Retitled car and new plates EKY 539. (Alaska has no collector/hobby plate except for pre
1949 or historic vehicles driven only for shows.)
Put 300 Watt heater inside with vent windows cracked to start drying out.
New class 1 battery from Costco, topped off charge.
Removed old battery box, wirebrushed and painted.
Back to the project after a very long hiatus! Because of poor firing, went over ignition system with Joe...not sure who did what with this engine last and anything could have happened. Verified plug wire firing order. Verified distributor rotor rotation is counterclockwise looking down. Removed valve covers for inspection, verified firing order is what we thought (1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2, with cylinders numbered from front to back, with odd numbers 1-3-5-7 on driver's side [left, as in U.S. driving setup). Located timing mark on flywheel and by eyeballing the distributor rotor, found timing set a couple degrees BTDC or so. All is well there, and that should not be the source of the extreme roughness problem. Points look OK. Next: on to fuel system. All this stuff needs a checkout anyway.
It runs!!! Checked out fuel pump (electric), and bled new fresh fuel through the line up to the carb. New air filter. Hit the starter and she immediately fired up and purred like a kitten! One exhaust is dangling - make have broken that hanger on the bad backfires back in Sept. Easy fix. Cleaned up some dirt around the trunk and under hood. A happy Joe installs our new plates so we can be out on the road soon!
Rollout Day! Stella exits the garage and goes for her first cruise. Round the block a few times, then gathering up nerve with all (er...most) systems go we headed down to Western Auto for some fuel, air in tires, and a part or two. A little rough running with occasional backfire when cold, but cleared up when warm. Engine was colder (outside) today than Sunday - think its a warming thing. No. 7 was not firing well at idle we think, judging by exhaust header temps. Huge day though - we pulled a few g's when she warmed up. Slapstick is working OK, and auto (drive) seems to be working. A little thumping into 2nd when slapsticking. We flag a small radiator hose leak, and missing seat belt. Also going to replace that last fuel hose segment at carb - not too bad yet, but would be horrific consequence if there was a leak with that humongous fuel flow capacity.
On the road...picked up Joe at violin in the charger, then off to trapshooting. First time on the highway. All is going well. Still have the pesky radiator hose drip, from a flattened return fitting atop the radiator (something must have hit it). Steering is a little loose, and the brakes might have an issue or two, but all things considered, things look quite well. Cold tonight - could use a little heat in that car! Sure do get a lot of stares when Stella hits the road....