Arrrrgghhhh!
 

Yesterday I finally got the gas tank installed, and got everything else hooked up. I poured in the break-in oil, filled her up with antifreeze, put the battery in place and was ready to pour in some gas and fire it up for the first time in seven years, and......no keys! I looked everywhere, for over an hour, no freakin' keys! Arrrgghhh! Finally, it was getting late and I had to head home, about 20 miles from the shop, before the little woman got too ticked off waiting dinner on me. Closed up the shop, jumped in the truck and there in the floor of the truck were........the keys! Arrrgghhh! Guess I didn't look "everywhere."

So, tonight after work I head over to the shop to see if the long anticipated blessed event will take place. If it goes as planned, I'll post it here. If not, crying may be posted here instead.

Good Luck!

Good luck, Bill!! I know the feeling of anticipation after not starting mine up until 2012-- 26 years!

Heck, I feel that way after a long winter. Good luck!! "Bill"!

Well, the stars weren't in alignment tonight. Cranked it for a while to get the oil flowing then put the spark to it. No dice. She tried to start a couple of times, but just wouldn't catch. Finally ran the battery down and had to give it up until this weekend. I'll have to take the methodical approach instead of just hoping that for once it would be different and it would just fire up. It is getting gas, so it comes down to electrical. I'll double check the distributor positioning vs. TDC on the power stroke. Points are way off, so I'll have to set them with a gauge initially I guess.

Went over to the shop on Friday evening to work on a few of the electrical issues. Turns out the heavy paint and some powder coated parts were preventing some of the grounds from making good connections. After I got done with that I decided to turn the key just for the heck of it and she started up almost instantaneously, like she had been waiting all this time to burst back to life! Wow! I grabbed the dwell meter and timing light and set both and she's purring like a kitten.

That motor is running smoother than I ever remember it running. I've got a stock 389 4bbl with a Gardner exhaust systems reproduction of the original system (you know, the one we couldn't wait to modify to make louder back in the day) and man, is it quiet! I'm so use to the "lobbitty, lob" from my other 64 with the 428, cam,headers, etc. that I'd forgotten how quiet these cars were when they were new.

I took a video with my iPhone and put it on YouTube. The light is poor, as it was dark out and the hood keeps the shop lighting from shining under the hood, but you can get the idea......it runs! Only problems I saw were a small oil leak from one of the rechromed valve covers (didn't think it looked quite square when I got it back from the chrome shop) and a small antifreeze leak where the top hose joins the thermostat housing.

There's still a lot of stuff to be done before she gets back on the road, but I am some kind of psyched to get 'er done!
http://youtu.be/N5dzTMvyM4U

Man that sounds good Bill!

Yeah!!! Now I can finally return to San Antonio!!! You are right about the stock exhaust system being quiet. I can't hardly hear my '64 convertible with the stock exhaust when its running. Quite a difference from my stock post coupe with headers, or my stock 64 Old Ble convertible with 2.5" and X pipe.

Thumbs Up Bill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom Vaught

Andre, let me know when you're coming and that will give me added incentive to stay on it until it's done! Major items needed: bleed brakes, hook up center cable for parking brake, install windshield and trim, install roof (have it installed by someone who knows what they're doing), install interior, adjust weatherstripping, install a few remaining trim pieces and, finally, decide on what tires I want. That's not really all that much when you think about it.

Hi Bill, Do you have the belt molding or well molding installed? If not, I sure would like a picture of one of the clips between the deck lid and the top. The ones the stainless snap on. THANKS. "Bill"!

Bill,
No, I haven't installed that moulding yet. I have the original clips, or what's left of them, and the repops I bought and can take a pic when I go over to the shop this coming Saturday. There's also some fabric that goes under those clips to keep them off the paint. What I took off was old and shredded so we found something very similar to take its place. Bummer is I have to cut it as it's a little too wide.
Bill

Thanks Bill, I'm getting ready to remove my moldings for restoration and I don't remember what those clips look like. "Bill"!

Clips
 

Bill Ryder, here's some pics of those clips that hold the moulding on. The one I found was in pretty good shape and even had the material still attached to it. The material wraps around the car body and then the clip slides on over top of it. There's spring action on both the top and bottom of the clip to hold the moulding in place. I bought a set of the repop clips and they look just like the originals.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pseac317f9.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps66c20317.jpg

Thanks Bill! So you are saying the clip, with the material in the center, slides over the pinch welded metal? That would put the long thin bull horns on the clamp to the front of the car? And when the stainless trim comes off, the clips stay inside the stainless piece. Is that correct? How many clips on the back piece?. "Bill"!

Yes, you've got it. The material wraps around the pinch weld and the clip goes on over the material. I counted 22 total clips, but I couldn't tell you how many were on each piece. Here's a pic of how it goes, but without the material:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps9e5257ea.jpg

Don't mean to change subjects but looking at your picture the body caulk in your water trough could stand to be replaced. This area is prone to major water leaks and is not the easy to redo once the top is on. Don't ask me how I know.

Thanks, OldeG, I hadn't noticed, but will definitely do so. Making these cars leak proof is no easy job and when you're concentrating on getting the right parts on correctly it's easy to overlook something like that. Any recommendations on putty or caulk? I've been using 3M strip caulk on a lot of areas since I can't find the original butyl.

I used Norton strip caulk as I had 'in stock' but 3M is fine. I thought I did a good job on mine using seam sealer in a tube prior to top install but later after first wash this area leaked. I spent about three hours on my back in the trunk with a flash light and mechanics mirror adding extra strip caulk. It can be done but try to avoid.

One other thing I forgot to mention, don't trust your old seam sealer/body caulk your new sealer is only as good as your substrate. Remove all old stuff and apply new material.