[b-man]

Nice.

The owner’s wife will be ecstatic seeing the family’s car so well loved and cared for.

[SD455DJ]

Thanks B-man! I'm writing her an update letter tonight with pictures of the car and to find a time when I can drive it over to her condo to let her see it and go for a spin.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

The first real test of the Custom S since acquiring it this past January went without a hitch, except for running out of gas on the way to the gas station 4 miles away to begin the trip. It ran out just ½ mile shy of the Mobil station…ohh, so close…hopefully not a harbinger of things to come! Well, nice to say, that was the worst thing that happened since the gas gauge isn’t working now, for some reason (it’s pegged to the high side of full) so we’ll be chasing the grounds and checking the sending unit in the tank. Other than that, the Custom S drove like a dream, smooth and straight down the road, quiet and tight body, no rattles or squeaks, and the handled very well in the twisties along the route that Jeff planned.

The shorter F70-14 tires (actually 215R70-14) combined with the 3.55 rear gears made for 3200 rpm travel at 70 mph on the interstate, but the littler 350 HO seemed to like it. We had a lot of stop & go & wait traffic along the cruise route due to 2 different accidents that diverted traffic the same way we were going. Despite all that, it managed 15.5 mpg, so could have easily achieved 16.5 mpg in normal traffic conditions. The 350 HO/3.55 rear gear combo makes for a very peppy ride with plenty of torque off idle. It had no problem keeping up with a 2005 GTO and a ’78 WS6/W72 TA. We drove a total of 256 miles with air temps in the low to mid 80’s and the coolant temp never got above 180 degrees. Never heard or felt any pinging or detonation with 93 octane E10 fuel thanks to the factory slow ignition advance and the great cooling system. The exhaust system sounds great out the back…very factory sounding, but you can barely hear it inside the car. We are really happy with the way the Custom S performed.

Now we just have to get the front seat back from the upholsterer and then show the OO’s wife the finished car.

Dennis