Started her up today! seemed to run good, but its hard to hear what the motor is doing inside. Started it with just exahust manifolds on it. I put it through a few paces, not letting the rpm drop below 2000.. gave it a few big revs to settle the cam and lifters. Suprised no one called the cops on me. It was REAL loud. I'm sure people thought I had a drag car in the garage. I let it run long enough for the thermostat to open. It got warm rather quick. Also got the tires and wheels today, and got the seats back from the upolstrey shop. (I know I spelled that wrong!) . Heres some new pics of the tires and wheels, which I cannot install until the adapters come in, and the seats.
Not bad for my first project car! My father always took good care of it though. It was always garage kept,.. This is the car I learned to drive in when I was 16. (im 28 now). It is back to the factory color again now. My dad bought the car new in 71, and drove it a few years, then the family got too big for it. He sold it to his parents. The tor. red was a little to bright for their taste, so they had it painted green, and put spoke hubcaps on it.My grandfather passed away a few years later, and my grandmother continued to drive it until she could no longer drive. The car was then handed back to my father in its green spoke hub capped state, and we decided to go back to the factory colors except the hood, which instead of getting the flat black paint, got a ladder bar sticker kit. The old 318 was wore out though and barley driveable. suspension was SHOT!. and during paint, the engine compartment and underbody of the car was overlooked. What is neat about the whole project, was that three generations of my family has had something to do with it, which to me makes the car priceless and irreplaceable. Alot of the regular maintenance on the car was done by my grandfather, before his passing. So alot of the parts I touched on the engine, my grandfather was the last to touch. That in itself made this restoration close to my heart. It has been 10 years since the outside of the car was painted, and four years in my garage trying to finish out the resto. But today, to hear that 318 come back to life, was a feeling I cannot explain.
Triggerjay
