[Rattiac]

Nothing beats finding old pictures.  😊
Glad someone is making progress on thier car.  Jealous.  😉

[Essex_29]

Thank you all, for the nice words!
I might have mentioned that I plan on getting this car on the road sometime this coming summer. I'd better keep on
ticking off items on the to do list if I will have the slightest chance to get there.

A ton of problemsolving and my energy levels low, it feels nothing much happens, but here's some  details done the
last few days anyway.

After filling and sanding, thinking it's done and primering three times, I finally gave up, it has to be good enough. 
I took the grille shell, visor and windshield frame  to the local paintshop. I decided that I won't paint this one myself,
it will be more fun in the long run to have the pint laid down by a pro.



The visor in this pic, final block sanding still to do ( for the third time).

In this before and after pic the rusty grille shell with its emblem versus the final result from tonight's work.
 It's easy to forget how big the difference actually is, when you see the stuff you're
working on every day.
 


The newly painted radiator shell, tube grille, painted radiator and block off screen. Radiator stays, lengthened
and painted, new carburetor. It's slowly coming together.

[Essex_29]

The radiator had to come off again to make brackets for the electric fan. I didn't want to use
those cheesy plastic straps that go through the radiator.



I got a universal style fan thermostat with an M22x1.5mm thread, and made a bung for it from
a nut, on the lathe.



With this, the cooling system should be done, just some assembly required.
While there was ample room, I bench tested the alternator that I didn't have a pin out for. It
tured out to be a bit odd (to me), as it needs constant power feed from the ignition circuit and
 the alt lamp is just a function, not what excites the field. It's modern and it's Japanese, go figure.



This monster of a pic, shows how I got the huge hole in the side of my steering column plugged.
First, I had cut away all the ugly tilt and turn signal thingies, and ground away the ignition lock on
 the other side. I didn't want the column to look distinctly eighties GM (it's from a Buick, probably
 fwd, no shifter).
I used kitty hair bondo, fiber glass filler, and a one quart paint thinner can with brown tape on the
inside surface, to cast a new surface in the column. It worked! Some filler later I sprayed on some
primer. At least it looks better than it did before.

[Essex_29]

I have been working on the electrics in my mind for a long time, drawing diagrams and also
done some shopping now and then. Suddenly the time has come to do something about it,
and as I'm doing it all from scratch, I stared off with mouting a row of relays under the
windsheld, took out a couple hundred connectors and cut short pieces of shrink tubing.




Long story short,  last night I got all the nine relays and 14 fuses connected. The ECU that's going to
control spark is mounted and connected, the battery is in. The dash with all the lamps gauges
and switches and everything outside still to do.

[TFoch]

Nice progress!  Good job wiring all that!

[sammons]

You've been busy!😃  I never thought those plastic fastners were a good idea for fans or trans coolers. Seems to me they would eventually rub a hole in the tubes🤔 I aways make brackets for attachment.

Those late 70s early 80s column with that ugly bump, (i call it a tumor) were a terrible idea. I buzz them or shift lever off, then grind a taper about an 1" around. Put some aluminum furnace tape inside the column as a backer, cut a piece of sheetmetal to fit the hole and JB or Loctite cold weld to bond, grind and top coat body filler for final. It's nice to see other options on here 👍

Keep at it!

[Essex_29]

Thank you TFoch. I took care not to make all the wires "long enough", like I did when
wiring the Essex, it looked awful. Zip ties are probably not seen as "period correct", but
neither is most of this build anyway.
sammons Thank you,  I have to keep busy if I want to drive this coming summer.
Yes, it's good to gather small snippets of useful ideas when you see things done in differen
ways. When I made a new bumper for my Oldsmobile Cutlass, someone told me that 3M
brown packaging tape is good to use as a release agent for fiber glass, and it works a charm.

I finally got the Engine started today!
Here's a short clip from the third start after adjusting the ignition timing some. The throttle
response is not bad for an unadjusted dual quad.  It will be interesting to see how it works
when under load.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVBdHScDP0U


The wheels are at the sand blaster's now, so no driving yet.

[sixball]

Sounds Great!!

[Rattiac]

Gonna be hard keeping tires on that.  😉
Sounds bitchin.  Subbed. 

[EDNY]

Really sounds great - great throttle response also!

[sammons]

Sounds awsome, great job Essex🙂

[Essex_29]

Thank you all, for the great support!
The engine sounds different for sure, and of course this has been a goal all in itself. I've always
gone for a bit of a dare to be different-approach .
The snappy throttle response is a bonus, and no doubt due to the very light weight, about 10 lb
aluminum flywheel. The exhaust sound will probably be very different outside, with a complete exhaust system.

Of course I've been starting the engine a few times over the last few days, and noticed a couple leaks.
A nasty looking oil puddle under the bell housing every time I filled oil or ran the engine, it didn't look great.
I also noticed a leak at the rear of the right hand side valve cover, and when I took it off, I noticed that a corner
of it was bent. A bit of massaging improved things, and some silicone gasket sealant  sealed the deal, so to
say, because that cured the crank leak too. Apparently the oil got wicked down between the engine block
and that transmission adapter, and dripped out at the bottom of the bell housing. I think I just saved myself
 a crank seal job.



The other leak is at the electric cooling fan thermostat. Some coolant seeps out, so I will have to drain the
coolant and get something done to seal it properly.

I got the wheels back from the sand blaster's where they got blasted and sprayed with epoxy. Some sanding
and paiting coming up soon.
I've thought long and hard about the color choice, ideas ranging from "gold chrome" powder coating, though
gold metallic and black gloss.



For now I've pretty much  decided on black wheels with gold metallic holes.
I really like black wheels, that was also my original plan. On top of that I've looked at a ton of pics of black
cars with gold color wheels, and black cars with black wheels. To me the black wheels look better every time.

Unless I change my mind again.

Replaced a brand new wheel bearing yesterday. I found out that my Moser drive shafts are meant to
work with C-clip eliminators, not the original style wheel bearings. I decided to go with the stock drive
shafts, and changed to a repair bearing on the driver's side.
I ordered new studs, and the new old driveshafts have to be redrilled for 5 on 5-1/2" bolt pattern.
One could be fooled into thinking that I enjoy doing things twice.

[sammons]

Glad you found the oil leak with out major pull down. 👍

I've bought several cars cheap because mechanics said engine pull due to rear main leak. Valve covers are the first thing i look at.

[Essex_29]

Yes, sammons, You'd better try working from the simpler and cheaper end of the possibilities.
A loose torque converter will easily make one think the engine is shot. Guess how I learned to use thread
locker on converter bolts. Luckily I made an educated guess that time, so it was a very easy fix.

So, I've been painting. All in all it took me four days, sanding, then painting first the back side, the other
side, masking, painting the gold and finally gloss clear. The result looks promising now, but I'll see
for real tomorrow, when the clear has hardened.

[sammons]

Lol, just last week a buddy and i were talking about those lose converter bolts, ran across several. I bought a 77-78 Chevy 1/2 ton from a local in the mid late 80s. He had been to a couple mechanic, both said rod knock. He stopped by the shop and ask if i would buy it, he couldn't afford an overhaul but liked the truck. I bought it and a week later i checked it out...   loose converter bolts. Tightened and solved knock. I called him up and told him i'd give him the pu back if he wanted. He brought my money back and was thrilled. He did mention he had a transmission installed 6 months earlier. He thanked me for my honesty and give me $100 bill for my trouble.😁

I love black and gold colors to gether. All of mine i kept polished with the slots painted black. Never thought of painting the rest.