Zedfoot

Having stripped my "72, which I bought new and drove through 12 Ontario (salt) winters, then stored poorly, I have a lot of experience here. A propane torch doesn't concentrate the heat enough. Invest in a small, portable oxy-acetylene set with a very small welding tip for heating and a cutting torch. You have to have the female part hotter than the male, ie: heat the nut, cool the stud, or heat the aluminum block, cool the stud. The welding tip concentrates the heat so you can heat just what you want. For a stud in aluminum, heat it to just red and keep it there for awhile to let the heat transfer to the aluminum, then hit just the stud with Liquid Wrench. The LW will suck right into the joint, cool the stud quickly so it shrinks away from the aluminum and to some extent re-harden the bolt. Get on it with the wrench right away before the aluminum cools off. If it doesn't come easily, repeat the whole process. If it still doesn't come, soak it with LW every day for a week and try again. Do not try to turn a red hot bolt. IT will be soft and expanded tight into the hole. Red hot nuts are fine, but they are pretty well useless afterwards unless you re heat and slowly cool them. I was able to get every bolt and nut off my car without anything breaking by using this method.

Best thing I did to solve all cooling problems was have my rad re-cored with three rows instead of the stock two.

I did this 30 years ago, now finally got around to making up a relay harness. But my signals quit on the 1800 mile drive home from Z Con 09. The same procedure did the job there too, but you cannot swap the contacts, they are identical.

A couple of things I can add. It is so easy to take the shift lever out, make yourself a bit more room to work. While the dash is out is a good time to freshen up the grounds to the dash lights and change the bulbs. I actually ran a seperat ground to each bulb holder to solve a lot of problems. Trim the insulation of one end of a crimp on wire splice and it will plug right into the ground side of the bulb holder. Before you put things back together, the very first thing to install is the sound deadening stuff which you can't get in after the dash and heater are installed.

I cut my Y pipe off just downstream of where one pipe is welded into the side of the other to add a flex joint and a catalytic converter. I was surprized to find that the hole in the side of the first pipe was only about the size of a quarter. Of course I torched it out to the full size of the branch pipe, but something to consider when using stock Y pipes. I took photos, but cannot find them. If I do, I will post them. Eric

I've just put a 5 spd in my '72. Not sure what year car it came from, but what oil would you suggest I put in it?

Be carefull moving that shell on a rotisserie. My shop, www.bodybybiggs.com refuses to use one as they have had cars (American, mind you) bent out of shape that way. Apparently you don't find out untill final asembly when doors and panels don't quite fit properly. Go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/janeeric/sets/72157606153458051/ for the whole story on media (broken glass in this case) blasting. No need to strip undercoating, the glass is sharp enough and with lots of air (80 HP compressor) the metal doesn't heat up.

I spent a day trying to get my speedo out and gave up because the nuts were so rusted on. This year I stripped the car to the shell and found that I could have taken the whole dash out and reinstalled it in a few hours, so don't waste too much time before considering that option. While the dash is out, replace every single bulb in there. Motorsport sells brighter bulbs which are a nice touch.

Come on out to our meeting Wed night. It's at Route 66, near Vic Park and Eglinton. Go to www.ontariozcar.com for details. I'm just finishing a major restoration on my '72. It is documented on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/janeeric/sets/72157606153458051/