Gramma's Car: the new project!

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by jasonL78

There should be a bolt on the firewall also and you will have to crack or loosen all the bolts on the inner fender to get the fender to move out. Once all the bolts are tightened its now the structure of the front of the car. For now you may be able to put a body shim behind the hood hinge to push it to the pass side if you have room.

Thanks. forgot about that bolt. Once that was loosened was able to move the fender over a little bit but of course it then rubs the top of the door edge when it opens. And the hood stills rubs the inner flange of th fender back by the windshield as it passes.

I ordered a set of Goodmark reproduction hinges from rockauto and they should be here this weekend. I have a feeling the 43 year old hinges have a bit too much side-to-side play in them. You can really move the hood laterally quite a ways, when it is articulating.

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by jasonL78

For now you may be able to put a body shim behind the hood hinge to push it to the pass side if you have room.

That worked! I put a 1/16th shim between the hinge and fender on both driver's side hinge bolts. The hood now clears the fender now when you open it. I took the old girl out for a run today since it was sunny and 55 degrees. Started right up. Boy this motor can run! And the wide open throttle noise coming out of the shaker is soooooo much louder than the old Formula hood setup.

I just spent an hour getting the solenoids and brackets hooked up inside the shaker. Next thing is to do is get the wiring plugged in and the Turbo 400 kickdown switch installed on the gas pedal bracket under the dash. (the 1971/72 setup employed the Turbo 400 kickdown switch as the on/off power supply to the shaker solenoid. Very ingenious of the engineers to have thought of that. It works much better than the carb-mounted switches, plungers and solenoids used on the 1970. :-)

[njsteve]

Anyone have one of these little firewall ground strap connector clips? It screws to the firewall and allows the braided copper ground strap (that goes to the shaker base) to be removed without unscrewing the bolt. They were used up until 1974 on all sorts of GM cars. It's #46 on the chart but it shows as a non-serviced part. The part number is 8900232.

[Burd]

Steve, I picked up the washer bezel insert, maybe you can confirm, I thinks it's fir the early cars, it doesn't fit my 78.

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by Burd

Steve, I picked up the washer bezel insert, maybe you can confirm, I thinks it's fir the early cars, it doesn't fit my 78.

PM me a photo and I'll see if it looks familiar.

[Burd]

Call me. You gotta talk to Bobby.

[njsteve]

The hood is at a local body shop getting painted. The underside was blacked out yesterday. The metal was in very nice shape. Just needed scuffing and painting in semi glass black.

[njsteve]

The hood is painted. Wet sanding and buffing today. Body man is blending the fenders (and fixing some paint chips from the bad hinges) tomorrow.

[njsteve]

Hood and functional shaker scoop are now on the car. The paint match was close but it is noticeable in certain light when you look straight on. I think it is partially due to the way the metallic laid down. The car was painted Code 26 Lucerne Blue in 1993, 25 years ago. When you stand by the tires and look across the hood, it matches the fenders. When you stand in front of the car and look toward the windshield, it is a big difference. But what the heck, I am looking to repaint the entire car in the next year or two anyway so this was just a stop gap so I wasn't driving around with a primer hood anymore. It sure is fun to watch that functional shaker door slam open when you hit the gas.

What do you think?

[9999]

Originally Posted by njsteve

What do you think?

Steve, I think you're crazy for complaining about having a car that nice. I would drive that car every day of my life if it were mine.