My apologies to Chevy owners but I've always preferred the subtler
throaty rumble of a Ford V8 to that of a Chevy V8. Even the hopelessly
hacked out Fairlane engine in my snake is my kind of music. My only
complaint so far is the awful clouds of burnt oil smoke curling up for
the side exhausts while waiting for the light to change at
intersections. And I've noticed a few black puffs and the distinct odor
of raw gas intermingled with the blue clouds. So far the only carb
adjustments I've found were the idle screw and the choke cam screw. I'm
sure there's a mixture adjustment there somewhere but I didn't see one
during a quick lunch time search. Anyone familiar with 2-barrel carbs
found on these engines circa 1965. I rebuilt this carb a number of
years ago but only recall that it was pretty simple. Maybe I have a
manual for it somewhere.
For me, one of the real pleasures of a roadster is tooling around at
night. Having driven the snake enough to feel confident that I wasn't
going to get stranded, I decided it was time for a little nocturnal
action. Since I had to run a few errands last night, I figured what
better time for an evening shakedown cruise. So off we went. My
daughter and myself, that is. I was pleased to find that all of the
lights worked just fine though the headlights were grossly out of
adjustment. Well, at least they were pointed more or less down instead
of into the windshields of oncomming cars. The road up to about 20 feet
in front of me was well illuminated but I had to depend on street lights
and other people's headlights to get the real picture. Also the lights
were a tad askew so that different areas of the road were covered by
each headlamp. No big problem; just a simple adjustment. Far worse was
how utterly filthy the windshield was. I hadn't noticed this during the
day but the greasy film on the glass made every outside light a blinding
glare. A little Windex took care of that. Of course, the dinky
rearview mirror was another matter. Good thing I had a clear 360
degrees view. This I'll have to think about some more.
The cooler air outside made it easier to distinguish cockpit air leaks
from heat that was just being radiated from various heat sources inside
the car. For example, I discovered a substantial draft coming in around
the gear-shift opening on the tranny tunnel. In the daylight I noticed
that the leather shifter seal had several big tears in it. As with the
rubber rack-and-pinion boots, the extra flexing had pretty well ripped
up the dried out material. Originally this opening had been sealed with
a bellows shaped rubber boot but I had replaced that long ago with a
niftier looking red leather equivalent to match the upholstery. But the
years have taken their toll. Wonder if anyone still makes these leather
jobbers. I got the old one from one of those auto accessory outfits
that advertised in various car mags. MG Mitten maybe? Also bought a
car cover from the same outfit (I think), which I still have.
But no major problems and I was able to complete my appointed rounds
without incident and with great pleasure.
Roland Dudley
cobra@hpcdcsn.cdc.hp.com
CSX2282
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