Got a new project, 58 Special

Every thing is heavy on that year.lol.Bruce.

 

That's when I had hair.lol.Bruce.

 

Ok, another small update on the Special.

So, after the thumb event I started working on actually getting it running. Remember the engine was already together, but the distributor was not in, meaning I stabbed it. Well apparently it wasn't in the correct location because all I could get it to do was pop, fart and backfire by poring gas in the carb. Here is a video my 10 year old took while I was trying.


Then it totally quit making any fire and I thought maybe the points took a ****, and I have absolutely NO IDEA how to make them right and all. So I go to my local old school speed shop and go thru the book to see if they have a pertronix on the shelf somehow. Believe it or not, they did! Sweet!! So I go home and yank the distributor again and pull it apart to put in the module. The instructions are a little to be desired needless to say. The module didn't "fit" where the instructions said to install it, but it did fit about 130° or so in the advance location. So, in my natural overthinking ability, I think that I'll "advance" the firing order to match the location in the distributor, which would be by 3 plug terminals. So I did that and it still popped and farted without running. Took another break to call pertronix the next day and ask them what's up.

 

I called pertronix the next day and talked to their tech, he said that I didn't have to advance the firing to compensate for the different location and to set it "normal". Which after thinking about it, of course that's correct because the module doesn't "know" where it's getting its fire from! Duh!!
So I get off work and set the wires back in their proper locations, twist the distributor to where I can hear it firing while at 0° on the balancer, fill the carb up with fuel and get ready. I thought, might video it, but no kiddos out there with me so I prop the phone up on the roof of the wagon. The thing fired on the FIRST time! Ran until it popped when it ran out of fuel, WooHoo!!! (Edit: yes I'm a ****, but I was happy that it made good noises! LoL!)


Now I just need to figure out why it's not getting fuel.........

 

Oh wow, just realized I didn't post an update a few months back. I built some shelves out of some old pallets to "organize" all the parts and actually spread them out to see what all I got and make it easier to find things. Well, I figured out the problem with the fuel. When I was unboxing the stuff I came across an old fuel pump box, so I opened it up and found the instructions. I gotta say they are the most detailed instructions I've ever seen for a fuel pump, must've been old when people actually cared! Anyway I read them and it said that the pump MUST be installed correctly or damage could occur.
Well since I didn't install the pump, I thought I better pull the pump to see if it was "damaged".... Well, it was! DOOH!!

As you can see, there's an important part missing! Well, I tried fishing out the piece with a magnet, but no luck. So off comes the front of the engine, in hopes that it hasn't made its way into tearing something else up. Thank the Lord that it was good and just laying in the timing area.

I got it all back together with another new pump and behold it pumps fuel on its own now and will run!!
Now to take a lot of it back apart to start installing it "correctly". Now that I know it runs that is!

 

Running!!

 

After yanking it back apart, it has sat for the last few months because we've been pretty busy with life.... death in the family, kids baseball, boys scouts, church, work, vacation and other events in the other cars. But I started working on it again this week. I'll try and update more as I get more done.

I did get the transmission lines installed finally, apparently they were supposed to go in while the engine and trans was going in because it took me about 3 hours to get 2 hard lines fished in and hooked up to the transmission! Not a happy camper! LoL! It seems that everything is like that so far, since I didn't take any of it apart and I don't really know "how" it goes back together, much less where every part even goes!!

 

You got lucky with that fuel pump arm. I did the same thing once, heard the pop when it broke and thought ehhh, surely it will drop right into the pan. Put in a new pump and when I started it back up, heard another pop.....this time it was the broken piece caught in the timing chain and being whacked into the plate behind the water pump. Naturally, made a hole and filled the oil with antifreeze. Car never ran again and got sold as a project instead of the nice runner it was. [emoji20]

 

Any progress is a step in the right direction. Glad you got it going. And good info on the fuel pump. I never knew that, and will be messing with my 322 soon. Got to keep that in mind.

 

Here is the other side of the instruction sheet if you need more info on the pump installation. The "new" pump had zero paperwork on how it's supposed to be installed. Nice....