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Mike ---
I only have ONE THING to say.... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA |
Nice load of goodies there Mike!
I would be interested in taking any of the duplicate fasteners off your hands if they go up for sale. (intake and starter bolts.) And anything else not being used. Let me know if you decide to sell some things. |
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I did get out to the shop for a little while today. Got the trunk bolted on and will start doing the gap work next week. I know some people have said that if the quarters were put on 100% correctly, than there should be no gapping issues. Well I guess mine weren't quite 100% correct and need a little work. Oh well, it's all a learning experience. I put the front shocks on. I forgot to take some pics of the rears installed. I'll try to remember to next time I'm in the shop. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010074.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010075.jpg With all the new parts, I decided to put the new shifter on first. That way I could continue with the console. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010078.jpg With the MGW shifter, it will definitely hit anything in the cup holders http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010083.jpg I think I'll end up putting them in front of the shifter. I'll mount the LCD a little higher up in the console and will put the Vintage Air controller under the screen http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010084.jpg Definitely want to find some different cup holders. I would like to find some that have a hole closer to 3". The ones I have are just over 3 1/2" in diameter. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010085.jpg |
There is a good excuse to buy a lathe.....mill your own cup holders!:D
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Mike, Now that you have the Clayton pedals, what do you think of the surface where you put your foot? does it seem slippery at all?
Ps. The cable you sent me looks great.:thumbsup: |
Very nice Mike. Parts galore!:thumbsup:
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Cheers! Joe |
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TAY-83251 THUNDERVOLT UNIV WIRES RED TAY-46067 LS1 BOOTS - these are for the 90 degree boots. I have the part number for the other angles at home if you want them. I'm just at work right now. |
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Thanks!!! Joe |
WOW, Mike you are an inspiration. You have given me the confidence to mini tub my 72. I am trying to figure out how much to narrow the rear end. I didnt read in your postings it you did. If you dont mind could you go back over wheel dimentions and how much you narrowed the rear end. I am looking to get a min. 15 x 10 or wider corvett rally inside the wheelwell.
By the way your Nova is looking awsome. Looking forward to more postings. |
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Haven't gotten anything done on the car, but still have a quick update. Last week I found a set of 73-74 doors on Craigslist. Unfortunately they were in Tacoma (south of Seattle). Talked the guy and he told me that they were in great shape. Took Friday off work and the step daughter and I hit the road. What I didn't realize was that apparently Friday is not a good day to travel as the traffic is horrible. Found that out really quick. Glad we decided to make a night of it and had already booked a room in Bellingham. Left at 9am and didn't get back to Bellingham until 7pm. Total round trip back home was 1100 kms. But he was right, the doors are in awesome shape and I traded him a couple parts and some cash. Worked out to $125 a side and they have glass and all the regulators. The ones that I had found in my province were going to cost me about a grand for just the shells. Well worth the trip. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010092.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010094.jpg They still have the stock weather stripping on it http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010098.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010101.jpg Very little rust. All surface rust http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010095.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010100.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010099.jpg Even the stock decals on still there http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010104.jpg That's it for updates on the car. The gentleman I bought them from has a huge 68-74 Nova parts collection and is always trading, selling and buying parts. He showed me some of his collection. He pretty much has everything you could think of. I think he said his storage shop was 20 x 40. He's also building a 68. I told him about the site, so hopefully we see him on here soon. If anyone wants his contact info, pm me. He was okay with sending guys his way. I decided to do some work on the shop. For a while now, I have wanted to add cupboards in the shop. I had storage shelves, but it still looked so cluttered and messy. I picked up two cupboards a few months ago but never got around to putting them up. Princess Auto had some other ones on sale so I picked up four more. So the past 2 days I have been reorganizing my shop. Here's some pics. Here's two before pics http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1000976.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010090.jpg And as it looks now. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010105.jpg I also added a spring loaded air hose reel. I'm going to move it a little higher though. It's a little too low. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010106.jpg I'm still going to add one more on the left http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010107.jpg If anyone's looking for new cupboards, the ones from Princess Auto are quite nice. And they were only $69 each. The Black and Decker ones were $99 each and they don't feel as sturdy. I added a bunch of screws to them and they feel way better. |
Here's a few more shots of the shop
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010110.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010109.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010108.jpg There's still a few things I want to do to the shop. Eventually I want to pull down all the interior walls. It's basically a 1/4" plywood and is cracked and has holes all over. Plus I hate the yellow. I'd like to redo all the walls with gyproc and paint it white. This summer I'm also going to get a new man door. Right now the door is an interior wood door. It's seen better days. I'm going to get a 6 panel steel door and add a dead bolt. The only problem is it's an off size (29 1/2" wide) so it will be a custom door. I would rather order the same size door cause if I went any bigger, I would have to cut the cement base to make it fit. Too much work. Hope to get some work done on the car next week as back to work tomorrow. |
Geez Mike -- now to stay up with you I'm going to have to completely remodel the shed!!
Looks good buddy! |
Jealous of the garage space, way bigger than mine! And love the doors, I want to do that once mine is up and running, the vent window-delete looks so much cleaner than '68-'72! Good stuff!!
-Joe |
The cabinets look good in there. Nice score on the doors.
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Thanks guys.
Last week I decided that I was going to put the new doors on and align the gaps. Since my car is a 68 and the doors that I have are from a 73-74, I need to take apart the 68-72 hinge and put the side that bolts to the car onto the door. The hinges on the 73-74 are welded on. I was going to use Goodmark hinges but I found out that they will not interchange with stock hinges. The pins on the Goodmark ones are smaller. So I sent Clarence (the guy in Tacoma) an email and have a stock set of hinges coming. I also now have a new set of Goodmark hinges for a 68-72 for sale. PM me if interested. Since I could do the doors, I thought I'd start on the motor. First thing, out cam the motor and trans. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010116.jpg I did some sand blasting a while ago, which as you all know makes a huge mess. I noticed on the scatter shield that I missed taping off one of the holes. I decided that since it was easy to pull the motor and trans now, I would do that and make sure that no sand got into the clutch. Sand on top of the trans http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010117.jpg There was only a small amount of sand in the scatter shield. It may not have caused any problems, but it's the peace of mind thing knowing that it's all been cleaned out http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010119.jpg Got the motor back on the engine stand http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010122.jpg First thing was to pull the stock crank pulley. Of course my SBC harmonic balancer puller wouldn't work, so I bought 2-3 jaw puller. I'm sure it will come in handy again http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010123.jpg Since the threaded rod on the puller wasn't long enough, I put a bolt in the hole where the crank bolt goes and used it to set against http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010129.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010128.jpg Pulley is off http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010130.jpg Took the stock timing cover off. This is what the VVT system looks like http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010131.jpg Close up of the VVT cam gear and sensor http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010136.jpg Took off the oil pump http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010134.jpg Had to take off the tension on the stock timing chain tensioner http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010144.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010145.jpg Pulled the cam bolt. Here's why they call it a one bolt cam http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010141.jpg |
Took the timing gear off
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010147.jpg Took the cam plate off http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010148.jpg In order to get the cam out, I had to take off the rockers and remove the push rods. Nice thing with this motor, once the bolts are removed, they all come out at once http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010151.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010152.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010153.jpg I put the cam bolt back in place to use it as a handle. I also found a neat trick online. Turn the cam over a few times by hand and it will lift all the lifters up. To keep them from coming back down when you're pulling the cam out, you can put some 1/4 dowel into the holes to keep them from falling. I didn't have a dowel so I use some 1/4" round bar. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010154.jpg Next thing I had a pile of parts that I had removed http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010156.jpg Time to put the new 3 bolt cam in. I used three of the valve cover bolts as a handle on the front of the cam. As recommended by Comp Cams, I used their install lube http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010157.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010158.jpg And it was in http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010159.jpg Cam cover back on http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010160.jpg Timing chain and oil pump back on http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010163.jpg After I put it all back together, I realized that I used the wrong bolts on the cam. I have ARP bolts that I'm going to use instead of the valve cover bolts that I put in there. I've also decided that I'm going to replace the stock timing chain tensioner with a LS2 style timing chain dampner. I've read that there are pros and cons to both. I talked to some guys who leave the tensioner on and some that replace it. The reason I decided to take off the tensioner was that in some rare cases, it falls apart and some of the plastic falls into the motor. So I called GM and got them to bring a dampner in. It won't be in until later this week. Here's a close up of the tensioner http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010149.jpg Here's the dampner that I'll be switching it to http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...69/dampner.jpg I also decided that I was going to take a shot at degreeing the cam. This also meant taking off the heads. I guess since everything else was off, I figured taking the heads off wouldn't be a big deal. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010164.jpg |
I bought a cheap degree wheel and mounted it to the crank. I also tried to use my dial indicator and made what I thought would work as a piston stop.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010167.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010165.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010166.jpg After spending a few hours trying to degree the cam with the setup I had, I realized that it would be much easier if I had a proper degree kit. So I ordered a Comp Cams LS degree kit today. Hopefully will be here next week. This is the kit I ordered: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CCA-4942/ Not from Summit, but a local place. Since I have to wait for the dampner and degree kit to get here, I thought I'd swap the valve springs. The ones on the left are the stock and the ones on the right are the new double springs that I'll be using http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010177.jpg Finally got to use my new Crane valve spring compressor. It can also be used with the heads on the motor http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010170.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010171.jpg It's very easy to use, just take a ratchet and turn the nut http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010172.jpg Remove the valve locks http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010179.jpg Loosen the nut and remove the tool. Then take the springs off http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010173.jpg First I had to take off the stock valve seats and seals. I just used a pair of pliers and pulled the seals off. They come off quite easily. Just turn them a bit. The stock ones are one piece. The new valve seats are separate from the valve seals http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010174.jpg New valve seats and seals place. Installing the new seals was alot easier than I thought it was going to be. I put some oil on the inside of the seal and on the head where it sits. I then used a deep socket, I think it was a 12 mm one, that sat on the metal part of the seal. I then tapped the seals into place. Once they are in place, you'll hear a thud sound. You'll know it when you do it and they are in place. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010176.jpg Here's the tops for the valve springs. The stock ones are on the left http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010184.jpg And the new springs are on. To put the new springs back on, just have to do the same as taking the springs off. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010183.jpg After I got both heads done, I called it a day. Tomorrow I plan on installing the rocker trunion upgrade kit. I'll post pics once it's done. |
looking good! :thumbsup:
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Great Update Mike.
Thank you for all tips and photo's |
Nice progress Mike. your diving right in. :thumbsup:
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Thanks guys.
Marty - hope the pics help. I know I've found a few threads that have helped me so much by having pics. I figure if I can post the pics and it helps someone else, that's great. Got the trunion upgrade done today. For anyone that doesn't want to spend the money on roller rockers, but wants something a little better than the stock rockers...highly recommend this kit. I noticed the difference right away. The stock ones feel so flimsy compared to trunion kit. The stock ones don't feel very tight at all and rattle quite a bit. With the upgrade kit, they are way smoother moving and there is no play at all. On to the pics. They were actually very easy to install. Took about an hour or so to do the full set of 16. All you need is a vice or a press. I'm sure most guys will be doing with a vice, that's how I did mine. First thing is to pop out the stock trunion. The instructions say to use a socket underneath and use a hammer and bar to the knock them out. I found it easier to use my vice. I used a 15/16 socket on one side an a 9/16 socket on the other http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010188.jpg You'll notice that on one side of the rocker there are some tabs that are not on the other side. I put the 15/16 socket on the side with the extra tabs to help secure it in place http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010189.jpg The 9/16 socket fit nicely to push the old trunion out http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010190.jpg Then just tighten the vice until the bearings pop out. You'll want to keep your hands underneath to catch everything http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010192.jpg The one thing that I found that was about half of the bearings in the stock trunion were so dry that the needles fell out right away. You can also see the parts that I took out. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010193.jpg Now you need to put the new bearings in. The only thing with this part is you have to make sure the letters on the bearings stay on the outside. Using the vice I put one side in http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010195.jpg You only have to tighten the vice until the bearing is flush http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010196.jpg One side done http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010197.jpg The kit also includes two thick washers that help with the install. Once you have one of the bearings in, you put in the main piece (I'm assuming that's the actually part called the trunion). You put the other bearing into place. I found it easier to press the second bearing in a bit before using the washer. That way I didn't have to worry about lining up the washer and holding the bearing in place. You can see how you use the washers when installing http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010201.jpg http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010202.jpg Then put a c clip onto both sides are you're done http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010200.jpg Here's some pics of the differences First, this is what comes with the kit for each rocker arm http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010198.jpg Stock bolt on the left, bolt with the upgrade kit on the right http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010194.jpg Stock bearing on left, upgrade on right http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010203.jpg Stock on top, upgrade on bottom. You can see from this picture why you need the washers when pressing in the bearings. The upgraded one is quite a bit longer than stock. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010204.jpg |
Here's the two complete units side by side. I'm sure you can figure out which one is which
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010207.jpg And the parts left over http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010209.jpg You can see all the needles from the bearings that fell apart http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010208.jpg I forgot to add on the last update...I got my new and proper shifter knob from MGW shifters. Looks much better http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010115.jpg The one thing I find really annoying with buying parts separate from different companies, you have to buy some things separately from GM. 40 bucks for the intake seal and 40 bucks for the throttle body bolts. GM is such a rip off sometimes. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010114.jpg Not sure when I'll get a chance to update again. I'm waiting for a few little things that are halting progress (hinges, degree kit, and a few others). Plus we plan on painting the house next week so likely won't get into the shop for a bit. |
Great pictures and information! Its the little details like this that sometimes we let slide buy in rushing to finish a long term project car, I can only imagine the difference these updates would make in the long run. Thanks for opening my eyes a little further, and for sharing.
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Awesome progress Mike! Everything looks really good!
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Wow what a difference on the new trunnions over stock. Those should triple the strength.
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Thanks guys.
Unfortunately I haven't had much time to work on the car. It sucks when life gets in the way. Over the past month or so, we've painted the house and the shop. It really needed to be done. I don't think it's been painted for 20-25 years. I'll post some pics of the difference when I take some new ones. I'm also still waiting on the cam degree kit and the head gaskets. The cam degree kit is shipping out today so I should have it tomorrow morning. The head gaskets should be here any day. I've also received a few other small parts, but haven't had a chance to put them on. I'll post pics of everything when I have a better update for work done. I do though have a good update for today though. I had Shawn Mascoll do a rendering for me. Turned out great. Now I just have to get the damn car done!!!! Here's his website if anyone is interested in getting him to do one: http://mascolldesigns.com/ Here it is: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ll_Designs.jpg |
Great looking Mike!
I too, had a new roof and paint done this summer... sure made a big difference. |
Mike, that looks great!!! Like it
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I'm so jealous. Looks fantastic. |
Looks great Mike.
Those gaskets should be there by now. If they don't show today please let me know. |
Great looking rendering.
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that rendering is sweet!!!!! :cheers:
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Well the cam degree kit and the head gaskets both arrived today. I decided to head out to the shop and take another shot at degreeing the cam. It's actually not so bad when you have the proper equipment. So here's the degree kit I got. It's a LS specific kit and is Comp Cams part number 4942. Here's how it comes: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010246.jpg And here's what's included: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010247.jpg First thing I did when I got out to the shop was to hang up some inspiration. I plan on getting a blown up print done and framing it. It will also hang in the shop. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010244.jpg A couple guys on the forums brought it to my attention that I didn't put any assembly lube on the bearing portion of the cam. So while it was still easy to get at, I pulled the cam out and put some more lube on. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010248.jpg Put it back together with the new LS2 timing chain dampner. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010250.jpg Then it was time to degree the cam. I found a really good website that shows step by step how to degree a cam using the same kit I have. It looks like it was done by Car Craft Magazine. Was very useful: http://xtremecarzone.com.au/lofivers....php?t805.html Here's another website that I found very helpful for replacing the cam shaft: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125123 One more site I found very useful was: http://ls1howto.com/ It has all the bolt torque ratings for the entire engine as well as several other good articles. First thing I put on was the crank socket. This thing works really well and sure makes turning the crank over a breeze. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010251.jpg At the end of the socket, there is a threaded part where the degree wheel goes. Very easy to adjust. Loosen the nut, move the wheel and tighten it back up. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010252.jpg Uses a half inch wratchet http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010254.jpg Degree wheel on. I didn't take a picture with the pointer in place, but I mounted it with a bolt to the hole just to the upper right of the wheel. You bend the piece of copper that's included with the kit to 90 degrees to make a pointer. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010255.jpg I'm not going to repeat what the step by step article says (if you're going to degree your cam, well worth reading it. I even took my laptop out to the shop and followed it) but here's a pic of the piston stop in place. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010256.jpg The dial indicator with in place. They include a couple different size ends for where it screws into the block. http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010262.jpg So after following the step by step instructions on the website I posted, I came up with 71 degrees before max lift and 154 degrees after max lift. That gave me a lobe centre angle of 112.5. I compared that to the lobe centre angle on my cam specs. It should be 112. I'm happy with that. Unless someone tells me that I shouldn't be. I checked the numbers about 5 times and came up with the same results each time. I go back to work tomorrow so won't get chance to get back into the shop until Tuesday or Wednesday. I also ordered a new oil pan gasket, timing cover gasket and front seal today. Next week I should have the engine back together and will hopefully get it back into the car (hopefully for good....again). Here's a couple other parts that I got over the last couple weeks: Complete hinge rebuild from Classic Industries: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010243.jpg Close out covers for the firewall. They will cover up the ugly subframe bolt openings. I have them on, but forgot to take a pic. They really clean up the firewall. Got these from Mike at http://musclerodz.com/ http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010242.jpg |
I mentioned that we painted the house and shop last month. Thought I'd post some before and after pics:
House before: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ICT00282-1.jpg After: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010220.jpg Shop before: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010221.jpg After: http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/P1010266.jpg |
Wow your a busy guy. I'm glad someone caught the no lube on the bearings, no use taking a chance. Your doing a great job on the car.
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Hey Mike, you missed a spot on the side of the shop.:D
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Looks great Mike!
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Mike outstanding as always.... who did your rendering?
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