Better not look in the mirror! A friend got a really nice car recently. He grew up in a family that didn't have a car, and went thru the usual older ragamuffin transport most of his life. He was talking about how he now had a dream car and was understandably proud. I said to him "You remember when we were young and saw the cool cars being driven by some old fart? That's you now." He took it well.
I’ve had more than a few new ones and quite a few really nice vehicles that were a year or two old but for the last fifteen years I’ve been driving the same vehicle. The best thing is that it’s worth the same today as it was five years ago… Me, I’m broken down and out of gas…
It might be worth the same number after the sign, but it's LESS value. Currency is dropping. Hang in there, oldiron.
Yes....back in about 1984 I found a bright red 1976 station wagon in a dealers wholesale lot. Dealer not sure why it was leaking oil and smoking......because the oil fill cap was missing and replaced by a wadded up shop towel !! Bought it and put a little work into it.....was very good beater and daily driver for my wife while we were in Detroit and I did NOT want her in a nice car for all the obvious reasons.
Had a '76 two door. Bought it off the "Doggie Lot" for $600 for a beater work car around '84-5. Had a set of rallys on it, 305/350. Had the dreaded cam tick the day I bought it, and the day I sold it 2yrs later. Actually was a decent beater. I kept the rallys. I still say cut the roof off & do the Gleason/Buford T. Justice thing......
A buddy of mine has one, since around 1984. It is battered, but very reliable. He drives it over incredible distances on road trips.
Can't be many of those left running. Looks like fun! My older brother had a really nice '73 SS, 454, 4 speed , Cragars, dark blue metallic.....I lusted over it as a teen
Drove to Bisbee yesterday as the sun was going down. It's the first out of town drive I make with most of my "new" old cars. Stopped by Jay Allen's to get a picture, and I always try to get his 39 Chevy in the frame. I sold him that car in 1994. He's had it repainted 3 different colors since then. And stopped by the Lavender Pit for a few pictures. It was a boring drive, the car worked just fine. I put the new radiator in yesterday, and now I'm used to the gas gage reading backwards.
Another obscure movie reference. Land speed record truck, final prep. A handwritten tape label on an instrument is peeled off, flipped and stuck back on.
Could be worse. My brand new sender in the 53 is junk. Pegs the gauge no matter what. And I tested my new steward Warner fuel gauge and it's good. So I'll have to drop the tank lol
I'm curious if the cam is getting soft too. My 78 caprice had that issue. When my family bought the car in 1998 with 90k-ish miles the th350 was already rebuilt for the second time. The car had a lifter tick for years before the cam flattened. That car also had better than 2.73 gears, it had 2.41 gears
Change the cam, I’ve never seen a 73-77 that didn’t like a good cam and lifter for dinner. Those were the worst years.
It might have the plastic sprocket teeth. Or, it might have had them! I need to pull the engine and replace all the freeze plugs, and it would be a good idea to dive a little deeper, and look at the timing set, and the cam, and then there are those metal shim head gaskets that corrode away to nothing. but where does it end? on a $500 beater?
For around town, I'd probably just run it. In the case of your adventure, a deeper dive is the worth the (not having any) trouble. Now get the SawZall out....
I was thinking that if the fuel pump sat "on the lobe" for several decades, the fuel pump spring condition might not be the greatest and could be a possible cause of some of your clatter. Cheap and easy to toss one in If it ends up not being the cause, toss the old one in the trunk as a spare
I've had to replace multiple fuel pump pushrods on mid 70s SBC because of excessive wear. And they sounded like rocker clatter only down low
Timing set is cheap. Despite people here claiming you'll never come across a nylon gear I've am***ed a collection of them recently lol
Looks like just at 500 for a full kit. https://www.summitracing.com/search...duct-line/summit-racing-chevy-350-engine-kits I didn't dive deeper, say a kit without pistons because that's speculation until it's cracked open. It also doesn't include valve springs, which is probably a good thing to swap out. But that at least gives you a basic price level. It wouldn't be a Jim adventure if the radiator, water pump, starter, alt, belts and hoses, thermostat and carb were all fresh.
I replaced the fuel pump already, because any part of the fuel system that contains rubber parts won't survive 40 years of sitting. But...I didn't do anything to the carb yet...??? I don't generally buy "kits" to work on things, unless there's a good reason to. I like to see what really needs to be replaced, and just buy those parts. Sometimes...it makes sense to buy a "kit", but usually not. I worked on the front brakes and wheel bearings. The p*** side bearings were OK, the drivers side were pretty rough, the inner one had lots of pitting on the race and rollers, so I replaced both bearings on that side. Also, it looks like the p*** side inner pad had worn down to metal, and PO put a set of pads in, and didn't do anything else. Since the new pad is worn into the grooves in the rotor, I decided to leave it as is. Still has better brakes than most of my "old" cars! I did replace both front hoses. I need to get the back of the car up in the air, and replace the rear brake hose, and remove the rear end cover and axles for bearing inspection. The rear wheel bearings are straight roller, lubricated by the gear oil. But moisture could have found it's way in there and cause problems, so I need to inspect it. And same with the differential, it might have got condensation in over the decades, and have rust issues, so I need to look. It ****s having a bearing go out when you're 1500 miles from home. I might make an appointment to get a new windshield, also. It's a great excuse for a cop to h***le me. Speaking of which...Sunday, I drove into town to get some front wheel seals, and when I got out of the car at the parts store, suddenly there was a police officer in my face telling me "get back in your car!!!!". Really strange thing to happen. Turns out a few minor things had happened that I was not really aware of, and suddenly I was a serious threat to society. One thing is that I had made a "wide turn" onto the main drag where the parts store is, as it's just a short distance from the intersection where I had to turn left, then right. Another thing is that I had taped the first temporary registration tag in the back window. Then I ordered a personalized plate to match the original old plate that's still on the back of the car, and I had put the new temp registration over the first one. The masking tape holding it all in decided that the nice hot sun was too much for it, and it came loose at one end. So the wrong registration was sort of showing in the window, and the other had fallen down onto the floor in the back seat. And finally, I had put a new rearview mirror in the car, but didn't secure it well to the gl***, and it fell off. I had bought some glue to attach it again, but had not yet had a chance to do it, so my view behind me was not what it should have been, and I never saw the cop car as I was driving. I guess it looked like I was driving an unregistered stolen car or something? Anyways, I presented the car's registration and insurance slips, and then found the correct tag, and the officer said "turn into the correct lane, have a nice day". Her backup had just pulled into the parking lot, but didn't stick around. Bizarre. I had a roll of duct tape in the car, so I taped the temp tag in place more securely after I got done buying my parts. You can't make this stuff up. I also flushed out the cooling system again, and mostly clean water came out, so I decided to add a gallon of anti freeze, and see how it does. My new temporary temp gauge is kind of flaky, I may just take it out and depend on the idiot light to warn me when it finally pops another freeze plug.
The Jalopy Journal
