I had a very nice pedestal tach that I had bought from Dana and was pretty happy with it but thanks to Mark Bulow for pointing out that the face was somewhat abraded and the needles were faded I went out and found one thru Albert G. It does look much better so I am glad he pointed it out. In addition and thanks to Jason I was able to trade up for an NOS monitor and as of two nights ago we got it wired up. A little neater than what Yenko did but safer and we used the same style connectors, tie wraps and tape that he used. The exact same wire loom he used (Ma Bell phone cable) and yellow 'lights' lead to the fuse panel was used exactly like what was done at Yenko.

Also, the original hole that they punched thru the firewall was reused. Oddly enough, the triangular plastic factory plug that is on the other side of the wiper motor and had an "X" cut thru it as if to run a cable thru it was not used. Maybe they did not have enough length in the wire and said screw it, lets just punch a new hole in the firewall and run it thru there. Right, wrong or otherwise that is how it was found so that is how it got restored. HOWEVER.....and I just realized it while posting these photos that the yellow 'lights' lead was electrical taped to the main harness so that will need to be corrected.

I fixed and updated the wiring and it now matches the original. See last photo.

I thought the 70 grilles and headlights were a b!!ch to align and make them aesthetically pleasing. Damn these 69 grilles and headlights really suck. Not covering the time put into restoring an assembly line grille (NOS end pieces) I have just over 6 hours invested in installing and fine tuning the grille, headlights and headlight surrounds to make them as perfect as possible. I am close but without major fabricating being done to the core support this is a good as it gets.

Centering headlights in the core support is almost always an issue and they rarely if ever fit perfect out of the box. My previous painter/bodyman from Minnesota taught me a neat trick. Using washers as spacers glued to the back of the headlight buckets you can move the buckets up, down or over either direction. The down side it is also moves the headlight forward so it becomes a compromise. I was able to lessen the huge gap I was having in one side of each surround by at least 1/4" and while not perfect it is pretty darn close.

I know there are some that will not sleep tonight knowing there are washers glued to the backs of the buckets but rest assured, I will sleep great knowing that I now have gaps I can live with.

An assembly line correct heater hose bracket was found in my inventory (as I did not find one with the car) and after much research and thanks to several members, I determined these were used on the 69 Baltimore cars so it was restored and will now be installed.

The assembly line fuel Y block I received from Chris.

Rick,
I just completed reading this entire thread again, after deciding to go back to the beginning to make sure I missed nothing.
What you and Annie have achieved in such a short time is staggering, a tremendous effort that sets the restoration standard most of us can only dream of. Congratulations!

A little no brainer common sense technical advice. Obviously I lack in the common sense. Do not wait till you have the engine painted and installed in the car to remember to remove the plug in the head and install the sending unit. This plug REFUSED to come out and required that I remove the tire and wheel house and progressively drill out the plug, hack saw two slots and remove the plug. Then dress the threads and install the NOS sending unit (thank you Grady Burch). All in all it only took about two hours but just a stupid common sense move.

A good friend, Mark Prunesti noticed that I had repop hood grilles so if he noticed so would others. Of all the repop parts I am forced to use on some restorations these were in my opinion as good as they get. However, I could not refuse Mark's offer on a pair of replated ones. Upon receipt I masked them off and sprayed flat black on the grille slat slide and installed them. They are not perfect and some pitting still shows but at least I now have another part I can call a true GM piece. I think I can count on 1 hand how many non GM parts are on this car.

The belly of the car is pretty much wrapped up. Decals applied, everything adjusted and tightened. Ready to put on the ground and finish the topside. I am not totally done with the battery cables (they are great reproductions courtesy of American Auto Wire) but do not have the factory correct ends so I need to correct that. As in the past, if anyone sees something that looks incorrect to them please do not hesitate to bring it to my attention. Many people have sent me notes and corrected me on things I was not aware of so by all means speak up. I do not have a problem with constructive criticism and am always happy to learn something new.

Is the SWAN 3/8 ths fuel hose used in 1970 also? Is it used in other plants also?

I have seen Swan Gas stamps on pretty much Baltimore cars only in 1970. I have no experience with the 69 but used it in lieu of no markings until I find out If they used something else.

Did Chevy use little J hooks to hold the emergency brake cable snug to the lower control arms?

Not that I have ever seen.

I disassembled the old locks so that I could polish and reuse the slotted door where the key goes while using the lock guts to rebuild them. Both doors and trunk now have restored lock cylinders on them. Very time consuming and tedious work but worth it in the end.

Thank you Michael V. Mike sent these reproduction V.V. Cooke plate frames to me with the only stipulation they must be mounted on my truck and trailer. 1 down 1 to go. Thank you sir!

Just a quick question on your oil pan drain plug. I always thought the 9/16 head shoulder bolt was used after '68 and the big "A" was used earlier?? Now I'm confused.

This is the one that was on the original pan but I am interested in hearing from others.

Wow …. What an amazing job you are doing, the car looks fantastic …………. However, you have clearly over restored the car …………… so ………… maybe you should just give it to Charlie …. He needs another car :):):):):)

He would have to come and get it. I ain't delivering it for that price!

legally speaking you don't need a trailer plate on a car hauler in Kentucky

Rick how do you get the window washer squirters in the hood

Let me know if these photos do not answer your question and I will take others.

Using a section of the original assembly line trunk weatherstrip I replicated the inspection striping on the replacement weatherstrip. About 99% of the time I find these stripes about 4-6" right of center on the 70 Chevelles. This car was almost dead center so possibly different and normal on the 69's. Where the two ends meet at the base of the trunk opening is similar to the 70 Chevelle and approximately 6.5" left of center.

My attempts to locate NOS front hoses failed so I decided to go with reproductions for now and restamp them until I can locate originals. These were stamped with the orange colored as opposed to the rear which was a greenish blue.

The “New Standard” boys and girls.....all others will now be compared to this specimen.
Great job Rick & Annie. You better clear the trophy shelf’

Thank you but I think anyone who has read Chick Renn's thread on his 68 Z28 restoration might disagree with you. THAT was something to learn by! Different car altogether but one hell of a thorough and technical restoration thread.

Trust me when I tell you, just about everything Chick has is of the same quality/cleanliness as his Yellow Z. I was at his place a while back and we commented on his yard/lawn tractor. I asked if/when he got a new one. Well, surprisingly, it was’t new at all.....it just LOOKED new! Chick is a GREAT guy and I’m honored to call him a friend.

Hey !!!!!
https://www.chevellecd.net/products/...8iKdsEt-bohrtA

Thanks Charley. Glad that one is over! ;)

Hey, that's pretty cool! Way to go Rick.

ordered mine back in October - waiting for them to ship it!!!!

Some have already received theirs so I would suspect if would be fairly soon. BTW, this book was written more for the backyard restorer and not a semi-professional as some of the material may seem a little over explained in the book and would be old news to the professionals.

That's One of the reasons why I ordered it :)

Newly restored seat belts installed, carpet completely installed, door panels and rear seat prefitted for final assembly once I get the glass installed. Front seats are done and ready to install but will wait till the glass is in before doing that. I am etching my own glass since no one sells PPG reproduction glass and will post several photos on how this is done. I hope to be doing this on this coming weekend if my supplies arrive.

Lookin' good!

I have received a couple of private comments regarding the primer color bleeding through the edge of the metal portion of the dash just to the right of the plastic face. You can see the red oxide primed area in this photo. The flash greatly amplifies this in the photo and in ambient light it is really not that visible. I will take a shot of it in natural lighting when I get a chance and post it.

We did this because the original was painted exactly the same way which is actually quite common as I have found. Some may not like it but that is the way we chose to restore it. Basically the whole car was restored how we found it.

Keep the comments coming. This gives me the opportunity to explain why some things were done and how they were done originally instead of them seeing the photo and thinking it is wrong.

Rick,

My COPO has the same primer bleed-through/thin paint coverage as your car in that area of the dash. The lower left metal surround on my car's glove box door has very thin paint as well.

Phil

Here are the photos of Phil's unrestored COPO. Mine was not as obvious as his so you can see how many of them were painted and how obvious it is.

The willow run-built Novas had the interior color sprayed (without the glove door and ash tray) at the Fisher plant, Then they were railed to the Chevy plant and those parts were sprayed separately and installed there. They never matched well (especially black). I wonder if the same sort of thing was at play here?

My Nova dash is original and years back some self proclaimed know it all, we all know the type, at a car show had to point out the ash tray door and glove box door didn't quite match the remainder of the dash. Of course he thought it was a restoration screw up... LOL

Rich

As you may recall I had my original inspection decal reproduced. Though Bob Hoyt gave it a valiant effort I was just not happy with the fonts and layout and was hoping to get it better. Enter member Robert Killingsworth who saw my post and without even asking played a bit on his computer and sent me a sample via email the next day. Needless to say I was impressed. Since that time he refined it and the color and came up with this one which is about as close as one can get. VERY happy with the results and your efforts Bob! Received them this morning and will go on the glass next week after I etch it. Refer to my original post #439 for comparison.

Nice job Robert! Figures as he has a beautiful RED '69 solid lifter 'velle too!!