A12 - time to get busy

[thrashingcows]

If you are pulling the dash for the body work look at the yoke for the steering column for original paint. They usually got sprayed during the painting at the factory and since that area is up under the dash the paint usually survives pretty much intact.

That is where I matched the SS1 paint for my coronet...the paint mixes I found for that yellow, then had mixed and paint cards sprayed did not match very well, so it required a little tweaking to get a mix that matched as close as I could get it.

 

[Dr.Jass]

That is where I matched the SS1 paint for my coronet...the paint mixes I found for that yellow and then had mixed and paint cards sprayed did not match very well, so it required a little tweaking to get a mix that matched as close as I could get it.

It's also worth mentioning that while factory-acknowledged variances are a more-recent thing, two cars being exactly the same color was a rarity unless it was black (and that's not even true of GM). The paint chip in the book is based on the color the manufacturer intended, not necessarily what was actually sprayed on the car. On newer cars, there are what're known as "variance decks". Some colors have 15-20 possible variances.

Back in the bad old days, a paint mixer had to know how to tint a mix to what was on the car. That's a skill in and of itself, since many tinting bases (a.k.a. toners) are used to make any given color. GM's basic black of the '90s and early '00s (alluded to above) has blue, red, yellow and white (!) toners in it. Yes, in black paint... and it has something like nine variances. The last time I mixed paint 10+ years ago, Chrysler's black (X8/X9) was the exact same formula as was used on a '70 Charger: Mostly black toner with a smidge of blue. The blue actually makes the black look blacker, believe it or not.

 

[b-body-bob]

If you are pulling the dash for the body work look at the yoke for the steering column for original paint. They usually got sprayed during the painting at the factory and since that area is up under the dash the paint usually survives pretty much intact.

That is where I matched the SS1 paint for my coronet...the paint mixes I found for that yellow, then had mixed and paint cards sprayed did not match very well, so it required a little tweaking to get a mix that matched as close as I could get it.

The yoke is a weird light shade of green, almost like an etching primer. That's the same thing I found in other places. Maybe that was the factory color, but I'm pretty sure that's original paint in the photo above.

I could also sand through that race car paint because they didn't strip the body under that.

It's ready to yank now, other than pulling the trans dispstick tube so I can disentangle the shifter cable before I forget and it hangs the whole thing up. I should probably drain the oil too but I've run out of containers to put it in so I need to make a recycling run.

 

[b-body-bob]

Gina came out to help and wouldn't let me stop until it was over.






I took the motor/trans out in two pieces. Ended up with the transmission stuck under the car on the jack so I picked the front end of the car up with an axle strap around the k-frame and the cherry picker.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Mad props to B-body-babe for keeping Bob on-task!

Nice rocker arms. Does the engine have a solid cam, or is it just a well-set-up hydraulic? Whatever your plan for the engine, I'd suggest keeping those.

 

[b-body-bob]

It's got a 509 in it. AFAICT it was built a lot like the one in "Old Reliable" by Don Dulmage. It had a CH4B dual plane on it to begin with and ran 7.20s. It does the job.

That's a set of Cranes on Hughes banana groove shafts. I put those in it because I got a good deal on the Cranes ($100 IIRC) and I was thinking about going to a 590 solid but racing plans got sidetracked when it turned out to be more hassle than fun.

 

[b-body-bob]

It's definitely an original Ralley Green car. It's been a long time since I paid attention to it, but it's everywhere.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I really hope you go with that. It's such a cool color, and legit in this case.

 

[69.5CUDA]

its an unseen color too which imo is a big bonus

 

[b-body-bob]

I was considering a black vinyl top to protect the paint if/when the hood's on the roof, but realized I don't have the trim so it will be all paint.

 

[Dr.Jass]

I would not install a vinyl top on a car that didn't have one originally, and even if it did I'd have to think about it. I've seen too much evil under vinyl.

 

[69.5CUDA]

this day n age id be more likely to do a "wrap" top than vynle ...ie something that could be replaced on the cheep every few years and never have to worry about the demons that come from something perminant

 

[b-body-bob]

Yeah I've seen them to where you take the vinyl off and the metal comes with it.

But this car is never going to be wet once it comes home unless I screw up. Definitely nothing like your typical car that sits outside day in day out.

I'm still not going to do it because of the needed trim parts.

 

[b-body-bob]

this day n age id be more likely to do a "wrap" top than vynle ...ie something that could be replaced on the cheep every few years and never have to worry about the demons that come from something perminant

A wrap kind of makes sense given the reason I would put the vinyl on. It's inevitable that the top would get messed up from the hood eventually. A wrap lets you replace it.

But if it's not original looking/feeling I'm not interested in it. The same reason why I'd never put a serpentine system or an aluminum radiator in it. It needs to have that look about it.

 

[Dr.Jass]

But if it's not original looking/feeling I'm not interested in it. The same reason why I'd never put a serpentine system or an aluminum radiator in it. It needs to have that look about it.

I feel the same way, but my hand was somewhat forced on the '69 Valiant, given the state of the radiator industry today. There was no copper/brass option available except restoration (waaaay beyond what that car rates) and the OE radiator wasn't suitable to recoring with more rows (18" non-AC). What I did was buy a $135 Chinese aluminum radiator with molded tanks and paint it black to look as stock as possible. One wouldn't notice it unless they were looking for it, but the welds are obvious if one looks for 'em. Raw aluminum looks dreadful anywhere in an engine bay to me, but a polished/raw aluminum radiator is particularly offensive.

 

[thrashingcows]

I knew a local mopar guy years ago who had a Rallye Green A12 Bee, can't recall ever seeing an A12 RR at any of the shows/cruises I've been to...wonder how many are know to exist?

 

[b-body-bob]

Raw aluminum looks dreadful anywhere in an engine bay to me, but a polished/raw aluminum radiator is particularly offensive.

I agree - valve covers only for me.

 

[b-body-bob]

I knew a local mopar guy years ago who had a Rallye Green A12 Bee, can't recall ever seeing an A12 RR at any of the shows/cruises I've been to...wonder how many are know to exist?

I just checked the A12 registry hoping to be able to browse by color - no such luck.

 

[b-body-bob]

The shop just called to let me know they expect to pick it up the 2nd week of October.

I was going to give them until Friday before sending that photo of the bare engine compartment and asking when they're coming. They beat me to it, which is a good thing.

I was considering buying bucket seats and a console shifter for it, but Gina nixed the approx $2500 additional cost. It wouldn't make the car worth one cent more, but it might make it easier to sell. It's not going to be sold until after I'm dead, so I don't care how hard it is to sell. I was mostly trying to come up with a good solution to the shifter since there's no column linkage and I'm pretty sure I hate aftermarket shifters based on my experience with the same model shifter that's in the Duster. Also, it's got a full manual valve body in it so it would be a real hassle to have to use the column shifter. So it's a conundrum.

FWIW current VB is a Cheetah, but I've got a Coan LBA RMVB on the shelf for it to be that little bit safer. It's got a super sprag, but still has the stock drum in it.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Column linkage shouldn't be tough to come by... heck, don't you have some in the parts car? I have most if not all of the parts for a Cordoba floor shifter, which uses a similar mechanism to a Slap Stik. The problem is the missing handle (which would've been tall enough) and a console to fit it since the shifter bezel in the early cars is much larger.

After a couple of hours driving a manual valve body I said to myself, "Self, that shit's got to go." And it did, immediately. I couldn't tolerate its street behavior, although more stall might've improved it ('twas only a 2,800). Constant chirping on the 1-2 shift at ¼ throttle gets old quickly. Chrysler used to sell a shift detent/indicator for reverse-pattern valve bodies back before Direct Connection was even a thing. Good luck finding one now, of course, but they were pretty cool: PRN123 in factory lettering.