PROJECT " LAID BACK 2 " - 1978 SALON 2 DOOR AEROBACK

[Longroof79]

Yep, those casting numbers your buddy is talking about appear in his Technical Reference Manual. I have a copy of it and can snap a pic if you're interested. There have been absolutely zero confirmed in the wild.

I'm sure my buddy has that information. I guess that's why he was curious about the serial # on this 403.

 

[JAMCAR223]

Some of you may have seen a post where I was looking for info on a damaged trunk lock cylinder. I had not been able to open the trunk on this car since I had purchased it. I was successful at removing the trunk latch, by removing the back seat. This was the hardest part, as I could not get the seat bottom to budge. I've removed several rear seats in the past, and this one required a pry bar. Anyway, once the seat was removed, I used about 3 feet of extensions on the end of my ratchet, and an 11mm. Unbolted the latch, and lifted the trunk right up. Nothing in there but the "improperly stored" (LOL) jack assembly, and a bungee cord. I was very happy to see absolutely NO rust anywhere ( back seat or trunk ). I have a trunk lock cylinder assembly I robbed from the parts car, so I will install it, and move on.

I also got the tires mounted on the 18" Camaro Ralley wheels, but I'll wait to post the pics when I get the new trim rings, and center caps. Right now it's just black steel wheels with tires, so not much to look at. I will do the tune up on the car tomorrow. This car is hard to start, and won't hardly idle. I'm hoping new spark plugs ( I'll inspect the cap, and rotor at that point ) ,fresh gas, an oil change, and air filter, with a slight turn on the idle screw, will help.

 

[1evilregal]

good to see that there's no surprises hiding under the seat or trunk! yo need to play the lotto next!

 

[JAMCAR223]

So today was tune-up day, and I did not get it all done. I had to quit about 1pm, because i gotta work this evening. I started with the carb, since the car was hard to start, and would not idle on it's own. Well... no wonder. The mixture screws were adjusted all the way out, and the idle screw was not even touching the linkage. So I started with a typical baseline adjustment on the mixture screws = 1.5 turns out. I tightened the idle screw until it touched the linkage + 1/4 turn. The car fired right up, and idled on it's own. NICE! BUT.. it was a short-lived victory, as soon as I could get out of the car, the vacuum heater hose controller thingy started to leak badly. Steady dripping.. And what's with all the washers? Anybody got a clue on a fix for this? The vacuum hose is NOT hooked up ( It looks like it connects to the bottom of the air cleaner ). I have had the car running several times, so I'm wondering why it would start leaking all the sudden.

See the washers underneath this thing, also?? They are on the top, and bottom.

So I moved onto other issues. Non-factory hardware holding the fan shroud on. REALLY?? Who uses 3" long self-tapping screws?

So I removed the silly screws, and installed the correct hardware ( thanks parts car! ). In doing so I was able to confirm that the FBody radiator was new. So when I went to reinstall the radiator top plate, I see that the radiator was fitting a little funny. It was cocked to one side. I inspected the rubber insulators. One side correct, the other side NOT. I fixed that ( thanks parts car! ). Now I know why somone used the 3" self-tapping screws...

Correct insulator below.

Incorrect insulator below. See the shorter relief cut?

After that nonsense was fixed, I cleaned up some wiring, and fixed the spark plug wires that were laying on the steering shaft. Geez!! I found some other stupid stuff.. like a damaged brake switch wire ( runs down to the prop block on the frame ) where some dumbA used a residential wire nut to make the repair. I'll get to that next time. Then I installed a new air filter. You think???

I got more to talk about, But I got to go for now. Your thoughts??

 

[pagrunt]

Looks like a poor band aid fix on that valve that someone was too cheap to get a new one. Just have to get a new one.

 

[Texas82GP]

Looks like it needs a new heater control valve James. I couldn't find one on Amazon but...
https://www.ebay.com/p/NOS-GM-Delco-HVAC-Heater-Control-Valve-15-5219-22502236/22015872772?iid=312396936738&chn=ps&ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F711-117182-37290-0%2F2%3Fmpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.com%252Fp%252FNOS-GM-Delco-HVAC-Heater-Control-Valve-15-5219-22502236%252F22015872772%253Fiid%253D312396936738%2526chn%253Dps%26itemid%3D312396936738%26targetid%3D486089666778%26device%3Dm%26adtype%3Dpla%26googleloc%3D9027725%26poi%3D%26campaignid%3D1499095156%26adgroupid%3D64669591624%26rlsatarget%3Dpla-486089666778%26abcId%3D1139396%26merchantid%3D115295080%26gclid%3DCjwKCAiA4OvhBRAjEiwAU2FoJfWEiLq4YM2dYSV26sO0OsaaOWtnFpdhxvc5TNm-p9hxVYNhWwV7ShoCC28QAvD_BwE%26srcrot%3D711-117182-37290-0%26rvr_id%3D1818719132891%26rvr_ts%3D492b31c51680aa6a03c11610ffadc4c0

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/112886008889

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/382713179006

Awesome progress!

 

[JAMCAR223]

Jared, thanks for that.

 

[JAMCAR223]

OK.. so I got the new NOS water valve in the mail today. And WTF?? Take a look at the packaging, and the postage...

When I came inside from the mail box, I could tell these stamps were old. Hello... 6 cents?? Plus they were hardly sticking to the envelope, because the glue was old. I looked on the back side of the envelope, and WHAT?? 6 cent stamps all over. I Googled it before I even opened the envelope. These stamps are from 1968. 50 years old! They sell on Ebay, and Amazon for several dollars for 4-6 stamps . I have more money in these old stamps, than I paid for the water valve. Who does that???

 

[DRIVEN]

😵

 

[TURNA]

I want one of those stamps!!!!