shipped it in the original box (packaged inside another box so the original wouldn't be harmed) that the Formula wheel came from the dealership in:

Shipped March 3, 1975 from PONTIAC, Michigan!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Rick even labeled it for posterity back in 1975:

Check out the grain texture in the rim. I bought several used rims off ebay recently before I learned that Rick had the original. All of them were worn smooth from use. This one is amazing.

And back on the car where it should be. Looks nice and classy and matches the interior and the saddle colored steering column, too. (Cars that originally came with the Formula wheel also came with a black steering column to match the black, crinkle finish, wheel hub on the Formula wheel.

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