The New Project: Part Deux!

[njsteve]

I have been collecting a bunch of parts since the car IS STILL getting the frame rail repairs done. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/mad.gif[/img]

I have the Gardner exhaust system, new fuel tank, front coil and rear leaf springs, shocks, etc., waiting to go in. I cleaned the original fuel and brake lines.

I did recently speak with a guy out in British Columbia who remembers the car when it came to the area in the mid-1980's. He has photos of the car from that time and is trying to get them scanned and sent to me. He was friends with the mechanic who was doing all the work on the car at the time. He witnessed a lot of the original parts getting tossed in favor of brand new &quot;correct&quot; stuff from the Classic Industries catalog UGH! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

The original rear leafs and front coil springs, the front disc rotors, the bleeder master cylinder, A/C lines, radiator, clutch fan, 1101015 80 amp alternator, unitized distributor, etc... All the things I am hunting down and getting ready to reinstall once I get it back. (except for the 1101015 alternator and 1112133 unitized distributor which I haven't found yet).

[njsteve]

After a whole lotta research I was able to locate some Canadian documentation and pricing. Canadian window stickers are the rarest pieces of paper in the universe. They were completely different than the US counterpart. The form is different, the prices were higher and most dealers removed them from the cars beofre the sales since there was no Monroney Law in Canada like there was in the US.

Here is an example of a 1972 Corvette window sticker that was photographed along with a bunch of Corvettes at a Canadian dealer lot in 1972:

[njsteve]

And here is my final reproduction version. In Canadian dollars, too.

[njsteve]

PHS tried valiantly to create a window sticker but after the third attempt I had them just send me what they had. The problem was that cars destined for Canada had a different pricing structure and verbiage format. And PHS's template must be from a different date than this car's build time frame. Templates changed as the calendar year progressed.

In 1972, to boost sales, the Firebird base price dropped in the US, but in Canada it remained at its prior level (several hundred dollars higher), so I had to edit and redo the sticker to fit that.

Also, there didn't seem any way that their template format would create the two page sticker that the car should have. As you can see, the standard equipment paragraph is missing. So here is my best attempt at a corrected US version of the sticker for the car, in US dollars.

As far as I can determine, when the cars went down the Norwood, Ohio assembly line, the US version of the sticker would be attached to the car. When it arrived across the border, GM of Canada would remove that sticker and replace it with their version, in their format, in Canadian dollars.

[njsteve]

Finally got the car back today after the rear frame rail repairs which took a lot longer than expected. (surprise!). So at least the structural fix is done. I'll save the trunk drop offs and rear outer wheel house repairs for the winter when I pull the motor to regasket it.

Here are some shots of the frame repairs taken by the bodyman:

The underside of the trunk floor once the driver's side frame section was removed. Looks very clean.



And the replacement driver's side rail section being trial fitted:



He used leftover sections of the new rail to form inner braces to weld through the rails, to. This way the rails arent just butt welded end to end. He did this for all the frame sections.



The pass front rail with the welds all ground down:





And after some body filler was applied:



Masking off for painting (actually the red oxide primer).

[njsteve]

Here are the finished frame repairs in red primer. Now it's back to the garage to install all my parts. After these baseline photos were taken I got out the black spray can and duplicated the original black overspray on the frame rails. I did it just as sloppy as the Norwood assembly plant guys did. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

[L89DRMR]

Steve,

It's looking great-they did nice work.

Dave

[njsteve]

And in case you'r wondering what the old rail pieces looked like, here you go. Both sides were swollen and corroded where the two panels were welded together by the exhaust hangers. A real moisture trap, just like the lower sections of the rails by the front leaf spring perches.













I'm glad I got the full rails. Here's what's left, and some of the rusty, mangled front lower rail remnants:

[napa68]

You are a fine complement to the restoration hobby Steve!

[njsteve]

Thank you, Sir. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]