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REMEMBER TO CLICK PICTURES FOR MORE DETAIL /
LARGER PICTURE |
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Ok, I
feel like a schizophrenic, one update predicting doom and gloom and
this one that is all good.
For an
unofficial car nuts meeting we had Tom Deyle, Vince Falco, Jim
Boehly, and Jack Dennis show up to lend a hand.
There
will not be any unofficial meeting of the car nuts Tuesday or
Wednesday, but will be Thursday and Friday with an official meeting
on Saturday where the intention is to fire up the engine. This
engine has not run in over a year! It needs to live again! |
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Jack went through all the hose clamps and
removed the excess band that was sticking out to the clamps.
Verified that all clamps were tight and filled the coolant system.
The water pump was run and there are no leaks! That makes two of the
five fluid systems that have fluid and no leaks. |
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Vince removed the valve
covers, and cleaned any grime that had fallen through the holes in
the covers before they were covered with tape (more of a precaution
than anything else. He then added 8 quarts of oil into the engine.
The oil system was primed and brought to pressure. It was noticed
that there was no oil come up to the rocker arms. It turns out that
the Pontiac engine is like a Chrysler engine in that the oil for the
lifters comes through the number four cam bearing. If the cam is not
lined up so that the oil can pass through the lifters will not get
oil. Pressure did build in the system and we had no leaks! That
makes three of the five fluid systems that have fluid and no leaks. |
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Jim put
fuel in the tank (after he was reassured that the fuel system had
been gone through and that all fittings were tight). The fuel pump
was run.
Guess
what? I had forgotten to check the fittings at the carburetor. Jim
almost received a gas shower. After those lines were tightened up
the fuel system was run and brought to pressure. No leaks. That
makes four of the five fluid systems that have fluid and no leaks. |
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The
neutral safety switch in the shifter was checked (not
intentionally). We went to crank the engine over with the starter
but it would not crank.
We
brought the mulitmeter out and starter to check wiring and relays.
In checking the wiring we found the wiring for the neutral safety
switch. We then realized that the shifter was in gear (remember
there is no drive shaft and the shifter cable is not hooked up to
the transmission). There are parts coming from California to get
that task done (why are all the good parts 5 days way in
California?).
It should
be noted that all these test runs were through the wiring system
that has been installed over the last two weeks.
Speaking
of wiring the harness is almost complete. The transmission brake has
been wired; the low oil pressure warning has been wired; the volt
meter wiring has been completed; shift light wiring is complete ( in
that process the air scoop was removed and disassembled. Any bolt
that could come loose inside the air scoop has either been double
nuted, and the screws in the lights have been covered in silicone
sealer so that the carburetor will not get the chance to suck any
unwanted stray items into it. |
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Tom finished up the install of the modified
remote oil filter. He also modified the volt meter bracket and
installed it (does not sound like much until you realize this is all
stuff that has to be created). |
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We are
looking to fire the engine up that Saturday. Before that we have to
get the transmission cooling system completed and filled with fluid
(the last fluid system), the coil has to be installed, the spark
plug wires installed and the oil pressure gauge has to be plumbed.
That does
not sound like much, but tomorrow I have to move a car, Wednesday I
will be in the shop powder coating. I believe it can be done.
I talked
with Roo Man today and he said the drive shaft should have been drop
shipped today, he is checking to make sure that was done. If so it
will not be long before the dragster will be able to move under its
own power.
Don’t get
me wrong there are still a lot of loose ends to complete. Not the
lease of which is wiring the steering wheel to activate the air
shift and transmission break (we are really not sure how to
accommodate this, in the Firebird there was a lot of steering column
to rap a coiled cord around, in the dragster the steering wheel is
right up against the gauge panel and does not allow for this);
plumbing for the air shift; receive and install the control cables
for the fire system, main power shut off; driveshaft; the list goes
on, I will keep you updated. |
