Would a 67 factory side exhaust car have the ground strap bolt holes drilled and tapped for an under car exhaust system on the center crossmember (where the exhaust passes through holes in crossmember)?.
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Nope!!! *NM*
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Re: 67 factory side exhaust
Don-----
It would have the holes, but I don't think that they would be "tapped". As far as I know, self-tapping screws were used for the ground straps bolts. So, they don't get "tapped" until the bolts are installed in the holes the first time. In fact, now that I think about it, this might be a clever way to detect a non-original side pipe car. If the holes are "tapped", then there must have been an undercar exhaust (with ground straps) there at one time. There wouldn't be any way to change that except by re-drilling (and enlarging) the hole.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: 67 factory side exhaust
Joe,
You're right, checking the holes for threads is a good way to tell if the car was an original side exh car. Years ago, a lot of restorers were just redrilling the holes slightly oversize to eliminate the threads but this left a slightly larger hole. Judges would measure the holes and compare to the original untapped size but then the restorers were filling and redrilling the holes to the original untapped size. Never ending battle to convince the world a car had factory side exh. In the mid 80's, I brought a drill bit of the correct original size to bloomington and let one of the 65-67 judges borrow it to check the hole size. (I did 63 so I didn't need it) He found that nearly half the cars had been redrilled larger to eliminate threads. Every time the judging goes up a level, the restorers figure out a way to match their handywork with the current level of judging.Comment
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Re: 67 factory side exhaust
A little JB Weld will make those threads go bye-bye.
What I've always wondered is how the welded-on brackets for the rocker panels can be removed without a trace. That seems like the hardest part of faking a side exhaust car.
Fortunately for me, my faked sidepipe car only had the brackets bent back out of the way, making it a much simpler task to revert to undercar exhaust eventually.
MAgComment
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Re: 67 factory side exhaust
Thanks guy's,
I'll check to see if there are threads.
DonComment
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Re: 67 factory side exhaust
While your at it check the frame rails in the rear for evidence of the exhaust hanger.Comment
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Re: 67 factory side exhaust
Was your car's body built in St. Louis or Ionia?Comment
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St. Louis Body *NM*
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Re: St. Louis Body
Been awhile since I posted but had to respond! My car is an original SE car and more important no radio. The holes were only used for radio cars. so you could have the no radio undercar exhaust setup and the holes would be clean. I am so blessed as to actually have a weld didy-ball right on the inside edge of one of these holes and another one in the bottom of the large hole in the frame where the undercar pipes would go through. I have documented these in pictures as my car is an early SE 65 fuel coupe, with no radio, serial 9038. One didy-ball proves out the no radio and the other helps prove out the SE.
It is a strange world indeed when such items become so important and must be protected during the restoration process. I smile when I think what the assembly line workers would think of our antics. I think I will get a personalized plate when the car is finished-------DIDYBAL-----. DavidComment
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Re: No Radio
David,
I have a genuine 66 no radio car and it does have the center exhaust clamp ground straps. As everyone knows, these straps should not have been installed without radio equipment but I suppose that because it was rare, the plant worker just installed these on just about every car, radio or not. They have obviously been on the car since day one so I left them in place.
MichaelComment
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Re: No Radio
michael;
I'm sure things like this were common. that's probably why they went to the order sheet on the gas tank for 67! I beleive SE prevented the aplication of ground straps more than no radio. DavidComment
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Re: No Radio
Yes, I agree. I see no way a worker could have accidentally installed ground straps on a side exhaust car. Although, I suppose if the strap was attached to the frame a few stations before any exhaust was installed, the worker wouldn't have known if the car was to be side or chassis exhaust but I think the straps were probably installed after the exh was installed.
When I bought the 66 car 20 years ago and saw the ground straps on the center exh clamps, I immediately thought I had a phony no radio car but after looking under the rear deck and seeing only raw, virgin fiberglass where the original antenna hole would have been, I knew it was a genuine no radio car. There's also one condenser on the back of the instrument cluster that shouldn't be there if no radio. I guess we can't take everything in the AIM as law. There sure were a lot of variations in assembly procedure at that time and probably still are.Comment
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Re: No Radio
Michael,
Would not the tell-tale example of SE also be the absence of side rocker moulding brackets. Would all SE cars lack the brackets.
DonComment
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Re: No Radio
Don,
The removal of the brackets would be what I consider the toughest part of the conversion/coverup. It can, and has, been done successfully over the years but it's difficult. I've seen a few that have been done so well it was nearly undetectable. There are a lot of things that are unique to side exhaust but that's the one thing that can't be converted in just a few hours.
MichaelComment
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