4 hours ago, Fitzy said:

No - the belts are black, to match the factory black interior I guess.

Glad everything went well.  This will will keep your nose outta places it shouldn't be. 😎  What logo is on those belts?  Hard to see.

I never saw no purple wallabies............What about PINK elephants??

4 hours ago, Fitzy said:

You might find some on ebay. Similar vintage Chev or Buick should be the same. Perhaps Frosty or JustA could keep an eye out for you when their swap meets occur. That reminds me, we need to get over there for a catch up, once the Omicron variant extinguishes most of humanity.

I might Justa have a set.  Will have to dig through the spare parts bins.  Had a couple sets and used the easiest to get working again.  All were rusted and wouldn't move.  Cleaned up well and the set in the GTO still works fine after well over 10 years.  I'm still looking to match my buckles for the back seat.  Justa can't find em.  Have seen the repops for $600 per set of 4.  Yea the black plastic for the back seat is JUSTA fine.

Just now, JUSTA6 said:

I might Justa have a set.  Will have to dig through the spare parts bins.  Had a couple sets and used the easiest to get working again.  All were rusted and wouldn't move.  Cleaned up well and the set in the GTO still works fine after well over 10 years.  I'm still looking to match my buckles for the back seat.  Justa can't find em.  Have seen the repops for $600 per set of 4.  Yea the black plastic for the back seat is JUSTA fine.

 

My belts have the Fisher carriage symbol on them: that pic was a bit blurry. I never thought of those retractors being out of the ordinary. I'll look at them with a little more reverance in future. As JustA said, I also had to pry the buckle apart and derust everything - works like a new one now.

I was going to post a pic of my bandaged face but figured we have enough tarted up old wrecks undergoing repair already.

10 hours ago, Fitzy said:

My belts have the Fisher carriage symbol on them: that pic was a bit blurry. I never thought of those retractors being out of the ordinary. I'll look at them with a little more reverance in future. As JustA said, I also had to pry the buckle apart and derust everything - works like a new one now.

I was going to post a pic of my bandaged face but figured we have enough tarted up old wrecks undergoing repair already.

oh come on!! we all love a good picture of good bondo job  !!!

What a day. Heed my words: when it's your turn to order new door trim panels, get the assembled ones for a few bucks more. I had to practically re-engineer every facet of making mine go back together and fitting on the car. If anyone wants any tips, just ask me. It was a journey I wish to never repeat! Anyway, they're fitted and everything looks really good. It was never going to be perfect, but that's old cars for you.

As an experiment, I found a cheap but surprisingly good quality leather lace on steering wheel cover which I sewed on to my original wheel. It was tan colour (no black available) but some vinyl spray took care of that. It looks okay - I'll see what I think as time goes by. I can't help thinking an original or Grant wood rimmed wheel would really match the walnut veneer GP interior. Perhaps the boys will find one at a swap meet.

So, with the interior finished to a point that I'm happy with, it's now time to get stuck into the engine rebuild. First drama: fitting the new oil pickup to the new oil pump. Rocky Rotella sez to put the pickup in the freezer then essentially drive it in. Uh, sure Rocky. Pickup is in the freezer as we speak. My missus (being a Kiwi) will probably think it's some exotic ingredient to add to the curry. That'll be a pick me up. Didja see what I did there? Comedy gold. Whilst that is happening I thought I could get the timing gear fitted. Ha! My original cam still had it's woodruff key installed. New cam didn't come with one. Surely for $200 they could have chucked in a 2 cent woodruff key. No they didn't. I tried to find one locally and no dice. So I drove the 55 year old key out of the old cam. I then checked the corresponding slot in the new cam gear and several tenths of a millimetre had to come off the sides, so in the vice and file it down.  Easy - new cam gear will now just slide on to the cam. No it won't coz the friggin cam snout is like 0.2 mm larger than new cam gear. So now I gotta figure out how to either reduce the cam snout diameter or enlarge new billet timing gear. This is what happens when you mix up aftermarket parts. Melling cam and JP Performance timing gear. I guess I'll be using emery cloth until the bits fit.

What? Of course I'm having a beer. What a friggin' day.

 

Edited December 5, 20214 yr by Fitzy
Double up on photo

Now that is looking great mate  enjoy that beer, we justA finished watching bathurst.... was a good race 

I forgot all about the race! Back in the 80s, I went there with a few mates a coupla times and it was wild. You could stand right on the edge of the track, and the beer, burgers, burnouts and bogans were only the start! My initial sighting of a race car was KB's Camaro coming over a rise with it's side exiting exhaust and him deftly controlling the ensuing slide. No wonder I'm a tragic petrolhead. The other defining moment in my life was when my father smuggled me into a cinema at the age of 14 to watch the original R rated Mad Max. Watching Max in that Falcon coupe did it for me. I've been broke ever since!

Your interior is amazing.  Fantastic job.  Much to be proud of there. 

Engine Rebuild Nightmares with Fitzy.

Hi Everyone and welcome to Engine Rebuild Nightmares. First of all, you gotta spend months laying awake at 3am wondering how everything that you pulled apart will go back together. When the big day comes, you're broke, you're hungry but you're surrounded by a squiilion shiny new bits to stuff back into your expensive new machined block. After shoving the crank, rods & pistons in, chuck the cam in and then prepare thyself for timing gear replacement. Crank mounted gear slid right on - easy. Cam mounted gear was never gonna fit, so out with the Dremel and a grinding stone and smooth that sucker down. Eventually, new gear slid right on. Sweet. Then, just press oil pickup into oil pump. Hmm. Won't go. Rocky Rotella sez chuck it in the freezer. This morning I retrieved it from the freezer, ran outside and hammered that sucker in. When I had it almost in, it was then I realised that the rim of the pickup screen has to sit in a little recess in the pump housing to ensure it's located properly. Hammer, push, pull, lever...I eventually got it to sit right and proceeded to hammer it home. Why not make it a tiny bit smaller and instruct the rebuilder to hold it in place with some Loctite? No, you gotta hammer the bejesus out of it instead. Timing cover went on with no dramas, oil pan also went on fine but Ames sells little reinforcing plates for the rear corners to prevent leaks - apparently they were a Pontiac after service item made avaiable for dealers to retrofit. Did mine fit? No, at the critical moment when the Permatex was starting to set, I discover that one of those little plates hadn't been shaped right and needed some of it's internal curve cut out. Ran to the vise and once again with the Dremel, ground out the requisite material in order for it to fit. Valvetrain components now fitted as well, but time to clean up and rest.

On 12/4/2021 at 4:58 AM, 64 kiwi boni said:

oh come on!! we all love a good picture of good bondo job  !!!

Part of me thinks that is a contradiction in terms. 

FItzy - you are doing amazing work mate! Keep it up, and drink more beer! 

Edited December 6, 20214 yr by Frosty

Nice job!  There is light N sleep at the end of the tunnel. 

12 hours ago, JUSTA6 said:

Nice job!  There is light N sleep at the end of the tunnel. 

Justa - don't say that too loud!!! The missus might hear!!!! And then she will expect things on the Honey Do List to get done eventually! Damn it man, we have to look out for each other in the "Great Car Conspiracy"!

"Why yes Molly, David WAS helping me install a transmission in my Jeep CJ last night. Why do you ask?"

Frosty Man, let me tell you - I will GLADLY potter about and do whatever she wants once this engine is bolted back in, starts and actually runs. If it doesn't, the car will become a sculpture that people can admire when they visit. I'll just have to be content sitting in the driver's seat, holding the wheel and making "brum brum" noises, like a little kid.

I got the week off work coz my face looks like I've been beaten up, so it's full speed ahead with engine assembly. After seeing a YT clip of Uncle Tony's Garage, I thought I might clean up the ports on my inlet manifold. He showed an example of some Chrysler heads and boy, were the castings rough - he could easily grind away plenty of material in order to restore correct port shape. By contrast, my Pontiac heads have beautiful clean ports which I never touched and I could only find the slightest amount of material to grind away from my inlet manifold ports, so I did. I set my inlet manifold gaskets in place with the exhaust crossover ports blocked off and am almost there. Tomorrow I'll paint the block & heads, add the last bits & pieces and will eventually whack that baby back where it belongs.

 

Edited December 7, 20214 yr by Fitzy
Double up on photo

34 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

- I will GLADLY potter about and do whatever she wants once this engine is bolted back in, starts and actually runs. If it doesn't, the car will become a sculpture that people can admire when they visit. I'll just have to be content sitting in the driver's seat, holding the wheel and making "brum brum" noises, like a little kid.

bull shit !!! haahha another tui beer ad !! 10 seconds after doing what your boss wants you to do, you  will wonder off and start doin what you want to do again, or you will go completely mad blind and deaf within seconds and you know it !!!! haahha

25 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

I got the week off work coz my face looks like I've been beaten up, so it's full speed ahead with engine assembly. After seeing a YT clip of Uncle Tony's Garage, I thought I might clean up the ports on my inlet manifold. He showed an example of some Chrysler heads and boy, were the castings rough - he could easily grind away plenty of material in order to restore correct port shape. By contrast, my Pontiac heads have beautiful clean ports which I never touched and I could only find the slightest amount of material to grind away from my inlet manifold ports, so I did. I set my inlet manifold gaskets in place with the exhaust crossover ports blocked off and am almost there. Tomorrow I'll paint the block & heads, add the last bits & pieces and will eventually whack that baby back where it belongs.

 

very nice mate 

Edited December 7, 20214 yr by 64 kiwi boni

I love it when I'm not the only one who calls BS when he sees it Kiwi!

Besides it is congenital for us to tune out our better half. It is natural defense mechanism! We're born with it mates!!!! 

No BS. I will be glad to have something different to do. We're both sick of seeing the car just sit there and not move.

This morning as I'm making coffee, for some reason the word 'thermostat' popped into my head. Guess who forgot to put the thermostat in yesterday? I'm now wondering what else I forgot to stuff inside the block, now that it's all sealed up.

When I tore the engine down, I noted that the thermostat was missing altogether so I guess that's why I didn't think about it. Oh well, it's only 2 bolts. Better than forgetting the camshaft. Wait a minute...why is that lumpy steel rod still sitting in the Pontiac room???

Bearings, freeze plugs, water tubes between the block and water pump, lifters, henway?

6 hours ago, Fitzy said:

No BS. I will be glad to have something different to do. We're both sick of seeing the car just sit there and not move.

This morning as I'm making coffee, for some reason the word 'thermostat' popped into my head. Guess who forgot to put the thermostat in yesterday? I'm now wondering what else I forgot to stuff inside the block, now that it's all sealed up.

When I tore the engine down, I noted that the thermostat was missing altogether so I guess that's why I didn't think about it. Oh well, it's only 2 bolts. Better than forgetting the camshaft. Wait a minute...why is that lumpy steel rod still sitting in the Pontiac room???

fitzy, that lump is a super expensive back scratchier, and should be sitting on the coffee table in front of the telly !!! why would you want to stick it  in the depths of the 389 to never be seen again !!! hahahahahha 

6 hours ago, Fitzy said:

No BS. I will be glad to have something different to do. We're both sick of seeing the car just sit there and not move.

mate.... this is where you need to step away and go take the boss to town/ beach/some where and have time out... do not let the pontiac control your life!!!, it will ... take control, it will make you dress up in Christine clothes and it will kill bad people while you sleep, then it will fix itself and wait for you in the morning and you will know... because it will only play 50's music on the radio !!!

 

 

you have been warned !!! 

5 hours ago, Frosty said:

Bearings, freeze plugs, water tubes between the block and water pump, lifters, henway?

Water tubes, henway? I don't recall seeing any 'water tubes' and there's no ramp to allow access to the engine for chickens. Maybe it was rated in Chicken Power instead of Horsepower?

According to Kiwi, the car will go out at night and kill bad people (bring THAT on) but he also said it will 'fix itself.' I can't wait to see that!

I can't take the boss anywhere right now coz my face will frighten the general public more than it normally does. I'll be a bit happier once I bolt that expensive lump of cast iron back into the engine bay.

Finished painting it and attached most of the little doodads that drive you crazy IF you didn't take pics as you were tearing it down. My #1 tip for anyone about to pull their engine. Take endless pics, from every angle and make sure you get everything in frame. Those little ziptie plastic bags and a permanent marker are invaluable for nuts, bolts, clips, etc. Clearly mark what they are and where they go. Believe me, as you're undoing stuff you're thinking "I'll remember where that goes." You bloody won't - especially if the rebuild takes a few months, which it will unless you have a bottomless bank account and an army of engine builders to do the job for you. I did all these things on my last engine and was SO grateful I took the time to be methodical. You don't want to be staring into a box of rusty, greasy bits wondering what goes where 6 months down the track!

I filled it with oil (and zinc additive to give the new cam & lifters a chance to live longer than 10 minutes) and used my electric drill and you beaut oil pump drive tool to pressurise all the internals, fitted the distributor and everything is now set so that it should fire up. Bolt on the flex plate & starter tomorrow and maybe lower it into the engine bay.

44 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

Water tubes, henway? I don't recall seeing any 'water tubes' and there's no ramp to allow access to the engine for chickens. Maybe it was rated in Chicken Power instead of Horsepower?

According to Kiwi, the car will go out at night and kill bad people (bring THAT on) but he also said it will 'fix itself.' I can't wait to see that!

I can't take the boss anywhere right now coz my face will frighten the general public more than it normally does. I'll be a bit happier once I bolt that expensive lump of cast iron back into the engine bay.

Finished painting it and attached most of the little doodads that drive you crazy IF you didn't take pics as you were tearing it down. My #1 tip for anyone about to pull their engine. Take endless pics, from every angle and make sure you get everything in frame. Those little ziptie plastic bags and a permanent marker are invaluable for nuts, bolts, clips, etc. Clearly mark what they are and where they go. Believe me, as you're undoing stuff you're thinking "I'll remember where that goes." You bloody won't - especially if the rebuild takes a few months, which it will unless you have a bottomless bank account and an army of engine builders to do the job for you. I did all these things on my last engine and was SO grateful I took the time to be methodical. You don't want to be staring into a box of rusty, greasy bits wondering what goes where 6 months down the track!

I filled it with oil (and zinc additive to give the new cam & lifters a chance to live longer than 10 minutes) and used my electric drill and you beaut oil pump drive tool to pressurise all the internals, fitted the distributor and everything is now set so that it should fire up. Bolt on the flex plate & starter tomorrow and maybe lower it into the engine bay.

wow !! getting exciting now!!! pass the chips n dip  boss, i cant wait for the next installment !!!! 

What a day. Hot, humid as f@#k, bandaged face but hey - I'm not at work and I get to play with the car all day. I couldn't sleep last night because I wasn't happy with the way the cam sat in relation to the lifters, so after much grumbling & deliberation I removed the harmonic balancer, fuel pump, distributor and timing cover and looked again at the timing gear and thrust plate. Everything seemed fine but this time I really drove the cam gear on nice & tight to give me the endplay I wanted. I even cheated a bit and used the harmonic balancer big ass washer and threaded it behind the cam gear bolt and wound that baby on good & tight, thereby ensuring cam gear sat on the cam snout so that it's front face was 100% flush with the face of the snout. Removed the washer and replaced everything the way it's supposed to go. Here's a tip for other engine building lunatics: if you use an adjustable timing gear set, be aware that there are 2 sets of inscribed degree numbers on the crank gear: inexplicably, there are numbers on the bit that slides onto the keyway, and then on the outer ring are the degree numbers. You need to line up your desired degree number on the outer crank ring with the dot on the cam gear. Oh, and because my timing set was aftermarket JP Performance, they want you to line up the cam gear dot at the 6 o'clock position, rather than the factory Pontiac 12 o'clock position. Being a cam gear it doesnt matter which one you use as the cam gear spins only half of what the crank does, but I wanted to do it right.

Bolted on the flex plate and then saw no reason to not try and bolt engine back into car. I was on my own and after hours of grunting, sweating, swearing, jacking up the trans, fiddling with the engine, using pry bars and pieces of timber, as it's getting dark I FINALLY manage to get one of the bellhousing bolts in. Yes! After that, it's just a process of fiddling, jacking up & down and manoeuvring until all the other bolt holes line up. Three bolts are currently locating it and holding it in position. I'm getting my stitches out tomorrow morning so hopefully will have that baby bolted back in where it belongs tomorrow afternoon. 

Fitzy - great progress mate!