Carlisle was Great.
My son went with me in my 64 Val. At 38 he's getting somewhat cynical and I told him it's not just the cars but the people. We had a good time talking to different people and he was like his old fun loving self for awhile.
I was thrashing for about 2 weeks to get the new seats and carpet in. I was not expecting to spend 2 days patching holes in the floor. Wednesday night I got 5-1/2 hrs sleep. Worked 17 hrs on the car Thursday. The car was outside under a tarp and it rained 4 times during the day. Got 4-1/2 hrs sleep that night.
I was also going to change over to a 4 speed but wasted many hours trying to remove the old pilot bushing. The bread trick did not work. Same technique with grease did not work. Lisle pilot bushing tool and grease gun did not work. Fibally my son said cut it out so I put a small carbide ball end cutter in a Dremel and grooved the old bushing. Zip! 5 minutes and it practically fell out. It was that kind of stuff. Took the Hurst shifter apart and cleaned and reassembled the that. Got up at 5;30 AM and freed up the shifter rod adjusters using a torch to break them loose. Chased the threads with a die. And after all that, ended up not using it.
After all that and more I decided not to put the 4 speed in. Too many things could go wrong so we put the old 3 speed manual back in just to get on the road for the trip. Sounds easy, and always was before, but it just wouldn't go in. Got within about 1-1/4" and clunk. Even cut the hex heads off a couple 7/16 bolts for alignment. Made sure the plastic disc alignment tool still fit after every attempt. Yep, slipped right in. Tried it several times but clunk-stop.
Finally took the bell housing and clutch completely off and tried putting the trans in without the clutch or bell. The input shaft was very tight in the new bushing. Only about ,003-.004 clearance. We came up with the idea of using the actual trans as an alignment tool. Loosely assembled the clutch, no bell, supported the trans with the alignment pins and a jack in the rear. Tightened the pressure plate bolts, installed the bell, tried the trans, got a mini clunk but I grabbed the tailshaft and with a mighty heave forward, it slammed home! My son left soon after but I still had to install 3 on the tree linkage, starter, etc. That was Thursday.
Normally I would leave fir Carlisle Friday morning, drive the 5 hours and get to there about noon. My son returned about 9 and we put the buckets and seat belts in replacing the original bench. Holes had to be put in the new carpet for all that using a soldering iron. Meanwhile I put the floor mounted gas pedal in and did many other miscellaneous things. I noticed the rear brake hose was frayed (only 5 yrs old) so changed that and bled the rears. Checked tire pressure (more on that later) and changed the oil after he went home. Rolled it diwn the ramps, took it around the block, put tools away, threw a tool kit in the trunk and drove the car 12 miles home to grt my gear. (I keep it a female friend's garage) Then I had to drive another 12 miles (in the wrong direction!) to my son's house to pick him up. We left his house about 4:30 Friday and got to the motel about 9:15 Friday night.
We went to the Middlesex Diner Sat morn at 7, ate a big breakfast, drove to the show, parked, got out of the car. Uh oh! Where's my phone? Couldn't find it in the car. My son looked up the diners number and handed his phone to me. Talked to the woman about 3-4 minutes about where we were sitting, time we were there etc. But sonething wasn't registering. Finally figured out he had called the wrong diner. (Damn Google!) Talked to the correct diner and nope, they didnt have it. Left my son's number and hung up. I decided to drive BACK to the diner alone. Went right to my table, talked to the server, looked around abd then she asked the bus boy. Yep, he had found a phone and turned it into the front desk. It was ringing when i got there (my son calling). Why they didn't know it was there when i called can't be explained but I lost a full hour doing all that. Then yesterday morning I spotted the bus boy, asked if he had turned in my phone and slipped him a 20. He put it right in his pocket without looking. (Most places nowadays share all tips)
So my usual time at the show was considerably shortened. I saw a few hundred dustributors on tables so knew it was &Halifaxhops. He told me to sign the banner across the aisle at Mopar Mitch's spot so I did that.
More to come but I'm switching to a desktop in a few minutes for that. Pics are of the car thrashing, approaching a PA turnpike tunnel, and view out motel window.
My son went with me in my 64 Val. At 38 he's getting somewhat cynical and I told him it's not just the cars but the people. We had a good time talking to different people and he was like his old fun loving self for awhile.
I was thrashing for about 2 weeks to get the new seats and carpet in. I was not expecting to spend 2 days patching holes in the floor. Wednesday night I got 5-1/2 hrs sleep. Worked 17 hrs on the car Thursday. The car was outside under a tarp and it rained 4 times during the day. Got 4-1/2 hrs sleep that night.
I was also going to change over to a 4 speed but wasted many hours trying to remove the old pilot bushing. The bread trick did not work. Same technique with grease did not work. Lisle pilot bushing tool and grease gun did not work. Fibally my son said cut it out so I put a small carbide ball end cutter in a Dremel and grooved the old bushing. Zip! 5 minutes and it practically fell out. It was that kind of stuff. Took the Hurst shifter apart and cleaned and reassembled the that. Got up at 5;30 AM and freed up the shifter rod adjusters using a torch to break them loose. Chased the threads with a die. And after all that, ended up not using it.
After all that and more I decided not to put the 4 speed in. Too many things could go wrong so we put the old 3 speed manual back in just to get on the road for the trip. Sounds easy, and always was before, but it just wouldn't go in. Got within about 1-1/4" and clunk. Even cut the hex heads off a couple 7/16 bolts for alignment. Made sure the plastic disc alignment tool still fit after every attempt. Yep, slipped right in. Tried it several times but clunk-stop.
Finally took the bell housing and clutch completely off and tried putting the trans in without the clutch or bell. The input shaft was very tight in the new bushing. Only about ,003-.004 clearance. We came up with the idea of using the actual trans as an alignment tool. Loosely assembled the clutch, no bell, supported the trans with the alignment pins and a jack in the rear. Tightened the pressure plate bolts, installed the bell, tried the trans, got a mini clunk but I grabbed the tailshaft and with a mighty heave forward, it slammed home! My son left soon after but I still had to install 3 on the tree linkage, starter, etc. That was Thursday.
Normally I would leave fir Carlisle Friday morning, drive the 5 hours and get to there about noon. My son returned about 9 and we put the buckets and seat belts in replacing the original bench. Holes had to be put in the new carpet for all that using a soldering iron. Meanwhile I put the floor mounted gas pedal in and did many other miscellaneous things. I noticed the rear brake hose was frayed (only 5 yrs old) so changed that and bled the rears. Checked tire pressure (more on that later) and changed the oil after he went home. Rolled it diwn the ramps, took it around the block, put tools away, threw a tool kit in the trunk and drove the car 12 miles home to grt my gear. (I keep it a female friend's garage) Then I had to drive another 12 miles (in the wrong direction!) to my son's house to pick him up. We left his house about 4:30 Friday and got to the motel about 9:15 Friday night.
We went to the Middlesex Diner Sat morn at 7, ate a big breakfast, drove to the show, parked, got out of the car. Uh oh! Where's my phone? Couldn't find it in the car. My son looked up the diners number and handed his phone to me. Talked to the woman about 3-4 minutes about where we were sitting, time we were there etc. But sonething wasn't registering. Finally figured out he had called the wrong diner. (Damn Google!) Talked to the correct diner and nope, they didnt have it. Left my son's number and hung up. I decided to drive BACK to the diner alone. Went right to my table, talked to the server, looked around abd then she asked the bus boy. Yep, he had found a phone and turned it into the front desk. It was ringing when i got there (my son calling). Why they didn't know it was there when i called can't be explained but I lost a full hour doing all that. Then yesterday morning I spotted the bus boy, asked if he had turned in my phone and slipped him a 20. He put it right in his pocket without looking. (Most places nowadays share all tips)
So my usual time at the show was considerably shortened. I saw a few hundred dustributors on tables so knew it was &Halifaxhops. He told me to sign the banner across the aisle at Mopar Mitch's spot so I did that.
More to come but I'm switching to a desktop in a few minutes for that. Pics are of the car thrashing, approaching a PA turnpike tunnel, and view out motel window.
