You have the same rear calipers as I have (see my other post just posted under drivetrain) Where the cable goes in to the "cup" on the parking brake actuater is a bit of a weak link. Make sure it is welll seated as it can tend to move around and fray putting the PB on and off. I ended up taking a bit of heavy black vinyl tube just the diameter to slip over the cable and cup about 4 inches long and hose clamped it with small clamps covering the metal cup and back over the cable. Now all is well and it does not move around....
More pics of hood tach install and 4-wheel power disc brake install. We drove the car all weekend back and forth to Daytona Speedway for the Spring car show & swap meet. I live about 40 mins from the track so this was a great way to break in the new brakes!
Still have some detail work to do. Have to paint the M/C, front calipers, get a correct line for the vacuum to the booster etc.
Went to BelAir Plaza Friday and Saturday night, had a gentleman with CASH in hand make me a crazy offer, 23K CASH! LOL If I had wanted to sell the car, could have done so a few times over the w/e. She isn't going anywhere!
Thanks guys, I still can't beleive we own this car. I never imagined we'd ever have something so nice. Not that Bird wasn't nice, but we could never have put the money into the bird to bring it up to this level. We are very fortunate...
Now if this was titled ... "some topless beach pictures".
Nice car Joe! And I already miss the 'bird pics.
I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure. I feel like I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe. 1968 400 convertible (Scarlet) 1976 T/A - 455 LE (No Burt) 1976 T/A New baby, starting full restoration. 1968 350 - 4 speed 'vert - 400 clone (the Beast!) 1968 350 convertible - Wife's car now- 400 clone (Aleutian Blue) (Blue Angel) 2008 Durango - DD 2008 GXP - New one from NH is AWESOME! 2017 Durango Citadel - Modern is nice! HEMI is amazing! 1998 Silverado Z71 - Father-daughter project 1968 400 coupe - R/A clone (Blue Pearl) (sold) 1967 326 convertible - Sold 1980 T/A SE Bandit - Sold
LOL Thanks! We miss the Bird as well, however, to be totally honest, the Bird could never have been as nice as this car without some serious $$ being put into it. Although the Bird looked nice, she had some issues mainly on her underside. She needed all new floor pans, trunk pan, rockers etc. Then she would have really been a true beauty. However, given our situation, we are thankful to own this beauty...
Added some cool Pontiac pics to my photobucket site for anyone who may be interested. Pics of our LeMans, my friend Mike's 65 Tempest (flawlessly restored) and another friend's 67 Sprint LeMans conv.! Pics taken at an old Pontiac dealership near Orlando, made for some cool pics...
Thanks guys, we had a lot of fun taking them. We are trying to get all 14 of our Pontiacs there soon before the sign gets torn down, it's hard to get everyone to committ to a specific time but we are trying...
Underhood detailing completed. Correct Snap Ring battery cables, R-59 Delco battery (from the Bird). Also, engine is now correct Pontiac color thanks to Bill Hirsh paints.
I shot the entire engine with a $10 air brush from Harbor Freight and a fresh can of high heat engine paint. Only took two tiny bottles that attach to the airbrush full of paint to do the entire engine and about two hours of labor. The paint is holding up well, I learned the airbrush trick from my friend Mike. I could never figure out why his engines always look flawless every Friday night at the local cruise. Then, two years later I find out he touches them up with an airbrush every Friday! LOL
Also we won our first trophy with the LeMans last Saturday. First time we have entered it in an actual show. We were quite pleased to win the crowd favorite award. There were 200 cars and one of which is a car from OverHaulin, Chip Foose 70 Challenger car. So this was very exciting to win...
Car looks great. I'm really interested in your airbrush method. The motor in my car was painted before I bought the car and looks like it was done 10 years ago. I'd like to try your method. Did you use anything to get the rust/decoloration off first?? And the air brush, is it electrical or do I need to hook it to a compressor??? Do you have a brand name, color name for the paint??? I think this will be my next project. This is the best idea ever!!!!
First, the intake was bead blasted, primed with high heat self etching primer then painted with 3 coats of the Hirsh paint.
Then, once the intake was installed I went ahead and airbrushed the rest of the engine. Now first I must say, the motor was already painted quite nicely therefore I simply went over what was there (my guess is the old paint had been on there quite some time). I simply degresed the engine with brake parts cleaner, washed it down with soap & water, blew it off with the air nozzle and then airbrushed the new Hirsh paint.
The Hirsh paint comes in a quart can, not sure if you can get in a smaller can or not and to be honest, I do not remember at all how much it was. I bought it back in Feb when I was buying all the parts for the LeMans etc. This paint does require to be thinned. Basically 50/50 with reducer.
My friend Mike says the only negative with the Hirsh paint is that is does tend to be on the glossy side when it dies. However, this is coming from a guy who is VERY Pontiac savy and very critical of every detail. I think it looks great. The Hirsh paint is definately VERY accurate in color as Mike has parts that are OEM original and it matches dead on. The spray can version of the Pontiac Blue Metalic although does look nice and holds up well, it is not even close to OEM/original when compared side by side.
The air brush I used was a $10 item and uses about 20lbs. of air pressure. Using an airbrush for the first time ever, I can not beleive just how nice it sprays and just how fine point you can get it. I sprayed the engine with the plug wires in place and everything because with the airbrush the paint goes exactly where you want it to go!
If you go to my photobucket site you can enlarge these pics and read the lable on the can and on the airbrush (Central Pneumatics(s))...
The intake did discolor within days of installing and that was with all the steps mentioned above. The paint even cured for several days before installing.
Also, I don't know if anyone noticed but I did also install the MSD billet, plug & play dist., MSD coil & Taylor 9mm plug wires (all of these parts are made in USA). This ignition system all total is about $599. The plugs get gapped to .050 with the MSD system. I bought this back when we parted out the Bird with the intention of putting on the Bird engine once in the LeMans. Not so sure the big bad Bird motor will ever make into the LeMans so that's why I installed the intake, Q-jet and MSD ignition on the 326.
With an original Pontiac intake, Q-jet & MSD ignition, all I can say is WOW regarding the performance of the 326. In addition we did find that the original owner did in fact put a H.O. cam in the 326 at some point as it is very obvious now with the Pontiac intake and man does that little 326 run!
Joe - your car is really really nice. I have used an airbrush on my Harley's for years and they are the whip for tiny touch ups. I really like the look of that battery. Hell now I think you are rubbing off on me.
Great job on the trophy. Nice to be rewarded for you work.
btw my formed hood insulation from Ames just came in today. You have been way more help to me than you probabaly are aware of. Thanks.
Thanks again. The comments are much appreciated, more than you guys know. This hobby is the only thing keeping us sane at the present time. If it comes to us having to sell the LeMans I'll pretty much be done!
Thanks again. The comments are much appreciated, more than you guys know. This hobby is the only thing keeping us sane at the present time. If it comes to us having to sell the LeMans I'll pretty much be done!
you ain't done, this is just a speed bump, you always got us
Sine the day I bought our first classic, 68 Camaro conv. it was always more of a challenge IMO to get the cars back their original stock look. To me, it's a challenge to get things as close to a stock look as possible.
Like the 68 Camaro for example. When we bought it, it was a non numbers matching car, red paint, black conv. top and chrome this and that under the hood. Well, over the 6 years we owned it and rounding up all the correct parts, painted it it's original Ermine White, intalled a white conv. top (wife & I), black bumble bee stripe around the front nose, SS hood, RS front grill, stock rally rims etc.
We bought the car for $3500, put $5500 into it and sold it at the very first show we took it too for $15k. Now keep in mind this was back in 2000 before the boom and this was a non matching numbers car, not a real SS, not a real RS. My point is, IMO doing a car close to stock helps keep value. This Camaro I am talking about was a car that was completely redone by my wife and I and kids, everything but the paint and that was only a 2k paint job.
However, when it was done, it looked good and it was correct. We had NO intentions of selling the car BUT, we made a profit and sold the car for more than it was worth. My wife cried DAILY for 10 days until we went and bought the 68 Bird in North Philly for $5500. That was again in 2000. Put 15k into it and when she was wrecked, between the repair money and parting the ole girl out we ended up with almost 30k plus kept the motor & trans.
My point again is the fact that because the car was redone almost completely stock, it maintained it's value and again, that was a non matching numbers car as well.
So, based on what I have seen over the past 16+ years in this hobby, I will always go the bones stock/OEM route as it has yet to let me down, and I have yet to see someone loose on a project where they have done the same. I guess that's why I lean towards the purist in this hobby. You just never know when you might have to bail on a project.
Thanks again. The comments are much appreciated, more than you guys know. This hobby is the only thing keeping us sane at the present time. If it comes to us having to sell the LeMans I'll pretty much be done!
you ain't done, this is just a speed bump, you always got us
I can not thank you all enough for the support. You honestly do not know how much it means, I am totally serious. This site and the folks on here have played a HUGE roll in me keeping my sanity throughout this entire mess!
Thanks again. The comments are much appreciated, more than you guys know. This hobby is the only thing keeping us sane at the present time. If it comes to us having to sell the LeMans I'll pretty much be done!
you ain't done, this is just a speed bump, you always got us
I can not thank you all enough for the support. You honestly do not know how much it means, I am totally serious. This site and the folks on here have played a HUGE roll in me keeping my sanity throughout this entire mess!
aww... well don't take it personal, we treat everyone this way
Now that we have officially lost the battle to keep our home looks like selling the LeMans is getting closer to reality. Problems is, I can't quite get it through my wife's head that this is about our only option left. Man is she ever a tough cookie when it comes to this stuff. I would have sold the Bird ten times over if not for her. She just doesn't want to admit defeat, I admire her for fighting but man at some point you just have to throw in the towel and I beleive it is time...
Dang Joe, glad you have her for a wife. Sounds like she will keep you moving forward and that's a good thing. Everything material in life we can live without. But we need material things to keep us going and feel worth. She is a great person you are as lucky man. Don't go giving up a battle til there is no fight left!!!! Hate to hear anyone talk about losing possesions they are attached to. But you can replace and rebuild I am proof of that. Joe