72 TA : New Project

[70 Forest Green Zee]

A very interesting post....the repair turn out very very nice..... outstanding job Steve!!

[DaJudge]

Looks great Steve can't wait to see the finished car.Happy Thanksgiving ,Mike

[70-SS/RS-L78]

Steve that is SWEET, It sure looks a lot easier then the way I used to do the 78-81 Z covers. The Black Cat 2K Waterborne Primers
look like the way to go. We used to add flex additive to our primers to make them work. I remember having to strip to strip all of the
original factory lacquer paint off by hand.

[njsteve]

The front sheet metal and other panels are at ENOCH's shop in Pennsylvania. He updates me with photos of the progress. Once the front clip is done I hope to bring the rest of the car to him to finish the job. It's been 2 years since I started this project in November, 2004 and I'd really love to get her on the road for next spring. Here are some shots of the trunk lid and passenger fender getting done. Both were rust-free so they were stripped, scuffed and primed. The fender had a small dent in the flare area and had to be massaged back into place.

[Xplantdad]

Looking good Steve. Massaging metal...a sort of lost art these days...

[njsteve]

BTW, here are two comparison shots of the nose examples of the plastic valance versus the steel valance. As you can see on the copper-colored 71 Formula, the steel valance leaves a huge gap under the endura nose that spoils the look of the nose with the mounting bolts visible in the unfinished urethane area. The white 72 T/A is much nicer with the plastic valance hiding that unsightly, blemished area. (Please disregard the broken spoiler/snow plow option in this original as-purchased photo of my car)

[Dave Rifkin]

Steve thanks for illustrating the difference. I can't say that I recall seeing any Firebirds with the plastic valance; at least I never really noticed.

[njsteve]

And here's the final shots of the valance repairs after sanding with 120 grit. I'll leave the rest of the prep for ENOCH. I can't say enough about that little plastic welder contraption. See what a little google search can do when you stumble upon the right company on the internet? I can't wait to get my white valance pieces back from ENOCH so I can start melting on them as well. The original white valance pictured on my car above suffered near terminal breakage due to the snow shoveling the spoiler did. All of the mounting pads were obliterated, the face bar is broken, and the bottom section is heavily melted from the carb fire gone wild. I just love a challenge!

[njsteve]

Hey, there's actually one of those plastic valances on ebay now. $400 starting bid and repaired in a similar fashion to mine. This one's a marroon colored plastic. (all the various colors were premolded into the plastic)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayIS...bayphotohosting

[njsteve]

I contacted a company called ECS Automotive who are renowned for their 100% accurate Mopar reproduction decals and asked them if they were interested in stepping outside the Mopar arena for my project. They were quite interested as they are looking to expand their catalog of decals with GM stuff. I cant say enough about these guys. There products are 100% exact compared to the crap that is out there. I previously had one of those "resto outlet" decals that was just pathetic: wrong size, wrong font, wrong spelling etc.

The guys at ECS even reproduced the exact material and process that they were originally made in. The factory emissions decals were clear plastic with black and white printing laid on from the back side of the clear plastic, not like the modern spray printed version the "resto outlets" sell.

Their phone # is (636) 207-7767 www.ecsautomotive.com . Dave was the guy I worked with. I also sent them the original dealership bumper decal from my Hemi Charger and look here to check that out: https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/show...24/#Post238504

By the way, they are now actively looking for other decals to reproduce: if you allow them to use your original decal(s) for a pattern, (which they send back to you, of course) you get the new reproduction one(s) for free.

Here is a comparison of my original and the ECS prototype (which actually had some preproduction flaws which I couldn't see but they said they altered after this version) They said there were something like 15 different fonts used in these decals and the "other" decal makers just use one font for everything...and it shows.