72 TA : New Project

[njsteve]

I have been slowly refinishing the headlight assemblies over the past week. Nothing high tech: I just disassembled one of them, took a lot of photos of where the little clips and attachment points were installed and then used paint stripper to completely strip the bucket and the backing plate. I soaked the stripped pieces in the derusting liquid to get rid of the underlying specks of rust and then I repainted the pieces in gloss black. I then reassembled the left side and put all the little clips and springs back in place. Once that was finished I tackled the right side. The adjustment points have four possible positions, only one of which is correct for the particular side of the car. The headlight bezels also have four possible mounting positions. So if you dont watch what you are doing you have 16 possible combinations, only one of which is correct (according to my 5th grader who is definitely smarter than me) It's like doing drum brakes: always leave one side untouched so you have a roadmap of where everything goes.

[njsteve]

Here is the finished pair with the bezels installed:

[njsteve]

By the way, does anyone have a spare one of these screws? It is one of the three Phillips head mounting screws for the headlight bezels. I seem to be missing one and all of the nut/bolt/screw suppliers have absurd minimum purchase requirements. I dont feel like paying $30 for a $1 screw. (Wait a minute, did I just say what I think I just said??? )

[firstgenaddict]

Steve I have some extras, they are out at my parents house and it may be a few weeks before I get out there, if you can wait.
James

[njsteve]

[ QUOTE ]
Steve I have some extras, they are out at my parents house and it may be a few weeks before I get out there, if you can wait.
James

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess the car's completion date will have to be delayed until you can find me that last missing screw.

[Charley Lillard]

Reliable Pontiac is still in business I think.

[firstgenaddict]

[ QUOTE ]
I dont feel like paying $30 for a $1 screw. (Wait a minute, did I just say what I think I just said??? )

[/ QUOTE ]

I've paid much more for alot less...

[njsteve]

[ QUOTE ]
Reliable Pontiac is still in business I think.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes they are. They actually have a big GM car show there each year. I called them and they sent me a pair of license plate frames. One of the guys on the Performance Years website lives near them and stopped by and got me a key fob too. Unfortunately they moved the dealer location several years ago and trashed all their old records during the move.

[njsteve]

Here's another interesting item I picked up from the www.inlinetube.com guys. They sell "rivet bolts" for the upper control arms. The tops look like the original factory installed rivets but they install with a nut and lock washer on the underside. They are a little tricky to get tightened since they tend to rotate a little and you have no way to hold the top part since it is round. Make sure you use a bunch of loctite on the bolts and tighten them to the 12 ft.lb. spec as listed in the directions.

[njsteve]

I broke down and bought a set of 5 F60x15 Goodyear Polyglas GTs for the honeycombs. Nothing looks better than the original equipment tires.

These cars came with either the Polyglas GT or the Firestone Wide Ovals. I like the Polyglas' better since the version of the Firestone Wide Oval that is currently reproduced is not accurate for the car.

Plus, there is a fellow enthusiast who hangs out over at the Performance Years website, who managed a package deal from Kelsey Tire, for a bunch of us. The end result was that the final price was reduced a good amount (about $10-$15 per tire). That savings adds up with 5 tires.