Slow, Driving Rustoration 1972 Dart
Well it's been cold here and I got busy doing other things. My Silverado had a flat tire which was as good as excuse as any to just drive the Dart for the last couple of weeks. The new ECS correct chinese carter clone did fail me one day. I would say these carbs aren't too bad but the floats are just junk. Both of the ones I bought developed a sinking float within 3 weeks, just enough time to fill with gas I guess. So I got a ride home, took the first carter clone apart, and grabbed the good float out of it and all was well.
Today was a very nice winter day in Kansas, 32 at 10 AM, 48 by 3 PM so I did some work on the car. I did end up changing the right side choke hardware. The manifold temp choke was extended all the way and the plate was open about 15 degrees cold. The hardware from the first carter clone worked, it may be the ECS carb is taller. With that fixed I needed to adjust the idle and fast idle settings down again. This $65 carb is a good investment even though I'm still looking for a 4-barrel carb and intake with fuel economy in mind. This 2-barrel keep me running while I look for a good deal. She's running smooth now and is fun to drive around town. I bought a power steering pressure kit, but it looks like I don't have the right pump for the easy fix. I'll just deal with the anesthesia steering for awhile.
My girlfriend got me some 6 x 9 speakers for Christmas and I got them wired in and installed...mostly. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the package tray. I could cut a hole in them and use the included grilles, but I think they are kind of ugly in my stock interior. For now they provide some much appreciated bass compared to my two 3.5" dash speakers. I may end up making a temporary package tray until I can find a factory grilled package tray. I haven't done much car speaker installation. I was surprised to find out the the factory holes and speaker holes lined up perfectly. I had no idea that was a universal pattern.
I also finally have all my instrument cluster lights! I bought some twist in sockets to replace all my broken ones but when they arrived in December they were the wrong size. I finally got around to returning them to exchange them for the correct size. I also discovered that my headlight switch had a bad rheostat for the dash dimmer. I just pulled out the spring which was getting tangled up in the contacts and causing issues. So right now I have full on dash lights only but it is great being able to see the gauges at night! While I had the cluster out I cleaned everything up and polished the plastic lenses. Not sure why the temp gauge is less bright than the rest.
So anyway, progress is progress! I can't wait til warmer weather so I can get started on the quarter panel rust.
Well it's been cold here and I got busy doing other things. My Silverado had a flat tire which was as good as excuse as any to just drive the Dart for the last couple of weeks. The new ECS correct chinese carter clone did fail me one day. I would say these carbs aren't too bad but the floats are just junk. Both of the ones I bought developed a sinking float within 3 weeks, just enough time to fill with gas I guess. So I got a ride home, took the first carter clone apart, and grabbed the good float out of it and all was well.
Today was a very nice winter day in Kansas, 32 at 10 AM, 48 by 3 PM so I did some work on the car. I did end up changing the right side choke hardware. The manifold temp choke was extended all the way and the plate was open about 15 degrees cold. The hardware from the first carter clone worked, it may be the ECS carb is taller. With that fixed I needed to adjust the idle and fast idle settings down again. This $65 carb is a good investment even though I'm still looking for a 4-barrel carb and intake with fuel economy in mind. This 2-barrel keep me running while I look for a good deal. She's running smooth now and is fun to drive around town. I bought a power steering pressure kit, but it looks like I don't have the right pump for the easy fix. I'll just deal with the anesthesia steering for awhile.
My girlfriend got me some 6 x 9 speakers for Christmas and I got them wired in and installed...mostly. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the package tray. I could cut a hole in them and use the included grilles, but I think they are kind of ugly in my stock interior. For now they provide some much appreciated bass compared to my two 3.5" dash speakers. I may end up making a temporary package tray until I can find a factory grilled package tray. I haven't done much car speaker installation. I was surprised to find out the the factory holes and speaker holes lined up perfectly. I had no idea that was a universal pattern.
I also finally have all my instrument cluster lights! I bought some twist in sockets to replace all my broken ones but when they arrived in December they were the wrong size. I finally got around to returning them to exchange them for the correct size. I also discovered that my headlight switch had a bad rheostat for the dash dimmer. I just pulled out the spring which was getting tangled up in the contacts and causing issues. So right now I have full on dash lights only but it is great being able to see the gauges at night! While I had the cluster out I cleaned everything up and polished the plastic lenses. Not sure why the temp gauge is less bright than the rest.
So anyway, progress is progress! I can't wait til warmer weather so I can get started on the quarter panel rust.
