Went & did some tire kicking

CopperNick said:

So just as a curiosity Q., here, who was the vendor from whom you purchased that boot? Mine was probably pre Covid OPGI because, like I commented, all the ones that I managed to discover and harvest from various hulks and wrecks showed pretty much the same kind of damage/tearing in pretty much the same place/location on the boot. I even tried to repair one by way of using some RTV adhesive sealant to bond the torn edges back together; it looked good sitting there on the bench but did not survive being attached to the firewall.


Nick

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It would of been Camaro Specialties off their Ebay store. We just started the back & forth. OPGI for over 25 years (most likely longer), they have been selling F body boots as a A/G boot & as those who have tried to use them found out they are No-Go's. Now the original GM molds are owned by El Camino Manufacturing & they supply several venders like Dixie but have been out of stock & suppling the F body boot as a option. When I ordered the one from Dixie, they dug into what was going on as ECM supplied the F body boots under the A/G boots part number to be told they (who owns the molds) can't find someone to mold the correct boots. Then there's the Eclkler's thing of showing the correct one & listing it in stock just to prevent one from ordering it. All I want is to find atleast one but would love to get enough on hand for just in case one tears or another project shows up. At times I wish these cars were 2nd gen A's instead of 4th gen A's (even better '70 Chevelles) cause there wouldn't be any issue on finding parts as you can almost build a complete brand new '70 Chevelle. Hell, GM should of kept that generation's boot on the 3rd & 4th gens as they are everywhere.

With OCD driving this, I might of found what that boot is for. Looks to be a G van for '71-'83 lower boot for outside of the cab. there is a chance it might be for an '84 as I found out the differences from digging into the online resources. I did order a set of NOS square body boots (set of upper/inside & lower/outside) which look like the needed boot. Not a cheap gamble but should be able to recover some money back reselling if needed. Worse part it was an overseas order so I gotta wait on that steamer to make it across the Atlantic. Not a single US seller other than one I lost to higher bids on Ebay.

Well, round 2 on the dash. Got an email the replacement is getting ready to ship. I'll do an up dated review to see how this one is with fit, appearance & quality.

Got the new dash in & passed the initial inspection & next will be another review. Odd thing is this one didn't ship with any form of padding for protection. Maybe it was a rush as it was dated on the box for 28 Feb. Then I got in the Pypes down pipes so someone can have his duals that he's been waiting for since the car came home. Don't want to use the heavy ones Jegs included so I need to get another pair. Finally, fresh from Saudi Arabia a pair (inner & outer) of square body clutch rod boots. Both look to be the same boot but the important thing is they are almost 100% the same as the NOS one for my car. Screw holes are sme size & spacing, inner back opening same round shape & diameter. Need to grab a upper rod or something of the same diameter to see how the smaller outer hole holds onto the rod the the other one. The listed p/n's are 6264937 for the outer/engine side, 6264936 for the earlier & 15506879 for the later inner/pedal side. I want to do a write up on this as soon as I can get more info on the square body boots & try to make sure atleast one of them is a good substitute for our cars. Maybe this would get El Camino Manufacturing to push to get the correct one made again as it could be used on square bodies. Far left is my original.

I'll need to do a seperate thread on this but I'll still do it in this thread about the clutch rod boots. Pulled out the upper rod I have handy for the alternative boot search & checked how tight or loose the square body boots fit. They are loose but might be perfectly fine with something like a shrink tube on the rod. I even did my NOS boot to get the same result. So it to may not be what I thougt it was. With this find it could be no correct A/G boot out there. Wish I did have the remains of an original for a goos comparison but like horseshoes & hand grenades, close enough is good enough.

scoti said:

Cool project getting the young-gun initiated into the world-o-wheels. I can tell you this (& hopefully it sinks into his brain thoroughly)..... He is a lucky young man to have someone showing him the ropes on how to approach the safety, mechanics, upkeep, mods/upgrades, & budgeting for his first of many vehicles. He is very fortunate to have someone he trusts so much showing, teaching, & guiding him along on this 'First Car' journey.

Mad props to you pops. 😎 👍

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I did set things in motion when is was brought home after his birth wit surrounding him with car stuff. Just before he was 2 he was starting to ID car brands by logos. Over time figuring out what was what with models. His car was supose to be a surprise for to to make up for my brother-in-law giving him or free a junky go cart that he promissed to haul over to the house that ended up never showing up & was sold to a total stranger. Best was when he did go with me to look at it just to inform the seller the car was missing a pedal cause it was an automatic. This is a great project for both of us to share as I never had anything like this with my own dad as he had his own vices he was more worried about but I did have a good friend I ran with whose dad taught me about cars & helped me become a gearhead. Even if this pushed my car on to the back burner again we will still have something to show what he learned.