1000 miles / first oil change update
The car is running better than ever! It drives a like a new car. Well, an early '70s new car!
I finally got the timing set right. I just kept moving it up until it was happy at 16 degrees. I figure what the hell. The engine idles around 850 when in drive with enough vacuum to make the brakes work good now. There's no shakes at idle, less heat from the headers, the engine runs cooler, and the car accelerate like it should without stumbling. Gas mileage is around 12 mpg. One issue I had was the vacuum line to the distributor was loose. Putting a clamp on it really helped.
I did the alignment myself after being turned away three times from alignment shops. Jerks. Never taking any of my cars to any of those places again. Camber is set at 0.4 degrees and toe is 1/16 of an inch. The car pulls slightly to the left, but that helps with our humped roads down here. The front spoiler is no joke. The car really does handle better at 80+ than 60. My lawyers says not to talk too much about that. Oh, I added a 150 speedometer to the big list... um... for reasons. Anyone with a 150 mph speedometer and a factory tach, drop me a line.
The exhaust is awesome! Loud but deep. The drone is brutal at 1800 but eases out above 2k. Above 3k, I feel the exhaust in my lower back more than I hear it! Very cool.
The engine does create a lot of vibration when going down the highway thanks to the solid poly mounts. With the transmission in neutral with the engine at 70, there's no vibration. Rev is and the car shakes. I'm fine with this.
The Hurst V-Matic shifter is great. I left the cover off because I like the raw look. The cover makes the shifter look like something 'ol granddaddy put in grandma's '64 Dart. Yuck! One day there will be a manual shifter, but today, just bare rare steel.
I also added OEM style hood pins after seeing them at a car show. There's just something about slamming the hood and popping it just didn't jive with me. I left the safety latch, of course. I can quickly put the latch bracket back on the hood if I need to.
The sub-frame braces were was worth the time and effort. The 2x3" frames really does make the whole car many times stiffer. Way more than I ever remember it.
The suspension need the most amount of work. It handles better than a dump truck, but it need work. Drop spindles, torsion bars, rear spring, and sway bars are a must.
Air conditioning? Screw that.
I still get fuzzes, almost surreal feeling, when I think back that this car was a bucket of bolts and parts on the shelf 18 months ago.
Latest pics:
At work:
No AC compressor failed. The lower crack pulley is too big. The ALT belt hit the water pump bolt. I need a 7" or smaller 3 grove pulley to make it work.
Current state:
