Next thing up was the carburetor. It came with a sad old aftermarket Carter AFB with a manual choke. Dig that custom vacuum plug on the back!
After sitting for 13 years, I didn't have high hopes for it. I tore it apart for a rebuild. The fuel bowls were coated with varnish, and all the brass parts had turned green, but I cleaned everything, polished up the brass, installed new floats and set them per the directions in the rebuild kit, installed a new accelerator pump, and put it all back together with new gaskets.
Sadly, it was a waste. No amount of fussing or tuning would get the car to idle with that carburetor. I worked on it for over a week in the evenings, no dice. I tore it back off the car and went back through it to make sure all the gaskets were in correctly, no dice. I plugged off all the vacuum accessories and tried tuning with just the carb, no dice. I looked for leaks using carb cleaner... I finally gave up and ordered a Holley. I had a Holley on my 1980 Trans Am street/strip car, and I had it tuned up great, so I guess I just went for what I know.
That's a 670 CFM Street Avenger with an electric choke. The wire from the original electric choke was still there, so I spliced into it and it works just fine.
The "Chrysler throttle lever" from Holley didn't actually fit or put the linkage in a spot that worked, so I made my own out of a piece of aluminum plate. I drilled the holes on my mill, then shaped it with the angle grinder and a hand file. Funny thing, I put that Holley on and had the car running in 5 minutes. I guess that Carter was the problem.
Notice that the kickdown linkage is missing. I thought the car might have a manual valve body, but when I finally got it back down on its wheels to try it out yesterday, I found out that is not the case. A Lokar cable and bracket should be here Tuesday. (Thanks to the FABO members who replied to my questions about this yesterday).
Yesterday I changed the transmission fluid and filter, engine oil and filter (which reminded my why headers are such a pain in the butt), and topped off the power steering fluid. Now it runs and drives, at least up and down the driveway.
On to the next steps!
The tires are old and ozone checked. It came with a spare set of Cragar S/S unilugs, but the rears are 15x8 with 3" backspacing. the rim is even with the fender... I don't think they're going to work. I'm looking at 15x8s with 4 1/2" back spacing in the rear, and 15x7 with 4" back spacing in the front. I am hoping I can run 235/60R15s in the rear and 215/65R15s in the front? Does this seem reasonable, or am I in danger territory with those sizes?
The engine in this car is a mystery. According to the VIN and other evidence it was originally a 318/904 car. The original stuff is long gone. PO didn't know if the current engine is a 340 or 360. He advertised it as a 360 because he thought it was better (LOL). The air cleaner says 340 4 barrel, but nothing in the drivetrain is original so there is no reason to expect that to be either. The headers are so tight to the block that I haven't been able to read the casting info on the block. Here is what I do know:
It has 915 heads with stamped rockers.
Compression test is around 155 psi for 6 of the 8 cylinders. I have to pull the driver's side header to get to the last 2 cylinders so I can check them and replace their spark plugs. I'll hopefully read the engine info off that side of the block while the header is loose!
It has a healthy cam. The idle is very choppy. I can get it to idle around 850 - 900 RPM with about 8" of vacuum. That is the most I've been able to get out of it so far.
With a dynamic compression ratio over 10:1 and healthy cam, does anyone have any guesses to my static compression ratio? I'm thinking I will probably need to run premium with an octane booster at a minimum.
Right now it has a factory intake manifold with spreadbore to square bore spacer. It came with a Torker II intake and another mystery camshaft in the trunk. The Torker II was definitely installed on an engine at one time. I suspect PO wasn't running it on this car due to hood clearance. I don't know if I will use it, I am leaning towards an RPM Air Gap manifold when the time comes.
The rear end is a 8 1/4" open diff with roughly 3.2:1 gears. What is common for these? 3.21, 3.23? I am not sure if I want to stick with this unit and install a Powertrax in it, or go whole hog and install a 8 3/4" Sure Grip with big gears. I had 3.73:1 gears in my old Trans Am. Without overdrive it was kinda miserable on the freeway. I'm thinking 3.23:1 gears with limited slip might be a little more reasonable for this street/strip build.
So, that's where I am right now. I'm moving from "triage" to "treatment" with this car. It needs quarter skins, and the right rear outer wheel house. The rockers will need to be replaced too, there is a lot of bondo in the right rocker. The floor pans are solid except for a small area where the undercoating came off. I have done floor pans and small panel patches, but never a whole quarter skin. This will be a new challenge for my meager welding abilities. I'm trying to keep the budget for this car under control, so my plan is to do all the work myself and live with the results. With winter coming it won't be on the road much. I am torn, just accept the body flaws and enjoy it next spring, or start the body work now knowing that it may not be back in one piece for at least a year.
