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New heads Coming back together
Putting the distributor back in was also a little difficult because the gears wouldn't always line up with the oil pump shaft (discussed earlier). May 2: 10:55a.m. After everything was bolted together, and fluid levels were checked, I pushed it out into the driveway and started it up.
"Come on, baby. You can do it!", Colleen yelled. Yeah! It started! Better
yet, it kept on running. Go, Baby, Go! I let it run at high idle for a
while until it was warmed up. I then adjusted the carburator and checked
the timing. Looking good! Finally, we saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
After a good 10 minutes, I flushed the radiator out with fresh water while
it was still running, and then put fresh antifreeze in. Then I topped off
the power steering fluid, and checked the transmission fluid. Then I put
the hood on with the help of Chris.
Now the final test: Test drive. Remember that computer game, Chris? This is a little different. It ran pretty good, except that it probably still needed some more adjustments. It was really weird driving it down the road. It is really loose in the steering and wants to go in its own direction a little bit. Kinda like a real horse. The brakes were pulling a little to the right and it wouldn't accelerate quickly when you got on it. Maybe it needed better hay. So much for my literary talents, eh?
Later: Drove it to work the first time. Showed it off to a few people. They really liked it. Now, people seem to be a lot friendlier than they were before. Seems like you can't take your mother's advice about talking to strangers when you drive this baby around.
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Even though we've called it many things, from the Barudi Bomb to the Money Pit, we'll have to adopt a new name now. I hope to publish a scrap-book for this thing to take to car shows and cruise-ins.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this car as much as I've enjoyed transforming a beast into a beauty.
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The End
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