New Owner, Humbly Looking for Guidance

Final UPDATE on this thread: Saturday morning I sat the car down off the auto-dollies and went through the routine. Everything checked out. So, my son and I took it to the gas station and filled it with 90 octane no-ethanol. It went just fine. Rode it to the Waffle House and at breakfast. Then my son and I went by 72Dart's house and he checked it out. He was gracious enough to give me an OEM type air filter housing. I'm going to put it on there and see how it fits and runs with it.

After that I drove it a few places around town. It drives nice around town. It still has a few issues I will sort out along the way. The speedometer once above 40 mph or so, goes nuts, makes a bunch of racket, and I can hear the cable spinning in there. I guess the gears inside are stripped and/or there is resistance to turn the speedometer so it strips through the gears at certain speeds. The tires are 30 year old tires and act like it. The car turns about 2,850 rpm at 55 mph in top (3rd) gear, running on 14 inch tires. So, it's strength will not be interstate cruising.

It needs a thorough cleaning. I had free time on Saturday so I took it to a local area where older cars gather for a somewhat informal car show. My Scamp looked GREAT ... until I parked it in with those other cars. My car is sporting the original paint, and it doesn't shine like the cars at the car show. And it has a few dents and dings that begin to really glare with other really nice cars around. I didn't hang out long as the wife and I had a few other things to do that evening.

But, she's up and running with no major encumbrances. The new heater core works just fine.


7milesout