Re: A Newer Project!
 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: iluv69s</div><div class="ubbcode-body">


I believe (99%) that I still have the one form my ex's car...she replaced hers with a purple bird....Im in brazil at the World Cup..but I will search for it when I return to the states next week..assuming you havent already found one.

Congrats on your purchase...sounds like a great car !!! </div></div>

Awesome, that would be great if you have it.

Gonna teach him how to wax the car today. It was fun trying to show him proper car washing technique for a black car, yesterday. Maybe we should rent &quot;Karate Kid&quot; first...&quot;Wax on, Wax Off.&quot;

Re: A Newer Project!
 

We spent about 4 hours today working on the car. Got a new pair of rear lift cylinders to replace to old ones which weren't holding up the rear hatch any more. Gotta love Advance Auto parts and their online $25 coupons!

After installing the new cylinders (while trusting my son to hold the broom handle in place to keep the hatch from slamming down on me), we started to clean the exterior.

I showed him how to use the clay bar and detailer to clean the crap off the paint. The car was surprisingly clean compared to when we did the black paint on my daughters Impala SS a couple years ago. That car was a mess. Then we waxed the car and polished the rims.

Times like these are priceless especially after spending all those hours waxing and primping the black paint to have my son then look at the paint and say: <span style="font-style: italic">HEY, WHAT IS THIS! THE CAR IS ALREADY DIRTY AGAIN AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN DRIVEN IT ANYWHERE!!!</span>

I replied in best fatherly tone: <span style="font-style: italic">&quot;Welcome to the wonderful world of owning a black car, my boy.&quot;</span>

He was not amused.

Here are the after detailing photos. My wife, who usually doesn't notice anything more than the fact that her car was washed, actually noticed quite a difference in the shine from yesterday.

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t.../P1030201a.jpg

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t.../P1030204a.jpg

And parked next to the old bird. My son asked if we could move his great-grandfather's 1971 Lincoln to the house garage so he could park his car next to my Firebird and his great-grandmother's 1975 Firebird.

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...1/P1030206.jpg

Re: A Newer Project!
 

I had a 99 and a 02 WS6 for my Co. cars.Loved them!Tom

Re: A Newer Project!
 

Very cool Steve!!

Re: A Newer Project!
 

Today I drove the car down to my buddy's garage to try to get those pesky GM wheel locks off the rims. The seller couldn't find the key and deduced that Pep Boys didn't bother to put it back in the car when they sold her the most recent set of tires two years ago. So, luckily the Cornwall Tool truck showed up as we were trying the worn out lock remover socket that he had. They had a brand new one with sharp internal teeth that took the locks off rather easily. What a relief!

Later in the day the boy and I took the wheels off and cleaned the back sides of the rims to get the brake dust out. One thing I noticed was that the rear axle snubbers that are mounted to the frame had no snubber material left - it had just crumbled away when I touched the last bits of it. Were they made of some weird, purplish looking urethane that didn't survive 13 years?

Re: A Newer Project!
 

I did some research on those axle snubbers and it turns out that they were made of some inferior foam material that decomposed ten minutes after original warranty coverage. Most guys install aftermarket urethane snubbers, or originals from the 93-97 cars which used a more durable rubber material.

Re: A Newer Project!
 

It was a nice day so I had the boy do an oil change on the car. I instructed him on the safe way to jack up the car and where to place the jackstands. Hysterical to watch an 80-pound kid try to turn a wrench on the drain plug. All he succeeded in doing was to rotate himself around the underside of the car. I then told him to brace himself against something and then try again. That worked a little better after I loosened it.

I was able to locate the engine VIN and take a photo of the spot, That only took about 25 attempts to get the light in one spot, the mirror in another spot and the camera in a position to capture it all.

The machine-etched VIN is on the back of the engine mounting area that mates with the transmission bellhousing. It is directly blocked from view by the driver's side catalytic converter. You can reach it with a mirror and then see it in reverse. I was thrilled to see it matched the car's VIN.

Here is the general location. The silver rod is the handle of the mirror.

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...enginevin2.jpg

And the actual VIN, stamped in a dot matrix format, as viewed on the mirror face.

http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/t...b2e0d721b2.jpg

Re: A Newer Project!
 

This evening me and the boy drove the car over to my buddy's garage and rebalanced the tires. The prior owner had religiously brought the car to Pepboys every couple months to get the car aligned and the wheels balanced. Besides losing the lug nut lock key, the Pepboys tire &quot;experts&quot; method of balancing the tires consisted of throwing the wheel on the machine and then adding another weight. They never bothered to remove the existing weights. The result was 4 rims with half a dozen weights on each rim.

So we pulled all the weights off and rebalanced each rim. Turns out each wheel only needed an ounce or less of weight.

The boy had a lot of fun using the impact wrench to remove the lugnuts. Had to train him to take his finger off the trigger....after half of the lug nuts skittered across the garage at hyperspeed.

We then headed home and made it into the garage ten seconds before a thunderstorm hit. Timing is everything!

Re: A Newer Project!
 

Love this thread. Great car, father and son, thank you Steve. Black car will keep him busy!

Re: A Newer Project!
 

Nothing like asking a teenager if you can borrow &quot;his&quot; car. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

The new ACC carpet set arrived yesterday and is currently stretching out on the floor in the playroom. It is one giant piece from front to hatch area. Hopefully that will get rid of the cigarette smell, otherwise we will do the T-top headliner fabric next.

We had to do this with my daughter's car when we got it. It was a 4,000 mile Impala that we got at a great price, but the former owner was a chainsmoker. We had to gut the interior, disinfect the upholstery, and throw away the original carpeting. It then took a year for the residue to go away.