Counting down

It's starting to get close to the day that I take the car out. I spent some time today closing up the rear end of the car. I'm pretty much done for now with access through the rear wheelwells so I put the wheelwell liners back on as well as the rear tires.

Today was the first chance I had of starting the engine cold since the carb adjustment. I'd read on F-chat that you shouldn't use the choke when starting, but I've never had much luck starting without it. This time, I decided to try it. It took a few tries, but did work. The trick is this -- pump the gas pedal 2-3 times, then crank the starter with the pedal about 1/4 down. Right after the engine fires, gently rev then let it drop down to idle and let warm up. This worked great and I will continue to use this starting technique.

The final thing to do in the engine compartment was to put the air cleaner back on. I started out by putting a dab of blue RTV on each air horn stud on the tops of the carbs. There are little bushings that go on each stud, which in turn fits into rubber gaskets on the air cleaner. These bushings have been known to try and run away when the air cleaner is pulled off. Hopefully, the RTV will keep them on the carb studs the next time I'm working in there.



I put the air cleaner back on and hooked up the ductwork to the passenger's side intake scoop. It looks like I'll need a new rubber snorkel between the air cleaner and the duct as the old one is in sad shape.