‘71 middle kidney

[Tommy]

4 hours ago, Conserv said:

Yes. Black plastic side grilles. But the center grille (a.k.a., kidney) remains aluminum, a clear aluminum frame with black anodized slats.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Rare to find anything to correct from posts by Steve.

However, the slats are black plastic, just like the side grilles, kidney surround is clear aluminium. 

[Gblanco22775]

Ok so I thought about this for a minute. If the nose on my car is a square tail nose. Shouldn’t there be any signs of welds around the nose area or around the firewall? And would I be able to tell by looking under the hood?  I looked there and all you see is original paint. And the square boxes look like the person who had the car  before me cut those boxes out. And is cutting out the Nose a common thing. Just curious about that. What should I look for. 

[dlhoovler]

No, the nose has definitely been replaced. Besides the fit of the grilles (there is more metal between the kidney and side grilles on a roundie nose), look above the headlights; the visible seam between the nose and front fenders was originally leaded smooth, but was often left visible when replacing either the fenders or the nose (makes future replacements easier, too). I'd bet the entire exterior was repainted at least once. 

 

As Mike Self indicated above, a fender-bender that resulted in a whole new nose panel isn't uncommon over 50 years. Not a problem if the rest of the car is reasonably straight. And given the air dam and other mods, I wouldn't fuss too much over originality - just get it sorted and enjoy it! 

 

Incidentally, your car was only about 1,000 cars in front of mine down the assembly line. Probably built in September/October 1970, if I had to guess.

 

Welcome! 

 

-Dave 

[Conserv]

18 hours ago, Tommy said:

Rare to find anything to correct from posts by Steve.

However, the slats are black plastic, just like the side grilles, kidney surround is clear aluminium. 

Oops! They’re plastic? I need to return to Square Taillight School!

 

Thanks and best regards,

 

Steve

 

[Mike Self]

FYI, if you can find a roundie nose that's all rusted out below but reasonably intact above the bumper line, you can cut out the relevant pieces around the center grille space, and replace the same on your squarelight nose so that you can use those roundie grilles on your car.  There are several discussions (check archives) with some pretty specific instructions on how to do this.  Not a real difficult job if you can weld--or very expensive if you can't.

 

mike

[Mark92131]

PM Sent.

 

Mark92131

[Gblanco22775]

Yeah not sure what I’m gonna do. I mean how bad can the car look with that type of face. I’m really not looking for a full resto look. I just love these cars and having fun and modifying them. What you car think?

[Son of Marty]

I'd go with what you have and get the right grills, your car looks great overall having to get into the paint and body work seems like a bit much just to fix a minor "flaw".

[Mike Self]

Sorry for the duplicate posts...FYI, if you can find a roundie nose that's all rusted out below but reasonably intact above the bumper line, you can cut out the relevant pieces around the center grille space, and replace the same on your squarelight nose so that you can use those roundie grilles on your car.  There are several discussions (check archives) with some pretty specific instructions on how to do this.  Not a real difficult job if you can weld--or very expensive if you can't.

 

mike

[Mike Self]

FYI, if you can find a roundie nose that's all rusted out below but reasonably intact above the bumper line, you can cut out the relevant pieces around the center grille space, and replace the same on your squarelight nose so that you can use those roundie grilles on your car.  There are several discussions (check archives) with some pretty specific instructions on how to do this.  Not a real difficult job if you can weld--or very expensive if you can't.

 

mike

[Mike A]

5 hours ago, Gblanco22775 said:

Yeah not sure what I’m gonna do. I mean how bad can the car look with that type of face. I’m really not looking for a full resto look. I just love these cars and having fun and modifying them. What you car think?

Jerry...what did you do about the frame rail and floor?

Edited August 24, 2020 by Mike A

[Gblanco22775]

40 minutes ago, Mike A said:

Jerry...what did you do about the frame rail and floor?

In the process of ordering the frame rails and floor panels. And the Necessary things I need to do the repairs. I want to do it right and take my time. Things like this I feel I can’t rush. Especially for someone like me who’s never done that kind of work before. But my other main issues is getting the Electrical issues sorted out. I have the lights working but the starter doesn’t seem to make any click. So I tried to connecting the battery to the solenoid and still nothing. Checked the battery and it’s good. So I’m thinking maybe the starter. 

[Mike Self]

1 hour ago, Gblanco22775 said:

So I tried to connecting the battery to the solenoid and still nothing. Checked the battery and it’s good. So I’m thinking maybe the starter. 

Presume you did the following:

1. thoroughly cleaned the two battery terminals and clamps (pos & neg)
2. made sure the ground cable was in good shape, and the ground at the engine block end was also clean and tight
3. once that was done, ran a jumper wire from the + battery terminal to the solenoid; if still no starter action that absolves the ignition/starter switch and associated wiring
4. did a load test on the battery--I've seen batteries that show 12 volts on a meter, but not have enough amps to light the dome light
5. try turning the key to "start" with the headlights on in such a way that you can see if they lose brightness.  If they don't, the starter isn't getting any voltage or is dead.

If you still have no starter action, you'd best pull it, and take it to one of the auto parts stores that do free testing (or to an auto electric shop).

 

mike

[Gblanco22775]

16 minutes ago, Mike Self said:

Presume you did the following:

1. thoroughly cleaned the two battery terminals and clamps (pos & neg)
2. made sure the ground cable was in good shape, and the ground at the engine block end was also clean and tight
3. once that was done, ran a jumper wire from the + battery terminal to the solenoid; if still no starter action that absolves the ignition/starter switch and associated wiring
4. did a load test on the battery--I've seen batteries that show 12 volts on a meter, but not have enough amps to light the dome light
5. try turning the key to "start" with the headlights on in such a way that you can see if they lose brightness.  If they don't, the starter isn't getting any voltage or is dead.

If you still have no starter action, you'd best pull it, and take it to one of the auto parts stores that do free testing (or to an auto electric shop).

 

mike

Thanks a lot mike. I’ve been basically going down the process of elimination in that order so far. I’m gonna give it another test before I pull the starter. Thank again 

[Gblanco22775]

On 8/24/2020 at 10:10 PM, Mike Self said:

Presume you did the following:

1. thoroughly cleaned the two battery terminals and clamps (pos & neg)
2. made sure the ground cable was in good shape, and the ground at the engine block end was also clean and tight
3. once that was done, ran a jumper wire from the + battery terminal to the solenoid; if still no starter action that absolves the ignition/starter switch and associated wiring
4. did a load test on the battery--I've seen batteries that show 12 volts on a meter, but not have enough amps to light the dome light
5. try turning the key to "start" with the headlights on in such a way that you can see if they lose brightness.  If they don't, the starter isn't getting any voltage or is dead.

If you still have no starter action, you'd best pull it, and take it to one of the auto parts stores that do free testing (or to an auto electric shop).

 

mike

Got the car started today. But it quickly turned off. Glad that car engined turned over. Now have to figure why it’s not staying on. The car came with Mikuni carbs. Never worked on those. But I’ve read those are set and forget type of carbs. Waiting for new floor panels and frames for body repair.