I think I'm still in shock after the damn thing started right up last night on the first turn of the key and ran halfway decent before I even touched the timing or the carb... I had pumped what I thought was a bad amount of gas into the engine fiddling with the throttle linkage, I guess... 3 days before halloween I noticed a lot of steam coming out of one tailpipe... as I was getting out to see what horror awaited under the hood, when I got a phonecall saying my 10.5 months of unemployment was over... absolutely stoked + absolutely bummed = uhm, normalness, complete equilibrium... So, now in my suddenly limited free time, I had head gaskets to replace, which turned into having somebody rebuild the heads, compunded with going to a different intake manifold which necessitated a bunch of little modifications... 2 bbl holley to 4bbl edelbrock upgrade. This old man from El Salvador is one of my neighbors, he goes for walks a lot in the 'hood, and we often chat about cars and stuf when I'm workin on my junkers. He was looking at my engine, with the entire top torn off, and he asks, "So, you've done this before, right?" "Nope!" I tell him, In which his eyes open wide and he asks how the heck I'm doing this by myself. I tell him I'm really not, "I've got a bunch of people on the internet that I can ask questions." I explain the whole swapping of digital pictures and diagrams, etc. He was impressed by the high-tech-ness of it all. So yeah, to everyone thats helped me out with advice and info and stuff, THANKS!!!!!! IT RUNS ABSOLUTELY *****IN!!!!!!! Smooth as hell, I could do that Lexus commercial Where they balance a whole bunch of gl***es of champagne on the hood with the engine running... (oh, pardon me, I meant opened cans of PBR, what was I thinking... ) So I hopped in and drove it about 80 miles last night! Gas mileage is way improved... Not sure I have it entirely dialed in yet, but no pinging going up the hill on the 134E into pasadena... that was the place it always did it at. Revs out faster, pulls a lot harder at freeway speeds, but its still not as fast as the "honda!" Which is good, someone like me shouldn't go that fast on public roads with 40 yr old brakes... Which, Ricky, means the UPS truck is now firmly planted in the mid 16's! Sorry for blathering on about it, but I think this is the first time I've owned a V8 that that wasn't just about shot... Some of you guys could have done this work in an afternoon, it took me more hours than I care to count... outside, in an uncovered parking stall with no lights, in the winter, ,so-cal yes, but I was working on it while it was raining a bit... But I learned a bunch of stuff, and being able to fix that which you break is always a good thing. Thanks again, the HAMB freaking rocks, J
Congrats Burndup.......you are now a man. Let your chest swell with pride, smug in the knowledge you can do anything! No challenge is to great. The world is now your hockey puck.....or something like that. You can now be comfortable, standing in dimly lit parking lots with a PBR in your hand while quoting combustion ratios from Motors Manuals and actually knowing what your talking about! Next step? Cam profiles!
[ QUOTE ] Congrats Burndup.......you are now a man. Let your chest swell with pride, smug in the knowledge you can do anything! No challenge is to great. The world is now your hockey puck.....or something like that. You can now be comfortable, standing in dimly lit parking lots with a PBR in your hand while quoting combustion ratios from Motors Manuals and actually knowing what your talking about! Next step? Cam profiles! [/ QUOTE ] Rocky.......your ****in' killin' me here Congrats on the rebuild burndup. Hearing an engine,that you have built,or rebuilt,light off for the FIRST time,is about as close to childbirth as a man can get.......
There ain't nothing cooler than going in without a clue and coming out like you knew what the **** you were doing. That is what makes ya want to give yourself an "addaboy". -Joe
Congrats J. I'm building my first hot rod, so I know the triumphant feeling you've got right now. It feels good to step back and say, "Holy ****. It works." Ed
Congratulations. You built one, now you have to teach one. #2 will be easier, and there will be more. The next milestone is 1,000 miles of trouble free driving (From the engine at least) and you're home free. TZ
The Jalopy Journal
