Smartin

Feels like a 70 GS I'm trying to assemble right now. Every step I take, I find out that I'm missing some trinket that needs to go on before the assembly can be finished in that area. So I move on and find the same thing. My "parts to find" list keeps growing, not shrinking. And it's supposed to be ready in May. Ugh.

Thus would be a fun one to detail. It's a long way from me though.

LOL nope! Just me not paying attention. Thankfully I was a half mile from home and had exactly one gallon of fuel left in a can. I normally have two 5-gallon tanks sitting there but recently used them up on other cars. I need a 100 gallon tank at the house for filling up these beasts.

Well, I *think* I figured out the engine cutting out issue. I ran out of gas on the 5 minute drive home. Good news is that the exhaust sounds great!

Are we talking about Ken Nagel or Lou?

About time you let the cat outta the bag!🤣

Yeah...I should put the carb on the list, too. It's pretty weepy. But is super responsive otherwise. Parts are on the way.

The vacuum advance was DOA, so I replaced it this morning before I drove it to the exhaust guy. Everything went perfectly and got the timing set back up since I pulled the distributor to replace it. I hadn't ever really driven the car except up the street and back down, so I was insure how it would act on the open road...but I took a chance and got in. It didn't take long to realize I had a significant ignition issue. The car runs smoothly at light throttle all day long, but if I put a load on it, it breaks up. Definitely feels like ignition. So I went ahead and bought all new parts to swap out when I get it home. I could tell they were pretty old when replacing the vac advance, but was hoping it would be fine for a while. NOPE. Sigh. Exhaust guy should have it done sometime this week, though.

Your choke is malfunctioning.

The 57 heat riser valve is part of the manifold, and cannot be removed as a separate unit. Remove the valve completely and drill/tap the shaft holes to plug them. They are notorious for sticking closed and roasting engines. They are also magnets for exhaust leaks through the shaft holes.

Pull shaft out like you're turning on the headlights. Then press button and pull out. If it still is stuck, throw it away and get another one LOL

Sure beats what came out of it LOL! It probably would have cost more than double what I paid to redo the entire seat covers, instead of just doing the fabric inserts...and likely would have been easier on the upholstery guy too. But I only have a few nickels to rub together for this project...and most of it has vaporized in this interior.

My seat covers came back the other day. I started to reinstall on the seats, and realized there was a problem with the rear bottom. It was too narrow and wouldn't fit over the back edges of the frame, but inches on each side. I called the upholsterer and we were both thinking I have missed something or messed up the order somehow. He came out and we scratched our heads for a moment. Then realized that the fabric portions of both the seat bottoms were switched. He sewed the front seat fabric to the back seat vinyl. Oops! He took the bottoms back and fixed the issue. Brought them back to me today. "After work," I tackled the seats again. Finished up the rear seat bottom that was goobered up. Fit fine... Then I took care of the front seat. Both of those pieces had trashed foam and needed complete replacement. I bought 4 linear yards of 2" foam from JoAnn Fabric ($30 a yard, ugh) and use that to replace the old stuff. It's not perfect, but feels great. Aside from installing the seat tracks on the bottom of the front seat, these are ready for install. I just need to find time to get this car back in the shop to weld floors in and gut the interior to replace everything. Pics in the next post...they're on my phone. I hate typing on my phone.

Honestly it feels about the same....maybe a bit softer. But they look-a-likes still have that squared off side wall that catches grooves in the road, so that is still something that is present.

"Hey Harold, it's raining...go take some pics of the 58 now. It looks better when it's wet!"

Seat fabric came today!! Covers are off and already at the upholsterer's place. He said $300 per cover. Beats the crap out of the $800 I paid for the FRONT seat on Piggy. I think I like this guy! He installed a headliner for me on site last week for a 70 GS I'm working on. And also has completely recovered a front seat for a 72 Centurion for me this week.

Yeah…sometimes my rebuild attempts have come up short on those little switches. It may just be worn out too much.

Weird. What does the wiring diagram say for the route the wires that go from the headlight switch to the dimmer? On the later A bodies, there is a ground for the headlight switch itself, too. Might be something to look at. Although it may be self grounding if the dash is metal where it mounts.

Classic exhaust on eBay. It was $500 plus shipping. I’m going to have my exhaust guy install it so there’s no fighting.

Well hot damn…I got notification this afternoon that my headliner is being shipped from SMS. Speaking of SMS, I pulled the trigger on 4 yards of seat insert fabric and a yard of that brown outer fabric. My upholstery guy is going to see if he can save the covers by just doing the inserts. I finally have a line on a blower resistor, rubber boot, and a correct fan and spacer. Still no word on exhaust. Guy said 40 days from time of order. Or was it 40 business days….that makes a difference.

Thanks for clarifying Larry. I guess I didn't think that he might have been asking about the small air holes that aren't plugged.

Ah yeah I should have know that. Still, there is a ground...just through the socket. Usually a wiggle or two will make the light flicker. But a volt meter tell the story if he's getting power or not.

eBay it...that'll give to a market snapshot pretty quickly.

Those are exhaust crossover ports. Many people plug them like this to keep hot exhaust gases from going under the carb. It also helps keep the paint on the intake from burning off. It may effect the ability of the stock choke to work well, though.