[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

...working with what we got right now

Can fully relate to that !
Keep the good times rolling

[Cammer-6]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

Thanks BVZ! I like the idea of the 350 H.O. decal in the 455 H.O. style. Funny you mention the bare Rally II's as Dan & I were thinking the same thing. I'm not sure what color the factory painted bare steel wheels on a palladium silver car, but I think is was black. I agree, silver wheels with dog dishes would look better than black...working with what we got right now, however.

As for the stripes, most folks say yuck, I'm still undecided. I like this white '68 with the red H.O. style stripe.

Dennis

that stripe looks like the size of 67 Sprint stripes
68-9 is narrower,like the 67-8 F body Rally stripes,
or 67-8 HO

[SD455DJ]

I learn something new every day! I didn't know the Sprint stripe is a different width than the H.O. stripe.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Finally, the front bench seat is seeing some progress. Dan and I stopped into the upholsterer’s shop after he texted a picture showing the work started…yeah! He says he plans to get it finished up this next week…hopefully.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Need to replace the old 18" long turbo style mufflers as they are now rattling inside, so must be pretty rusty from sitting in the garage and only started periodically. I bought some 'poor-man' Ultra Flo/MagnaFlows mufflers that are a direct R&R from Jones Exhaust (via Summit Racing). They have an 18"l x 9"w x 4"d case with 2.25" side/center inlet/outlet (like the current mufflers) straight through flow design. They are stainless and half the costs of the Dynomax Ultra Flo & MagnaFlow welded mufflers, but that's because they are made in China (didn't see that until I got them and saw that on the box labels).

The 2.25" exhaust system should be plenty free flowing for the little 354 along with the Pypes 2.5" mandrel bent headpipes to replace the kink-bent Midas Muffler pipes on there currently.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

We got the reupholstered front bench back in the Custom S today, as well as the NOS rocker moldings and '350' emblems (thanks Alex & Lyn!). The seat is a reasonable facsimile of the original vinyl heat press pattern with stitching instead. It is firm and comfortable to sit on vs. the original with worn foam, not to mention finally black to match the rest of the interior from the light gray pancho-pattern seat cover and the temporary white seat from the '71 GT-37.

The underside of the seat frame and springs was amazingly clean with minimal flash rust, almost like new!

Next job is the exhaust system.

Dennis

[Shiny]

Upholstery looks great! That must be rewarding for you.

I'll be interested to know how you like the mufflers...it's on my list.

Mike

[SD455DJ]

Originally Posted by Shiny

Upholstery looks great! That must be rewarding for you.

I'll be interested to know how you like the mufflers...it's on my list.

Mike

Thanks Mike! It's nice to get the Custom S to the 'good enough' point to enjoy driving it. I'll certainly let you know how the Jones mufflers work out and sound like.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

I'm now going the path of a completely new exhaust system since after cutting off the internally rusted mufflers, I discovered the headpipes were only 2" O.D. in size and my new Jones straight through mufflers were 2.25" I.D. We ran down to the local auto parts store and bought some adapters for these pipe sizes, but it looked ridiculous to keep those puny headpipes, so I will use the Pypes 2.5" mandrel headpipes I originally ordered for Custom S last spring with the new Jegs 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust kit (555-30527) I just ordered. It's on sale for only 237.99 and is 409 stainless steel. This is a kit without mufflers and lists all A-bodies from '64 to '72, so a universal kit. We'll see how well it fits/works and I'm sure that it'll need a bit of cutting/welding to fit properly. We may retain the current 2 1/4" tailpipes since they do fit nice, have the proper turn-downs, and only some minor surface rust.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Originally Posted by einstein

Nodular rear housing? Look for big "N" cast above pinion nose.

When I finally got under the Custom S to work on the exhaust system last week, I did look at the carrier casting and it does have the big cast "N" above the pinion nose for nodular iron. I didn't have my phone conveniently around, so couldn't take a picture...but it was plain as day.

Dennis

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

I will use the Pypes 2.5" mandrel headpipes I originally ordered for Custom S last spring with the new Jegs 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust kit (555-30527) I just ordered. It's on sale for only 237.99 and is 409 stainless steel.

Note that 400 series stainless steel is less resistant to corrosion and can rust over time. 300 series stainless (like 304SS) is better, although more expensive.

Having said all that, for a car like this that will have only occasional use (and won't be driven in the snow and salt) the Jegs kit should last a very long time.

[SD455DJ]

Yep, thanks Stuart. The Pypes DGA10S down-pipes are also 409 SS, as are the Jones mufflers I bought a few weeks ago. The car will inevitably see some rain from time to time, but definitely, no winters or salt, so will flash rust I'm sure.

The Jeg's kit looks pretty decent for the price and I'll report back on the effort and surprises it will require for a good fit since it is basically a universal kit.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Since our power was still out from last Thursday’s storms, we couldn’t use the lift to put the Custom S in the air to work on the new exhaust. Also, the headpipe bolts in the manifolds wouldn’t come out, despite PB Blaster & heat, so we went with Plan 'C' for the exhaust system...which was back to replacing the old mufflers with new, but different DynoMax Super Turbo mufflers (#17732's) that have the 14" long (short) case with 2 1/4" inlet/outlet that are side/side. They fit better than the side/center #17731 DynoMax Super Turbo's, that we also had and tried, for some reason (also 14" long case w/ 2 1/4" inlet/outlet). The Jones Max Flow 1255's I bought earlier for replacements were too long when combined with the adapter pipes we had to employ to connect mufflers to the current headpipes and the original muffler hangers. We'll install the Jeg’s 2.5" mandrel bent system with the Pypes headpipes and Jones mufflers when we have more time and use of the lift. At least, for now, it has better flowing mufflers (that don't rattle & buzz) than it had. It's still quiet inside and has a nice authoritative tone at idle.

While the car was up in the air (about 18”), I took the opportunity to ‘restore’ the gray primer on the rear end, shocks, backing plates, trailing arms, etc. with good ol` semi-gloss black spray paint.

We also played car ‘dress-up’ by swapping the whitewall radials on the Custom S over to the ’69 Firebird, and the Firebird’s 14x7 Rally II’s with Wide Oval Redlines over to the Custom S. Oh, the fun never ceases!

Dennis

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Almost don't realize its a 4door with those R2's and Redlines

Read about you guys missing TA Nats due to storm complications.
Sorry all that happened .

[SD455DJ]

Thanks BVZ! The storms timing was impeccable...it felt weird not to be there, for sure. The RII's w/ redlines are totally 1969.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Dan & I worked on the Custom S today adding the Auto Gage mini trio-gauges that were originally in my ’70 Formula 400, but removed when we installed factory tach & gauges. It’s nice to see what the oil pressure (20-60 psi), coolant temp (high of 180), and charging system (14.5 volts) is doing.

We also discovered we have more work to dial in the carb and timing since they haven’t been touched (other than setting initial) since the car came home. The 7029293 Q-jet is in admittedly unknown condition and really needs a good rebuild and examining/readjusting the fuel curve. It seems to be overly rich yet and the secondary air valve needs to be tightened some more as it has a big bog at full throttle. This is the fun stuff.

Dennis

[KSZR]

Those RIIs and redlines make the car look great! The red goes good with silver.

[SD455DJ]

That time of year already where the Pontiacs are all tucked away for the long winter hibernation. The Custom S was a whirlwind project that we were glad to git-er-done for the most part. We still need to get some new window fuzzies made and installed...next year, and work on the tune (carb & distributor). I'd love to take to the May F.A.S.T. race at Martin, MI...but may not be ready to do that. Thanks for sharing the ride this year.

Special thanks go out to post toastie for starting the thread and the ensuing adventure.

Dennis

[post toastie]

Thank you for taking us along for the ride.

[SD455DJ]

Alot of work completed in 8 months this year. I wish all projects went this quickly.

Dennis