[markjenks]

Hello everyone, my names Mark and I have old car disease.

Back in 1989, I bought my 72 from a co-worker of mine for $1000 (4 payments of $250). I drove it for a few years during the summer, and then tore it down and replaced the worst parts of it and got it painted sometime in 1991.

I drove it on and off again for the next few years, but I bought a 1966 Harley in 1991 and it ended up first in line and then Lemans pretty much sat for the next few years. I did take it on a tour of Wisconsin in 1994, but that was the last major trip it has seen.

Long story short, I moved in 1997, and it hasn't seen the road much since then. I bought my house in 1998 and put it in the corner of the garage, taking it out once a year to run it for about 10-15 miles before putting it away again for another year. I've wanted to work it for years, but I've been putting tons of money into my house and working on other cars. (53 chevy and 66 F85 Cutlass)

Well, long story short, I received my inheritance from my dad that passed away this last summer, and now have enough to start and finish it the Lemans, which is the way I've always wanted to try and get it done. I really didn't want to start it, unless I could finish it without looking for money to do it.

So, 2 week ago, I spent the entire weekend and rearranged the garage, pulled the front clip and doors. This last weekend, I pulled the interior, trunk lid, emptied the trunk, pulled the gas tank, and disconnected everything from the body to the Frame.

This weekend I am going to get the last 2 body bolts out and start working on raising the body from the frame. I still haven't decided how to get the body up, but I'm thinking raising one side at a time until I can fit a 4x6 between the frame and body w/ a 4x4 on top to match up to where the frame connected to the body. Once I get the 4x6 to cross, I was going to build a frame under it and put casters under it. At least that is what I am thinking.

Once I have the body off, it's time to pull the engine and put it on the stand, pull the tranny and take it in to be rebuilt and look at what else can be done.

My goal is to strip to the frame, sandblast it, paint it and start doing the same for every part that goes back on to it.

Pics and more to follow.

-Mark

[markjenks]

Here are the first of many pics.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6353873...7629238690767/

[fixturebuilder]

Looks like you have a good base car to start with. I've had mine done for 5 years and have changed/removed the transmission 3 or 4 times and right now I am in the middle of pulling the engine. Car runs great but I want it perfect! Once you get hooked on messing with these cars, it becomes a addiction.

Keep pushin on

[PB]

Sweet! Welcome to the forums! Looks nice. Is your car black and original paint? Black was a special order paint for 72, so if it is, that's pretty unique.

[markjenks]

No, it was originally Adriatic blue. But back when I repainted it, we were messing around with paint. It's a Pearl-Black right now. Black at night, Midnight blue during the day, and everything else in between..

I love the color, but I'm going back to original because that's the way it was, and you don't see that color anymore.

[markjenks]

I don't have time for an addiction to keep going back and re-fixing things. Do it once, do it right.

I have cars behind this that need to get back on the road too. Like my 1940 Pontiac Special Six.

[A.W.Dille]

T-41 front end and column shift automatic makes for a unique combination (in my opinion). You have a really good starting point as the floors look very solid as does the rest of the car.

[UPC-WU2]

Welcome to the forum. Where in Wisconsin are you?

[markjenks]

I'm 20 miles west of Green Bay.

[markjenks]

Originally Posted by A.W.Dille

T-41 front end and column shift automatic makes for a unique combination (in my opinion). You have a really good starting point as the floors look very solid as does the rest of the car.

It definitely was a special order car. Endura nose, 350/350 automatic, front bench, power disk brakes, A/C and blue interior. I'm not finding seat covers yet that are blue with hounds tooth fabric, so they may have to be custom ordered. The other oddity that I had to take off, and I forget what they are called, is the rubber molding down each side of the body to protect from door dings.

As for the rust situation, everything looks pretty much like it did when I last painted it. Back then I replaced the fenders (should have kept the old ones), passenger door, and the bumper. The frame has me worried a little bit, but I won't know more until the body is off. Considering it's a Wisconsin car, it was really taken care of until about 2 years before I got it, and it's only seen snow once since 89. (other car broke down and I had to drive it)

We did have to fab a right side lower cowl back then, so I'm looking and thinking about finding a donor one to weld in. I found one on the internet for $175, but there is a pontiac yard not too far from me to go check out.

[markjenks]

I just updated my flicker pictures. Lots of them are just for me documenting where everything was before disassembly, but there are lots of other pictures in there of the car itself.

[markjenks]

Started to lift the body up off the frame today. Not bad for the 4th day of working on it.

Over all 4 out of 6 body bolts came out without issues. The front 2 on the pass side both broke off, I'll have to cut the floor to fix the middle one. The good part of that is the ones in the far back came out.

I'm really looking forward to having everything still on the frame and being able to work on it without the body in the way.

[bigborehunter]

Looks like a solid car you have, Mark. Like the interior color on the door panels. Must be a tough one to match. Come to think of it, Adriatic Blue isn't a color you see often. The ones I have usually are black interiors.

[markjenks]

Originally Posted by bigborehunter

Looks like a solid car you have, Mark. Like the interior color on the door panels. Must be a tough one to match. Come to think of it, Adriatic Blue isn't a color you see often. The ones I have usually are black interiors.

I'm starting to notice that, as I look around for new vinyl for the seats. Not many blue interiors out there. It's coded 24 24 for the body, and TR241 for the interior.

The steering wheel and the back seat arm rests are turning green, so I'm wondering if they weren't dyed at the factory from green to blue.

[bigborehunter]

Mark, I wouldn't put it past Pontiac to do something weird like that. One thing I've noticed is that on last year bodystyle build outs, Pontiac used up whatever was on the assembly line to get them out the door. We know of 1972 GTOs built with 1971 ribbed taillamp lenses, Lemans Sport grilles, trim deviations not officialy recognized in brochures. I think what's likely is that green is the base vinyl color used to make light blue interiors and sun rays take off that blue dye leaving the green layer behind. Notice that your windshield pillars and dash have retained their color. Different materials which means different paint. windshield pillars were metal I believe and used satin finish paint. They can handle sunlight better than soft vinyl can. The dash is cooked vinyl rubber mix and if anything will darken to prolonged exposure. BF Goodrich formulated that mixture and their competitor Firestone also made some dashes for the big three.
another example of last year changes. 1981 Trans Ams ordered in dark blue metallic paint, the paint mix changed completely. Early 1981 cars have more metalflake and is a lighter blue. Later 1981 cars have navy blue paint, small flakes and looks black on an overcast day. Why the change? They ran out of blue interiors and dashpads, leaving black and chocolate only. Both colors clashed too much with the lighter shade of metallic blue paint so they darkened the mix so the transition from cowl to hood was smoother. Two separate paint formulas on 1981 code 29 blue paint.

['ol Pinion head]

Welcome to PY.

The interior in your '72 LeMans, code 241 is medium blue vinyl/fabric bench seat interior avail in '72. The vinyl & fabric benchs were standard equip. All vinyl bench was optional but not in all colors. Its very common for the blue std plastic strg wheels to get a green tint to them with heat & years. '71 & 72 used a medium blue, unlike the dark blue used in '69 & 70. The med blue dlx strg wheel (3 spoke type) don't seem to change colors, if you are interested in changing whls.

Would have to get into a '72 dealer album & get the name of the fabric seat insert for '72 LeMans. '71 233 series used the same vinyl trim med blue seats with a slight different fabric pattern called parody cloth. My HO GT-37 came with this style interior & I have parted several '72 LeMans & removed the med blue interior from them. The bench seat frames interior in my '71 T-37 post car actually came out of a '72 Silver LeMans Post car with same blue interior as yours. 2 door posts have wider rear seat than a 2 door hardtop, but the front bench seats are exactly the same. On the Silver/blue interior '72 post LeMans I parted (it was also a T41 car) the steel plillar covers were black, an obvious mistake, as the dash & headliner were med blue.

[markjenks]

Here's the latest. 4.5 days later the frame is out from under the body and the trans is just about out.

Is so much nicer work work on it like this.. Except I need to get rid of the parking cables, because I keep tripping on them.

[markjenks]

My 72 has the ribbed taillights too.. I'm sure alot of parts were just used up when the day was done. My 66 Harley is the same way, with lots of 65 parts on it, so you can never tell it's not 100% original.

As for the interior, I've looked for replacement vinyl for it without luck so far, but at least it's nice to know that they do turn green.

Is there anyway to dye them back, or just leave it because it's original?

[bigborehunter]

A company called SEM makes vinyl dyes. Usually the local Apple Auto Glass dealer carries those cans. Our local one just got turned into a Speedy Glass franchise but I bet the same products are used.

[2002Z4CSS]

Welcome! Looks like a nice car to restore. I see your dogs like to watch the work being done.