Listers:
Well, good news this evening. I have everything back in the car,
and took it for a spin with some gorgeous weather. Wahoo! Maiden voyage
after the engine rebuild.
As to my leaking freeze plugs, well it seems those of you who
suggested getting the motor through a couple of heat cycles might stop
the leaks were correct. The leak at the front of the motor turned out to
be weeping at the junction of the water pump and the pump housing. I had
not torqued the nuts on the studs quite enough. An additional half turn
on each nut solved that leak.
The oil leaks; well, they were in fact due to using straight
plugs from the hardware store rather than the tapered plugs. I replaced
every oil gallery plug with the tapered variety, and one of them still
leaked (near the timing cover, so I didn't need to pull the tranny). A
little Teflon tape, and voila, no leaks! Hey, I'm on a roll.
The new overdrive works great! It will take a little getting
used to because the switch turned out to be pretty close to the turn
signal lever, so I have engaged the OD more than once rather than the
turn signals. Things get quiet when the OD engages. All you non-OD
girlie boys out there can eat your hearts out.
Flies in the ointment; My speedo is dead. Not sure what went
wrong, but I will be doing a little trouble shooting on that. My high
beam lens had fallen off in my speedo, so I had it apart for a quickie
repair. I am afraid I may have buggered it. Drat! Turn signals don't
cancel, and the steering wheel is not centered. I still can't get the
mixture adjusted per Bentley. It always stumbles when I raise an air
valve, no matter how little I raise it. Hmmmm.
It starts and runs GREAT. Mid range with the new cam is very
nice. Definitely has more edge to the exhaust note, so I hope it doesn't
get annoying. The Yokohamas really improved the ride, as my old red
lines were rock hard, and mostly bald. New rubber always makes huge
difference.
Other things to check: Vacuum retard, centrifugal advance, get
the radio back in, start thinking about paint next fall. Chassis rebuild
coming up, so will need brake lines, diff mounting kit, wiring harness,
etc...
Yeehaaaw!
I'm baa-aaack!
Vance
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