72 TA : New Project

[njsteve]

I took out the rear end and springs today. Pretty amazing. The stenciled part number is still on the top of one of the springs. The odd thing is it looks like the factory stenciled the "PL 481612" over another number that was in smaller font size. Here's a shot of the leafs. It looks like they have never been out of the car. All of the factory bushings were still present, including the zinc strip that goes between the bottom of the leaf spring and the lower rubber saddle bushing.

[njsteve]

Here's a close up of the spring part number. You can faintly see the smaller size numbers "492547" and a very large "RN" under the "PL 481612" numbers. Very interesting.

[njsteve]

Once the rear end was out I got some more photos of the underside, emission lines, brackets, clamps etc. All the factory GM hoses were still there (dry rotting away). Here is a shot from the rear looking forward down the tranny tunnel. I am just loving California cars more and more as I go deeper into this project. The original finish is just amazing.

[njsteve]

I just pulled the inspection cover off of the rear differential and found this...ouch! It looks like some broken pieces of the posi clutch plates and a whole bunch of metal powder.

[njsteve]

Look at the difference in the spring heights of the green posi unit springs. I guess that's where those peices came from. Looks like time for a rebuild of the rear. The original 11/71 dated 3.42 gears look great but there is a little too much slop in the pinion anyway. Oh well, new bearings, seals and clutches and we should be OK.

[njsteve]

I've been working on some minor sub assemblies lately. Removed the tilt column and repainted it, and replaced the burned up universal joint rubber boot on the firewall end. (the boot is available on ebay as a Jeep CJ part, along with the column bushings, for about $10). I also pulled out the guages and got the original clock working again. Easy to do, just get a small fingernail file and file the points flat and then reassemble the case back on the gauge. Then spray the heck out it with WD40. Works every time.

I pulled the fuse box down from the firewall and found a nice surprise inside. Here's the fuse box:

[njsteve]

And here's what I found inside when I pulled the fuse box apart: a factory riv-nut with white overspray on it, wedged between the main power distribution wires, between the two halves of the fuse box assembly. These were the steel collapsable nuts that they used to mount things like mirrors to the doors.

As you may recall, this car was built while the UAW was still deciding whether to go on strike (which later occurred in early calender year 1972, shutting down the entire F-body plant for the rest of the 72 model year).

So far this is the second "mystery gift" left in this car by the disgruntled assembly line workers. The first was the extra side marker lamp bezel stuck beneath the mastic sound deadener, under the rear seat. Left there, no doubt, to make some mysteriously, un-locatable road noise.

Can you imagine this car going 114,000 miles with that little piece of metal just hovering above the main fuse terminals? That was a complete electrical melt-down just waiting to happen.