The New, Newer Project: Part Tres...

[Xplantdad]

Very cool! Congrats Steve!!

[mockingbird812]

Nice sentiment on the &quot;Owners View&quot;!!! Congrats!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

Yes, Rick and Lenora are the most amazing couple of car fanatics I have ever met. Can't wait to actually meet them in person in November after all our emails and phone calls over the past three years.

[njsteve]

Dodged the biggest bullet ever, today....

I changed the oil today and when I went to check the oil level with the dipstick, the lower portion snapped off!!!! Pontiacs have three combined dipstick tubes that insert sequentially into each other to direct the dipstick into the sump area. I felt something odd and when i pulled the dipstick out, the portion containing the &quot;full&quot; mark and the entire section below it was gone.

The 1973's used the stupidest design you could imagine. They deeply stamped the letters and punched small holes at the various level marks. These all serve as major week points in the metal. When I stuck the dipstick back in it must have gotten bound up for a second and fractured at one of the holes.



I then had to unbolt the A/C compressor and all the brackets to be able to remove the upper tube in case the fragment was still inside it. After an eternity I got the upper tube out. No luck. The fragment was not inside it. I tried using the broken dipstick at that point to gently feel my way down in the middle tube but since the fracture was so sharp, it simply dug it the sides of the tube. I carefully filed the broken edge to make it smooth and tried again. Nothing. The broken section had to be somewhere in the engine.

I drained the fresh oil and found an extendable magnet pickup tool in the toolbox. And after triple checking that the thing would not pull apart once I stuck it in the drain plug hole, I went fishing. An hour of grid searching every square inch of the inside of the oil pan finally resulted in success.

I could not imagine having to pull the engine and drop the pan in this car for something this stupid. Ugh. I need a drink.





Now, does anyone have another 1973 Pontiac dipstick with the deep stamped letters? I don't know if other early years used this dumb design but I compared the 1973 stick to the 1975 dipstick from Gramma's car. The measuring points, length and handle are the same but the font, text and stamping are noticeably different.

[markinnaples]

Yikes, that was tense just reading it, lol. Glad you found the broken part. Maybe using a different year dipstick would be a better idea and keep an original one in a box in the garage. Just an idea.

[njsteve]

Yes, they stopped that stupid design shortly after 1973. I have a friend on the PY site sending me an original 73 dipstick that I will only use for show.

[njsteve]

My friend Bruce, on the PY forum came through (again). He sent me an original 1973 dipstick that he claimed was pretty rusty. It arrived in an almost three foot long section of PVC pipe. Now that's how you ship a dipstick!

After several days of soaking in my favorite liquid (evaporust, not beer) it came out nicer than the original broken dipstick. I also ended up adding a slight bend downward at the tip (toward the finger loop) and this makes it clear the internal restrictions at the tube joints much easier. The real key is to feed it slowly down the tube and not try to jam it down like you were stabbing a zombie with sword.

Old one on top, replacement on bottom:




Replacement on top, broken one on bottom:




Installed:

[njsteve]

The online version of the Hemmings Muscle Machines feature is now up at their site:

https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/mus/20...55/3749884.html

And today's news is that the car was just nominated for the Muscle Machine of the Year at HMM and the voting is now open. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

http://www.hemmings.com/mmoy

[Craig_Maiorana]

I voted for your S/D

[RPOLS3]

Done