Re: The New Project: Part Deux!
 

Actually it seems very tough as the base layer is the primer and only the speckles are from the spray can. It looks very close in finish to the remaining original finish. At the moment I wont be clearing it. I did that on the T/A and it changed the appearance of the finish too much.

Re: The New Project: Part Deux!
 

OK [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

Re: The New Project: Part Deux!
 

Look what I found! I was perusing ebay one Sunday morning, a couple weeks ago, right after someone listed this alternator. It's the exact one I needed for my car. I emailed the seller and asked him what he wanted for the alternator. He said $50. I had him send me a paypal invoice and I bought it immediately. It arrived today and I had it tested at the auto parts store and it works fine.

It's a 1101015 80 amp with a 1M14 date code. If I deduce correctly, that is December 14, 1971, perfect for my Jan 11, 1972 shipped car. This is a real oddball piece since they only came on the Firebirds with A/C and electric rear window defogger with the heating elements in the rear glass.

I disassembled it this afternoon and I am soaking the case in the trusty old Purplestuff degreaser at the moment. I found a new front bearing for it in my box of alternator parts and it should be good to go.

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/P1000372.jpg

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/P1000378.jpg

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/P1000376.jpg

Re: The New Project: Part Deux!
 

Nice Score! That does sounds like a rare &quot;bird&quot;.


Jason

Re: The New Project: Part Deux!
 

Sure is. I have been hunting for one for a year now. There are hundreds of hits on ebay for the 1101015 part number but they are all for modern cross-referenced, superceded alternators that cover that application. This was the first one I have seen in a year of searching, and luckily it had the right date code as a bonus.

Re: The New Project: Part Deux!
 

I got some more of the welding done at the Votech class last week. I finished up the bodywork on the passenger side trunk drop off and the large rust hole in the outer wheel tub. Luckily the rocker panel rail end was fine. As I mentioned before, anywhere that there was a large concentration of body seam sealer/caulking is where the rust occurred. Once that stuff gets old, it acts just like a sponge and holds the water next to the metal until the metal rusts away.

Here's the finished trunk drop off on the pass side:

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...unkdropoff.jpg

And here is the before shot of the rust hole in the front of the passenger side wheel well:

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...heelwellb4.jpg

And after I surgically removed the rusty portions and welded in a section of the reproduction outer wheel tub, and finished the body work, seam sealer, and partially undercoated it:

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...twheelwell.jpg

And for comparison's sake, here is the wheel well from Gramma's 75 Firebird in all its sloppily applied seam sealer glory:

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...k/P1000396.jpg

Re: The New Project: Part Deux!
 

Nice work......as usual. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Kurt

Re: The New Project: Part Deux!
 

Great stuff Steve!

Re: The New Project: Part Deux!
 

Thanks! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

All that detail work to make the metal seams look correct, and I then have to cover it in slathered-on goop to make it look sloppy on purpose! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/no.gif[/img]

Re: The New Project: Part Deux!
 

I put the alternator back together after some parts cleaning. I soaked the case in the Purplestuff for a couple days and scrubbed it with a brass wire scrub brush (something softer than the cast metal case). I then used some 0000 steel wool and Orangestuff hand cleaner and gently scrubbed the outside of the case under really hot water. It turned out great, it has that just tumbled look out of the casting mold.

As for the pulley and fan blade, they turned out to be just dirty. The original silver cad plating on the pully cleaned up nicely. The finish on the back half of the pulley was perfect, the front half, not as nice due to being out in the elements all these years. The fan blade still retained its original grey phosphate finish and just needed some soaking in the Purplestuff degreaser and scrubbing with a plastic scrub brush. After seeing the original finish on the pulley and fan blade, and all the cobwebs inside, it looks like this alternator had never been apart in 42 years, so it retained all its factory hardware after all this time. The only repair needed was a new front bearing and to heli-coil the upper mounting bolt hole which is always stripped out on these cases.

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/P1000402.jpg

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/P1000404.jpg

And you can even see the part number and date code on it now! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/P1000408.jpg