Ah, who doesn't love long weekends... After a couple wonderful days up in Big Bear, there was still weekend enough left to get the last of the critical control issues sorted out and then to take the car for an exciting first drive. The main issue was getting the clutch properly adjusted. The 1970-71 clutch is known to be finicky, and with us reusing some slightly worn parts, I was not entirely confident it was going to work well. Adding to my apprehension was the fact that the first attempt, with the old (seemingly solid) clutch cable, went badly, the cable creaking and stretching on the first push. So I ordered a new clutch cable and swapped them out yesterday afternoon, and today went about adjusting it again. Everything seemed a little more secure, so it was on to the next job.
Second issue was that the throttle rod was hanging up in the tunnel. You could pull it, but it didn't retract very easily, and needed a little manual encouragement through one of the access holes in the top of the tunnel. A stuck throttle could be serious trouble. So to figure out where it was sticking I had to pull the emergency brake panel (with manual throttle adjust and heater controls) as well as the shifter, to see the points where the rod passes through a few bushings. It turned out that the one under the shifter had gotten a little cocked, and was the problem, so I had to bend its bracket so that it would sit straight and firm. Then all those controls had to be reattached and readjusted. But at the end of that, the last of the mechanical controls all seemed to be functioning smoothly.
Of course, there was no way to really know how good a job I'd done until we took the car for a test drive. To make a long story short, everything works pretty well. The shifter needs a little more adjusting - it's hard to find first (but it's so low that starting in 2nd is fine). But all else is good, and we took the car for three little spins. The first I did on my own, in case of disaster. Katie rode shotgun on the second, and then she shot this video for number three.
All in all, everything feels great. It pulls smooth, and feels like it's got lots of power. I can't wait to get it on the open road. It's not running real smoothly. We've got a lot of backfiring, so I need spend some more time adjusting the carbs and timing. Also the brakes feel a bit weak, although I think a big part of that is all new pads and rotors that need to wear into each other a little. Still I'll bleed them once again before we drive.
Big Fun!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
What a momentous afternoon! Congratulations!
That's pretty awesome! It looks really good with you behind the wheel - even better with Katie next to you, I'm sure:)
We are wondering why the hood is open??
Tasha, Katie definitely does make the car look much better. We're dying to take it out of the driveway! The reason the hood was open was that I hadn't adjusted the latch yet. There's a risk of closing it and never being able to open it again if it's not adjusted properly. You can relax now knowing that I took care of that adjustment this morning. There'll be no more drives with the hood open! Thanks for reading.
Post a Comment