1978 Pontiac Firebird Week 2009 04 19

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 Gathering_P4180015_small We had a great turn out of the Car Nuts this week. We had two meetings this week. Even with that I did not make opening day. The car is close, but I will be gone all next week so there will be not progress to report, unless the little elves come an finish the car while I am gone.
The weather was nice and it was a little difficult to get the worker bees to come in and work Don Goodman, George Nick, Vince Falco,  Frank Serafine, and Tom Deyle. We got the rear end sealed up and oil added, Radiator and electric fan installed, Exhaust system build and installed, Throttle cable routed so as not to bend the cable, shifter installed, started the engine.
 Add_Oil__to_Rearend_P4150017_small Don Goodman was our rear end man this week. he pulled the rear axle yet again, sealed the “C” clip eliminator, installed the emergency brake hardware for another spare backing plate and put it all back together. Then added both Limited slip additive and rear end gear oil. The rear is ready to GO!
 Add_Oil__to_Rearend_P4150021_small  Add_Oil__to_Rearend_P4150026_small
 Add_Oil__to_Rearend_P4150010_small This only the third time he has taken this apart and put it back together, and it is not an easy job. The bolts that hold the “C” clip eliminator are between the backing plate and the rear spring and you can only get about a 1/4 turn at best at a time on the bolts. What a pain.
 Add_Oil__to_Rearend_P4150027_small  Add_Oil__to_Rearend_P4170007_small
Next task is to install the radiator for good, and attach the electric fan.
 Elecric_Fan_P4150001_small We had to create new mounts for both the radiator and the fan as the stock mounts are part of the shroud and that is long gone.
 Elecric_Fan_P4150006_small The bolt heads had to be ground down a little to create clearance for the rubber cushions for the radiator.
 Elecric_Fan_P4150003_small  Elecric_Fan_P4150004_small
 Elecric_Fan_P4150011_small Next Vince Falco, Tom Deyle, and that guy in the red shirt (who doesn’t do much and must only own one shirt) worked on making mounts for the electric fan
 Elecric_Fan_P4150018_small  Elecric_Fan_P4150024_small
 Exhaust_P4150005_small Well in order to run this car we need to install an exhaust system. I certainly do not want to make a lot of noise and disturb the peace.Tom Deyle are coolant man also was the exhaust expert. He was responsible for building the quit exhaust system  
 Exhaust_P4150008_small  Exhaust_P4150009_small
 Exhaust_P4150012_small  Exhaust_P4160004_small
Tom has asured me that this complicated exhaust system will be nice and quite.
 Height_Adjustment_P4160001_small Next on the list was to take some of the bend out of the throttle cable. This was caused by installing the one inch spacer under the carburetor. It was decided to create a one inch spacer under the stock throttle cable mount.
 Height_Adjustment_P4170008_small  Height_Adjustment_P4170009_small
 Lower_Radiator Hose_Clearance_P4150025_small Who ever designed the routing of the lower radiator hose and the coolant lines for the transmission should be shot. Why would you run the coolant lines so that the run on either side of the lower radiator hose?
And why would you rout the lower radiator hose so that the bolts that hold the idler arm rub against it. The solution for the rubbing was to turn the bolts around.
 Lower_Radiator Hose_Clearance_P4180014_small  Lower_Radiator Hose_Clearance_P4190001_small
 Shifter_P4160005_small We then went inside and located and bolted the shifter in place. Now that might seem like a simple thing, but you have to also wire in the neutral safety switch. The inspectors at the trace get all upset if you do not have one.
 Shifter_P4170006_small  Shifter_P4170010_small
The wiring to the dash was completed, and the dash was bolted in. If you look close at the picture below on the right side you will note a line of red right below the brake pedale. This is because the brake master cylinder is leaking from the front seal and eating the gray paint up.
 Inside_P4180013_small  Inside_P4190004_small
 Master_Replacement_P4140001_small So we had to go back an redo the master.
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 Wiring_P4150028_small Although the wiring in the das was complete, we had to finish wiring the rest of the car. Here what you see if the wiring need to make sure the fuel pump shuts down in case of an emergency. That switch has three poles, an normally open, and normally closed and a common.
 Wiring_P4190002_small Wiring for the fan and water pump
 Wiring_P4190003_small Spark plug wires were just clipped on so we could START THE ENGINE.

CLICK HERE FOR A SHORT MOVIE ON THAT SUBJECT (ENGINE STARTING)

Video was done by Tom Deyle
 Cleaning_P4180018_small Here is Ton Deyle as the detail man, boy he does it all. That is when he is in New York and not traveling the world.
 Touch_Up_P4150007_small
Here is George Nick doing touch up.
 Recovery_Bottle_P4190005_small What do you think of the recovery bottle.