Turns out there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the engine. Took some work getting the ignition & fuel deliver sorted, but I've now put about 20 miles on her, and she's just a joy to drive. Motor pulls strong (even if it insists on idling at 2k) and wants to overheat when not moving. Brakes are good enough but SS lines a bleed, and new rear shoes will help. Gearbox is Right, but a new slave is going in. Steering is suprisingly tight. Goes straight-ish. Suspension feels fine.
She likes being seen around town...
I've achieved my goal of getting her running well enough to get the certified VIN inspection I need to convert the title from a Builder's title to a real title (the Sheriff's office was super nice).
Now I start really pulling things apart to make her mechanically "tits". Without TOO much mission creep (ha!).
- R&R cooling system. 4-blade fan, new hoses, temp sender, water pump, etc...
- Radiator is mounted too high. Lower it by ~1cm so cap doesn't touch underside of hood.
- New exhaust.
- Refurbished SU carbs (I was going to do it myself, but I don't have the means to fix the shaft-play myself).
- Replace throttle & choke cables.
- Brakes. Rear shoes, fix e-brake cable, SS lines.
- Clutch slave.
- Reverse light switch.
- New LED headlights.
- Figure out why speedo seems to read WAY high.
Given the new exhaust/headers, and the fact that the carbs will come off, I'm tempted to pull the engine & transmission.
This will enable me to deep clean the engine bay and will make replacing the water pump etc... easier. While in there, is the rear main seal leaking? What about the PO report (and evidence I cleaned up) that the head gasket was seeping coolant? Why not just pull the head, get it re-decked, and put a new head gasket in, while there just to be sure?
Of course, there's tons of cosmetic stuff to work on. Especially in the interior. But I'm working REALLY hard to not just start ordering stuff like new carpet, seat covers, vinyl until the mechanical stuff is sorted.
