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66 Coronet 500 Driver, Light Resto

I got the manifold on and tight, put the new plugs back in and connected the new plug wires. I tightened all the remaining hardware on the intake and brackets and put the exhaust pipe flange up to the manifold. I had to prime the carb but it fired up and for the first time since I got it, it was whisper quiet. It sounded great. I'm excited. New brake shoes should be in tomorrow morning, those go on and then the freshly turned drums with new bearings and seals as well, then more fuel and I hope a successful test drive!
 
Tonight I drove it for about a mile!! Doesn't sound like much but it took me 3 months to achieve this. Man it rides smooth. Engine is running a little rough, but smooths out going down the road. I'll work on that once the fuel injection is installed. I think it's a carb issue, but I'm going to pull plugs in a week or so after I put some miles on it to see what's going on. AFB needs rebuilt badly but since the Sniper is on order, I don't want to invest in having it rebuilt. Second drive is happening tomorrow, longer and probably use the ac.
 
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It was a hard fought battle but you wow great job it's a good feeling to bring one back to life.
 
Hopefully all goes well.
I spent several months getting mine ironed out . And now reaping the fruits of my labor.
This car drives nice..... Really nice. And am starting to give some thoughts to keep it. Working ac is a major plus on its side.


Me thinks You're going to like it . A lot.

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gtx6970 said:
Hopefully all goes well.
I spent several months getting mine ironed out . And now reaping the fruits of my labor.
This car drives nice..... Really nice. And am starting to give some thoughts to keep it. Working ac is a major plus on its side.


Me thinks You're going to like it . A lot.

View attachment 1339673
Click to expand...
I'm hoping you are correct. I'm going for a short drive in a few minutes. I need to get a replacement spark plug as one had been dropped by the parts store and ended up not working.
 
361 B engine... I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. I’d rather that than a 360 small block because of all the 383 parts I have laying around.
 
440 PHIXX said:
361 B engine... I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. I’d rather that than a 360 small block because of all the 383 parts I have laying around.
Click to expand...
It pulls this car down the road effortlessly. I like it, never had one before.
So I drove it twice today, first trip was to the parts store to pick up the new spark plug. It was hard to start when I left tho. I did get it started but it felt like it was flooded. Anyway, drove it home, turned on the ac on the way but the idle sucked with it on and the belts loosened up again. So when I got home I tightened up all three belts. Ac belt needs it again after the second drive. I drove it over to pick up my 16 yo daughter and bring her home. She was so excited to ride in it. We enjoyed the ride, lol, even tho she struggled to roll the window down, then back up when we got back home. Lol, kids these days. She really likes all my cars and she is my crew chief for the race car. We have fun.
 
So now I'm torn, I have the sniper kit on order, but it's on back order, so should I have the afb rebuilt for now? Seems like a waste to pay 250 to get it rebuilt only to take it off for the Holley install? Just would like input from the group.
 
You could spend $30 on a kit from Mikes Carburetors and get a can of carb cleaner and rebuild it yourself. If you don’t have a micro drill bit set, strip some wire down on some various size conductors to get some copper wire you can chase out the various air bleeds and idle passages and the blow them out with carb cleaner. It won’t look like a restored carb but as long as it’s a sound carb it should run fine. Pay attention to all the adjustments for float level and drop, accelerator pump height, and linkage adjustments. I would also post the jet sizes and rod sizes as a Carter AFB would not have been available on a 361 for that year so it’s apparently off another engine and it may need some changes to run well.
 
I would be carful sticking drill bits and anything in a carb to clean it .
 
AR67GTX said:
You could spend $30 on a kit from Mikes Carburetors and get a can of carb cleaner and rebuild it yourself. If you don’t have a micro drill bit set, strip some wire down on some various size conductors to get some copper wire you can chase out the various air bleeds and idle passages and the blow them out with carb cleaner. It won’t look like a restored carb but as long as it’s a sound carb it should run fine. Pay attention to all the adjustments for float level and drop, accelerator pump height, and linkage adjustments. I would also post the jet sizes and rod sizes as a Carter AFB would not have been available on a 361 for that year so it’s apparently off another engine and it may need some changes to run well.
Click to expand...
Back in the day I rebuilt carbs several times a week for work and my own stuff. I had the bucket of carb cleaner and a lot more patience than I do now. I've toyed with this idea as I just don't want to invest big money into this carb, but then again, the way it runs and is hard to start really sucks.
It just threw the ac belts today and ruined the PS belt as well. Luckily the water pump belt was still hanging on and I was able to put it back on. Car got hot but this engine is pretty fucked already so it's no big deal. It'll get rebuilt soon. I want to work all the bugs out before I go thru it.
 
So late last night I went on the V belt website to look for 3/8" belts. I found some, not sure if they will work, but I ordered 2 different lengths, both in matched sets. Time will tell once they come in. I'm going to clean up the pulleys because these babies are rough.
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Got the belts in today, too short, epic fail. I ordered 2 more sets that are 2 in longer, they should work I hope.
I took a scotchbrite roloc disc to the pulleys and they cleaned up considerably. I guess now I wait til the new belts show up. I just want to drive this thing and not worry it will strand me. Sheesh. Like asking for a balanced budget.
 
So today, my friend Neil was repairing the dyno's tach pick up cable, while I was working on a customer car. I had parked the coronet on the dyno's four post rack so we thought it would be perfect to test the lead and make sure it worked. I fired up the electronics and hooked up the lead. I got in to fire up the 500 and it cranked and cranked, then finally started to rumble a bit but didn't catch. I let off and went to crank it again and nothing but a click. Starter sounded terrible when it was cranking and now it was smoking. Called Oreilly and new starter was 107, not hateful. It came in at 3 and I picked it up. Took it out of the box and it was one of the late model high torque mini starters! We got the old one off and tried putting the new one up in. I was skeptical and it just would not lay flush. I searched on here and found a guy talking about this and he mentioned taking off the electrical terminal adapter, so I took it off and damned if it didn't just slide right in! Got the electrical hooked up, and installed the starter. It went in flush and got tight. I hooked up the battery and jumped in and man! She fired right up like she never did before! Wow is all I can say.
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Then, I thought, screw it, those belts are gonna fit. I took the bolts out of the alternator and hooked the 63" belts up onto the alt and other pulleys and the 2 of us fought that bitch onto the bracket. Finally got them on, torqued the crap out of the belts and tightened all the hardware up, only to find out the fathead distributor cap wouldn't fit next to the alt. So out came the big boy pry bar and finally that pos cap went on. Belts look great and after running ac and revving it up a good bit, they are still snug. Had to gently bend the fan blades as some got flexed by the belts coming off. All good. Just waiting on a ps belt now.
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So today I was looking around in the trunk for something and found the old power steering belt. I put it on and decided to go for a ride so I grabbed my daughter and off we went. Carb is screwed, idle circuits just aren't working right. Anyway, we rode down the pike a bit, about 2 miles and ended up at a friend's house. I pulled up and shut it off, went looking for my friend. He wasn't home, must have ran up the street for something, but while I was walking back to his garage looking for him, my daughter came around the corner telling me the car was smoking. I thought, what fresh hell is this? I got the hood open and antifreeze everywhere. Looked down and waterpump was puking coolant out of the weephole. ****! Slammed the hood closed and we jumped in and headed home. Got home and let it fart and steam till it cooled off. Seems like every time I drive this godforsaken car, it breaks or strands me. Getting old real quick. New pump will be in tomorrow morning so I'll get out there tomorrow morning and get the old one off. At least it's an easy job.
 
Pulled the plugs looking for a misfire on the driver's side, and found #7 is the issue. I believe the intake lobe or exhaust lobe is worn off on the cam. Compression is good, plug smelled of gas and was dirtier than all the other ones. I remember it started misfiring before I pulled the head and did the work. Only constant is the cam lobe being worn. Oh well, it'll have to wait til I have the opportunity and money to tackle an engine rebuild. I will go with a hydraulic roller. I hate flat tappet cams.
 
Good news is, the lobes are fine on the cam. There s good spark to the #7 plug but it still is misfiring. Could be a couple broke rings, who knows?
The sniper kit showed up a couple weeks ago, glad I didn't do anything with the carb.
I ordered in a Holley in tank pump and hydramat sock for it. I'm doing mine so I can do my friend's 65 tank. Need to practice on mine.
Picking up solder, benders and the tubing tomorrow.
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