It looks like my sending unit on the fuel gauge is bad; I ran the gauge through the tests in the book and it shows good. I got all my lights wired and working and swaped out the tach for new one. Now that its working I can do the cam break in as soon as I get some exhaust on. I've got everything to build the exhaust, just going with basic 2 1/2 inch duals with Summit glass packs and pipes out the rear.
Thanks! Lots done this weekend; I got the lead pipes and mufflers on and did the cam break in. Other than a leaky water neck on the intake it went smooth; ran for 20 minutes, vital signs all looked good and cooling fan came on at the right temp. I got the water neck fixed and finished some small wiring issues like tail lights, dome lights, instrument lights, and wipers. Im going to get a driveshaft made up this week and should be able to do a short road test down the block by next weekend.
You and I are going down very similar roads with our builds. Mine's just not as clean as yours! You got a very nice score there, that's some great work! Maybe when I head out west, we'll meet up at a cruise night or something. If anyone's interested, here's the build thread on my '52... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=762258
Thanks, i've been watching your build and it's coming along nice! Im hoping for either doing a leg of the Hot Rod Power Tour or Goodguys this year with mine. Picked up my driveshaft last night and we're off work Monday so I'm hoping to wrap up a few things and do a short shakedown cruize this weekend! Even if it's just down the block and back i'd be happy.
Well, I was really hoping for a test cruise this weekend but it looks like my slave cylinder for the clutch is bad. I've got a new one on the way; in the meantime I finished up the exhaust and got the driveshaft installed. It sounds really good; so close to driving!
This is just not my week to get a test drive in; I got new rubber all the way around, got the clutch fixed and was ready to head down the road but it's been raining ever since and supposed to stay that way until Wednesday. Bummer; but on the other hand we could sure use the rain. So in the meantime I started cleaning up and painting hood hinges and parts so I can put the hood back on. I did pull it out of the garage; did a quick 2 or 3 second burnout, and pulled it back in so I could get a taste.
Finally, a trip down the street accomplished!!! I need to bleed the brakes some more but it felt pretty darn good to have it move under its own power!
After several trips down the road im really happy with how this thing came out. I gave her a good bath and except for a few tweaks here and there this is how she's going to stay for the forseeable future. Im not going to worry about uphostery for now; might takle that a bit at a time later. I think I am going to run a buffer across it and see if I can bring the paint alive a little more. I'm going to try a Corvette manual disc/disc master cylinder. Brakes are ok but no matter how much I bleed them they are still spongy and you've got to pump them. The master cylinder I have on there is from a four wheel drum setup; I just used it because I had it laying around. Also my front shocks are bottoming so I ordered some shorter ones but other than that I'm diggin it and ready to rack up some miles. It sounds great and I was suprised by how much pep the old 318 has.
What agreat budget build. You did a great job! I hope you put on a boat load of miles on it and enjoy it fully
Car looks great now you have a cruiser till you get the big dog on the road...talk about burn outs! Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
I used the Explorer hoses; they worked great just like they were. I just located the mounting bracket in a spot that gave it adequate slack for movement and piped the hard lines to them. Got my new MC on; 100% improvement. Brakes work awesome!
That's great man, love it when they come together. Yes, that 318 should push the car around very nicely!
It does plus you can buy decent running 318s on CL for a couple hundred bucks all day long. So I wont feel too bad if it goes Ka-blewie and has to be changed. <SUP> I needed some kind of heater and the original one took up too much space under the hood. After looking at several different kinds of old heaters on ebay, I decided to go with this from good old JC Whitney. It's 7" square with a heater core and two speed blower and should tuck up under the dash nicely. I'll just have to build a little sheet metal plenum so it can run some air to the defrost duct. Plus it's new and under $140. </SUP>
Im glad you went w/ that heater, it worked out great so that I could get your old one! gotta shoot you a Pm now, I need help. jeff
I got my heater in this weekend and it works great. I used the controls from the 49 and a generic OReilys heater valve. I also got the cowl seal on (without it the back of the hood was rattling) and my friend Kyle was kind enough to buff the whole car for me. The old paint came out looking pretty decent.
A friend came by today; he was cleaning out his dad's garage after he passed away last year. His dad was a car builder and avid hubcap collector. He gave me a set of these for the car; I think they look pretty spiffy.
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