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Tonight I did the coolest repair:

Had no dash lights, and thought it was the headlight switch. Swapped it out with an old switch I had laying around, no difference. Ohmed out the switch, and...

I'll take you up on that brake bleeding help. They still need to be (re) done.

Seriously thinking about just swapping out master cylinder and prop valves.. shoulda done it to start with. The...

Trans is fixed, no more leaks. Although I did find a loose bolt on the flywheel cover. Those guys are cheap for a reason I guess. But then, I've paid more for the same level of service..

Car...

the nephew is getting up too early.. doesn't want to spend time helping uncle Eron bleed the brakes...

meanwhile, I have decided to just pay my favorite transmission shop to fix the leaky front...

Finished swapping in front end parts. Got both upper A arms and ball joints, lower ball joins, sway arm shackle bushings, drivers side spring, calipers, discs, shocks, hoses.

next, got to swap in...

Got the drivers side back together. Had to use a coil compressor for the task, I made it years ago. 3/4" all thread, and 1/4" hardened steel plate. Did the job, but what a chore. Noticed the...

Got the discs, calipers, hoses, shocks swapped in the front. Had to swap in the upper hose brackets from the bird to use its hoses.. the bird hoses have a hex shape at the bracket, the novas had a...

Found a pinion seal at NAPA, $20. Today, put it in, put the yoke back on; torqued it about the same as I took it off, called it good. Dumped in oil till it poured out, put the driveshaft back on.
...

I think I got it figured out. The pinion was loose because I had the yoke off.. DUH!

Well, Ebrake cables have arrived, and I'm going to try to get the rear end finished up today.

WOWE IS ME..

Today I only had about 30 minutes to spend on my nova. So I took a crack at swapping the pinion shaft seal. Turns out the pinion shaft is sloppy loose! Probably meands the gears...

I'm into the rear brakes now. The pass side was ok except for the Ebrake cable was siezed up. The drivers side the ebrake cable and the servo were siezed up. Also, the front pad was cocked at an...

It's the 55, thanks!

hood ornaments have fallen out of vogue for some reason.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn178/firebird77clone/hoodornament.jpg
Can anyone tell me what this one is?

OK got the gas tank neck stretched.

Pulled the sending unit.
Drilled a 1/8 hole in the top corner, and drained out the last drop.
Set the tank in the hot sun for several hours.
Hooked up the...

Ok, gas axe, cutoff wheel, and patch it back together. Tank should clear easily now.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn178/firebird77clone/trunk9.jpg

Unfortunately, the top of the gas tank is...

I was sitting here looking at the picture of underneath, with that long, pretty right-angle seam.. and I realized I am not done.

Anyone else see it?



anyone?

OK, got the last strip in. there are a couple more pieces I COULD put in.. but I think this is good for now. The pan is complete, and all the major rust is gone. Of course, the entire pan needs...

for that, a big rearview mirror works well. Just aim it to reflect the light into their eyes.

They back off pretty quick.

On the headlights...

the firebird harness is the same wire guage, and same alternator output, and i'm 'only' adding two more lights.

SO.. what I am thinking.. is to run the right and left...

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn178/firebird77clone/trunk5.jpg

Piecing it together. Would be nice if I had a metal brake. Maybe one day.

Meantime, I'm piecing it together. One strip...

Since the trunk pan holds 20 gallons of fuel weight, I decided to address this next. First, cut out all the rot.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn178/firebird77clone/trunk3.jpg
Trunk rails...

Today I went to trace-and-splice in the tail harness from the 78 firebird into the 76 nova. Low and behold -- it just plugged right in, and everything works fine! Well, after I replaced two bulbs,...

Weld sparks and straw hats are a bad combination.

Man what a chore this is turning out to be. Thought I had the lights in nice and straight, but nope. They both angled down some, and the pass side was way off. Didn't know how the heck I got it so...

Ok, so the headlights aren't wired up yet, but I am pushing to get it on the road.

TO WIT:

tail lights. The old ones are a mess, and replacements aren't in the budget. On ebay, a ratty set...