04/16/98  - First 300 Miles ....

Here's the update for the past 2 months - it's on the road! I've put about 300 miles on it and have determined it's definitely worth it!!!

Got the new top put on (with the zppered rear window). What a difference that makes in it's looks. The new wheel rims are on, wheels stripped and painted. Fire extinguisher mounted right in front of the drivers seat and one in the trunk. Had to get a couple defroster hoses. Put the new fan switch in and a new heater core.

Couldn't find the voltage stabilizer for the temperature and gas gauge so I made one using an electronic chip. Found out it should be at 10 volts through a question on the BBS. Both gauges work great. If you need one, drop me a line, I'll let you know what the circuit is, you can get the parts from Radio Shack for under $5.00.

The rear end gearing is a bit tall. It's got 3.08's in it, but 3.70-3.90 would be a bit better. Now that I've driven it I don't have a problem with it, but in 5th gear I go along the expressway at just above idle doing about 65/70. A little bit higher ratio in the rear would give it a bit more off the line. It is kind neat to be going along at 60 in 3rd, not straining a thing and be able to kick the 4 barrel in. What a sound, it's wonderful. I've gotten used to driving 4/6 cyl. engines that you run in the higher rpm range to get any torque out of them. It's nice to have balls at 1500-2000 rpm, a very, very different feeling.

The oil pressure runs about 30-35lbs at cruising speed. It has the modification described in an article from an old hot rod magazine that opened up the oil passage and uses a larger pickup tube.

The shocks are converted from the he org. to tube style. I didn't end up with the tube shocks that came with the kit, so we ended up putting in a set that are for a Volvo 240. The seem to work good, but may be a bit stiff, have to put more miles on to really tell. Ending up taking the rear sway bar out, the mounting style they recommended was questionable and the bit of added stiffness wasn't needed. The rear springs had been reached and stiffened a bit, it feels good now.

Per the conversation on the BBS I changed the transmission oil to ATF. Went out one morning, it was about 40 degrees and couldn't shift out of second except to use 2 hands. The ATF work out real well. I'm learning to love the funky pattern of the T55, I like the definite feel of the close ratio shift pattern.

We've got a 180 degree fan switch in the top of the radiator and I had a 180 thermostat. That combo made the fans come on a bit too much, so I put a 160 thermostat in. I also wanted to see if the radiator had the capacity to keep the engine that cool, or was I running on the edge. Radiator is not a problem - as long as I'm moving, it stays right at 160, when I stop and idle for a bit it goes up and the fan switch kicks in and keeps it at 180. From that I get that the cooling capacity is there as long as air is moving over the radiator. I think I'll change the therm. to 170 (it will run a bit better) and then make a temperature step switch so that the fans come on progressively.

The carburetor was boiling over when I stopped after getting up to temperature, but I noticed it was boiling over only on one barrel. It was suggested and was correct that the float level was off, only on the side that was boiling over. Adjusting that seems to have taken care of it. We did have a day or two that it got up to 80F and I took it on a 40 mile trip with no heat problems.

I don't yet have a tach or speedometer. I'm working on a circuit for the tack to halve the pulses, if any one already has a circuit or ideas, please send them along to me. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the speedometer yet.

Had a gas smell in the car - age and sitting around got to the gas tank. The top of it had a few pinholes in it. Put some epoxy on it for now, but it will have to be replaced soon.