[Bentwheelbob]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Very nicely done there Bob (& Dave) and thank you for sharing it with me while I was away on vacation! Unfortunately there was no visual evidence left on the street that you were there! If you make it out to Norwalk, I'll show you boys how to properly power brake a stick car so others will know you have been there.

First class job on that car!

Wow, me and he Child Bride took the Black Car on a "date" tonight. Tried the manual transmission power brake trick and the results were amazing. I think I might even get lucky tonight....The smell of burnt rubber is quite the aphrodisiac.

[Bentwheelbob]

Well, My Pal Dave broke the Gold Car....Seeing your newly revived hot rod and motor on a rollback is something that usually isn't good. Fortunately, in this case it was not terminal and is already back on the road.

We got the newly modified EFE (heat riser) valve in place this morning and the exhaust hooked back up. We also installed a 180 degree thermostat. The car is completely different with two open exhaust pipes. Quite frankly it is a beast. It ran good before this problem got diagnosed, but the difference now is incredible. We took it out for a shake down cruise and wow.

There is a nice stretch of four lane highway near my house that is part of a 10 mile loop that I frequently run. I drove it out and once on the four lane took it kind of easy and kept the top speed below 95 MPH. At the turn around point I switched spots with MPD and he got out of control. As best we can figure he was running along at about 120 MPH and the car was still pulling hard. The speedo only goes to 100 MPH and it was pretty much half way between 100 and O MPH - dead nuts on 6:00 o'clock. He swears the tach was only at about 4500 rpm, but with 3.42 gears I think it was well past the red line. Regardless, the engine started making noises that sounded like a hay baler with a lot of mechanical noise from the left bank and we quickly coasted to a stop on the berm. After a few minutes we restarted it hoping for divine intervention, but it has obviously been too long since I was in church.

Once the rollback got the car home we quickly tore it apart and got the valve cover off. As it turns out the rocker slipped off the push rod on the exhaust side of number 3 cylinder. Luckily the push rod wasn't bent, and after a lot of pain pulling spark plugs and manually rotating the engine, we got the pushrod and rocker re-installed. Once everything was buttoned up it fired first time and sounded great. We took it for another shake down (with me driving) and ran it pretty hard and everything is once again good. That was enough excitement for one day.

BTW - with two exhausts and a 180 degree thermostat the engine temps stayed between 175 and 185. Perfect.

Here's a couple sad pictures.

[Judge273]

Dave looks shamed... Did you yell at him?

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

Wow, me and he Child Bride took the Black Car on a "date" tonight. Tried the manual transmission power brake trick and the results were amazing. I think I might even get lucky tonight....The smell of burnt rubber is quite the aphrodisiac.

[Bentwheelbob]

Yeah, no salute this time. He was feeling pretty bummed out. Andrea made him ride back with the tow truck driver as punishment. Of course earlier in the day he made the mistake of comparing the Gold Car to her supercharged Range Rover rocket.

We both felt a lot better when we got the valve cover off and saw the pushrod sticking up and it wasn't bent. Even better yet when we got it back together it fired right up with no drama.

I'm buffing the Gold Car out today and it's really starting to look good. It's kind of frustrating though because this is original Van Nuys 38 year old paint and it's thin and soft. I can't put much pressure on it and therefore am having to leave a lot of imperfections behind. The top radius of the B pillars are already showing through so I can't even buff those areas. Regardless, it iooks a lot better.

Everyone have a great day. Get out and beat on your car...

[Bentwheelbob]

I finished buffing the Gold Car and it really looks good. I did one pass with a light cutting pad and Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover. I followed that with Wolfgang Finishing Glaze and a polishing pad. Lastly, it got a coat of Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant. Here in a few days I'll add a final coat of liquid Carnauba Wax. I'm pleased with how it turned out. I also lightly buffed over the original hood bird with the finishing glaze and then coated it with the paint sealant. It really cleaned it up and it looks amazingly good for being as old as it is.

Here's a few pictures.

[RamAir]

Lighten up on yourself Bob, sounds like you have the problem solved ;-)


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[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Judge273

Chris, I'll be there and love to learn that trick too...

Watch Bruno's video here & it will give you the basics - pay special attention to his feet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbddnGO1_YE

....and remember, practice makes perfect!

[Judge273]

Thanks, looks like the kind of practice that's fun too!

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Watch Bruno's video here & it will give you the basics - pay special attention to his feet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbddnGO1_YE

....and remember, practice makes perfect!

Thxs for sharing the video link and technique...

1st thing I noticed was drag racer driver wearing shorts instead of long pants. I was told @ NHRA Track in Ennis TX during a DAPA meet that I had to wear long pants for safety to race on the track...which was no problem had them to change into then.

IIRC - was told Long Pants required by all NHRA tracks for insurance purposes?

[The Boss]

I'm pretty sure it's a requirement there as well Alvin, they do seem lax in the enforcement of it however. Most guys can be seen pulling sweats on over their shorts in the staging lanes but I've been known to take a pass or two with shorts on.

I've noticed Bruno does his burnout in 2nd - I've done my powerbrake in 1st and just modulated the brake/gas to keep the RPM's in a healthy range while controlling the forward motion.

[muscle_collector]

Originally Posted by The Boss

I'm pretty sure it's a requirement there as well Alvin, they do seem lax in the enforcement of it however. Most guys can be seen pulling sweats on over their shorts in the staging lanes but I've been known to take a pass or two with shorts on.

I've noticed Bruno does his burnout in 2nd - I've done my powerbrake in 1st and just modulated the brake/gas to keep the RPM's in a healthy range while controlling the forward motion.

modulated hmmmm I thought you said you exxxxxated or was that later

[The Boss]

No salute this time huh?

[Gator67]

Car looks great. I'm glad you've got things sorted out and that it's running strong and cool.

[dreamn69]

What a difference! She is a beauty Bob.

[The Boss]

Wow Bob (& Dave), just WOW!

[Judge273]

Ready for Norwalk? Doug, Craig and other big names will be there...

[Bentwheelbob]

Yeah, pretty close to ready. The car is close to done, and I've got the cigars and your favorite moonshine. I look forward to seeing everyone.

[Held for Ransom]

See you there Bob. I won't have a car there, I'll just have to look for yours.

[Bentwheelbob]

Read back through and realized I read Judge273's post and saw "Norwalk", but heard "Dayton/TA Nats" in my mind. Regretably I will not make Norwalk, but will be in Dayton. Sorry I won't get to meet you Mike, and see Craig, Judge, Doug and many other friends.

On another note, the Gold Car went to the alignment shop yesterday and got the front end dialed in. These cars handle incredibly well.