Thinking of stringing them around the inside of the windshield for a custom touch. Spiderwebs and skulls are so yesterday and I don't like dice or mirror muffs.
The coil bracket is just a regular omega shaped one that most coils seem to come with. I cut one of the legs off and it bolts to a threaded boss on the manifold (Edelbrock performer.) I couldn't put it in the stock location because an a/c pump is going there.
More fun. Almost done. (It is done now, wrapped up ready to be rejoined with the engine and slotted back in the chassis and much anticipated fire-up. Fingers crossed time.)
I'm amazed at the knowledge/skill base many here have...Ground up sure fits this build...quite the journey @X38...
Speaking of nudes, you should paint a lady on the transmission pan. For the guys at the oil change shop.
Yeah, I should. But, which oil? I think I would be frozen with anxiety and unable to leave the house.
Zero hour was 5:10 this afternoon. My auto electrician friend strung enough wires to make things work, cooling system was full, I primed the oil and fuel and with everything at ball park settings (rebuilt carb, distributor timing etc.) we lit the wick and it fired straight away! Yay! Kept the rpms up for 25 minutes then dropped to 1500 for another 5 minutes then called it good. So far, no leaks or weird noises. What a relief! At that point it was time for a celebratory beer. We started it again after half an hour, it fired right up and we let it run a couple more minutes then turned it off. At that point I checked my temporary 'fuel tank' and it was just about empty. Anyway, what a relief. Youtube video link in my album. I didn't put it here due to an OT front end (NOT Pinto!) https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/media/albums/stuff.26582/
Finally got caught up on this fantastic thread - this outstanding build. Random thoughts: Dark rum has been my near-daily Sundowner drink of choice for years now also. So cool to have a buddy like @CadMad nearby for help. Appreciate learning about zinc annealed sheet metal. Love that you used Tony's "Fitzee" sheet metal method. (Miss him here. You two are a couple of Talented Tonys!) The grille is genius, to hell with the naysayers. Insane amount of mundane work, as you say, that's really what it amounts to isn't it, a few thousand small steps. Love your m.o. of ciphering/agonizing - cardboard/MDF/cereal boxes mockup - no need to draw much, just mock up. Your sheet metal skills are dope, I don't care what you say. This is one impressive custom, really on the scale of the Skippers' @Royalshifter Vicky. Really love that you have a mill where you can raise the hood. This is some really good shit!
Yay! I find the first start up, cam break-in with everything new or rebuilt to be somewhat stressful as well as exciting. Checking gauges for oil pressure and temp, looking for leaks, listening for strange sounds, checking for leaks, infrared temp gun pointing at various areas, checking for leaks, what's the oil pressure? is the temp climbing? where's that box fan? is it getting louder? how long has it been? what rpm is it at now? what is timing set at? any leaks? oil pressure? Ahhhhh 30-45 minutes passed, idle down, sounds good, shut her down. where's my beer? Big relief and grinning moment. Congrats!
One of, if not the most, gratifying moments of car building is the burn in. A lot can and sometimes does go wrong. I have had easy ones (my current PU) and I have had flat out battles (my 442 20 years ago). But they are all nicely filed away as precious memories and yes, causes for celebration and inebriation. Congratulations on your "not a pinto" burn in.
Congrats on your successful start up Tony! I have been through quite a few initial start ups ( mine and others). They don't always go as smooth as one would like but it's always fun to share a successful one with my friends.
Thanks fellas. But there was one irritation. Half way through the break in I noticed a tiny blister of sealant appear on the edge of the plug in the t'stat housing. The little blister turned into an slight ooze of coolant, which I wiped. I tightened the plug, but it kept leaking. I kept wiping every few minutes. After the engine was shut down and had cooled down a lot, it was still leaking, so I wiped it again and released pressure from the radiator cap. After dinner I went back to the garage for a look and more leakage. Next morning, same thing. Purely from the weight of the water in the upper rad hose. Not a disaster, but a pain in the neck. I consoled myself with the consideration that if this was the biggest issue, I should be grateful. Anyway, I released enough coolant via the radiator petcock so it was lower than the plug and took out the plug. Comparing this one to other plugs I have the same size, the plug seemed fine...must be the thread in the housing. So I ran a suitable NPT tap in a turn and a half to clean to it up and make sure the thread was good, cleaned the plug, applied a different thread sealer and screwed it back in. Really, it shouldn't even need sealant, but there you go. This morning I fired it up again, warmed it up, brought the rpm down to 800 and left it at that for now. Best of all No leak! Not a big deal, but I thought I'd share, since I had the picture.
Agreed on the engine color. I’m thinking something like that on the Caddy in my Merc. Glad the leak was an easy fix.
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