[njsteve]

Cleaning continues. I used some dishwashing soap and water in a bucket and sloshed it all around the wheelwels with a soft carwash brush. Got most of the road dust off. I then used the diesel-damp rag to wipe everything down including the frame rails. It seems like the assembly line used a bit more black-out paint on the passenger side than the driver's side. Looks like they were just trying to cover the white frame rails and a bit of the wheelwells. By the amount of non-coverage on areas shaded by things like the lower lip of the inner wheelhouse and the sway bar bracket, you can deduce that they didn't move the paint gun around much and just blasted it from one position.

I also pulled the brake drums and gave them a quick dip in the evaporust which removed the surface rust immediately (once it was warmed up to 70 degrees in the sun). They look asssembly line fresh now.

[njsteve]

BTW, what I previously thought was a small section of black paint on the flange area was actually the portion of the drum that mated up to the wheel, and as a result never surface rusted.

[njsteve]

The cleaning continues. I got the entire floor wiped down. It's nice and clean and shiny now. Even though I was wearing gloves, I got slashed quite a few times from the sharp edges on numerous original spot welds. It's like trying to wipe down a rose bush - lots of thorns everywhere.






I started on the transmission and found some interesting things here and there.

Notice the fact that the passenger side, top mounting screw on the converter cover is coming from the wrong side! It had never been installed any other way, as there were no mounting marks on the outside of the surface like the other three screw holes had. I documented the positions prior to removing the cover to wipe down the insides. From the position of the drip marks on the inside and the outside of the cover, it must have been suspended from that opposite side top screw hole when originally dipped in gloss black paint and allowed to drip-dry.







The three rubber nubs are still intact from the rear oil pan seal. (It's hard to get a good focus due to the depth between the oil pan and the converter cover)






Once the cover was removed I found a whole lot of blue paint overspray on the flexplate. The rear main seal and the front converter seal were bone dry. The only oil residue looks to be from seeping valve covers over the past 43 years.




Super Duty starter part number 1108436





Here's an interesting marking: a blue arrow pointing to the starter shims:

[njsteve]

Here's a weird thing: What on earth is the terminal that is bolted directly to the rear of the driver's side cylinder head?

[njsteve]

Found the answer: The cold feed switch for the TCS system.

[Pepi]

Steve, I wanted to say you didn't give us any time to answer, but you did!! I am just very late reading your posts. Looks good. I was going to say I found a store locally by me that sells the Evapo-Rust in 3.5 gallon containers. Other stores are starting to carry it it looks like besides Advance Auto.

Interesting on the blue over spray and bolts.

[Held for Ransom]

Did you ask Enrico if the starter was original?

[njsteve]

It is the original assembly line starter. Enrico was meticulous about not changing anything on the car during his ownership.

[Norwood]

Enrico took good care of that SD

[njsteve]

Enrico and Lenora his wife, are the coolest original owners I have ever had the privilege of knowing. They are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary by reuniting with their SD at the MCACN show in Chicago this November. If you're anywhere near the show, you have to stop by and meet them.

[Held for Ransom]

I guess I was thinking it got a different number. But, I looked at the AMA and the '436 number was listed.

[njsteve]

Look what just came out today in the July issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines. I made sure that they interviewed Enrico for the article and they even put in a photo of "Rick" and his lovely bride of 50 years, Lenora in the owner's comments section.

[njsteve]

Here's the link to the online article which is accessible if you have a magazine subscription: http://www.hemmings.com/magazine/mus...5/3749884.html

[keith k]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Look what just came out today in the July issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines. I made sure that they interviewed Enrico for the article and they even put in a photo of "Rick" and his lovely bride of 50 years, Lenora in the owner's comments section.

Just read it in the mag this evening.

Awesome car, and it was nice of you to let the story be about the original owners, Steve - you're a class act!

[njsteve]

They deserve all the credit. The car wouldn't be here today without them. I can't wait to meet the happy couple in person at MCACN in November.

[RicksGTO]

Got my copy too, great article, I'm sure Enrico will be on cloud nine at MCACN!

[charles bledsoe]

Steve-

Read the article this afternoon. When I saw the cover I had an idea it might be a members car, when I turned to the article I knew it was yours. Started reading and when they mentioned Enrico it sealed the deal. Very nice of you to do that for him! I didn't know your other cars have been in the magazine before. I have had a subscription since they started, so I will go back and read about the others. Nice write up on you and how you came across the Formula, although I had read it before in your post . Congratulations on the article!!

[Tonyqt]

Congratulations Steve. What's this your 3rd Pontiac featured in a magazine? Most people dream of having just one of their cars featured. It's just a testament of the time, effort to detail and love that you have for these cars. Way to go.

[njsteve]

Dodged the biggest bullet ever, today....

I changed the oil today and when I went to check the oil level with the dipstick, the lower portion snapped off!!!! Pontiacs have three combined dipstick tubes that insert sequentially into each other to direct the dipstick into the sump area. I felt something odd and when I pulled the dipstick out, the portion containing the "full" mark and the entire section below it was gone.

The 1973's used the stupidest design you could imagine. They deeply stamped the letters and punched small holes at the various level marks. These all serve as major week points in the metal. When I stuck the dipstick back in it must have gotten bound up for a second and fractured at one of the holes.



I then had to unbolt the A/C compressor and all the brackets to be able to remove the upper tube in case the fragment was still inside it. After an eternity I got the upper tube out. No luck. The fragment was not inside it. I tried using the broken dipstick at that point to gently feel my way down in the middle tube but since the fracture was so sharp, it simply dug it the sides of the tube. I carefully filed the broken edge to make it smooth and tried again. Nothing. The broken section had to be somewhere in the engine.

I drained the fresh oil and found an extendable magnet pickup tool in the toolbox. And after triple checking that the thing would not pull apart once I stuck it in the drain plug hole, I went fishing. An hour of grid searching every square inch of the inside of the oil pan finally resulted in success.

I could not imagine having to pull the engine and drop the pan in this car for something this stupid. Ugh. I need a drink.





Now, does anyone have another 1973 dipstick with the deep stamped letters? I don't know if other early years used this dumb design but I compared the 1973 stick to the 1975 dipstick from Gramma's car. The measuring points, length and handle are the same but the font, text and stamping are noticeably different.

[dpoltzer]

Good for you NJ! Would have been a huge P.I.T.A. had you not persevered.