I put a deposit down on another F-body!

[Xelerator]

Part 1 for 7-12-09 post:

Ok, a late update. The home computer was down and I think we got it working again.

On 7-5-09, I decided to take off the RH trunk drop off (7-4-09 was the LH trunk drop off), here is a summary of that day. The goal is to get this rolling shell to a complete rust free shell. I had to remove all that you see because the rear was hit and the trunk was damaged beyond repair, the trunk pan was fairly solid, I just needed to get it out due to all the bent sheet metal.

Drilling out spot welds where the RH trunk dropoff meets the wheelwell
7-5-09 (4).JPG

Here I ground down the spot welds in stead of drilling, grinding is a lot easier if you don't want to save the removed panel.
7-5-09 (6).JPG

A shot of the RH trunk drop off, some rust damage but repairable
7-5-09 (9).JPG

Removed RH trunk drop off
7-5-09a (1).JPG

Trunk and drop offs completely removed!
7-5-09a.JPG

[Xelerator]

Part 2 for 7-12-09 Post:

Well, I went to Iola all day on Saturday (7-11-09) and came home empty handed, granted the "good stuff" is sold on Thursday and Friday of the swap meet but I could not get over how very few TA/Firebird parts were there.

Like I stated before, NOS quarters for 70-73 are hard to find and if you do, you might as well sell your wife's wedding ring for them. Reproduction rear quarters are also not being made so since I have no other options, I needed to supply my own full quarter, the following shows this process.

To make some progress on the project for this weekend I wanted to remove the full LH quarter skin from the "orange" quarters I bought earlier (those orange quaters can be seen in an earlier post)

Here is progress I made for 7-13-09

Quarter Before:
7-12-09 (1).JPG

Quarter After:
7-12-09 (2).JPG

LH Trunk Drop off looks GOOD!! I think I will use these too! (these are also not being reproduced and the Camaros will not work.
7-12-09 (3).JPG

Rear Shot:You can see all the spot welds I had to drill
7-12-09 (4).JPG

Front Shot:
7-12-09 (5).JPG

Low Shot: Look at all those spot welds!!
You can also see the rust issues, MINOR!! I can deal with that!
7-12-09 (6).JPG

Inside shot: I think a soda blasting and some rust repair and this panel will be good as new. Can this be called UOS?? (used old stock)
7-12-09.JPG

[Xelerator]

Part 3 for 7-12-09 post:

Just for fun, I took the panel and tied it up to give me a feeling of accomplishment. haha

Before:
7-5-09a.JPG

After:
7-5-09a (1).JPG

After: Rear shot
7-5-09a (3).JPG

[MP81]

Nice job!!! That's some serious work you're doing! And the fact the panel fits is just beyond amazing!!!



Want to do all this to an '86 IROC?

[meissen]

I love the updates! Looks awesome so far!

[TSTONE]

good looking progress - im looking forward to the next update

[98blackbeauty]

Man you do some amazing work. It realy makes me think you know what your doing, LOL. Love the pics and updates. I already know this is my favorite thread to follow.

[732ndgen]

when you say its going to be a while before its done,do you mean like next month. hey stop screwing around and start working on that thing .

oh yea, wow that is great work.and I cant believe how far it has come since i stoped over at the house. I cant even get mine off the jack stands because ive ben working so much talk to you later

[Xelerator]

Update since 7-12-09.

Nothing to extreme has happened to the 73 TA. I now have two nice rear quarters that I can use when replacing the missing/rusty quarters.

I still need a rear tail panel that is not being reproduced at this time. I did find an NOS one on craigslist but the seller is asking $1800.00 for it, sounds crazy but that is the going price for these 70-73 FB panels! Not sure what I am going to do for that required panel.

My employer shutdown for the labor day week so I got to spend some time on the 73 TA this week. I focused my time on removing the front nose pieces and front fenders to ultimately gain clear access to the engine for removal. I am taking my sweet time on the removal of the nose as I am documenting every nut and bolt and at the same time dealing with rusty fasteners too.

Here are some shots of my 9-9-09 project:

IMG_5940.jpg

73 TA Nose Removal 058.jpg

73 TA Nose Removal 032.jpg

Pic below shows how I can remove/install the complete
headlight assembly through the Headlight cutouts.
This note will help when reassembling (not sure when that will be)
73 TA Nose Removal 037.jpg

73 TA Nose Removal 040.jpg

At least "someone" was making good use of this 73 TA while
it was rotting away outside for 18 years!! Look at that stash
of leftovers from some rodent. Luckily the damage is minimal.
73 TA Nose Removal 027.jpg

73 TA Nose Removal 065.jpg

Just a shot of an interesting spray of "blackout" paint,
Note the black paint was applied after the final assembly of
the fenders but before the installation of the spoilers and lower
front valance.
73 TA Nose Removal 098.jpg

Next update will show fenders removed for todays project.

[JoeliusZ28]

nice work!

[TSTONE]

coming along nicely - i wonder if the paint was some kind of zinc paint they were using at the factory during final assembly?

[81DaytonaPaceCar]

Very nice...love the details...

[ITSSLOW]

Coming along nicely!

[Xelerator]

Update 1, 9/11/09:
I got a lot done yesterday including removing both LH and RH fenders as well as their mating wheel wells. In doing this removal, I found some intersting finds as I never had the front wheels off until yesterday.

The upper ball joints are clearly the originals as they still are attached with Rivets, however the number/letters on top confuse me if they are date codes. My 73 TA has a build date of 02D (fourth week of Feb, 1973) and the numbers on the ball joints look to be March 3 and 5 of 1973, maybe the codes mean something else.

small_73 TA 02D Build RH upper Ball Joint (1).jpg

small_73 TA 02D Build LH Upper Ball Joint (2).jpg


I also discovered that my rotors (A303, Feb 30 1973) and possibly the pads/calipers are original. I may be able to clean/straighten the rotors for use in the restoration, pretty cool!

Notice how the factory balanced the rotors! They drilled like 6-7 holes! scary but it must hold up to the stresses. The LH has no holes, while the RH has the holes. Has anyone else seen this before?

73 TA 02D Build LH Front Rotor.JPG

73 TA 02D Build LH Front Rotor (1).JPG

73 TA 02D RH Front Rotor (1).JPG

[rcazan10]

Nice progress! I love this thread. No I have never scene this before. Bet someone will know though cough...9t8w66...cough