[RicksGTO]

Took me a while to get around to posting on the progress on my '72 Formula 455, but I finally have enough pics to post for an update. Also this will help to motivate me to keep up the pace and post some more as I go along. I've learned a ton from the people on this site and the posts they have made along their way so I will try and do the same. I forget how we restored cars before the internet!? I've been working on this for a little over 16 months now, definately not breaking any time records, but it's moving along. I now have the car in about the maximum number of possible parts and am working on a list of things to have done before it can go to paint by the end of summer/early fall. While I'm working in a general overall order, at times there are so many thing to choose from, I sometimes jump around and do unrelated items, but mainly just trying to do a little everyday. Currently I am stripping the firewall, underbody and wheel wells with a 4.5" grinder. To say this is not the point of most fun would be an understatement, but I'm about halfway done with the grinding and most of my hearing is still intact so a few more weekends and on to something more fun. Also currently beginning to reassemble the sub-frame/suspension at the same time as I work on the beloved underbody. Here are some pics of a few things that are finished with some more to follow:

[RicksGTO]

here are some pics of the seats, I went ahead and temporarily put them in the car to save space. I posted a pic of a small change I made to the upper bucket cushions to smooth the transition from the headrest portion to the body of the seatback. I just didn't like the way the custom covers wanted to slightly pucker at that point so I made the little channel transition and ended up impregnating it with a thick coat hanger running north/south to give one extra hogring point. I put one pic also of the sub-frame just after painting, I used a couple of base coats of Eastwood's rust encapsulator and then two topcoats of Extreme chassis black satin. The folks at Eastwood use the term satin liberally but I am ok with it as it is a nice tough finish. Notice the connect the dots motor mount bracket holes. Either the sub-frame is from another later model or someone at one time decided to swap them or reposition them and couldn't make their mind up...

[RicksGTO]

last for now are some engine pics and the firewall evap housing. The pistons are KB Forged (not the hypers) and the rods are PPR's forged I-Beams, very nice parts for the $ and a good bit lighter than stock. A few details on the engine: It's the original engine, bored .040 over, stock crank turned .020/.020, zero decked, Ultradyne 280/288 hyd. (223/231 dur. .463/.485 lift and custom ground on a 112lsa, 60lb melling oil pump with a tomahawk windage tray and baffled oil pan. Heads are the original 7F6's and will be lightly cleaned up and milled .030 to get it around 9.2 to 1 compression. Stock HO intake and a Cliff tuned q-jet. I got a set of oversized ceramic coated RA manifolds and later a pypes crossflow exhaust. The A/C box I did today, it was painted black in an earlier life and what a joy to remove that from the fiberglass without scratching it. I used a couple of coats of gloss clear to darken it and then a couple of light coats of matte clear to calm it down as it looked like it was glowing almost with the gloss clear. Now to work on the evap. and a/c parts so they will be ready to fit back in there soon.

[HWYSTR455]

Oh man, the box turned out great! On my LeMans, the box was painted on one side and the top, and it had a bunch of undercoating overspray on the bottom. What a nightmare it was to clean that thing up! So I know the effort that went into yours, kudos!

[RicksGTO]

thanks, I used 00 steel wool on it and it worked pretty well, but very slow. If I had it to do again, I would try plastic media blasting as I'm sure that would have sped up the process quite a bit and probably been safer on the fiberglass but I didn't have any plastic media so as usual, plan B was the manual labor route.

[RASK]

Looks great so far Rick. I know my upholsterer had to play games with my seat cushions and the covers to take care of wrinkles and what not. I can't believe you painted your steering column collar in your dining room! just kidding. Remember, it's too daunting to think of the car as one project but rather a 100 small projects that you should celebrate afterward.

[catalina_dream]

Car looks great so far! I know exactly how long these things take. I colllected parts for 2 years before I pulled the trigger and started on the driveline. Once that is complete, then I start collecting more parts to do the body next. I wish my car was a real Formula, but I will play the cards that I was dealt and build the best car I can on my budget. What is the original color combo of your car?

-Kevin

[RicksGTO]

Hey Rask, I actually went out in the garage and painted it about 5-6 coats and brought it in each time on that stick to toast it over our fireplace, made the wrinkle paint come out better. Wife gave me some funny looks but since then she is now used to the dining table, kitchen table and open places on the floors being used as workspace. It is definately a series of small projects. I'll be glad when the projects to choose from is less than 100 so it won't seem so mind boggling, but I'm getting there.
Thanks Kevin, I saw your car in the other posts and it is very nice, I enjoy following the progress of everyones cars and copying from the pics posted when I forget what goes where or what color something is, etc. This car was originally Revere Silver over black deluxe so it will be going back to the Revere Silver later this year, it's been painted black for almost 30 years from what history I have been able to learn from past owners.

[fbirdinconcord]

That all looks great. Keep up the good work.

[TH65]

Very, Very Nice Rick,
Since yours has been Black for many years, I thought I might post another picture of my 72 Revere Silver Formula to give you an idea of what yours might look like, although mine still needs to be restored.

[RicksGTO]

thanks for the encouragement guys, great pic of an original Revere Silver car and a 4 speed as well, love those wheels too. I have a set of honeycombs that Lloyd threw in with this car that I'm about to restore and a set of rally II's that he included as well so I hope to have two sets of wheels and tires for this one at one point. It came with rally II's from the factory but I am probably going to start off with the honeycombs as I love the look of them

[Lloyd-TX]

Rick - great work, my friend.

Please - keep posting pics and updates as time allows.

I can't wait to see it all finished up, and back in it's original Revere Silver glory.

[RicksGTO]

thanks Lloyd, I can't wait to hear it run and see it in the new paint too, I'll keep posting as it goes along for sure

[RicksGTO]

it's been a while since I updated my post so I thought I'd get some more progress pics up. It's going along slowly but steadily, I seem to get time to work for 3 or 4 weekends straight broken up by a few weekends where not much gets done. I finished the underbody in the fall and moved on to the outer shell and a lot of smaller parts in the steering and suspension, rear end, etc. I decided to do more of the work prior to dropping it off for paint so there would be less dust on the finished parts and to save some money by doing some of the prep work for the paint where possible. Here's the rebuilt steering box, rebuilt steering column, sanded and refinished repro wheel, restored wiper motor and 7F6 heads. Got the heads done at Calvert Racing here locally, no porting other than very light bowl work but a lot of attention to a multi-angle valve job and back cuts.

[RicksGTO]

here are some pics of the underbody, suspension and rear end, etc. I used Moog bushings and ball joints everywhere including the rear leaf spring bushings, disassembled the rear springs and cleaned and detailed them as I really liked the ride height the original type springs gave the car. I'm reusing the front springs as well since they seemed to be in good shape and again the ride height seems to be something not to mess with on a stock rebuild. The rear end had aparently received new seals and the axles, bearing and gears/posi all looked to be in excellent shape so mainly just detailing on the rear end.

[eaglesan13]

Rick,

Is there some trick to getting those upper control arm bumpers in? I'm replacing them on my 70 Formula and I can't get those suckers in. I've tried dishwashing soap, grease, oil, warming them up, but I can't get them in.

Chris

p.s. Nice work!

[RicksGTO]

and some pics of the body, I was very happy with the condition of the body panels, should just require a small patch behind each rear wheel and one in front of the passenger side behind the door but other than a few slide hammer holes here and there under a little bondo it was nice and solid. I mainly used the 3M paint stripping discs on a grinder to remove the paint, they work well but you just have to go lightly and move around a lot to avoid too much heat buildup. It is mind numbing fun after a while but I wanted to know what the metal underneath looked like and save some money too. I did the trunk lip area and door jambs, cowl areas mostly with a braided wire wheel for the tighter areas. I'll start on the frame reassembly next weekend and post pics of that when it's finished. Also will be hauling the hood and a few small parts to a local soda blaster as the fiberglass hood especially needs something gentle like that to strip it clean.

[RicksGTO]

thanks Chris, I know what you mean on those bumpers. I went out one morning to put them in and an hour later my father in law (82 years old) came by and I had him standing on the edge of the arms while I pulled them thru. They work best if you pull them thru at an angle until the leading edge/corner of the flared top gets thru and then the rest will come thru more easily, I did use a little 3 in 1 oil on them as well. I like the lower bumpers a lot better, just one bolt and your done!

[keepat]

Rick,
Awesome work! What paint did you use on your steering wheel?
Thanks for posting the pics
Pat

[Lloyd-TX]

Very, VERY nice, Rick!

Great attention to detail. I wish that I had 10% of your talent and energy, LOL!

What paint formula did you shoot on the underbody?