In world news today, the poor sob that runs this site decided to go back to free hosting to temporarily avoid the insanity that is running his own server. If customer service at the poor guys cable modem isp werent so darn sh***y, he would happily be hosting many hits a day (yeah right). In any case, I'm back to free hosting. ya, it sucks, but the uptime is something to be fairly satisfied with. In local news, lack of funds has kept both monsters from hitting the pavement. But that is what winter is for...saving up and buying parts!
Been fiddling with the 80z off and on, as spare change has permitted. And, after installing new tranny fluid and filter, which it didn't need (but playing it safe is cool), I discovered that the tranny gasket was trash, and the tranny pan bolts were less than hand tight....And I had been driving around off and on in this thing! I also found out that old qjet carb's "throttle ball" was a machined down door stop. I never really looked at it seriously before, and it had caused me many a day of consternation. Also been having a bit of time figuring out all the vacuum lines and such...at least till I accidentally found the digi pictures I took of it a few months back. I had originally thought that the reason why the car cut out at stops and red lights was because the carb needed rebuilt. Seeing as how the the vacuum line from the brake booster to the carb was nearly pinched shut, I thought this was a valid assumption. We all know what happens when we ASSUME, don't we? Well, when I finally drove the car home from my "buddy's", it did it again. A few days later, I started noticing a pool of oil getting larger, and larger, and larger. At this point in time, I got a bit depressed, after new carb, leaf springs, bushings and all, I just didn't have money to throw at it anymore. Well, when I changed the tranny pan filter and gasket, I finally took a look. While it seems like the rear oil pan seal may have had some blow by, I'm pretty convinced the oil pump is going. My "buddies" keep telling me that can't be so, but my "buddies" don't know jack. The way I figure it, even if it isn't the pump, it's cheap insurance against putting a hole in the block (did that once when I drove my old buick with a bad pump home, restarting every 10 seconds). The only thing I really fear is if I have already done damage to it, although I haven't driven it much, besides to the odd repair shop and back, I used to take it around the block once every coupla weeks when I lived in my apt. I have figured out that my electrical gremlins for the most part are caused by a severed ground. The main ground that goes from the firewall to the block was chewed thru in 3 diffrent places. While everything else has bite marks, nothing except the ground is all the way through. Right now, all I'm doing is wrapping up the little stuff: vacuum lines and such, machine and install block off plate, then install oil pan gaskets, seals, and pump, and it should be driving again. When i get that done, I can redo the top rear leaf spring bushings that were ignored last time, try to do something to the rear frame rails(bleach scarring), then concentrate on front suspension. After that, all that'll be left is t-top install, body work, paint and interior. The body work is my main concern, because cutting and welding will be involved, and it's not something I've done before. But there's a first time for everything, so we'll see how it goes. I have also decided that subframe connectors are a must.
