72 TA : New Project

[njsteve]

I spent the morning cleaning the frame rail area in preparation for installing the springs and rear end. I used lacquer thinner on a red rag and a lot of elbow grease and it worked great. It removed the years of dust and grime from the bottom. Interesting note: It looks like on 2nd Gen F-Bodies the factory had the rear axle snubbers installed on the body prior to being dipped in the primer bath at the assembbly plant. As you can see that is shiny metal under the area where the snubber was.

[njsteve]

I kept going underneath, cleaning til I got to the other side...It also looks like they had the passenger side upper sway bar mount break away from the frame. Evidence of a sloppy weld repair is present.

[njsteve]

Here are some details of the inner trunk floor extensions. They were undercoated from the factory on this car. You can also see the seam sealer in the rear joint area.

[njsteve]

And here's the passenger side rear inner fender area. While scrubbing away with the lacquer thinner and a rag I discovered a non-scratching scraper tool on my garage floor...a plastic bottle cap! It was within arms reach so I grabbed it and it worked wonders. I was able to get into the tiny areas and it was soft enough not to scratch any of the original primer or paint. I should patent it!

[71-LS6]

Hey Steve, that was a pretty neat trick with the leaf spring stencils. Looking good!

[njsteve]

When all else fails, use the cranium!

[njsteve]

Got the rear end installed, along with the sway bar and shocks. I ended up painting a set of KYB gas shocks in the GM grey color (did the same in the front). This way they won't stick out so much as not being original.