My First Show Season Has Ended

The 2015 show season has ended and Winter is fast approaching. I’m happy with how the season went, and I even came home with six trophies/plaques. I’ve also been able to work out a few kinks over the season to make the car more pleasurable to drive. I still have a few issues to sort out. Some of those issues I will address over the Winter. A few will have to wait until I have Val detail the engine compartment for me. But at this point I feel like I can hop into the car and drive it some distance without a lot of fuss or worries. I’ve never been looking for a strictly show car. My goal was to build a well sorted driver that can hold its’ own at a casual show or cruise night.

Since my last post I installed a new/rebuilt carburetor since the idle mixture screws were inoperative on my current carburetor. I installed a Holley 650 CFM vacuum secondary carburetor with an electric choke. I installed old style fuel bowls and a balance tube to make it appear more like the original part. I wired up the choke to the stator terminal on the alternator, but i may change this to a full switched twelve volt source. And yes I did install a fuse in the wiring for protection. Holley recommends not using the alternator connection, but many people connect it up that way since it mimics the factory connection. I plan to eventually use the stator connection to trigger a relay that will power both my electric choke and electronic ignition. Right now neither are receiving a full twelve volts, but both appear to be working fine as they are. Sounds like a Winter project for sure.

Another small project I completed was tracking down and fixing a rattle I had been hearing in the right front of the car. It turned out that the right front fender had a loose mounting bolt and bent mounting. I used a couple of washers as shims to help hold it tightly in place. That should eliminate the rattle, however I haven’t road tested the car yet, and most likely won’t have an opportunity until the Spring.

I still have a number of items on the to do list that I can work on over the Winter. The wiring I already mentioned. The passenger quarter window could use a new regulator, which I have already purchased. The driver’s window may need one as well. I need to remove all four wheels so I can put the last few screws in the wheel molding trim. Finally I may attempt once again to adjust the horn button. It is too sensitive for my tastes at the moment. I have expanded my toolbox by purchasing a compressor and some air tools. That should increase the number of jobs I can do at home. I have also enrolled in welding classes at the local college. Hopefully I can become proficient enough to be able to do some of the jobs I have always needed to “farm out”. I’ll most likely only post sporadically until the Spring thaw and I get the car back out of storage.