And ladies too. Well I thought the 948 was going to run for the first
time, since 1976, today. I have our friendly suppliers of premium parts
to thank for the delay. I have everything hooked up and installed
except for the foot pedals. I used my 2 week vacation to finally get
some work done on my restoration and things were progressing very well.
When I started 2 weeks ago( I go back to work on Monday) the only thing
installed on the car was the suspension, wheels and brakes. Now I have
only to assemble the master cylinder (keep thinking of Felix the Cat
cartoons and the bad guy Master Cylinder) and hook up the foot pedals.
In two weeks I installed the instrument panel and all the instruments,
wired the whole car, installed the drive train and all accessories
(generator, water pump, starter, etc.,etc.) I filled the reproduction
tar top battery with acid (made a mess) and it needed very little
charging. It's on the float charger now. The radiator is installed
with the side brackets and air intake assembly. All instruments are
wired and gauges are hooked up to the engine and radiator to read temp
and pressure if and when I get it started.
All I had planned to do today was put oil in it and prime and turn
it over so oil would be distributed throughout the engine in preparation
to starting it for the first time in 24 years. Well, thanks to VB
and/or Moss it won't happen again today. Every time I filled something
with a fluid, there was a leak! The first thing I filled was the oil
filter with a little oil so upon first startup it wouldn't be dry too
long before the assembly lube was used up. Of course the canister
leaked. The rubber seal at the top and bottom leaked. Off to the parts
store for a thicker O-ring made out of rubber, not plastic so it would
seal. Luckily I had another oil filter element and used the ring seal
for the top of the canister for that. Leak cured.
On to the cooling system. Mix antifreeze with distilled water
(very hard water here in southern Calif.) and start to fill the system.
As I'm pouring, it starts pouring out the side of the block! So that's
the direction of the little handle on the reproduction brass valve to
drain the block. Turn the handle 90 degrees, the flow stops, BUT now a
constant drip, drip, drip from the barrel of the valve when it's
closed! I give up for today! After 12 hours today (I thought I'd be
pumping oil through the engine by lunch time) I'll have to wait for yet
another tomorrow to try it again. I have to find something to plug the
hole where the antifreeze drain valve goes in the block. I'm determined
to hear this thing run before I go back to work!
Anyone know where to get a decent antifreeze drain valve for the
block?
Mike Maclean-60 Sprite
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