Introducing........RAT’S NEST

[R68GTO]

A trip to MCACN yesterday "super-charged" my motivation to keep going on my project so I went back at it today. I posted a few questions over in the preservation forum so I don't clog this thread up. Here's a couple of shots of where I'm at with the teardown as well as the underside of the cowl panel showing the original Lemans Blue overspray. The original foam dividers are still in place and you can see where a few exterior gauges were once mounted - holes were welded shut by the guy who painted the car in 1978/79. I'm not sure what gauges were mounted there, but am assuming a fuel pressure gauge - what else would have been typical back in the day? I think the tach was mounted on top of the dash. Also posted a shot of the cowl VIN stamping - not sure if I posted it before or not.

[R68GTO]

Did some more teardown and made a quick attempt at cleaning some of the frame and undercarriage areas. In general, the vertical surfaces have a good amount of original paint, but the horizontal surfaces have most of the paint gone. Here are a few pictures....

[R68GTO]

Also found a couple of "week" stamps on the firewall and cowl - both stamped "38" which are the same week as one of my rear quarters. The top sides of the suspension where the gloss black was not sprayed, seem to have most all their original finishes intact. Any thoughts, tips, or suggestions on direction are welcome!

[bbbentley]

I see something wrong...it’s not sitting at my place

[R68GTO]

Took the interior out today...found some more interesting stuff, at least to me. PO stated original carpet yet so I was able to check it out more closely with it out of the car. It looks to me like the front is original, but the back was replaced. Tag on the back has what looks like a date code of 8 8 79, which times out about right for when the car was done in its black/gold scheme. The backing looks different from the front as well. Found some chalk writing on the front carpet....anyone see that type of thing before? PO hacked up the front carpet pretty bad when he put the auto in so it won't be saved.

[R68GTO]

Now have all the interior trim out except for headliner related stuff. Good view of original color on the top of the rear quarter widow panel area, as well as factory primer/overspray details on the interior areas. Found some white tags with a "week code?" printed on them. Anyone know why the factory needed those?These were still in good shape though the printing is a little faded. Rear interior panels and watersheds are pretty "minty" yet. With the interior out, was able to remove the driveshaft loop.....a little cleaning revealed the Lakewood sticker Also a good view of the primer color on the floorpan.....unfortunately, the PO went crazy with trunk spatter on the whole interior floor pan - guess he thought it was a good idea in 1979?

[R68GTO]

Worked on cleaning the underside of the trunk pan today where the fuel tank used to reside. It cleaned up really nice....found a couple of stamps, one on each side of the centerline of the car. Assume date stamps but can't read them.
Also started cleaning up my buckets seats. I thought they were pretty clean to start with, but it took a while to cut through God only knows how many layers of Armor All. Used Magic Eraser which worked pretty well....it doesn't show as well in pictures as in person, but the RH one is cleaned, the LH is not. Also added a couple of shots of the headrest...still amazed how well-preserved these parts are Also included a pic of my speedometer cable. Anyone familiar with this marking? I need to figure out if it's original to the car or not.

[R68GTO]

Found some more cool stuff today on the car....fuel tank date code of 5 70, horns are dated 9H3 - which I think is 3rd week of August 1969. Also did more work cleaning up the floor pans, they are really cleaning up nicely - it's going to be a tough decision to restore these or not. Included a shot of where the Lakewood drive shaft loop was installed - not much doubt it was installed very early in the car's life, there was no dirt in that area!

[R68GTO]

Great way to start the new year - I've been following the new Philly COPO find thread (Fast67VelleN20) on this site and saw DW31S's post about joining a Facebook site dedicated to vintage drag racing. So yesterday I joined a 60's-70's drag racing group and posted a pic of my car. When I woke up this morning I saw two new vintage racing photos of my car were posted
Looks like both were taken at Edgewater, the poster said they were taken in 1973. A different poster said he knew Doug Davis was an entry at the US National in 1972 & 1973.

[olredalert]

----Seriously cool pics. The 69 Chevelle in the backround appears to be getting serious air!......Bill S