Fitzy

Yeah, there's the occasional 'cluster' but they pounce on it straight away, so for all intents & purposes, it's more or less under control. My missus wants to go to NZ for a visit, so of course I'll be expected to tag along. I asked her where Taupo is, so we might catch up for a brewskie one day.

Painted the headers today. I've been hijacking Kiwi's thread and wasn't aware of how intrusive it must have looked. Sorry about that, guys. Now it's time to keep slogging away at my own project. I'll be sure to keep my content on my own thread from now on. I'm home for 3 weeks, so should be able to achieve something of interest. Anyway, I reckon the headers turned out nice.

Right - what a dilemma. I'll add one more comment about this: my ancient ride on mower has a side valve Briggs and it just won't die. Anyway, it developed a problem where I would pull on the throttle but the engine did whatever it wanted. After much colourful language, I pulled THAT carby apart several times as well. Anyway, one day as it's running, I pull on the throttle and actually watch the butterfly - nothing, it's just flapping loose. I pull it apart yet again and discover that the butterfly spindle is so worn that nothing is happening as far as throttle control is concerned. I guess it's another thing you could check. I'll finish the story with the funniest part: I go to the mower shop and enquire as to the cost of a replacement carby. $180 he says. I go home, google carbies and get a Chinese copy delivered TO MY DOOR for $20! Friggin' mower runs like a dream! What I'm saying is to think outside of all the regular shit that goes wrong, get out there and STUDY that engine. It'll probably be something so sickeningly simple, you'll burst back inside and tell us all about how you fixed it. I'm glad Kiwi asked about Miss Hurst Shifter - I was also perplexed. Thanks for the info - I guess it was the precursor to the modern Sports Shift.

Can someone educate me on what a His & Hers shifter is? I know Frosty & JustA have them installed but I'm intrigued. Surely, allowing the missus to shift gears is playing Russian roulette with your car!

I liked JustA's comments. He's right, of course but I get uncomfortable when I see extra bits & pieces in an engine bay that could be done without. JustA, re your 'bogging' problem. I'm imagining that when you floor the go pedal, all your engine vacuum goes to lunch, so all of a sudden there's plenty of fuel getting dumped in your engine but perhaps insufficient air until the engine gets some revs up to compensate for all the raw fuel. Does the tri power setup have additional vacuum componentry to alleviate this? Is there an effect on your ignition timing that might not be helping? On a past car of mine, once upon a time every time I needed extra power the engine would splutter and falter until I backed off the throttle pedal and it would run fine. I pulled that carby apart many times trying to find what was going on. It was faulty points and/or condenser. Once replaced, no more issues. Just something for you to consider, but I'm sure you've tried everything and are now at the 3am laying awake in bed stage trying to figure out what's going on in your engine.

I had a twin carb VW Karmann Ghia many years ago (another car I should have kept) and a Uni-Syn was the device used to balance the carbs. Really, life is too short to be bent under the hood fiddling & swearing with the intricate linkages and multiple adjustments to get the thing to run right. I insisted on lowering my car and will put up with it's shortcomings, so you go your own way. Good luck!

I just found these, if it helps...

Kiwi, have a look at the Ames catalogue - downloadable if you don't already have it. There's an entire section devoted to tri power setups. Personally, I can't be arsed fiddling with multiple carbs - one is plenty. AND I think it was 1968 or thereabouts when GM made the decision to no longer offer them, having made more power with a Rochester albeit on a larger motor, but for sheer presence and as eye candy, they look shit hot. For our American viewers, 'shit hot' means damn good.

Wow - the thin end of the wedge. Importantly, it won't affect our existing vehicles (yet) but I'm wondering who is going to bother to import a later model econo car? Surely, it's classic cars that are the target area for most enthusiasts, and it'll be those prospective owners who will be taxed for pursuing their interest. The only bright side is that any existing classic cars in NZ may experience a spike in value. Unfortunately, the report correctly stated that this was inevitable and that NZ (and by association, it'll eventually include Australia) has been lagging behind what the rest of the world is doing, but we're used to that.

Because the sky is falling in here (pre cyclonic rain is set in all day, so I get to work on The Car) I had time to consider the Potato Head fiasco. Let me ask this: If we all think the gender neutral decision was a joke, and if everyone we know feels the same, and their friends feel the same, how the hell do these ridiculous decisions get passed into law? What happened to democracy where the majority get to say what's what? How do a bunch of psychobabble goons get together and froth at their mouths and manage to get this sort of crap enacted? The same way that JustA's "cross dressing fags" get permission to use the ladies - the fringe dwelling minority jerks who have NOTHING in their lives are the ones making the rules? Really??? Oh...better stay on topic...New whitewall tyres: nothing flash, but will look nice once mounted on the Torqs. I was sure to buy tyres with the correct whitewall height. You know how whitewall height differed thru the years? Well, about an inch high is considered appropriate for the mid 60s. I took a pic of THIS tyre, because of the obvious scuff marks on the white portion. I scrubbed it with Autosol chrome polish and finished it with extra cut & polish. You're looking at it pre treatment - looks much better now.

Kiwi, I gotta ask: did you have the master cylinder rebuilt simply for peace of mind or was it in poor shape? My own car came from the States with brand new shoes (asbestos requirement-old shoes had to be disposed of and asbestos free ones fitted before arrival in Oz) and after I adjusted & flushed & bled the system, they are really good. Of course, it bothers me that 2 tonnes of iron & steel is dependant on drum brakes through a single system, in other words if they go to lunch, I'm supposed to rely on the parking brake to pull me up! I'm thinking that the very least I should do is sort the master cylinder and flex hoses. You could probably retrofit a dual braking system (not just the dual master cylinder) but it sounds like a complex solution. Maybe I'll just keep a little extra distance between me and the crushable modern car in front of me and keep a St Christopher (patron saint of travellers) figurine on the dash.

Oh, I forgot. My tyres are in Cairns, so I will actually pick them up on Monday. I shall post a pic once procured.

Dude, I'll laugh if all your ring gear teeth sprinkle down on you like metal snowflakes when you add the juice to the Roadrunner! 57 year old component sez hello to brand spanking new age 'kick in the guts' tech! Here are pics of my steering box location-a long way back, against the firewall. I was assured by Ames AND the Doug's website that these headers WILL fit. The only minor concern is that if the car was column shift, there's a minor component that will foul the headers. I can't remembef what it was: my car is floor shift, so why waste valuable brain cells remembering irrelevant facts. Eagle eyed newbies who are looking at these photos are probably thinking "why does that mad Australian have chicken wire in his engine bay?" It's there to make sure that any lost horespower is snared in the wire and fed back into the engine. All Australian cars have this feature...

I'll keep that in mind, too. I'm hoping my own Doug's headers will fit around the stock starter. If not, I'll get some details from you. 'Sigh...' With so much going on at my joint I keep walking past my Pontiac and it's covered in dust and looking forlorn, so after much deliberation have decided to send it off to a recommended mechanic who will do all the gnarly mechanical work in his properly equipped workshop. If I don't do this, I'll end up being too old to enjoy it! I will, however keep the engine & engine bay to myself: that's the sort of stuff I want to be meticulous with and be able to take my time. The ol' girl is still here - now waiting for mechanic to find time to slot it in to his workload. My new Maxxis whitewalls have turned up and my Torq Thrust wheels should be here by the end of March.

Oh man, that is FUNNY! That's gotta be one of the funniest things I've ever read, but it's true. If you're a middle aged white man, you're at the bottom of the pile. Step aside ladies, Bubba needs to put his lipstick on!

This is tantamount to being gospel: he's right guys. When this crap is over, the US is gonna go nuts and people will be spending for the sake of it. I tried to find some tradespeople to do some work at my place: HA! I ended up Youtubing it and doing it myself, because all the Aussie tradies are inundated with work due to our government splashing money around as stimulus, and they can't be bothered will piddly stuff like mine. I'm sure we don't actually HAVE that much money, it must be getting printed at a rate of knots a la Nazi Germany, and we know how they ended up. And now, back to our regular programming.

See next entry, my mistake.

Wow - that's some great content from Andy. My head started to spin when the word 'load' was mentioned and I then opted to go into 'braindead mode.' It even rhymes... I just wanted to add that my car came with the original 1965 dated Packard branded HT leads. I tested them for resistance and it was like 16k ohms, but still ran. I have since received my custom made 8mm solid core babies that'll carry voltage no matter what! Except for the one that the rat ate through. I'll never forgive that thing for that grave injustice. Anyway, true to form, the new leads show almost nil ohms. Happy electrical nightmares!

That's a good point re condition of earth straps-I shall keep it in mind. I have never heard of a Road Runner starter, but you seem happy with your previous purchase. Someone advised me to be wary of hi torque starters because they can strip ring gear teeth due to their immense torque. If my ring gear teeth are anything like my own teeth, I'll be steering clear. Now, as an aside: I have just come home from work and this was playing on my mind. Here are the results of my own compression test. Mine seem higher than yours, so perhaps your Bonnie's 389 is a different spec to the one in my GP. The 65 GP 389 is a 4 barrel, twin exhaust 10.25 motor with 325 hp thru the TH400. Your Bonnie may be different. I have taken a pic of engine specs from my 65 Chassis Manual (Faxon Literature if you don't already have one.)

That's a good point re condition of earth straps-I shall keep it in mind. I have never heard of a Road Runner starter, but you seem happy with your previous purchase. Someone advised me to be wary of hi torque starters because they can strip ring gear teeth due to their immense torque. If my ring gear teeth are anything like my own teeth, I'll be steering clear. Now, as an aside: I have just come home from work and this was playing on my mind. Here are the results of my own compression test. Mine seem higher than yours, so perhaps your Bonnie's 389 is a different spec to the one in my GP. The 65 GP 389 is a 4 barrel, twin exhaust 10.25 motor with 325 hp thru the TH400. Your Bonnie may be different. I have taken a pic of engine specs from my 65 Chassis Manual (Faxon Literature if you don't already have one.)

Hi Kiwi-my GP also has multiple earth straps. You'd think that 300kg of cast iron block would be earth enough, but I suppose if it & the trans are rubber mounted (which they are) then perhaps the additional straps take care of block to chassis earthing. Even so, one decent sized strap should have sufficed OR earth the battery direct to the chassis.

I seem to favour Ames for parts because I'm yet to receive the wrong item, the prices are very good and the stuff gets here very quickly. I can also ask advice on what they recommend, so am very happy with their service. Having said all that, it is now 10 months since I ordered front seat upholstery and it's still not here. I did some research, and am assuming that PUI are supplying the product and they are operating a skeleton crew to keep things ticking over during these difficult times. Never mind, plenty to keep me occupied in the meantime. Dontcha love buying parts that are about a tenth of what they cost down here?

Nice job, Kiwi. There's something very satisfying about the look of freshly painted rocker covers, especially when they are transformed from the rusty crud encrusted buckets that they started out as. I speak from experience, but you already know that! Oh, by the way I'm not sure if this helps, but I compression tested my own 389 some weeks ago and the readings averaged around about 180 - 190. Engine seems to run sweet, no smoke, no funny noises...having said that I've never had the chance to get the thing on the road and drive it properly. Just like you, I'm growing impatient and want some action.

Now THAT makes me feel a lot better. You did the same panels twice. Gold! Unlike you, I have another week off (the life of a FIFO worker) but will have to get stuck into some concreting on Wed. Until, then I'll keep slogging away at El Poncho. Another beer? Are you sure? Okay then.

Not much to report on Car Day. I achieved very little but cut my finger, grunted & groaned as I contorted myself in and out of the car and eventually gave up and am having a beer so as to try and relax. Kiwi, I'm not sure what state of disrepair your Bonnie is in, but if you have similar dashboard walnut trim to me, if you get the replacement kit like I did, for God's sake - ignore the instruction to lacquer the veneer prior to installation. I should have known better. Yes, it makes sense to do that, but mine curled up so much after drying that it was almost impossible to keep flat once glued into position. As a result, there are some imperfections where the curling was stronger than the adhesive (even after I clamped it down.) Fortunately, 'imperfect' describes my car, so it kinda blends in but I don't want anyone else suffering the same fate. By the time I 'finish the car' (cue much laughing, is he serious?) I will have made every mistake so that next time I'll get it right. Believe me, there will be no next time. This is my one serious automotive resurrection and it will be my last. Now, where's that beer? THERE it is! Cheers.