The 7 months worth of projects to rebuild the Fairlane started winding down in the last week or so, but I hadn't really taken stock of what exactly was left. When I looked at my build list yesterday, I realized all I had left was: 1. Fan 2. Finish installing Lokar floor shifter 3. Install TV cable (kickdown) 4. Install gas pedal and throttle cable 5. Exhaust I was worried that I couldn't find a mechanical fan with a low enough profile to fit and an electrical fan is not in the immediate budget. I found a used Flexalite low profile fan on Ebay for cheap and the seller was local, so I grabbed it last night to use as a mockup (I need a reverse rotation). It fit perfectly, so I ordered a reverse rotation one last night. I picked up a Lokar gas pedal at Sachase Rod Shop today and installed it, along with the throttle cable and the carb connections for the TV cable. This was a LOT more than I expected to get done in the 2 hours that I had available tonight. So, tomorrow night looks like finishing up the transmission connections for the shifter and the TV cable. I took a quick look underneath and at the Lokar instructions and I think my tranny linkage is upside down, so I might have to drop the pan and flip it. Hopefully that won't be a big deal. At least I haven't added fluids yet, so it won't be messy. The fan will be here Wednesday. If all goes well, I can beg the local muffler shop to do my exhaust on Thursday or Friday. I'm going simple on the exhaust with it dumping our right behind the front wheels and I already have the mufflers, so it shouldn't be a huge deal. I might actually be driving the old girl this weekend! It's been a long year of building, running out of money, getting money, building again and running out of money again, but well worth it and I've learned a lot.
Update: 1. Fan - DONE 2. Finish installing Lokar floor shifter - DONE 3. Install TV cable (kickdown) - DONE 4. Install gas pedal and throttle cable - DONE 5. Exhaust - Friday Morning! I got her running late tonight after a 12 hour thrash today. My heart sank at one point when I started it for the first time. There was a horrible clanking sound that initially sounded like the bottom end. I spent 7 months on this build and very carefully build the motor as this was my first complete rebuild in a VERY long time. After my neighbor Erik from the Beatniks came over to try to help ease my panic, we started taking a closer look. Ended up the sound was in the bell housing and sounded like, well, a bell. I crawled underneath while he manually turned the motor over. SHIT! I had forgotten to put nuts on the 4 torque converter studs that attach it to the flexplate. Nice. I found 4 nuts, slapped 'em on and the horrible sound was gone. After a few tweeks of the timing and some carb adjustments, she's idling really well. Loud as hell with no exhaust, too! I'm sure the neighbors liked that at 11pm tonight. Tomorrow morning I'll creep her over to the exhaust shop and then the guy who built the tranny is going to do the fine tuning on the TV cable. If all goes well tomorrow, I'll be able to drive to Pistons and Paint on Saturday. Good times!
I think I spoke (or typed) too soon. I headed out this morning to drive it to the exhaust shop and it was running like ass. It's idling real rough and smoking pretty bad. After a couple of minutes, it wants to bog down completely. I took the day off today, so I'll continue to work on it, but the way it's running right now I'm reluctant to turn it over too many more times until I get some more experienced help over here to take a look at it with me.
possible float stuck on carb causing it to flood the engine and run like shit. Before you take care you might want to double check the torque convertor nuts as a fail safe.
The last thing I thought it would be is what it was...the new Carter P4070 fuel pump crapped out. After installing an inline pressure gauge to see what was happening, I noticed the needle bouncing all over the place. I installed a cheapo Mr Gasket pump and it idles perfectly. Maybe some junk got in the Carter pump or maybe it was defective. Now, on to the AOD. I tried for HOURS to get the Lokar shift linkage calibrated and just couldn't get it to engage in every gear. I jacked up the rear end and ran the engine fast in Drive to see if it would shift. It did, but was real weak. Looked under the car and saw a huge puddle of tranny fluid. My dumb ass didn't install the speedo cable, so fluid was pouring out the quarter-sized hole. Would the speedo hole being wide open be enough to cause the no engagement/weird tranny behavior? My guess is yes because it can't build any pressure. I feel like a dumbass.....
Good idea! I'll measure the hole and hit the auto parts store bright and early tomorrow. In spite of feeling stupid for this oversight, I will be very relieved if that's all it was.
The Jalopy Journal
