Bringin' It Back From The Dead - 70 Catalina Convertible

[JUSTA6]

If it's not an adventure, not worth your time right?  Never heard of a driveshaft not falling out and the tailshaft puking everywhere.  Thankz for the update and pic's.

[B52bombardier1]

Hello Steve,

  Yes, definitely an adventure and all I'm asking out the vehicle for now is slow, steady and daily progress. And to that end, it provides.

  I also figured out my future transmission crossmember solution yesterday. The G-Force "RCBE-700" crossmember is compatible with an early and a late (in my case, 2002) 4L60E transmission case and is also made for the full-sized B-Body GM vehicles - 1970 Catalina included.  The Cat spans 54 inches between the frame rails and so does the G-Force crossmember, all for about $370.00.  

  I thought a little about vehicle paint yesterday enough to put some 100 grit sandpaper to the existing paint.  While this green lacquer might look horrible, it is harder than woodpecker lips.  The 100 grit did almost nothing to it and I think its going to take some dustless water blasting to get down to bare metal - or maybe chemical stripping.   My wife and I are discussing a change in paint color from this metallic green to a metallic black cherry two stage paint job.

  This will require the interior to change colors and a re-do with the door panels.  The four door panels that are in the Cat today are all nearly perfect and I'm not going to butcher them to changeover to whatever reddish-black color that we will need to match the exterior color.  I will retain them to sell to somebody else some day and seek a set of four original 1970 Catalina door panel "top rails" that are the basis of creating an all new set of black-red door panels.

Rick

 

 

Edited March 15 by B52bombardier1

[B52bombardier1]

I got the front seat out so that I can get better access to the rusty floor pan that needs to be cut out - and I'm twelve cents richer after finding a little money.  This floor has so much sound deadening material that I need to remove for rust checking underneath.  The back seat still needs to come out and maybe I might find a little more money.  A few cigarette buts, empty cigarette packages, a dead butane lighter, a dead Bic ink pen and an assortment of bottle caps and the old style can pull tabs rounded out the under seat junk.   

I'm still looking for the build sheet tucked in here somewhere. And a vacuum cleaner attack on this floor mess begins tomorrow.

Rick

[JUSTA6]

Doesn't appear that bad.  I've seen MUCH worse out of my projects.  It didn't get this way overnight nor will it get back to like new anytime soon.  1 step at a time.  

[B52bombardier1]

Is there any trick I should know about removing the two-piece back seat?  I have watched a few A-body videos but I can't find any B-body seat video. My Factory Assembly Manual has a section on seats but not a single word about seats - the chapter might be missing those pages??? The 1970 Pontiac Service Manual contains nothing at all regarding the Interior for this. 

Many thanks,

Rick

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  I got the back seat out and immediately noticed the build sheet loosely held in by some of the seat reinforcing material, not the springs.  Earlier this afternoon, I had found shreds of a build sheet in the front seat springs but mostly scraps.  Twelve cents came out from under the front seat and 98 cents plus a mysterious building door key came out from the back.

Most of the jute padding and rubberized sound deadening have been removed from the floor but I still need to vacuum it - it filled a large trash can.  The original purchasing dealership actually ordered this car with extra sound deadening, according to the build sheet. Once I get it finally cleaned up and the driver's side patch panel laid in, I think I will go back with a coating of "Lizard Skin" paint on sound deadening and then a good, high build of spray clear coat sealant.  The clear coat gives the next step a very good surface for best adhesion - placing rubberized aluminum adhesive sheets throughout the floor.  These adhesive rubber sheets will also likely be applied between the back side of the door panels directly onto the door sheet metal.  

New floor jute padding will go on over the aluminized rubber. The idea with the aluminized sheets is to lower the resonant vibration frequency in the sheet metal - not to cover it up. Then a completely new modern two piece carpet set goes in after that.

Rick

Edited March 17 by B52bombardier1

[JUSTA6]

Great find!  Thats cool.

[Frosty]

Frankly, that build sheet is in much better shaped than I expected it to be. Congrats, that is a great find.

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  I've been working on cutting out the rusty metal in the driver's side floor but I thought I'd post a few pictures on the progress.  The patch panel is close to fitting perfectly but the old metal still needs a little trimming to drop in perfectly.  The old rusty metal got attacked with my power tool wire brush and cleaned up nicely but made a lot of dust.  After the wire brush, the passenger side floor metal held up well and won't need a patch.

Overall, the floor metal has cleaned up nicely with the wire brush but needs a good cleanup for the next steps - Lizard Skin sound deadening, then clear coat and finally, the aluminized adhesive rubber.

Rick

[JUSTA6]

Your doing a great job.  Can't believe how clean it really is.  I had to use complete floorpan in 2 pieces on my GTO.  Welded completely on all seams from inside.  Drilled holes and screwed to braces.  Removed screws and welded holes.   I used a seam sealer on the underside of my floorpans and gaps in my braces.  Also around the new inner Rockers I had to make.  Then used a smooth undercoating, (no texture) paint and clear.  10+ years and still looks new.

[B52bombardier1]

Hello Steve,

   And thank you very much.  I can absolutely appreciate the effort that went into your GTO because it sounds like it was as bad as my 70 El Camino was.  It is refreshing that this car has a lot less corrosion.  There is one rust-thru place of maybe 4-5 square inches right behind the driver's rear wheel low in the quarter panel that will need some new metal.  It appears that the body structure behind this outer panel sheet metal is intact which will make this job a lot easier.

  I continue to discover new things wrong which is to be expected for a while in a fifty four year old vehicle.  I was barely, BARELY able to get the driver's side door open late yesterday.  The latch mechanism is internally worn or the door hinge has worn a little that allows the door to sag at the latch - or both.  Either way, I was able to get that door open after about ten minutes of inside and outside tug, pull, yank and say a few bad words effort.  This alarmed me badly enough that I removed the door jam striker bolt (its a little chewed up and worn anyway) today so that it can't latch again. I'm going to order a new latch assembly and striker in a few minutes for about eighty bucks.  I started the latch disassembly a little today by loosening the assembly bolts but one of those bolts took ten whacks on an impact screwdriver with a big hammer to break it free.  I might get around to removing the interior door panel tomorrow - maybe I will find another build sheet.

  I try very hard to do something on the Cat every day no matter if its a big job or something small.  These things do add up over time and I will eventually bring it back to life.  I am also trying to stick with a monthly money budget which obviously paces everything.  Fortunately, I don't have any deadlines, dates or cliffhanger promises that I have made to myself or anybody else that I have to keep but notionally, my prediction is that things will get serious about eighteen months from now.

But really, it'll all happen when it happens.

Rick

[JUSTA6]

Exactly the way I rolled for many years now, as the GTO was a retirement gift to myself.  My problem is the monthly budget has shrunk, now that I'm at the paint/ biggest expense part.  LMAO.  Alway's something to knock my stash $$$ down.  

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  And now for a little voodoo chemistry and black science - I applied two coats of rust converter to my passenger side floor yesterday. The product name is "Mar-Hyde".  I'm not sure if this stuff works but I DESPISE rust so I had to try something for those heavily wire-brushed but still slightly rusty surface areas that are not getting new metal.  Apparently, it converts the rust into an inactive form of iron oxide and there is a trade secret compound in the recipe that I'm guessing could be phosphoric acid.   If I'm correct, the new surface cures into a stable coating of iron phosphate but that's just a guess.

  The temperature had to be above 60 F and below 90 F so I got after it late yesterday.  The loose rust, scale and dirt got vacuumed out and then the metal got wiped down with a "Prep-Sol-like" chemical to clean / prepare the surface. On went two coats within twenty five minutes of each other and slowly the metal turned black.  The driver's side metal will get this same treatment soon.

  The other picture is obviously my one gallon bucket of Lizard Skin and I'm now thinking that I will probably need another gallon shipped in here from Summit Racing.   After both sides get the rust converter, then the Lizard Skin goes on - probably two coats or until I empty both buckets.  After that, it'll be a sprayed coating of some catalyzed urethane, high build clear coat called "2K Glamour" high gloss from the SprayMax company that is only available in automotive paint stores. The film thickness is very good with this stuff and the use of a break-able ampule of hardener activator inside the can makes for an extremely durable surface. Once that ampule is broken, the pot life of the spray inside the can is about twenty four hours - ya' gotta' be prepared to use up the entire can here all at once. 

  A NIOSH-approved respirator or very good outdoor ventilation is required here unless you want to wake up somewhere else - those cyanide related chemicals are nasty.  All of this to give a very good surface for the last step - the aluminized adhesive rubber sheets.   

Rick

 

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  In preparation for a few days from now, I ordered my LS swap oil pan, the engine mounts and the transmission crossmember a few days ago and they finished arriving late this afternoon. It appears that the driver's side front floor patch panel will get tacked down maybe tomorrow and I might get some seam sealer applied to its edges.  The first coats of the Lizard Skin will go on as soon as the seam sealer is cured.

  After that, its my first dry run test fittings of my 5.3 liter LS swap motor and a 4L60E transmission. The oil pan is the Holley 302-5 swap pan that is 5.6 liters of capacity and should easily clear the steering gear up front. It is also a much less deep pan than the truck motor pan this engine started out with and will give the bottom of the engine good clearance from the roadway.  This is a genuine, not fake, counterfeit or knock off Holley pan - its the real deal.   Once the engine is in and aligned properly for centerline and driveline angles to the differential, the engine mounts will get welded to the front frame crossmember.  I will also be evaluating my game plan for sheet metal clearance with the transmission cooler lines to a stacked plate cooler and fan mounted to the passenger side inner front fender - immediate 90 degree elbows or banjo bolts at the transmission case likely required. After that, remove one bolt per side and the engine and transmission can be removed leaving the frame stands behind.

 The ICT Billet engine mounts that I previously mentioned should give me plenty of clearance at the firewall and transmission tunnel for the 4L60E.  The big mystery is will the stock LS exhaust manifolds fit inside the Cat's frame rails and will the passenger side coil packs atop the valve rocker cover clear the Harrison AC evaporator / heater core plastic cover.   

  The black vertical thing in the picture is the G-Force transmission crossmember designed for full-sized B-Body cars. It is massively heavy duty and let's hope it fits.

Rick

 

Edited March 30 by B52bombardier1

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

  Tomorrow is Lizard Skin Day after getting the patch panel settled in today, tightened up at the edges and seam sealed.  I used the vanishingly rare, six-sided, self-tapping "rosette weld" drill attachment to install this panel - nah, I did not weld anything on it.  The screws were the best way to get the panel edges - new metal and the original floor panel metal - to tighten up and lay flat.  My apologies if this bothers anybody that I didn't weld it.  It's fine by me with very tight edges needing only minimal amounts of seam sealer. It took quite a few relief cuts around the edge and a big notch below the gas pedal area to get it to fit well.

  My next and I think last sheet metal repair on the Cat will be this rusty spot behind the driver's rear wheel.  The stainless steel wheel well arch trim needs to come out and the patch metal will not need any complex bends.  I think the old metal is 18 gauge and I have some of that around here to carve the patch.  It appears that the inner fender structure behind this rusty area is solid.

Rick

 

 

Edited March 31 by B52bombardier1

[Wrongway]

Hell yeah Rick, one step closer brother 

[64 kiwi boni]

3 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

Hello,

  Tomorrow is Lizard Skin Day after getting the patch panel settled in today, tightened up at the edges and seam sealed.  I used the vanishingly rare, six-sided, self-tapping "rosette weld" drill attachment to install this panel - nah, I did not weld anything on it.  The screws were the best way to get the panel edges - new metal and the original floor panel metal - to tighten up and lay flat.  My apologies if this bothers anybody that I didn't weld it.  It's fine by me with very tight edges needing only minimal amounts of seam sealer. It took quite a few relief cuts around the edge and a big notch below the gas pedal area to get it to fit well.

  My next and I think last sheet metal repair on the Cat will be this rusty spot behind the driver's rear wheel.  The stainless steel wheel well arch trim needs to come out and the patch metal will not need any complex bends.  I think the old metal is 18 gauge and I have some of that around here to carve the patch.  It appears that the inner fender structure behind this rusty area is solid.

Rick

 

 

Rick, if you are happy not welding it , sweet as mate 👍

in New zealand a rust repair like that has to be welded because the road gods.... Land transport nz  

And what they say goes, other wise you get no road worthy, and then that means no insurance 

i am so impressed with how fast your going , dont forget to stop and have a beer mate !! look back and enjoy the fun of the rebuild. 

i am very interested in you LS conversion as i have 2 girls wait for their LS conversions as you know , and i can relate to what your doing 

Edited March 31 by 64 kiwi boni

[B52bombardier1]

I saw no reason to weld it given that many modern vehicles these days are held together with panel bond adhesive glues on the production lines at the seams.

I will try to cover the 5.3 liter LS engine and 4L60E swap discussion here in great detail over the coming months.  The engine mounts from ICT Billet arrived earlier this week and my candidate Powertrain Control Module (PCM) is on the kitchen table connected to my junk yard bench tuning wire harness and three amp power supply.  No "HP Tuners" software for me here on tuning the PCM operating system.  I use "Tuner Pro RT" to edit the OS file and then use "PCM Hammer" to write the tune file to the PCM.  And maybe "Universal Patcher" if I screw up a checksum during my editing. All are free tools not requiring "credits" as does HP Tuners.   I use an "OBDX Pro VT" on a USB connection as the hardware to interface with the PCM.   With the help of the Internet, I have written myself a cheat sheet of things to manipulate within the OS - idle RPM, DTC's to kill, O2 sensors / EGR / Evap to eliminate, transmission ratios / differential ratios and tire heights to set yada, yada yada to make it all work. Killing off "VATS" is the first thing to eliminate - Vehicle Anti Theft System. 

  I don't change things such as transmission shift firmness or volumetric efficiency because this is basically a stock engine in a cruiser vehicle that doesn't race. Though I will typically enable "Power Enrichment" to apply sooner. 

I'm going to run a 512k byte memory "PO1" PCM purchased from the junk yard for anywhere from $16.00 USD to maybe $45.00.  I have a real problem hoarding these PCM's - I think my stack is up to eight or so.  I can't resist buying them when I walk through the JY's and see that somebody else has been so kind to have done the work to expose and remove them for me. 

There are plenty of You Tube videos covering Tuner Pro RT, PCM Hammer and Universal Patcher if you are interested.

Rick

Edited March 31 by B52bombardier1

[Wrongway]

No idea what any of that means, but man it sounds cool! Can't wait to see the swap bro.

[64 kiwi boni]

Yip 

I lost ya at 

covering the 5.3 swap hahaha ..

with my l98 engine and 6l80e I justA paid this guy … who is all of 25 years old to strip my loom down to the basics , use the standard computer , and tune it to run with a air temp sensor instead of a maf .

oh and I am running a fly by wire gas pedal. 

[B52bombardier1]

Hello,

   I was going to lay upside down, staring up at my fuse panel,  to chase down my loss of 12 volt power at the firewall fuse panel after work today. But I couldn't do it because my heavy coat of Lizard Skin sound deadening on the floor pan was still drying / curing late this afternoon.  I've also decided that I'm going to need a new 12 volt power signal tracing tool to track down where I lose that power.  Once found . . . fix that.  Then move on to the next break in the wiring. The new $17.00 ish tool got ordered on Amazon earlier today and my gut feel is that my break in power is caused by corrosion at the backside of the fuse panel.

  So I spent my limited time this afternoon machine wire brushing the trunk floor clear of rust and dirt.  It was good and dirty but mostly solid - it got a good vacuum clean up afterwards and a coat of black paint. Next step is to finish the trunk floor with its own coat of Lizard Skin.

Once the main floor pan Skin cures, I will also lay down strips of the aluminized adhesive rubber sound deadening.  I like old but quiet vehicles.

Rick

  

 

Edited April 2 by B52bombardier1

[JUSTA6]

Inside looks great.  You did get the underside right?  Most important to keep water and dirt out of the gaps and places for it to build up.  Would be a good chance to grind off the bottom of the screws and make it all smooth before seam seal.  Justa my 

[B52bombardier1]

Hello Steve,

 I completely agree with grinding off the screws underneath and adding seam sealer.  I have not done that yet but will likely do it when I get all four corners on jack stands for doing the brakes.  If I don't grind them off, I have this ominous feeling that there is a horrible, bloody scalp laceration and a whole lotta' stitches in my near future during fuel line or brake line installation.

Rick 

[64 kiwi boni]

3 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

Hello Steve,

 I completely agree with grinding off the screws underneath and adding seam sealer.  I have not done that yet but will likely do it when I get all four corners on jack stands for doing the brakes.  If I don't grind them off, I have this ominous feeling that there is a horrible, bloody scalp laceration and a whole lotta' stitches in my near future during fuel line or brake line installation.

Rick 

fitzy can relate to that 

[Fitzy]

I used to be a flawlessly good looking man until I bought a Pontiac. Now I am a hideous heavily scarred homeless crazy who keeps talking about the end of the world. Musta been those rusty bits that cut me.