Hi guys, My time is a bit limited tonight by other demands, but I do have the pictures available now of Jim's X. I will try and post a few new ones each day here. Thx. JW
As we go thru, I will point out a few things.. We were lucky to have the original grill that this 49K mile car came with, and a few things are important to note: 1. Molded in Gray Plastic 2. The top of the grill is actually not painted argent silver. It's just the natural gray plastic. We did have to refinish the Argent Silver, but the black paint on the center bar, as well as on the dark gray on the eggshells was painted by the boys in Flint, nearly 37 years ago. It was an amazingly well preserved piece.
Looking forward to the pics! Hi Jim, I am sure I speak for many regulars on here when I saw we're all looking forward to seeing the pictures as they get posted. Thanks for taking the time! And nice pics so far! :beer
Evident here is the original GSX headlight bezel (refinished of course) the T-3 reproduction headlamps, and a look at paint finish, and the front of the stripes. Keep in mind this car is painted in Glasurite Basecoat/Clearcoat. With the proper amount of after paint sanding and buffing work, it's difficult to determine that it is not painted in lacquer. Nearly as much time was spent finishing the paint, and striping this car, as was spent straightening and prepping, and painting it Saturn Yellow. We had the BASF/Glasurite lab in Germany actually formulate the color, based on an original GSX panel, to match the paint as accurately as possible. For those of you with a Yellow X who wish to use this paint, I would gladly send you a copy of the forumla. While the Glasurite clear/hardener and basecoat reducers are aproximately 1/3 more expensive than the top line products of other manufacturers, the actual yellow was fairly competative at $450 a gallon. It took 1 gallon of high hiding white as the ground coat, and 2 complete gallons of Saturn Yellow to paint this car. Coverage is excellent with 4 coats, and those of you who have painted a yellow car can attest that since it is translucent, this can be an issue. Glasurite base is only reduced 50%, vs the 100% reduction of most other bases. This certainly helps the coverage issue. If your considering using this paint in your restoration, be advised that it is absolutely critical to use the Glasurite clearcoat, as it has a bit of a yellow tint to it, caused by the components that make up the UV protection package of the clear. The base was forumlated with this in mind, so the use of another clear may result in too light a yellow.
nice car! the '70 QQ stage1 GSX has always been my dream car.( anyone wanna give one to me?? ) I have always wondered what it costs to restore one to concours condition?? and do they also try to reproduce the color code stripes on the vacuum hoses?
A few things here: Correct PN and date coded Alternator, restored by Ken Bruno who does a fantastic job. Phosphate adjuster bracket. The orginal fan shroud, cowl top and hose hook are in place and in perfect condition. The scoop foam seals are another interesting story. Unlike later model GM foams, these are the same vintage as the car.. I call them "old new old stock". While later model foams came packed in a smaller box, these actually came in about a 6x6 box, and still had the center part of the foam in them. They were actually just die cut, and them placed in the box. That center piece held the shape of the foam seal perfectly, and they are just sitting on this air cleaner, not glued down. As you all know, finding GM 455 foam seals these days is difficult, finding a set of these with the foam still in the middle, that someone will actually sell you, is virtually impossible. They don't call Jim the "Parts Ferret" for nothing.. :eek2: Definately as authentic as you can get. That's all for tonight, as I have some other business to attend to. We will pick this up Friday night again..
Hmmmmmmmmm, I think JW got a new girlfriend or has a super-hot date tonight! Congrats! :beer :beer :beer
Either that or he has to take BudDog out for another one of his (BudDog's) hour long peeeeeeeeeee's... Nice pictures, thanks for posting them. Beth :grin:
Don't confuse my life with your hula girl chasing antics there Sunshine boy.. :grin: :laugh: Just sittin' here doing resto estimates.. And bud-dog is passed out on the sofa.
Jim L. Beautiful Car! Jim W. Fantastic Work! Can't wait to see more Pics! ! ! ! By the way, great car for a company mascot! ! ! .
Very nice Car can't wait to see it Jim. I'm sure you are going to take it to BG. If every thing goes right maybe I will have mine there as well.
If you do so you'll need to change your user name ! p That is going to be a very nice GSX , always interesting to watch . Congrats to both of Jims :TU:
Keep The Pictures Coming.... Congrats to both of you......What an awesome piece of history that you guys just restored. :TU:
Everyone almost uses repro hood foams. Not many options any more. There are some good ones out there now with nice corners. Just got some just color is not quite right but best available. By NOS and just crush them with the hood anyway. Awesome looking car by the way.