The New, Newer Project: Part Tres...

[njsteve]

I changed the very black oil today and noticed this old A/C filter. Is this a repro or an original piece?

[njsteve]

I took the white car out for a spin tonight and went to the local cruise night. Got there extra early to get a good spot.

Don't you just hate it when you show up at the prom and another "lady" is wearing the same dress you are? ;-)

A friend who lives in town has this original paint 50,000 mile, Brewster Green and white 73 SD. This is the first time he has brought it out locally in years

[njsteve]

Enrico "Rick" Stein emailed me this evening while I was at the cruise night. Here's what he said:


"Dear Steve,
Printed your e-mail this morning and impelled to write back. As I write this it is 9:45 a.m. MST here in Scottsdale and raining.

The sight of the old girl in your enclosed photos brought tears to my eyes. To me it is almost incredible that in all the years since I let her go none of the successive owners has attempted to "improve" on the factory original. I can tell from the photo of the rear that even the chrome exhaust tips are exactly where I put them. Additionally, your conformation of the slight flaw in the paint on the right front fender confirms that this car is a rare original, never restored or molested by an ignorant owner.

While I never had what is commonly referred in the collecting hobby as the "build sheet" or a "broadcast sheet" I will put my provenance on the car against anybody. In this case photo memory, total recall and obsessive compulsive syndrome serve as well.

Depending on class breakdown and other factors beyond your control you should easily win first place in Chicago.

In order to give you any edge that I can, along with the original steering wheel which, by the way, is in factory brand new condition I'm sending you the original window sticker as well as a original factory service manual. The steering wheel is being shipped in the factory original box that the Trans-Am steering wheel currently installed came in.

Any other pertinent data that I research from my files will follow when I've had a chance to go through them, Anything I can do to facilitate your beating the competition with "my car" let me know. I'll be happy to help."

Enrico A. Stein, Jr "Rick"

[njsteve]

What an amazing guy!

The exhaust tip story he is referring to is the fact that when the car was delivered it showed up with the tips looking cross-eyed, pointed heavily toward the center of the car and not straight out the back. He adjusted them so they point straight back (and incidentally rub the inner quarter on the passenger side.)

And the paint flaw consists of a weird couple of pieces of fuzz and hair in a line on the passenger side fender where the assembly line painter must have dragged the air line across the car when it was being painted.

[njsteve]

While changing the oil, I used the now oily camera to shoot some random detail shots:

The rear drum with the original copper Tinnerman clips still intact, holding the drum in place:



Drivers side front rotor. I had no idea the original wear groove was supposed to be that deep!



Passenger side rotor:



Front sway bar with label and remains of grey paint on the edge:



Oil pan bolt with shadowed area where the engine paint didn't reach:



The block VIN


And the trans part tag with the "PQ" code:

[Xplantdad]

Neat stuff Steve...Keep sharing!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

BTW, I googled &quot;Suburban Pontiac, Glen Head, NY&quot; and look what popped up - the HP article on the other 73 SD Formula sold new at the dealership. It's a blue/white 4-speed.

http://www.highperformancepontiac.com/fe...la/viewall.html

[njsteve]

Rick called this morning with more info. He said he ordered it with an automatic because that is what he wanted. He was not going to be drag racing it and didn't want the constant clutch work around the New York suburbs that the 4-speed would have entailed. He said there were no order prohibitions about A/C not being available with a stick, at the time he ordered the car.

When the car was due to come in he told the dealer that under no circumstances was ANYONE at the dealership allowed to &quot;test drive&quot; the car prior to delivery. Of course when it came in, the service guys ignored the mandate and drove it around town. Rick found out about it and tore them a new one. He said he was &quot;this close&quot; to telling them to &quot;stick the car where the sun don't shine&quot; when he found out that they violated his directive. But at the last minute decided to go ahead with the purchase.

Rick drove the car from NY to Arizona in July of 1975 where he started a chain of chassis dynamometer tuning centers. His vanity plate for the SD was &quot;TUNE-UP&quot;. He still has his original vanity plate and is sending it along with the steering wheel. He is still looking for the second file he has on the car that will have photos, etc., in it.

When he sold the car in 1986 it had 13,000 miles on it. When the second owner sold it, it had 17,080 miles (as written on the windshield inspection sticker from 1992).

[Dave Rifkin]

Funny, my Dad tried to order his 73 Trans Am as an SD but, his car was not built with the motor. He was told that, while he had ordered the SD it was not a guarantee.
Anyway, he ordered it as Buccaneer red, white deluxe interior and 4 speed. When we go to pick the car up at Haines Pontiac we see it in the service area being &quot;tuned up&quot;. A few short minutes later we hear this car burning out from the lot and someone was beating the balls outta the car.
My Dad was not too happy with the dealership when the car returned. I bet that scenario happened a lot with these types of cars.

[K code Mustang]

My dad was the one that did the prep and test drive on Steve's Hemi Charger. My dad, or my Grandfather were the only ones that did the preps on the hi performance cars at Suburban Dodge for just that reason. When I went to work there years later, I was the one that prepped the Shelby Chargers and Daytonas and turbo cars.