RPU, bodywork underway.

Bumper came out nice!

Thanks, guys. Bob, my beach bunny days are long gone (sigh). But a man can still dream, can't he ?

Dr C, I just reinstalled those little buttons on my bed cover and a little push and they pop right open. I can think of a lot of applications for them.

My project for today was to tear down the engine and get the four barrel intake off in preparation for me to install the tripower setup when the new carb comes in. When I pulled off the intake I found that the gaskets had sealed perfectly, absolutely perfectly. So, let me pass along the Fel Pro gasket part number that I finally ended up with that did the trick. It is Fel Pro 1256, and these have the smaller ports that seem to seat better on early heads than the 7201 Edelbrock gaskets that I had all the trouble with. That might save someone else some headaches.

So I ordered a new set of 1256's from Amazon and they will be here Thursday and then I can get the engine put back together. I cleaned up the intake and am just waiting for the center carb to come from Vintage Speed.

Here are a couple of pictures from tonight. Oh, and my license light came from Speedway, so on Friday Dan can weld on a couple of tabs to the nerf bar and then I can decided what finish I am going to do that part in.

Just heard back from Vintage Speed, the are building my carburetor and it should go out this week. So, if I have everything else installed I should be able to plop it on and (hopefully) it will run fine.

If that goes well the next step is insuring and licensing it. But , after all the carb issues, I will hold any celebration until I actually fire it up the next time.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you Don.

Thanks, Bruno. The only two possible sources of vacuum leaks I had on the last setup were either the intake not seating well or the carb was messed up. Now that I have successfully sealed the gaskets on the four barrel setup, I should be able to do the same with the tripower intake. After all, both intakes are new and made by the same manufacturer.....Edelbrock.

The carb should hopefully run like it should, after all, I am just turning this motor into a two barrel motor by blocking off the two end carbs. With the car running well on the four barrel (except for being overcarbed and rich) that gives me a base line to start with. It tells me everything else is ok with the motor.

If this new carb doesn't do the trick, I am seriously thinking about taking up golf.

My intake gasket set showed up today, so I went to the shop and started reassembling the top end of the motor. I REALLY took my time getting the intake gaskets and end seal made of the Right Stuff put on perfectly, and then I torqued the intake down in 4 steps, just like I did with the 4 barrel intake that worked so good.

Then it was a matter of putting in the distributor, plug wires , valve covers, etc. While I was at it I pulled out the carbon fouled plugs that were in it and put in a fresh set of NGK V-Power plugs. I have heard so much good about them that I wanted to try them.

Tomorrow the local parts store will have the carb to intake gaskets I ordered, I decided to change those out, even though the ones I had were looking ok. I am not taking any chances at this point. Then I can mount the two end carbs for the final time, with block off plates under them temporarily, and then, when the new center carb comes from Vintage Speed, I should be able to finally try starting this thing up.

Here are some pictures of the engine tonight, mostly back together. Tomorrow Dan and I will wrap up the nerf bar and get the license frame mounted and maybe start on the door sills.

It sure looks good Don, my fingers are crossed for you!

Do I hear a drum roll in the background?
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Thanks, guys. No drumroll yet, but getting close. The new gaskets I ordered came in today and I got the two end carbs mounted with them and am still waiting for the center carb to arrive so I can wrap up the engine. In the meantime, Dan and I finished the nerf bar and I got it sprayed with Krylon clear tonight. It is bare steel, but the clear will keep it from rusting for quite a while.

While Dan was wrapping that up, I got my license frame resprayed in gloss clear. It is an old dealer frame from the 50's or 60's from a dealership in Upland California. I used to live right in that area, so when I saw this at a swap meet I decided it would look cool on the back of this car. Some of the finish is gone and the copper underneath is showing, and I think it fits the look of the car just perfect.

Tomorrow we can mount the nerf bar for the final time and wire up the license light. That should be the end of the electrical work on the car. Not much in the way of progress to post, but here are a couple of pictures from tonight.

All good stuff, Don. Finish line in sight.

Yep, Bob, I went to the shop today and the only thing I had to do was mount the nerf bar and license frame now that they are dry. I felt kinda lost !

Also, I am kind of on hold until the carb comes, and I am not sure when Charlie at Vintage Speed will get that out. He is getting ready to leave to set up his booth at Turkey Run over Thanksgiving, so that is probably his main priority right now. But I do not want to bug him, so I will just wait.

Today I not only got the nerf finally mounted for the last time, but I wired up the license light and got that working. Not much progress, but here are a couple of pictures from today anyway.

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Torchie

Looks great![cl[cl

Thanks guys.

Today I got some good news, I got an alert that my carburetor has been shipped by Vintage Speed, and I see a debit to my bank account for that amount, so it is supposed to show up tomorrow. That means I can bolt it on and finally see if this %#@*&^ thing will run right on a two barrel !

It shouldn't take me more than a half hour to plop it on, bolt it down, hook up the fuel and other lines, and then fire it up. If this thing doesn't run right this time, I am considering taking up knitting.

If it goes well, then I can shoot some pictures of it outside, send them to Grundy insurance, add this car to my existing policy, and then head to the DMV for my plates. I don't want to get my hopes up too much, but my fingers are definitely crossed.

Mine Too. We all want to see this thing running. [P

Fingers Crossed !!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Kenny and Soltz. I can't wait for the UPS truck to show up tomorrow.

Film at 11 !

Will be waiting with baited breath!

Thanks, me too Bruno. The UPS guy usually shows up here in the afternoon, so I am anxious to see what this carb looks and works like. From past experiences with Vintage Speed, their stuff is pretty good, so I am optimistic. If this doesn't work right, I am not sure what to do next.

Yesterday I took a closer look at the center carb I was using that I bought from Rock Auto. It is a rebuild, and they did a sloppy job when it came to the backside of the carb. There is supposed to be a rectangular plate on the back of this particular model carb, and it was missing. They inserted some sort of steel plug into the one hole in there, but the two ports on either side of it were wide open and led into the main throttle body, so there were just two wide open holes letting air in.

The two end carbs were a slightly different model, although I ordered all 3 under the same part number from Rock Auto, and they do not have that opening on the backside like this middle one does. Rock Auto is impossible to contact, they only deal via the computer, they do not have humans there to talk with, so I am just going to keep this carb around for spare parts and chalk it up to experience.

I'll cut right to the chase. The carb showed up today, it looked great, I bolted it on, and the car runs like a brand new car !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't have to do a thing to the carb except block off one port that I do not need, I used the gasket he supplied, put the fuel hose on, turned the key, and it fired up on the first couple of revolutions, and sat there idling at 500 rpms, smooth as silk.

I then hooked up all of the throttle linkage and other stuff and took it around the block. Again, it runs right down the road and has more power on the one two barrel than I need, so I will not mess around with the two end carbs for a while, until I get some miles on the car. When I kicked it a little, the car went sideways a little, and felt really strong with good throttle response.

I am drinking a celebration beer, and I have to send Charlie at Vintage Speed a thank you email. He really knows how to build a carburetor, something I evidently do not know how to do.

So now I can take some pictures, send them to Grundy, then go to the DMV, and start putting some break in miles on the car. It has only been 9 years from start to finish, so this beer tastes even better than usual !!

Here are some pictures from tonight of the carb and with it installed. The color is closer that it looks in the pictures, but it could be pink and I wouldn't care !