
First... Picked her up, clear title and running for $600 (plus $50 to get her towed to my house)
Then I concentrated on getting her cleaned up and looking a little better. HOA can be a little tricky around here and my little girl is the only classic vehicle in the whole subdivision.
Gave her a bath and then completely stripped out the interior and washed everything down. Patched up a few spots on the seat and recovered with a cheap seat cover. Makes it look prettier to the Soccer Mom's around here if they peek inside. Going to go over it with a nice high end Serape. Floorboard is super solid and everything cleaned up beautifully, even the mats.
Next... The engine. She started right up and moved around, just did not idle for shit. So I drained the tank, cleaned it out, cleared the lines and made sure there was no residual trash. Then I yanked the carb and completely broker her down and cleaned it up and checked everything. All looked good!
Ran much better, but there was still something a little off. Messed with the adjustments and she was purring better, but there was still a little hiccup. Went after the ignition system next. Replaced the plugs, wires, coil. cap and button. While doing this, came across a plug that was barely in, there was my miss! Once everything was buttoned up (... Pun intended... After a trip back to the parts store to swap out the Button. Dude gave me one for a 6 cycl at the same time he gave me a Distributor for a V8 AND 8 spark plugs?!?!?!!?!?) Fired right up and mAAAn, she sounds nice! Can't wait to cut the muffler out since she has a hole in it anyway! LOL
Slight oil leak around the valve covers, so they were next, as well as the external top oiling system. Yanked the covers, replaced with new gaskets and replaced all the fittings of the external oiling system with brand new shiny brass and copper fittings and lines. My Father was a Plumber, so I picked up a few tips and they turned out pretty nice.
Also fixed the hood latch, which was not catching to start. Put a small lock on it so there are no flip up surprises! Of course, as all this went on, I cleaned and repainted everything I touched and then some! Driver's side fender well was also stripped and repainted using bed liner. Nice and pretty looking!
Now that she seems to be running just right, charging and all that good stuff, I will concentrate on finishing up painting the engine. Then the real work...
Want to run dual pipes, so looking for a set of Ram's Head exhaust headers to start, if they become too elusive or pricey (Yes, I know of the repro's for $350) I will look into Straight Headers. Then run down to GlassPacks or Porter's. Not sure which way to go yet. Want a nice deep sexy rumble and a nice deep bark when she is opened up. Then have them exit right in front of the rear tires.
Wheels - Running matching stockers, but cleaned up. Size of rubber will be determined by the drop I am able to put on her. (More about that in a bit.) I am not concerned about the width up front, want good turn radius, but I want the rears to be as fat as possible. No matter what, I want the radius to compliment the lowered distance of the wheel wells.
Lowered - Looking at putting about a 4" to 6" drop on my girl. I don't have the pockets for a bag system, (would love it) but looking at either flipping springs or a kit. Open to suggestions!
The cab is pretty solid, just a few spots to strengthen up, but the bed is trash. She came with a long Flairside and I want to replace with a Styleside. Any help here would be appreciated as well...
There are a few other simple things I want to play with, but besides making sure all the gauges work, nothing major. I want to Flat Matte Clear the paint to keep the beautiful Patina that she has been achieved. The fun will come with trying to match the Styleside bed's paint with the current cab. I have a buddy that specializes in high end painting and he wants to try and "age match" it... Should be an interesting experiment!
Any inputs, ideas, suggestions or whatever, please drop me a line...
Thanks,
JB







