I am trying to find out if the 67 GS 400 did come with the hood insulation brace that the riveria GS's did. I swapped in a GS 400 drive train into my 67 special and swapped the manifold with a performer but that is the only mod. What is happening is the front edge of the star wars aircleaner is against the insulation and rubbing the paint off. Now I did see at the BPG nats last year as GS 400 that had that brace that smashes the insulation up against the hood in that area to clear, but I find no info in the 67 assembly manual. Anyone have an info or is this just someone's fix? Clyde picture is here: http://www.v8buick.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=105940&d=1198905420
How's it goin Clyde? The brace is factory. I'll take mine off the GS rag tonight and send some pics/measurements. It's just a piece of sheet metal. Ray
Ray Thanks allot! I can go get on made up. So far I got the other st 400 trans and 12 inch converter to the shop so I can swap it out with the one I am having trouble with. I guess then I will tackle me small oil leak at the back of the pan. Nice avatar. Talking with Jim on getting some quadrajets setup for dual quad motor, also pondering getting the red special back halfed and going pro street with it. Other than that nothing going on. Anything with you? Clyde
I may have an extra brace as I got an extra GS hood with the GS purchase. I'll have to check and get back to you tonight. Hardtop's about ready to be dropped on the frame. Finally. Then sending it in for a cage. 2/quads would be different. For the rear I went with metco adj. uppers and boxed lowers. Also have no hop bars, rear sway bar, and airbags if I need them. Time will tell. Your old car goes surprisingly well with a 300/cam/ported heads and a th350. Ray
There wasn't one in the other hood. Sorry. I took the one I have out. Here's a few pics.. When the brace is in in the hood it is butted up to the hood skin. It is 1" wide. 22 gauge. The brace is a dark not shiney as it looks in some of the pics..(flash is killer). The metal is very dark but not rusty. May be galvanized metal that darkened over time I don't know. If you make two 45* bends 17 1/2" apart (inside measurement) with the overall length 19 1/4 you will be dead on. The tabs are 1/4 wide and 5/16" tall. Just bend the brace to get the approx roundness. You must bend the metal backward as in the first pic to get the tabs in the holes for installation or to take it out. Ray
Guys, If you can hold off a few weeks, I have a new one that I sent to another guy on the board, who is an engineer and has the equipment in his company to repro it and he is using it as a template for a new one. The CAD work is done, he was checking this week on the proper spring steel. once that is secured, he will start stamping them out. They will be coming shortly :TU:
Hello guys! I am the one who is looking into building the reproduction hood insulation straps for the 67 GS400 and Riviera GS with the "Star-Wars" air cleaners. As it was noted earlier, the drawings are done, and I am talking to several spring steel suppliers to get pricing on the materials at the moment. It does appear that both the Skylark and Riviera's use the same strap. I am going to manufacture this part to look and fit as close to the original part as possible, using spring steel and a black enamel coating. Just like with anything else, price per unit comes down with an increased quantity purchased, and it looks like I am going to have to purchase a minimum of 50 units to keep the price down to a reasonable level. I consider $35 + shipping to be reasonable. But I need some input from you guys before I order the material. So lets hear it. Is the price too high, too low, or just about right? Let me know, Randy Sprague
Since I need 2 the I would feel the $35 is right considering the price for steel is way up. Of course, cheaper would always be better.:Brow:
Yes, the steel is the biggest part of the price. I wasn't expecting the spring steel to be as expensive as it turned out to be. I could get a better price if I bought 100 pieces at a time, but I simply don't have the capitol to buy that much material at the moment. Once I have the last two quotes for the material I will get this project rolling. Thanks for the feedback, Randy
I will be ordering materials for 50 units on tuesday (3/25). The spring steel vendor says 3 weeks for delivery, then final trim work and paint should take about a week. I will keep you posted on my progress. Thanks again for your interest. Later, Randy
Hi guys! The spring steel material for the hood strap is on a UPS truck on it's way to me now. If the material gets here by friday, and it all meets the specifications I gave my supplier, then I should be able to have a dozen of these finished by the middle of next week. I will provide an address for the payments then. Thanks for being patient with me. Later, Randy
The hood straps are in, and I have 10 painted and ready to go. Check out my 67GS hood strap post in the "Repro parts" section, and you will find all the info as to where to send the payments. By the way, I dropped the price to $32, and used a flat rate of $4 for shipping anywhere in the continental US, for a total of $36 each. At this point, the following board members have asked for at least one: 79BlueShark, GS-NXR, GS44667, rlcokc, ardun53, staged67gspwr, & Topless64-455. I still have more than 40 left. If anyone else needs one, Let me know via email or PM. And thanks to all of you for helping me get this project started! Randy Sprague
Randy, I got mine today and put it in. I did have to make the bends on the end a little sharper to get the strap to lay close to flat. I don't want to say it seems a tad to long, but it looks like my aftermarket insulation might be a lot thicker than the original? I am going to order a new set since mine is cracking now so I will let you know when I receive it. I will try to post a picture of the installation. I will say the insulation now clears the aircleaner so thanks for making these. I will try to order the other one shortly. Clyde
Clyde, thanks for the comments. Let me know if the strap fits any better with the new insulation. Mike Garrison has graciously offered to take some of these straps with him to the GS Nats in Bowling Green, so if anyone needs one, be sure to look him up while you are there. Thanks, Randy
