This may look like a freshly restored engine bay, but it's not. It's amazing what a thorough, careful detailing can accomplish.

When bringing your car to the next level there is a pecking order – outer body comes first and the interior is second, next is the engine compartment and last is the trunk and underside. You can always display your car with the hood and trunk closed and not many will get on the ground to look under it. But at a car show we all want to know what is under the hood and the closed hood makes us assume it has the wrong engine or it is not up to speed.

The engine compartment is also a dangerous restoration step and big decisions have to be made. Once you start you have to have a stopping point in mind or before you know it the engine is out, the core support is out the fenders are only a few bolts away from the rest and with a closer look the front brakes could easily come off and a engine compartment clean up has turned into a firewall forward restoration. At this point it is overwhelming and the tools are put down and the car is apart for years. Once a paint blemish turns into a soft spot then a hole it is hard not to see it and look past it. Now it may require outside help or welding and months can drag on. It is hard to know when to stop when you want a car nice. Every rust spot takes you to the next bolt. So for this process to work the car has to be a dry, rust free car that just needs some detail work without a full restoration.

This car was a very clean 1969 GTO with little rust and lots of grease and bad paint. It had an 80’s resto that had no detail but lots of black paint on everything. It was still hard not to keep going and take the inner fenders out and move on to the core support. It is of course much easier to work on pieces once they are all taken apart but the more that comes apart could draw you to the point or no return line and an unfinished project. When it is all apart it is apparent to see all the flaws but once it is together those small flaws seem to disappear in the big picture. Getting caught up in one detail or an incorrect part can also derail a deadline. Today there are many reproduction parts available so your project can proceed forward and the parts are not an issue. Spending time in the garage is the harder battle and it gets harder with a demanding career or wife and kids. So we are not going to bite off too much and are going to stay within the goal of the engine bay and surrounding areas.

Set your limits at the start: We committed to pulling the engine, but not dismantling the front clip or suspension (not yet, anyway). The hood comes off in minutes; the engine is out in a few hours, leaving a pile of old greasy parts on the floor to deal with later. We then got out the power washer, soap and water. After a nice bake in the sun we started to sand every surface we could reach. 220 grit will cut the paint fast but will need to be gone over with 320, 400 then 600 if you want the paint surface to come out with no sand scratches. To minimize the mess in the garage we used all wet sand paper to this point.

Now a good inspection is preformed looking for dents or unwanted holes in the sheet metal. We pound them out the best we can and weld and grid a few holes shut and it is ready for a coat of body filler in these areas. The body filler must be sanded and coated with a thick primer to fill any sanding scratches. The fire wall and inner fenders are dimpled and wavy from the factory so you do not have to be an expert to do the minor filling required to fix a few dents. These are the primer areas in the photo.

The engine bay is now all black and some of the plastic already removed. At the factory the cars were dipped in a black dye / paint up to the trunk floor level and this material drained out all the body plug locations. Everything that was still bare metal was sprayed. The interior of many cars is red primer that can be seen on the dash area and the rear package tray area as well as the roof area. The top of the cowl and the firewall got black spray, and if there was a color interior the front dash and rear packager tray got a stripe of interior color. Many times the gun was facing down and the lip of the fire wall to cowl got no paint and that is what we duplicated in this picture. This was done with a spray can after the black was applied and is bare steel gray color.

We had made this car into a heater delete car with the correct metal covers that go over the openings in the firewall. We installed the cover bare and it was paint black with the rest of the compartment. The cover should be gloss black so we spray caned the center with Dupli- color gloss black and used 3M undercoating in a can to finish the edge. All openings from the factory had a undercoating type sealer around them. This coating is around the blower motor seal, AC grommets, heater boxes, wiring fuse block and accessory grommets.

We are ready to tape off the car and surroundings. With a large roll of plastic and green 3m tape we first tape the edges of every panel and then apply the plastic to the edge and tape over the plastic and the first layer of tape.  The entire car must be taped off from the paint overspray.  Now a very light coat of primer is applied and the final black paint. From the factory there was no primer on the inner fenders, core support or the body it was paint with black paint only.  We used a light coat of primer to cover all the fixed areas and the bare metal spots. We started spraying at the top of the cowl and quickly worked to the front of the car. The semi gloss paint we used is SEM Rustshield, it comes in flat, semi and gloss black sold by the gallon in any local paint store.

Items that were not removed from the firewall must be detailed while in the car. The steering column end was sanded and taped off and painted gloss black and the control arm Dupli-color cast gray. We had the end metal cover and snap ring plated the original silver zinc with Bob at bobsboosters. A new column foam gasket is inserted and the column looks factory fresh without removing it from the car. The brake booster studs are painted silver to duplicate the factory zinc finish.

Other parts that we have detailed off the car are now starting to go back on. We bought a new engine wiring harness from M&H Electrical, and the wiring clips and firewall blue hose and green clips came from Inline Tube. We sent the wiper motor out to Wiper Works to be rebuilt and a few weeks later it arrived ready to bolt on. The Hide –A-Way green stripe hose is poking through the accessory grommet and ready to be connected to the front harness. The hood tach pink wire is also hanging ready to be connected.

This is a close up of the firewall showing the new parts installed. This is a new horn relay, and our rebuild wiper motor and you can see the close up of the blue striped vacuum hose and the new olive green clips that hold it to the firewall lip. The new vinyl coated wire clips come with the screws. All this small hardware came from Inline Tube and for the low price of new parts can save lots of time and expense trying to make the old stuff look like new.

The cowl seal is back in place with the wiper arms and cowl chrome trim that was polished by pat mai here in Detroit.  We dusted the wiper arms in the glass bead cabinet with the pressure turned way down. This cleans the dirt and stains off without harming the stainless finish. The wiper blades were cleaned with fine steel wool mixed with rubbing compound and fitted with new rubber refills. The cowl chicken wire screen was painted gloss black and held in with Inline Tube new screws. The new wiper hose was routed and waiting to be connected to the hood.

We have also got these parts from Inline Tube and they are ready to install. The booster is gold cad and we applied the WK detail sticker to the center of it, and the paper tag to the vacuum check valve. The master we had to paint black and also added the bail strap EA sticker. The lines are preformed tin coated steel with the correct color coded fitting on the ends. The fittings are red, purple, green and blue at the master cylinder. It was also more cost effective to buy a new frame distribution block and the mounting clips than it was to restore the old ones. The frame clips are green and the booster clip is black and the booster to firewall nuts are silver.

Here the inline booster is installed making sure the back rod is installed to the brake pedal upper hole. The master cylinder and hold off valve is installed loosely until all the lines are started. The master cylinder lines are snapped into the booster clip and the system tightened up. We are using line wrenches so there is no chance we will slip off the fitting. Since these are all new components there is very little chance to have a leak. When installing lines make sure the cone of the tube is lined up with the brass seat in the component.  Off center lines can cause a leak. The tube nut does not seal the line the union between the cone of the tube and the brass seat is what seals them together.

The Inline Tube booster, master cylinder, valves and lines are all in place. The right and left front lines on the frame were also replaced but the brake hoses were in good shape and beyond our scope but we did replace the hose frame brackets and the hose clips.

The engine was finished weeks ago and ready to go in the car. The Clutch assembly is bolted on before the engine is installed to save a little time of having to work around the firewall of the car.

Now you can see that the core support has the front wiring harness installed. This harness was in great shape so we crimp fixed one loose end and cleaned it up and re-taped it. They were taped with friction tape from the factory, which has no adhesive on it. We got the same tape from Inline Tube and once it was done looked new again. The hide-a-way hoses were taped into the front harness and again re-used. The steering box was painted black, while the cover is aluminum and the front steering linkage was bare steel or Dupli-color cast paint.

The steering shaft is painted black and the rag joint is new GM. A few parts are still available from the GM dealer. The motor mount is bare steel but you have to paint every part or it will rust so they are painted cast grey. Inline Tube supplied all new suspension hardware, although we did not paint the frame and control arms we cleaned them up and touched them up with a spray can and the new hardware brought them back to life. The fuel lines are poking through the frame with the red and green pinch clips. These are printed hoses that say GAS on them that were made with the inline stampers and white ink pad.

From here the engine that was featured in a past article is dropped in and the trans from another article bolted up and the nose from yet another article bolted on to make this a complete car again. The faint KK55 on the fire wall is a fisher body marking that was found under the black paint. The KK55 is the paint color of the car.  It is common to have these marks on the firewall but sometimes they are just a shadow because they were applied to the bare body and the firewall painted black, others are applied over the black paint.

The engine gets dropped in in minutes with the use of a cherry picker. The engine mount bolts are lined up and the engine slowly set into place.

Once the engine is in place we can’t help but put the air cleaner on to see what it will look like as a finished car. There are still some big items we are waiting on. The radiator is being rebuilt and the fan shroud has to be detailed and installed. Once the front end is all finished there are ram air cables from the cowl to the hood and a few under dash items that need to be connected. Don’t forget although it looks finished the brakes must also be bleed and engine fluids added.

This is the finished engine compartment and although a few pictures back it looked like a sea of black paint, once the engine is installed it now becomes the focal point of the space. There are plenty of flaws and areas that were hard to get black paint in to but once it is all together it is hard to find them and this car was only apart for the winter and back on the road in the spring. Remember if you cross the point of no return line it could be years to get back to this point.

Every year the cars show gets bigger and the classes have more cars in them. If you have a muscle car you know the competition is stiff. The judges are looking for more detail to pick the best car in the class. Great paint and interior is not enough to win. We have come to expect the paint to be smooth and flat, the interior to be free of rips. Judges are looking deeper into the car to see how clean the engine compartment, or to see if the trunk finished. If you are the guy that wants to win the class every time, the entire car must be restored. What separates a car that sometimes wins, from the car that wins every time, is the underside. Looking under the car may be the last place the judges look, but if it is a close race, the underside will be the deciding factor.

For the true car nut it is more than what has been restored, but also how it is done. We can say lifting the body off and spraying over lines, cables, and hardware is restored but, you still won’t win the class. The restoration has to be above and beyond the last great car that won. When I am working on a project I ask my self "is this a first place car"? What will make it a first place car for years to come? Look out, there are hundreds of cars being worked on right now, and if yours is the best today, tomorrow another may take your spot.

In my mind there is only one way to do the restoration. Exactly the way the factory did it. Even if you do not intend to do a frame off you can learn some detail tricks that will bump your car up a notch from the rest. These concepts apply to all areas of the car. When the car came from the factory all the nuts and bolts were plated some sort of color (not Painted). Many parts that seem to be bare metal were actually gray phosphate. All the black was painted with a material that did not require primer. The black paint was all different shades of black since the parts came from different manufactures. The brake lines and cables had a tin coating to prevent rust. The bottom side of the car had body color over spray on the body only, not the frame. Every part installed on the car was double checked with a paint dab, chalk marking, or grease pencil mark. All parts installed on a car had to have a part number stamped on it, or a paper tag so the assembly line worker could identify it. Assemblies such as brake boosters, masters and power steering units had the option code on the part as well as the part number. When your car came down the assembly line all the options were installed by referencing the build sheet which had the code for each option. Next time you are passing your local new car dealership, stop in and look under a few cars. Of course the tags and marking will be different today but the method is the same. Your car had these same markings which are now covered with undercoating, and 30 years of road grime. If you live in the snow belt there is no chance of seeing the tags. When the paper got wet with salt and snow, not to mention rain, the label was destroyed. One concept has stayed constant in the hobby of restoration, as styles and fads come and go, putting a car back to 100% original never goes out of style or down in value.

When you are looking for a car to restore the old saying is true "You get what you pay for" and "pay now or pay later". If you save a few bucks and buy a car that has more rust you will pay more for the parts and labor to repair the rust. If you buy a car that is missing a lot of parts, once you buy all the missing parts, it will be equal to the price of the car that is not missing parts. When I am looking for a car to restore there are two factors to keep in mind. How clean is the car and what is missing? If you are doing a full restoration, bad paint or rips in the interior is not a concern, but what is under the paint is. You also have to look to make sure the expensive parts are all there. I will accept a car that does not have the original belts, hoses, clamps, floor mats, plug wires, etc. I will not accept when the air cleaner, bucket seats, center console, trunk jack, and other large items are missing. If these big items are missing there is much more missing, you just won’t spot it until you start the restoration. Always remember rusty cars are never show winners, even after being restored. You can’t get deep pits out of frames, springs, control arms, and plating looks bad when it is over pitted metal.

I have begun this restoration with a car out of California that was neglected its entire life. The good new is, not a belt, clamp, or hose was ever replaced and the car is not missing a single piece. Did didn’t run when I purchased it and had been sitting since 1983 under a car port. Let’s start the restoration on this a-body.

This is the car: a 1969 GTO Judge, 4 Speed, Ram Air III, hide-a-way headlights, with only the go fast options. Disc brakes, rally gauges, the Judge package and no horse power robbing options, NO A/C. It was not long before the car was coming apart. There was not even one broken or rounded off bolt on the entire car, since it was rust free. It came apart with no problems.

Taking pictures of how things are prior to taking a car apart is the most important step in the process. As good as we think we will remember, the pictures never forget. Here we see the routing of the lines and where the clips are located. Also note which direction the control arm bolts run.

In the above picture, we can start to see the color of some of the nuts and bolts. The control arm nuts and washers are silver. We see gray phosphate under the grease of the steering link and engine mounts. The color is always well preserved between parts and in deep dark crevices.

Every nut, bolt, and washer is photographed. A digital camera is the way to go so you can download the pictures to your computer for future reference. There are 600 disassembly photos.

A two part epoxy paint is used, which required no primer and is tough as nails when dry. It has a semi gloss finish not too shiny and not too dull right in the middle. Start from one end of the frame and finish at the other, repeat for all black parts.

Most of the cast parts were gray phosphate. The Palmetto kit which comes in black and gray was used. Bead blast the parts, mix the solution, heat to 225 degrees and drop in the parts. When the fizzing stops, lift out and spray with WD-40. The parts will look just like factory.

Pictured is the factory 2 part rotor being restored. Letting the WD-40 soak in it helps to preserve the finish. You can also wipe off the oil and spray Krylon matte clear to also preserve the finish. Now the rotor can be turned down so the flat surface is shiny again.

After a few hours of work, all the parts are ready to put the rear drums together. The brackets are gray phosphate, lug studs are black and the springs are all different colors. The rest of the hardware is both silver and gold zinc.

This is where the photos you took earlier come in handy. (What? You didn’t take any!?) The service manual is your next best choice but make sure you are using the right year manual, these parts may change from year to year.

While bead blasting, lightly dust the parts for any markings. I was surprised to find paint markings on many of the parts. The spindle had a yellow spray to distinguish it from the drum brake spindle. The Silver, Gold, and Black plating was reconditioned through Bob’s Boosters.

Inline Tube provided the exact reproduction brake lines and the correct spiral wrap parking brake cables. The rear end was to big to plate so we used three different brands of cast paint to tint the axles from the casting of the pumpkin. Clear was then applied to get a slight shine to it.

The frame was now starting to come together. Notice the tube fittings are purple and the fuel & return line are clipped together. It is important to duplicate these details.

The shock should be medium gray. Wheel cylinders, backing plates, and axles are all gray phosphate. The wheel studs are black and the face of the axle is painted silver because it is a machined surface.

Above is the finished disc brakes with the correct two part rotor turned down. Notice the caliper is black, but all the machined surfaces are painted silver. Correct brake hoses and tin coated lines. The ball joint has the correct rivets and are not bolted in. Line tags are available at Inline Tube.

Frame A-arms are black, the springs are cast, back of rims are gray. Notice the paint markings on the caliper. Marks are anywhere a factory worker tightened an important suspension component.

Coker tires and a grease pencil was used for the 70 mark. Gearbox cast with aluminum cover and black bolts. Correct power steering hose, line, and clips from Inline Tube. Anywhere there are multiple holes on the frame (engine mount) would be marked with a grease pencil so there was no mistake.

All the brake & fuel lines, parking brake cables, flex hoses, clips, cable hardware and line tags came from Inline Tube. Body mounts and rubber control arm bushings were from Kanter Auto Parts.

More on the restoration of this 1969 GTO

Written and Photographed by John Kryta

On a smaller scale we all can’t resist buying the model or diecast of our own car especially if it is in the right color. We all know a guy or a few that has gone over the top and buys anything that has the letters GTO or Trans am on it. After all these toy companies are making all this stuff for us grown adults not our kids and I too buy it. I can’t resist from the small hot wheels to the fully detailed diecast. We all deep down all have our own car shrine to our favorite.

This collection always includes paper work items such as dealer brochures, key chains, owner’s manuals, and can get pretty detailed to include a glove box full of items pertaining to your favorite car. Finding these items can be hard enough but once found they can be a treasure trove of information pertaining to your car. You could spend hours on one page learning and reading the facts or codes and when or if you ever go to sell the car it only increases the value. You see these boards at the car show or on the auction block and they make any car look more impressive to the next buyer. We are going to tell you what is out there where to get it and what useful information it has in it.

Pontiac Historical Services PHS – most of us Pontiac guys have heard of this one. This is the option sheet on your particular car. For a few bucks you can send in your vin number a packet will arrive in a few days with the option build sheet of your particular car. All information to build your car is on the sheet. It has the color of the exterior and interior of the car and lists all the options and the sales codes with the prices. The sheet includes the dealer ship the car was shipped to and the build date plus much more.

Shop Maintenance manuals – these manuals were used and available for sale at the dealership when your car was new. The first few pages explain how to decode your trim tag and give all the codes for optional engines, trans and rear ends. This book also has many detailed pictures and instructions to service and re-build different service components of your specific car. It also illustrates the assembly of much of the sheet metal of the car. These books are mostly reproduced and have hundreds of pages of maintenance type information.

Assembly manuals – were used on the assembly line when your car was built as reference to the line workers. They do not go into detail on the assemblies but do show how the assemblies are installed on the car. This book has very few instructions like the maintenance manual but is more of a set of drawings on how the car goes together. It is a large set of instructions of how your car went together in full detail showing every nut bolt and bracket. It is a great reference for any frame off restoration. It also has many charts and graphs that call out codes for engines, transmissions, axles, springs and other components or assemblies.

Inspector Guides – were used on the floor of the assembly plant to check over the cars before they went to the dealer. These booklets have pages of assembly codes, part numbers and quick reference material to make sure there were no mistakes made in the production line. The originals are extremely difficult to find but many are reproduced.

Build Sheets are the holy grail and the finger print of a particular car. There were several of these going down the line with the car and these also are packed full of option codes, assembly codes, color and vin information but are not always found. They could be under the gas tank, door panels, seats, carpet and in some cases not present or the car before or after on the line. Some plants considered them trash and did not want them left in the car.

Dealer brochures – are another great source of car specifications. They show the different models and options and usually in the back give specifications on different options and power trains complete with, horse power ratings and axle ratios. There may be many different brochures on a particular car some are the full versions and others are on a particular model. Many of these are now reproduced or the literature guys at the swap meet or eBay is another good place to find the originals.

Accessories brochures are much harder to find and not reproduced but were made for every year car and list every option with a description, picture, UPC and sales code. The captions tell you what models the option is available on and the factory pictures are a great reference. On the last pages it shows all the dealer installed accessories or add-ons.

Accessorizer Booklets were available to the dealership sales man and explain the options and groups of options that were available on a particular car. The sales man could quickly reference a option, look up the price and compare it to an option group. This little book also has all the sales & UPC codes just like on the PHS so you can look up the code on the PHS and get the full description. It also tells you what options will not be aloud together. These are all reproduced by Inline Tube.

Comparative pricing booklets – are another sales man selling tool. These books compare one make and model to another by options and price. So if you went to by a new 74 Firebird but were also looking at the Camaro the salesman could quickly look up the equal models and give you the advantages and disadvantage of each make. This handy tool has all the wheel bases, engine displacement, horse power, compression ratios and weights of equal cars from all the different manufacture. Many of these are reproduced by Inline Tube.

Glove box manuals give you maintenance schedules and operating procedures which tell you how to operate your new car. They are also filled with specifications and service replacement numbers. Not sure what spark plug number or which type of oil to use – it is all in the manual. It explains the operation of every knob on the dash and how to change a flat tire. Most cars came with additional pamphlets that are long gone. These explained special emissions or if you got a convertible how the top worked.

Dealer prep sheets were used on all gm cars as a final check list to make sure your new car was in perfect working order. There was a customer and dealer copy that was filled out and checked to make sure everything on the car was operational. These are available new from inline tube on the 68-72 models.

This is all the stuff that got thrown away the day you new car arrived home. Usually the dealer window sticker, spare keys envelope, dealer business cards, starting and break in instructions, protect-o-plate and other information cards did not last past the first owner. Most of these items are reproduced today to give your car the dealer fresh look.

Your window sticker can be reproduced – PHS now offers a service that with the vin a new window sticker can be made. This will only be made to how the car was new – so if any options were added or deleted the sticker will not reflect it. Spectators at car shows love to look at the final sticker price since it is hard to believe that these $3500.00 cars are worth so much more.

Odd Ball Stuff – this is the stuff that is specific to one dealership or a famous dealership. It can include membership cards, old magazine articles, and dealer key chains or even speed parts offered by that dealership. These can be found with lots of luck at local swap meets and car show or talking with other car owners that grew up in the area. Lots of people visited the dealers and new car auto shows and surprising still have some of the paperwork in a file cabinet.

Old magazines have the real story – at least the first hand info. There are plenty of old Hot Rod, Super Stock, Motor Trend and many other magazines that reported on the muscle cars when they were new. Just like today there are plenty of features and photos but unlike today all the photos are of the cars when they were brand new and the photos are a great restoration guide.

Mystery Machine

STORY BY Jason Scott / PHOTOGRAPHY BY Marc McGrew and John Kryta

After a torrid, one-year fling with this '75 Trans Am, the owner mysteriously parked it with just 9,000 miles on the odometer, never to drive it again.

It's been said that every car - like every person - has a story. Some stories are comedies. Some are tragedies. And some, like the one behind this 1975 Trans Am, are mysteries.

The bits we know of its past are few: The original owner purchased it on a whim - he had driven by the dealership one day and the car caught his eye. He pulled in, looked it over and bought the car on the spot, for no reason other than he wanted to buy a cool, new car.

For the next year, the owner drove the car nearly every day and racked up roughly 9,000 miles on the odometer. By all accounts, he seemed like he thoroughly enjoyed the car. Then, just as quickly as he became smitten with it, he suddenly lost interest, parked it (indoors), and never drove it again.

And there it sat for 30 years.

When the Kryta boys - John and James - found out about the car, they instantly recognized the car was a rolling showpiece of originality, since it had never had any major service work done, nor had it been butchered or modified by the original owner, who was apparently not much or a car guy.

The Kryta's purchased it, both to rescue it and to give themselves and others a chance to learn from it, because it's unlikely there's a more original '75 Trans Am anywhere in the world. "Nothing on the car has ever been touched," John Kryta pointed out. "The spare had never been out of the trunk, nor had the air cleaner ever been off. The original paint, original belts and hoses - never touched."

Ahhh, the stereotypical barn-find - an un-restored, untouched, original 1975 Trans Am with just 9,000 miles. Such finds are our best evidence of how cars were truly built at the factory - not just speculation and assumption.

Studying the bumper jack slots suggests the car was never jacked up - at least not with the original jack equipment. Again, note the door fitment: it's higher at the rear, as evidenced by both the gaps and the way the light cascades down the car's character line.

The more Kryta looked it over, the more amazing tidbits he discovered. For example, "the spare tire has a ton of inspection marks on it," he told us. And, "the cylinder head is stamped 'OK-5', but it's upside down." But then there are the mysteries and what the car tells us about GM's assembly processes back in the mid-'70s: "There isn't much paint on the engine, but the water neck and water pump has a lot of paint - maybe these pieces came from the manufacturer painted and then were bolted on and engine sprayed as a unit," Kryta speculated.

Cars like this seldom come along. Take your time to closely study the pictures on these pages, because each one tells volumes about what was - and wasn't - done at the factory at which this car was built, at the time it was built. Much of that info applies to other first-gen Firebirds, and even to other non-F-body Pontiacs, which were often constructed with similar processes.

It never hurts to keep in mind that exceptions were always possible and that different plants sometimes did things differently. Likewise, processes sometimes changed from one year to the next, or from one model to the next.

But in general, studying untouched originals is, perhaps, the best evidence we have of how our cars were originally built. And in that way, the fact that this car was mysteriously parked with so few miles may fortunately solve some mysteries surrounding others' cars - possible yours.\

Original cars are great for noting wire and hose routings. For example, cylinder #7's spark plug wire doesn't pass through the wire loom.

Interiors may seem like they have less to teach us, but we've seen all-original cars with mismatched window crank knobs, poor-fitting glove-box doors, off screws used to secure things, and even standard door panels on custom interior cars.

Placement and condition of decals and emblems can tell a lot, too. We've seen hood birds that were askew or had minor wrinkles, and we've seen cars with certain decals or emblems that were simply missing.

9,000 miles and 34 years didn't do much to diminish the brilliance of this Firebird emblem, but note the less-than-perfect coloring of the re portions, especially the tail and flame from the beak.

The engine compartment on this beauty revealed that the engine actually had very little paint on it, yet certain items - the water neck and water pump, in particular - had a lot of paint, suggesting that they were painted prior to installation and also received paint when the completed engine assembly was painted. Note the rusted fasteners everywhere and the semi-rusted hood hinges, which tells us they had poor protection against the elements, usually a thin, black-oxide coating, for these items.

Notice the lopsided application of the "400" engine callout decal. It's unclear how or why the rear edge of the decal is worn. Though hard to tell, the photo also shows the paint has a fair amount of "orange peel" - tiny pore in the surface.

Here you can see the paint overspray through the fender vent. Also not the uneven door-to-fender gap.

This is about as clean and perfect as a trunk can get. The spare had never even been out of the car, and was covered with inspection marks and stickers. The jacking equipment is as good as new - because it is, other than its age.

Areas like the underside of the deck lid are great reference points for original paint, because it's rarely faded by the sun or damaged from items being set on it. The jacking and stowage instruction decals show less-than-precise placement and plenty of wrinkles, too.

The interior looks as good as it was new - the back seat was never used and the seat belts never clicked together. It even has new car smell remaining as a feature.

The trunk is equally untouched. The spare has never touched the ground and from the impression in the trunk mat it was never out of the car until the day of the photo shoot. Original cars bring a history of the process of how these cars were put together. In the trunk we can see color of the sealer and the red primer put down first and the blue body overspray followed by the trunk paint. The fasteners and hardware is colored and plated. These are the details that are usually lost in an average restoration.

This type of car is the reference that future restorations are based from. The details are documented and the pictures remember better than the human mind. While there is some deteration in the engine compartment it is clear the color of the different parts. The master cylinder is black, the lid is gold and the booster is gold with green inspection marks. The vlave is bare steel and has light rust and the bracket that holds it to the booster is phosphate.

The story here is not how low the miles are or what the mystery is but rather all that can be learned by an untouched original car like this.

The focus of this article is a 1972 W-30 455 but the information here covers
many of the details found on all Oldsmobile 455's from 1970-72.

Editor's Note: Every couple of years the Kryta brothers at Inline Tube build a show car to display their company's products. But beyond just showing off their catalog parts, they, like their customers, just enjoy the hands-on process of reconstructing cool muscle cars. Their next project car is a 1972 Olds W-30. John and James Kryta share their detailing research and methods with us in this in-depth engine detailing article.

This is more than an article about one engine but covers many of the details of all the Oldsmobile 455’s from 70-72. This is a 1972 W-30 Engine that is rated at 300 HP with 8.5:1 compression with 410 lb of toque. While only 772 442 W-30’s were made there were roughly 26,000 442’s made between 70-72 and many more Oldsmobile A-bodies with the optional 455 under the hood. This 455 was not only for the light cars but your dads 88 or 98 most likely had a similar unit with nearly the same horse power. The 455 was used in the entire Oldsmobile line up and it is not hard to find one in just about every car from the era. They are all the same basic engine, same color and many of the same parts. The numbers are different and you won’t find an aluminum intake or a flapper on a station wagon but you will find the high flow dual exhaust W Z manifolds or the heat riser shroud. Pulleys and brackets are shared and a few head numbers have the same casting numbers in 1972 but are low performance but any machine shop can convert them over. Hard to find temperature sending units, oil pressure units, brackets and hardware are also the same as the big cars.

The standard W-30 was out fitted with a special open air cleaner with a flapper that sealed the air cleaner to the underside of the scooped fiberglass hood. This was an option on a Cutlass. The W-30 also came standard with an aluminum intake, big valve heads and a blue printed engine that was not available in any other model. There are many similarities in parts but few combinations ended up as W-30 engines.

This is the engine for the next Inline tube show car. Every couple years the company builds another car to take across the country and show off their new products. We are not only a company that makes parts but we use them on our own cars and are guys working on cars just like you.

1. SHINE TIME: As we get close to the engine we can see the details that make this a show car engine. The paint is shiny and bright, the bolts and brackets have fresh plating and many of the small detail items are new instead of using pitted and rusty old parts. It can be a time saver to buy new instead of spending hours on one part fixing it to look new. New clamps, belts, wires and hoses are a must and other reproduction parts just make the job go faster.

2. TIN MAN: The tin coated steel pump to carb line and the UO tag on the oil fill tube is part of the detail sticker set from Inline tube. The oil fill cap and tube were installed after engine paint and are silver zinc plated. The cap is specific to 71-72, in 70 it is a flat top cap.

3 PUMPED UP: The fuel pump has an aluminum base and a gold cad can. The tin coated lines goes to the top of the pump. The Oldsmobile pump has the can facing up while most other GM cars have this can down. It is common to see the pump installed upside down. The fuel return pipe is also on the top of the can. This is on all high performance cars and returns unused fuel to the tank.

4. ENGINE MONITORS: This is a rally pace car meaning it has working oil pressure and temperature gauges. The large unit is the oil pressure gauge. It is mounted to the engine block with this special long brass elbow. This gauge is a close replacement to the original that is more flat on top. The temperature sending unit is the brass fitting in the intake; this again is a close replacement but should have a standing stake instead of the stud. The blue wire is the jumper to the engine wiring harness that is only on gauge cars.

5. X MARKS THE SPOT: This large red x on the driver side valve cover is an inspection mark that is common to Oldsmobile’s of the 60’s and early 70’s and in later years turned into an ink stamp. The valve covers were painted after they were installed so the bolts are painted over top.

6. TOPPER TIPS: Here is the correct installation of the plastic air cleaner topper that is held on the car with these white springs and small valve cover brackets. The spring attaches to the side of the bracket not the hole in the bracket. The spark plug wires are held in place with simple black plastic clips. The valve cover vent tubes on Oldsmobile’s are all different lengths and angles depending on the engine type. These are very difficult to find 455 tubes in the correct black paint.

7. BEHIND THE SCENES: The bracket on the top corner of the valve cover was on all cars and it was to hold the tube and metal line used to supply vacuum to the power brake unit or power booster for the brakes. The throttle bracket is phosphate and the carb return spring is white. The tube at the right in the picture is the drain tube from the flapper assembly. Any water that got into the hood scoops would be drained at by this tube.

8. COILED AND READY: The coil bracket is silver zinc and mounted directly to the boss on the intake manifold. The coil is gloss black and had the coil foil decal to identify the coil. The phosphate fitting at the bottom of the picture is usually frozen into the intake and must be carefully removed. This is heater hose fitting and if the system had water instead of anti freeze the fitting can be badly rusted. The white strip hose is to operate the air cleaner flapper door.

9. GLOSSED OVER: The air cleaner base is gloss black and so is the heat riser tube. The intake is natural aluminum and the engine is Oldsmobile blue. This color varies from plant to plant and engine to engine. We have seen many different shades of this metallic blue. The spark plug wires are again held with a simple plastic clip.

10. COLOR CODED: This is the engine vacuum tree. The hoses are different color to alert the assembly line work to their specific location. This is another very difficult piece to find and care must be used when taking it out of the intake.

11. LIFT HOOP: Here we get a glimpse of the fast idle switch that attaches to the front of the carburetor. We also see the blue engine lift loop. There was a special tool that hooked into this bracket and the back casting of the engine block to install the engine at the factory. This is the correct installation with the washers under the bracket. Every one of these is slightly bent and twisted from the engine install.

12. WATER NECK: The water neck is cast iron painted engine color and is a common source for leaks. The gasket must be thick or doubled up in this area. The rubber connector from the water neck to the block is ribbed hose with tower style clamps.

13. BELTS AND PULLEYS: The water pump has an “B” inspection stamp on it in white ink. The balance and timing bracket are one the engine when painted blue. The semi gloss black engine pulleys were bolted on after paint. The belts should be non cogged as shown. This is a non AC with manual steering car so no second belt is required. Oldsmobile had no specific pulleys for this combination so the 2 groove pulleys are used with one belt.

14. DISTRIBUTOR OVERSPRAY: Back at the distributor the cap should be black and the unit was in at the time of engine paint so the base would have overspray on the shaft. On the base of the distributor below the cap there is a purple strip. This strip was another color code used to identify the part quickly without having to read small part numbers. We have seen these in orange, red, yellow and other colors. The crayon make is another inspection mark.

15. THINK WITH YOUR DIPSTICK: The exhaust manifolds are cast grey and have a bolt lock that is bent over to hold the bolts in place. This lock is between the bolt and flat washer. The dip stick tube was put in before paint the dip stick after paint. So the tube should have blue over spray and the dip stick would be natural. The manifolds would also have light overspray on them that would burn off in the first few hours of operation.

16. POSITIVE I.D.: This one of the 3 vehicle identification numbers “VIN” on the car. One is stamped on the pad of the engine block, the other is in the dash area and the third is on the top of the frame rail. In 68 they are also on the cowl by the heater blower motor.

17. FROM ABOVE: The carburetor body is dark olive plating and most of the other pieces are gold zinc with black screws. The throttle bracket is phosphate. The intake is left bare aluminum and the winter snow flake is in the casting. This is the casting mark of the foundry that made many of the aluminum parts in the 60’s and early 70’s. The intake bolts are black phosphate.

18. MULTIPLE FINISHES: The pump to carb line is tin coated steel with gold zinc tube fittings. The carburetor inlet fitting is gold zinc. The PCV valve is in this location on all W-30 cars and “OIA” Outside Induction Air Cars or the cars with the fiberglass hoods. The W-30 intake also says OLDS W-455 under the hoses.

19. STARTER: The starter is black with the cover bare steel color. Oldsmobile starters have the threaded hole in the side used for the starter brace that runs from the motor mount to the side of the starter to support the rear of the starter.

20. HEAT RISER: This again shows the manifold bolt locks. This heat riser shroud is phosphate and usually badly rusted on the bottom where it would get hot and cold and collect condensation. This shield wraps the manifold and collects heat and directs it up the heat riser tube to close the vacuum pod on the air cleaner once the car was at operating temperature.

21. DOWN BELOW: This is the back of the manifold with the part number and date code. It also calls out the “RH” right hand side since it could be installed on the wrong side of the car. The filter is also white but should have blue engine over spray on it since it was on the engine at time of paint. We have seen cars with fewer than 1000 miles that have the original filters and they were white generic filters with overspray. Replacement filters typically have the writing on them.

22. PAINT MARKS: This is another shot of the fuel pump and the can of the pump faces up. Also seen is the block inspection mark of green paint. When these engines were put together there was a system of paint marks and sprays for the different procedures preformed to the engine. We have seen these marks running down the block in many colors. They can also be seen through the final paint since it was often thin in low areas.

23. PULLEY POWER: The engine was blue and since the pulleys are installed after engine paint you would see the blue through the pulley hole. It is also common on GM pulleys to have this reinforcement ring on the lower crank pulley.

24. CHOKE UP: This shows the top view of the carburetor and the Inline Tube choke tubes. They are often rusted to the intake and break off. These are the tin coated steel version, although stainless lines is an option on a factory cars we like to keep it original with steel. The carburetor also has a ring gasket that the air cleaner sits on; this is often missing causing a rattle between the two metals.

25. CARB COUNTING: This carburetor is complete with the Rochester rebuild sticker. The green tape on the back of the carb has the carb info on it. It is important to know what jets and hangers are in the carb because this is what determines the number on the side of the carb from the factory. Although after a dyno session they will all change but at the factory every carb with this number had the same jets.

26. PARTS DEPARTMENT: Inline Tube provided all the detail items for the external engine detailing. They manufacture many bolt kits, brackets, tubes and hoses. These small parts are usually missing and make a long build go much quicker. The parts are already plated the correct colors and ready to bolt on.

Get Tagged

Pontiac Enthusiast - June 2010

Seat Belts are one of those items that we assume are all the same but they are very car year specific and manufacture specific. Beginning in January of 1964, seat belts were required by federal law for the driver and front passengers. So the auto manufactures now began to offer vehicles with front seat belts standard and the rears could be added as an option. Starting in 1966 all production cars got front and rear belts. The standard seat belts usually had a black plastic buckle and the optional Custom or Deluxe seat belts had the chrome buckle and a better retractor system. Just about every year the belts changed with the model changes. The buckles style, button logo and the even the fabric belt webbing was different year after year. To add more confusion the belts were made by several manufactures; Irving, Robbins, General Safety, DAAL, Bay Trim and a few others. Some of these manufactures only made the deluxe belts others made the standard and some made both. Some manufactures produced belts for specific assembly plants. Each of the manufactures had many assembly lines under one roof so identification of the products was a must. This was done by the tag on the belt. This tag tells the part number, manufacture, model number and gives the date the belt was manufactured and the tag is specific to the year make, model and style of the belt. Each manufacture also stamped the web bracket that holds the belt to the floor with a 2 letter code and the buckles and chrome inserts are slightly different from each manufacture.

What all this means is that there is a lot to look at before you mix and match a set of seat belts to make them into a matching set. The material may not match and it is pretty hard to put together different date codes and have a matched set. The belt had a date code but so did the chrome buckle and the top cover. While many of the parts spanned more than one year the date code was specific. In this restoration we are putting tags on a complete set of 72 GTO seat belts to make them a matched set. In 72 there are fewer belts than the previous year since the front lap belt and shoulder belt hooked into the same buckle to eliminate one lap belt per side of the car. It is confusing some pictures and captions will go a long way.

These are tags off several different belts manufactures and dates. They are slightly different shapes and some are stitched at the top and bottom and others on the sides. The tags are also different colors and fabric types, the yellow tags are not faded or dirty with age like so many assume, they were always this mustard yellow. There are also grey tags and light blue along with the common white. Some manufactures used a fabric material and others had a tyvak material.

Over the years you can see the tags can become dirty, torn and stained. The black belt will clean up good with some soap and water but the tag will never come clean. The tags are very belt specific. Next to the GM is the part number of the belt, below this is the manufacture Hamill and below this is the model number of the belt and the big letters is the date code. This is the 11th month of 1972 or November of 1972 the C is the assembly line the belt was manufactured on. Some belts also have this additional tag that cross references the belt to other cars.

Our new tags cost $39.00 from Inline Tube and were made custom for this application with a specific date code and manufacture. It comes as a set and we specified the date code of May 1972. They have templates for many cars and all the different manufactures. If they have not made yours in the past just photo copy or email a picture of one of the old tags and it can be made custom.

The set also has instructions so you know which tag goes on what belt. From the factory the belts came as a matched pair that was latched together. So the lap belt was latched with the shoulder belt and the retractor belt was latched with the other lap belt, and all have the same model number. The tags also have the adhesive on the back so you can stick them then sew them on.

The new tag is placed in position using the old tag as a reference. We have two sets of belts we are working from. We are using the old belts as reference to the new belts. It is a good idea to take pictures of the belts before you take the tags off them. It is easy to mix up the tags and belts.

We lay all the belts out and stick each tag in place before we sew. It can be confusing where the tag goes and on which side and how far from the end of the belt. We again are using a second set of belts as a reference.

With the label stuck in place we are ready to go to the sewing machine. The adhesive on the back was there to hold the tag in place so it did not move around before it was permanently fastened to the belt.

Pay attention to the old tag so you know which direction to sew it on. Some tags were sewn vertically and others horizontally depending on the manufacture. There are a few extra tags in the set so you can practice before you work on the final piece.

This project can be done with any home sewing machine. We are using a jeans nettle and black button thread. This may be a great time to get your wife, that know how to sew, involved. There are not many projects that can bring you and your wife closer while working on your car.

Slip the belt through the machine then flip it and repeat. You can adjust the stitch length to match the factory original. I like to start the machine and feed at a constant speed so there is a consistent lead in and run past the tag a few inches so it is straight and even.

The thread is now cut at the edge of the belts and you can move on to the next belt.

Your finished belt should look like this. For more information on the different year belts and what the tags should look like Eric at White House Graphics has all the graphics and descriptions for 64-74 GTO’s in his GTO Illustrated Identification Guide.

Pontiac Enthusiast

Show Stoppers: Restoring Drum Brakes

Inline Tube - 9 1/2" GM Rear Drum Brake Restore

Drum brakes are one of those areas that nobody wants to work on. There are so many springs and other parts that have to go together, it is a nightmare. If the parts are rusty it makes it 100 times worst. This article will show the complete rebuild of the very common 9 1/2" GM rear drum assembly. This assembly was used on countless cars in the 60's an 70's. Applications include:

1964-72 GM A-body Chevelle, GTO, 442, Gran Sport, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix
1967-69 GM F-body Camaro, Firebird, Trans Am
1968-74 GM X-body Nova, Ventura, Apollo, Omega
1970-81 GM F-body Camaro, Z28, Firebird, Trans Am

Now that your brakes are 30 - 40 years old it is time to take a look and see what is left. If the shoes are worn out maybe it is time to replace all the hardware since it all has to come apart to get the shoes out. Another thing to remember is there is a difference between the right and left side so do one side at a time and do not mix the parts together. Inline tube offers a complete line of drum parts so if you just need a spring kit or a wheel cylinder it is no problem. If your system is in need of a complete overhaul Inline Tube also offers the complete set assembled and ready to bolt on. The complete set comes as a unit with all the correct color coated springs, plated hardware, parking brake arm and other hardware that is not available anywhere. When you consider the cost of rebuilding all the pieces including turning the drums and re-painting or plating the parts the complete unit really takes the work out and saves money. The complete unit is around $400 or all the parts could be as much as $600 and you still have to do all the assembly. By following the steps below you can rebuild you components just like an experienced mechanic. Inline Tube offers all the pieces of the rebuild or the bolt on unit ready to bolt onto your classic.

I have begun this restoration with a car out of California that was neglected its entire life. The good new is, not a belt, clamp, or hose was ever replaced and the car is not missing a single piece. Did didn’t run when I purchased it and had been sitting since 1983 under a car port. Let’s start the restoration on this a-body. This is the car: a 1969 GTO Judge, 4 Speed, Ram Air III, hide-a-way headlights, with all the go fast options. Disc brakes, rally gauges, the Judge package. NO A/C

It was not long before the car was coming apart. There was not even one broken or rounded off bolt on the entire car, since it was rust free. It came apart with no problems. Although the parts look rusty they are not. The frame has 35 years of road grime, dirt and grease. Being a CA car it has not bee exposed to snow, salt, and very little rain. You can start to see the colors of the different parts with close examination.

Taking pictures of how things are prior to taking a car apart is the most important step in the process. As good as we think we will remember, the pictures never forget. 600 photos were taken as the car was coming apart. All the parts were plastic bagged and a picture of each bag was taken for future reference. All these parts were sand blasted, plated or repainted to the factory colors. The rear end is complete with new Inline Tube brake line and parking brake cables. The rubber bushings came from Kanter parts. All the drum hardware is original repainted. The rear end also has new bearings and seals.

After 250 hours of blasting, painting, part gathering, and assembly the chassis with out the engine and trans was complete. The engine and transmission rebuild, detailing, and assembly took another 175 hours. When doing an entire restoration on the complete car you could have 1500 to 2000 hours in the entire project. So lets add up some numbers: the price of the car $8000 to $20,000, The cost of parts $15,000 to $20,000. Labor, if you do all the work yourself $0 IF you pay someone to do all the work $50.00 an hour you could have as much as $75,000 to $100,000 into a full restoration. Paint takes another 250 to 300 hours. All interior, AC, Firewall, trunk items takes another 170 hours and the final assembly 250 hours. So the restoration could cost between $98000 to $140,000 depending on how bad the car is. You have to remember rusty cars do not make show winners and add hundreds of hours to the restoration. When spending this kind of money pick you car carefully you do not want to have a $140,000 AMC Pacer, especially the base model.

Inline Tube provided all the: brake & fuel lines, parking brake cables, rubber flex hoses, line clips, clamps, disc brake parts, and all the line tags. Kanter provided the original rubber control arm bushings. Fusick Oldsmobile provided the body mounts. YES Oldsmobile, they matched closer than the Pontiac one sold through several companies. The exhaust came from Gardner exhaust.

A two part epoxy paint is used, which required no primer and is tough as nails when dry. It has a semi gloss finish not too shiny and not too dull right in the middle. Start from one end of the frame and finish at the other, repeat for all black parts. We used as many of the original parts as we could. The wheel cylinders are original and rebuild as is the starter, alternator, gearbox, power steering pump, transmission, carburetor ,and rotors.

This shows the correct two part rotor, caliper is to be painted black, rotor is the original turned down. The Coker tire is mounted on the rim with the correct color gray on the backside. Notice the upper ball joint is riveted just like the factory, on a car like this points will be deducted for a bolted in ball joint. The rim should have over spray through the slots as shown.

The engine and trans are ready to be bolted together and set in the frame.

Drums are Grey Phosphate while the drum springs are multiple colors and the wheel studs are black.

Frames are marked from the factory, if there is multiple holes for components such as engine mounts the interior of the body shell have been painted red primer and the underside black. The body has its first coat of high build primer applied.

The trunk is also painted black, this allows a light coat of trunk paint to cover, without building up and looking thick. The dash is painted semi black, and the cowl is also painted semi black.

The interior jambs are now cut in. All the edges of the GTO have an orange over spray look. At the factory nothing was taped or masked off the spray went everywhere. The trunk shows some of the primer at the back seat divider and the underside of the package tray and the quarter panels was bare metal. We sprayed cast/silver to duplicate this look.

Before the jambs are cut in the quarters and the doors had a small amount of sound deadener applied. All the black seam sealer was applied after the red primer before the over spray. We have not been able to find black seam sealer so this is cream color with black paint brushed over the top.

Sound deadener is applied to the rear wheel wells. I have seen this applied many ways. The factory work was instructed to spray the path of the tire but a lot of guys got a little crazy and sprayed the entire well. Sound deadener is not to undercoat or protect from rust. It is to stop stone noise as they come off the tires. It is also a super detail to see the body over spray in the well.

All the body panels are now mocked up and checked for final fit. This step gives you the chance to enlarge holes, and fit panels with no paint on them. So you can get a little rough if you have to. All the trim is also fit to the car. Anywhere the trim does not fit too good is going to look far worse when the GTO is painted. On the back window we taped off the trim, snapped it into place, and then filled the gap with high strength body filler.

The body has been blocked several times with 220, 320, 400, 600, 800. Yes it is a lot of sanding but we want that over-restored mirror finish. The first picture shows the base coat. The final color always looks different with the clear on it. Wings Auto Art did all the body and paint work. Nyle and Ross worked extra hard to make this a mirror finish. www.wingsautoart.com . These guys are the best in the country. They do everything from start to finish restorations to partials and custom paint work. Check out all the super cars they have worked on there web site.

All the brake & fuel lines, parking brake cables, flex hoses, clips, cable hardware, and line tags came from Inline Tube. Body mounts and rubber control arm bushings were from Kanter Auto Parts. After the body goes back on the frame it will take 6-8 more weeks until the car is done. All the parts are detailed and ready to be assembled back on the car.

The fenders and the hood hinges are now in place. The heater box is to have a bead of undercoating around it. The firewall was a common place for chalk marking. This 554 indicated the Judge Sales Code. The master cylinder is also black and the booster which was redone by Bob's Boosters has the correct paint dab inspection marks. Also notice all the rubber has either ribbing or a color strip. These color informed the factory work to the placement of the hose. Blue was the Hide-a-way supply vacuum line. The wiper hose was ribbed with no stripe but the feed line was thicker than the two from the squirter to the hood.

The bottom is looking great. The car would have body over spray and the frame should stick out just as it does. The gas tank has had the original filler neck soidered in and a gas tank stamp was reproduced just like original. We sprayed matte clear to preserve the metal finish of the tank. The tank was provided by Inline Tube. The exhaust was provided by Gardner Exhaust. The windows are now going back in. All the hardware has been bead blasted and plated Silver Zinc, again Bob's Boosters took car of the plating. The window glass came from Pilkington Glass. All the date codes are etched right into the glass.

Again all door hardware is starting to go in. Notice the white tag, This was to let the factory know which door panel when on the frame. The headliner is now installed and steamed, the seat divider is installed. Make sure to install it correctly the insulation goes to the inside as shown. You can also see the power trunk and the speaker wire. The wire was run under the floor tar paper until it reached the back seat at this point the extra was coiled up and and taped to the floor. All the electrical wiring was provided by M&H Electrical Fabricator's www.wiringharness.com

Seat belts were cleaned re-dyed and installed. The roof rail weather striping came from Soft Seal and Fit Like a Dream. The rubber was a bit harder than the original but the quality is excellent. All the seat frames were sand blasted at Strip IT, and painted silver/metal color. The seat tracks were phosphate and the tips painted semi black to match the carpet. Dale at LA Trim 616 897 6546 recovered all the seats and door panels. He even redid all the burlap material on the back side. We slipped the old trim card back in for the extra detail. All the seat trim received a fresh coat of the correct parchment white. Space Age Paint www.Spaceagepaint.com supplied the interior paint. The white color was applied first. The gold leaf was added to the clear to give the gold parchment match to the seat covers.

The rear seat again was restored to factory original specifications. Notice the cream color foam block at the center of the seat. We also reproduced the material that was laying in the bottom of the seat. This is the factory correct way to cut the carpet. We took all measurement off the old and transferred to the new. There is a T slot cut the full length of the carpet. The seat is installed and the flaps are tucked back under the seat. Not Visible hear is the carpet tag installed to both the front and rear carpet. These tags are located hear at the sill plate next to the seat belt.

Rear seat is now in place, Remember to leave the carpet long where the seat meets the door panel. The carpet should roll up into the quarter panel behind the door panel so you can't see the floor pan. To get the poor fitting carpet into place we first steamed the carpet and spray Glued a section at time to the floor. Now it follows all the floor pan contours. The REM door panel water shields are now installed, They are black on the other side. The craft paper side face out as shown. Our paper shields are held in place with ACE Hardware White window caulk. It comes on a roll like tape. This caulk was used on the hood scoops, heater box, roof rails and water shields.

After a few torturous hours the glass is finally adjusted. Nyle At Wings Auto Art was on his last glass nerve but he got it perfect. The door panels are now installed. We have also started to assemble other finishing pieces. The rear spoiler has been fit, re-fit and fit again not to mention the grinding sanding and reshaping of the pedestals. Ross at Wings auto art did not go home until it was done. Looks Great, Ross.

The hood and front sheet metal is now coming together. The hood has been correctly over sprayed and notice the leading edge black spots. At the factory the hood was painted off the car, they were hung on a rack system by the two square holes in the front. This is a sweet detail. The ram air pan and the hood hinges should not have any over spray. All the trim is now going back on. All the original stainless trim was polished by Sam At Patmai 586 294 9621. Sam took out all the dings and polished it to a better than new finish.

Nyle and Ross are fitting the nose one last time before final paint. The trim clips are installed and the stainless trim is ready to be popped on.

The car is almost done, ready for the 2004 Detroit Autorama

The car is finished and ready for the show.

2004 Detroit Autorama down at COBO Center

This is an archival post from March 19, 2003.

Inline Tube is located 40 minutes North East of Detroit in Shelby Twp, Michigan. Nine years ago this company started with 2 partners out of a small 2 car garage making a few different line sets. Today Inline Tube produces thousands of undercarriage parts.

A lot of people ask "how you start a company like this". First you have to love what you do and realize it is not for the money because there may be no payoff. The payoff is the pride you take in the parts you make and the cars you see the product on, knowing you were part of the restoration process. There is an extreme amount of hard work that goes into every part made. In order to make a part you need to have an original part. Where do you find a set of transmission lines for a 56 Buick Special? You hunt them down at swap meets, in junk yards, or find them on a part’s cars. Once the part is found, it is time to start the duplication process. First an exact duplicate of the part must be made by hand, this is the prototype. The prototype is then scanned by a laser to get all the measurements of the lengths, angles and rotations. Once the blueprint is made and the bender is programmed you’re ready to make parts. The entire process can take months for one part. So how many 42 Cadillac brake line sets do you think you could sell ? You can never tell what you will sell and at the end of the year they are always surprised what the top seller was. In the top 100 of course you have your Chevy Trucks, Camaro, Chevelle and GTO but who would guess International Scout, Ford Bronco or Pontiac Fiero. If you make a exact reproduction in the right market and it is a part that is not currently being reproduced you have a start. If you listen to the phone calls the customer will also tell you what to make because it is the items they are asking for the most. So always listen to the customer. In the market of low production parts what brings you to the top is having phone Techs that can walk you through the process and know your brake system better than you do. The final step is to get the product to the customer in a few days. As car guys, we know waiting for parts for more than a few days is frustrating. I have waited 16 weeks for chrome to be polished and 12 weeks for the engine shop. So when my parts come in a few days I am a repeat customer.

Inline tube has grown to be the largest tube company in the country that specializes in classic car plumbing products. They make tubes for all American cars and trucks from the 40’s and as late as the 90’s. They not only have the brake lines, but carry all the tubing for each particular car. So if you need fuel lines, choke tubes, caliper lines, transmission cooler tubes or the wiper line for a 52 Buick they are sure to have it in stock. If somehow they do not have your tube in the thousands of patterns they keep, it is as simple as making it off your original.

Once Inline Tube secured patterns for all the American cars and trucks it was time to move on to other products. Inline Tube is the only company in the country that makes reproduction parking brake cables the way the factory did with the spiral wrap. You can still get some cables from the auto parts store but it will not look like the original. These guys have reproduced the correct housing, rubber boots, end fittings for a factory correct reproduction. These cables are offered for all the popular muscle cars and trucks from the 60’s to the 80’s.

Over the years Inline Tube has expanded to make many of the undercarriage parts that transfer fluid. Another expansion included the street rod market. Inline Tube makes all there own stainless brake fittings, and carries everything needed to plumb a custom application. Products include: straight tubing sets, master cylinders, valves, stainless braided hoses and any combination of fittings you can dream up. Other products include stainless and OEM rubber flex hoses, Disc brake conversions, Brake and fuel line clip sets, Proportional valves, and even the sending units. If you plan on moving any fluid whether it be brake, fuel, or power steering these guys make the products that connect the components.

In August 2000 Inline Tube was featured in Custom Classic Trucks magazine.  This extensive chassis restoration incorporated Inline Tubes stainless steel parking brake cables- these cables were retrofitted to incorporate Cadillac rear disc brakes in the factory drum locations. Brake cables were lengthened in some areas and shortened in others to activate the existing parking brake hardware. Brake lines and fittings were provided to run fluid throughout the system.  Custom front and rear flex hoses were fabricated to accommodate aftermarket disc brake calipers. Keep your fluids flowin by keeping it Inline.

In August 2000 Inline Tube was featured in Mopar Muscle magazine. In this special tech article Inline tube provides useful information installing and bending hard lines. The 70 Duster used in this article is custom fitted with brake, fuel, and transmission lines. Read the full four page article in Mopar Muscle's August issue.

In May of 2000 Inline Tube was featured in Muscle Car Review magazine.  In this special tech article Inline tube provided all the brake and fuel lines, parking brake cables, clips, and flex hoses to assure this was a concourse restoration. Featured in the article is a 1970 GTO A-body frame. This is only one of the many automobiles that Inline tube provides parts for.

In May of 1999 Inline tube was featured in Super Chevy magazine.  In this how-to article, Inline tube provided all the materials to plumb a 1966 Chevy Nova. Inline Tube provided the tubing, fittings, benders, and other tools to complete a custom brake line upgrade.

In October of 1998 Inline tube was featured in Mopar Muscle magazine.  In this technical article, Inline tube helps change over a single master cylinder to a dual master cylinder, providing a straight line tubing kit, residual valves, and the tools to perform the weekend upgrade.

Inline Tube provides technical information for many magazines to bring you the how-to articles you read every month.  If you are interested in reading other articles that Inline tube has been a part of, or are interested in seeing our many product reviews, see the complete listing below.

• Hot Rod - Aug. 1999
• Car Craft - July, Oct. & Dec. 1999, July 2000
• Cars & Parts - Aug. 1999, Jan. 2000, July 2000
• Street Rodder - Feb. 2000, Oct. 2000
• Custom Classic Trucks - Aug., Dec. 1999, April 2000, Aug. 2000, Oct. 2000, Nov. 2000
• Peterson's Four Wheel & Off Road - Oct. 1999
• 4x4 Power - March 1999, April 2000
• Off Road - Feb. 2000, July 2000
• JP Magazine - March 2000, May 2000
• Classic Trucks - Dec. 1999
• Chevy High Performance - Sept., Nov. 1999
• Super Chevy - May 1999, March 2000, May 2000
• Mopar Muscle - June, Aug. 1999, March 2000, May 2000, June 2000, Nov 2000
• Mopar Action - Sept. 1999, Aug. 2000
• High Performance Mopar - Nov. 1999
• Muscle Car Review - March 2000, May 2000
• Mustang Monthly - Feb., March 2000, May 2000, Oct. 2000
• Mustangs & Fords - Aug. Sept. Dec. 1999, Aug. 2000, Oct. 2000
• Mustang Illustrated - Oct. 1999, Jan. 2000, June 2000
• Rod & Custom - June 2000
• Chevy Truck - May 2000
• Truckin - July 2000
• Pet-4 Wheel & Off Road - May 2000
• Pontiac Enthusiast - Feb. 2000