72 TA : New Project

[shor]

That's great getting the kids involved.
I am sure they will remember that for a long time!

[njsteve]

Just got the original power brake booster back from Steve Gregori in California. He does an awesome job on these units. I have the entire brake system done now but have to clean up the rear leaf springs before I can reinstall the finished rear and hook up the rear brake line.

The master cylinder is a 5470409 but it doesn't have the bleeder screws. The original one on the car was the same way: no bleeder screws. So I am still wondering if the car, being a late 71 build should have a master cylinder with the bleeders or not? Anyone have an opinion on this???

[DaJudge]

Nice detail work Steve, your TA is looking good ! The master cylinder should have the bleeders, I may have one in my attic above my garage and will check for you. It was off a 71 TA I used to own 15 years ago. I had my 10 year old daughter help me out with some paint daubs as well. She really liked it as well.

[njsteve]

That would be great if you could find one. I've been checking all the parts stores and it's kind of the luck of the draw whether you get one with the bleeders or not. So far, not.

[njsteve]

I've spent some time away from the T/A doing the holiday thing. But back to work now. With the rear dif all finished, it's time to hit the springs. I disassembled one of the leaf spring assemblies by gently tapping the spring clamps to each end with a wooden mallet so I wouldn't have to try to unbend them. I then removed the center bolt and wirebrushed each spring leaf, washed them, coated them with oxy-solv rust killer and then painted them in cast iron engine paint. I then greased the plastic insulator pads and reassembled the spring pack and then tapped the clamps back into place. The spring steel that the leaves are made of is really rough and pitted, even without having been rusted. I guess that's just the quality that came from the steel mills back in 1972.

I have been thinking about how to duplicate the factory stenciled part number and ended up with this solution: I took a photo of the part number next to a ruler, uploaded the photo to my computer and then reduced the file size until the image of the ruler on the screen was the exact size of a ruler I held up to the screen. I then printed the photo out in black and white and cut the letters out with a razor knife...and voila, a perfect stencil for the original PL-461612 1972 455 HO with a/c rear leaf spring assembly!

[njsteve]

Here's the finished product. Now I have to do the other side, but I will be masking off and keeping intact the original paint mark.

[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.