Ask a Guru

From time to time Team Members will write in asking detailed restoration questions. When it comes to the hardcore details of restoration I feel more like a goober than a guru. I love our cars but have to admit a lack of patience for all the small details required for a 100 point restoration. I am more of a generalist and must rely on those with much more depth of information to give me guidance on such details as what is the correct washer to put under the bolt that holds the rear bumper on. Fortunately, we have a number of Members who are more than capable of providing the correct answer to your and my questions.

Starting today we will provide you with some of the questions Members are asking and the answers provided by our Gurus. If you have an in depth technical knowledge and would like to be added to our list of Gurus please drop me an email; rfleener@comcast.net.

Team Member Don Amadio is in the process or doing a restoration on his Cale Yarborough Spoiler II and asked the following questions with answers provided by a couple of our Gurus:

1. What color should the under side of the chassis be? I’ve seen the Talladegas painted satin black. Is the Cyclone the same or an over spray of the body color?
   • Marty Burke states:When we wrote up the Judging standards for the FCA (Fairlane Club of America) we tried to be as open minded as possible. As far as the underside of the floor, most cars seem to be red oxide with a little exterior color overspray. However, we also have seen dark slop gray or black {both with over spray} on vehicles and these are also acceptable in FCA judging.

2. Are the rear leaf springs raw steel, painted or phosphate black? I’ve seen cars done every which way.

• Marty: The rear leaf springs, clamps, shackles, shock mount plates & U-bolts are natural finish. 
• FYI, the judging forms can be found on the FCA website and are a good reference for someone restoring their cars. They won’t give you the exact part number {as it is a sheet to cover all years 1962-1976} but it is a wealth of information.

If you would like to ask a Guru a question please ask and we will see if we can get you an answer.

Next time we will talk about Shocks.