Making progress but have had 2 disc brake hold off valves that leaked out the back. Third one is on the way.

Th-400...
 

You can drop the pan with the tranny in the car...have your shop check the valve body to see if a shift kit has been added. Converter can be swapped without completely removing the transmission. [check the flexplate and make sure it is in good condition]

You can also upgrade the governor without a tear down. A remote cooler and deep sump pan are also simple upgrades that will help extend tranny life.

ATI is a good source for th-400 parts and advice.

www.atiracing.com

That seems to be the problem with some repop hold off valves. Had the same issue with one I bought. Had a 70 NOS style on my 69 Camaro, wanted the correct 69 style, installed and started to bleed the brakes. Of course, it leaked and didn't stop, so I reinstalled the 70 style back on with no issues. Nothing like the original parts.

Third disc brake hold off valve is working. Lets hope it continues to work.

Thanks for all the tips - it helps

I've noticed that in the NEW gauge cluster - the tach red line does not match the red line in the original gauge cluster

Were some of these red lines different on the original clusters - early vs late - or is this just something with the re-pops

Why did you replace the original gauge cluster with a repro?

Jason

Because the fellow helping me stays right busy - I could get a repro right fast and him get it installed - instead of waiting for mine to be shipped, repaired, and returned.
I can still get the original repaired now with more time.

Not a bad strategy to get the car drivable and enjoy it while waiting for items having a very long lead time. As long as $'s are there, it makes a lot of sense. Clock ticking for us older guys. :-)

That ticking clock makes me wish at times that I had just bought a nice (not over done) car - but there is also the satisfaction of getting this old car usable - so it can be enjoyed.

But I do have a couple more cars that I am already getting to enjoy - I'm blessed

Nice job Tom! Love what you are doing!

I've swapped the rear springs out again. Car came with some super stiff & tall rear springs when I got it - someone on here told me racers back in the day used to put them in. I had put in some springs from an 1987 Buick GN I had had several years ago - but felt that the car was still to high in the rear. So I put in a set of rear springs from a 1970 Chevelle SS that came from the factory with the rear sway bar.
Car sits a lot better now to me.
I have an appointment with the alignment shop next Tuesday. I'm hoping there is no drama there .... lol

I didn't make it to the alignment shop as planned - as the mechanic down the street was ready to put a new torque converter in the car.
Should know soon just how much a new "modified stall" torque converter helps.

The torque converter helped much more than I thought. Where before the car idled good in "Park" - it gasped like it wanted to die in gear and wanted to lurch when trying to ease on the gas. Car now idles good in gear and eases around nicely at part throttle.
Very good change

Merry Christmas to everyone who is following along on this car project with me.

Thanks for all the help you have been.

I polished the front bumper the other day just to clean it up a little and make it look better.
That got me looking at the headlight trim pieces which had a little paint on the top edges. So I took the trim pieces off to get the paint off and noticed that they were all installed in the wrong positions - and the screws were all just a mix-match of whatever someone could find.
So I ordered a fastener kit to put all the headlight trim back on with matching screws and such. Which I did - but the kit had to many screws and some nylon/plastic squared off pieces in it. I couldn't find a place for the plastic pieces and I just stayed with the u-shaped clips that the trim screws went into.
I guess if someone worked on enough of these cars they would know just what went where - or were different fasteners used on Chevelles depending on which assembly plant they were made at?
And of course there were no instructions saying where the nylon/plastic pieces went.
Anyway the car is coming along - it is in much better shape and usable now.

Post a pic of what you have and there will be people who can advise you on their usage/locations. The square, plastic "nuts" may be for the adjusting screws for aiming or grille mounting screws, depending on size.

This is a picture of the nylon/plastic parts that came in the headlight trim fastener kit

To Many Projects thought they might be for the headlight adjusting screws to go into (without seeing a picture)

Does anybody know if that is right?

That's what they look like to me.
They are very similar to license plate nuts too, but I wouldn't think they would be included in a headlight/grille kit...:laugh:

I hadn't thought of the license plate nuts .... but these are much to small for those

Thanks

I can't speak for a '69 but on a '70 those would snap in to the radiator support and the screws that hold the head lamp bezels on would screw into them. Probably 2 for each of the 4 head lamp bezels.

I checked the package the parts came in to see if maybe it fit several years - but it was listed as only for 1969
So I will guess that those are for the headlight adjuster screws.

Thanks for the help

I've been working on putting new weatherstripping around the side windows and the doors

Job is going pretty good but the plastic push pins that hold the front of the roof-rail weatherstripping in place were much larger and wouldn't push into the body (metal), so I just re-used the originals that were still good

This job has gone better than I thought it would

Always a pleasant surprise when something goes better than expected!

And not a very often event either...:biggthumpup:

Guess I finally got to the hard part of replacing some of this weatherstripping
The outer window seals/wipers are a bear.
That little lip that needs to stay on top of the metal door edge is hard to get to stay in place while I'm trying to get everything lined up and screws started.
I've got one door done so I'll get the other one - somehow

Still working on the car & trying to get it repaired (not restored) and in good running condition. I didn't see any rust holes in the floorboards, while under the car cleaning, sealing, and painting any bare metal .... but I wanted to check the floorboards inside too.
There was some light surface rust - but no holes. Everything is solid, even when using a screw drive to poke and scrape.
The carpet will have to be replaced, and the console is broken in so many places, it will probably get tossed too.
The red/rust color you see in the picture is a glue that someone used I think when they put in the carpeting I took out of the car.

I always enjoy reading about your updates. These cars are certainly a labor of love and are never really finished and always requiring ongoing care.

I ordered a 1/4 driver side front floor board section - going to go ahead and repair the floor where it was cut out for a manual transmission.
A friend of mine will be coming by the evening to start the repair. Then I'll replace the shifter cable with one that has the floor sealing gasket on it.
You may be able to see where a piece of metal had been pop riveted into place in the above photo.

My friend got the floor pan cut out where someone had put a hole for a 4-speed years ago, smoothed it all up nice and cut and welded in the new piece.
Looks real good - and will be a lot better than the way it was.
New carpet for the car was shipped today too

Car is coming along well and I am getting all the interior pieces back in now. I'm not replacing everything, but I am replacing what has to be replaced - and cleaning and refinishing all the rest.
Hopefully car will be ready to drive and race by mid April.

Still making progress - slow at times but it is coming together. I am having new seat cover installed on the front bucket seats as they were in really bad shape

My favorite interior color for '69-'70.

Same here. Looking good, Tom.

----I don't think I realized that your 69 is white on white. One of my favorite color combos! Black side stripes would really liven it up, but I'd understand not having them if they weren't on the car originally.....Bill S

Thanks to everybody commenting on my car repair. To Bill S - the car is white now but was originally Phantom Green with Parchment interior.

----In that case, add the black stripes. You won't be sorry!....LOL!....Bill S

I keep thinking your sound deadener is upside down. I think those black strips are intended to be on the metal and soften when warm and stick down to reduce vibration. Probably wrong, but it's worth looking into.

The paper work said to put the smooth side down. But it's not like there is a "smooth" side. The white stripes are raised a little - and the other side has small, shallow dimples ... lol - but I'll check. Thanks.

I do have the whole interior back in the car now and things are still coming along. Car still needs to go to the alignment shop - lets hope they don't find much wrong

Here's a picture with the interior back in