Really, Just One

Click here for a Video, "Last tow for Glinda."

Last night I completed the transaction of selling Glinda. For the first time in nearly fifteen years, there is not a road-going Corvair available for me to drive. As I mentioned previously, Scarlett is being mothballed so my TTT (see sidebar definitions) is completely focused on my LeMans.

The closure of Glinda’s sale was not without a few iffy moments. First, the buyer hadn’t contacted me for a while. In fact, the last contact we had was him acknowledging my sending him detailed photos of Glinda’s rough spots. I was afraid he was having second thoughts, and I was fretting about dealing with the deposit he’d sent me. Then, Friday I received a text from him explaining how he’d injured himself at work, and asking me if I’d be will to transport the car to his home in northern VA. He said he had the balance of payment in cash on-hand, so I agreed to take the risk he may still renege and I’d be towing the car back home. I got to his place just after twilight. He did a thorough inspection and test drive, handed me the money, I signed over the pink slip, and it was done. I was out of the Corvair-driving business for the foreseeable future.

And Then There Was One

What a momentous weekend. Last Saturday, I sold Luna and took a deposit on the sale of Glinda. Within a couple hours, my car-world went from Corvair-centric to LeMans-centric, and I couldn’t be happier. Once the sale of Glinda is complete, I’ll be putting this blog, as well as Scarlett’s wreck repairs, on hold.

My efforts to document the trials and tribulations of old car roadification will not end however. I’ll be creating a new blog that will start with the extraction of my 1965 Pontiac LeMans convertible from its storage spot behind my garage. This long-suffering car needs plenty of attention to get it back on the road after twenty-three years of sitting. Really, this car has never been roadworthy since I bought it in 1985.

Back to what happened this weekend. I got a call last Wednesday from a guy in PA interested in Luna. He told me how he’d fixed up a couple Corvairs before (a EM coupe and a LM 4-door), but always wanted a convertible. He’d sold the two he’d had and was in the market for a project. I answered all his questions, and we ended the conversation with him saying he was interested. Saturday morning I got a call asking if he could come by that afternoon. I gave him my address and he arrived around three in the afternoon. After about forty-five minutes of talking to me and thoroughly checking out the car, he asked me how far down I’d go. We went back and forth until we settled on a sale price of $1700 plus the cost of gas for me to deliver the car. I believe he got a very good deal, but, more importantly, Victoria (the daughter who’d bought this car back in 2012) and I can move on.

The story of Glinda’s (presumed) sale is very different. Around ten Saturday morning I had the following text conversation with an unknown phone:

Him: Hello Tom do you still have the 68?
Me: Yes
Him: Standing here with Lee he says I need to buy it.
Me: Tell Lee I think he's a smart man

I didn’t hear anything more until soon after Luna’s buyer had departed. Then, a long-ish text popped up explaining who the sender was and making me an offer of $2500 to buy Luna, the 140 engine pieces, and my tow-bar. I replied that the engine stuff had been sold and I needed to keep the tow-bar since I still had old cars that would probably require a tow in the future. He then asked a few questions and I answered them and he offered me $2000 and I accepted. He PayPal-ed me a deposit and we made plans for him to come and conclude the deal in two weeks.

And with that the fleet has shrunk to one.

UPDATE: Luna has sold and is gone. Recurring Theme (i.e. Luna’s also for sale)

UPDATED 1/10/17: Added more photos to the bottom of the post.
UPDATED 1/9/17: Added video links.

Last week Victoria told me I should sell Luna for her. She has accepted the fact that her life is too busy to spend the time required to roadify the car. I feel badly for her because she really likes the car, but I can’t work on it without her. Add to that her supposedly reliable, modern car sucked all the spare car time she had during the first half of last year, and she’s in no mood to give up what little free time she has on another car. I put a listing on Facebook and Craigslist and have received the following notable responses: trade for a motorcycle (had to say no), low-ball offer, “I’m still looking and will get back to you,” and an appointment for someone to come by Saturday to look at her. Currently, her battery is dead, but I plan on jump-starting her Saturday morning and adjusting the carbs so she at least runs and drives for any prospective buyer. I toyed with the idea of welding in the patch panels in the rockers and the front fender, but there are too many other priorities in my life right now.


With that said, here’s the pertinent info on Luna. She has a 110HP engine with a Powerglide automatic transmission. Currently, the engine doesn’t run since she needs a battery and a tuning of the newly rebuilt carburetors. She has new tires and a new top, but the top’s installation isn’t perfect - needs some adjustments. There are rust issues in the rocker panel, right front fender, and passenger door, but replacement panels and door are included. The odometer reads 24k miles, but I’m sure it’s 124k. The top is manually operated, but goes up and down easily. We’re asking $2000 for the car with the extra parts. More photos at the bottom of this post. Here's a video of the engine running. Here's a video of me driving the car around our neighborhood.


As I mentioned in my last post, I am selling the parts needed to build a 140 HP engine. Here are a couple photos of the major parts included (note buyer gets two blocks to choose from). Also included is a bin of internal parts including the lifters, rods, pistons, oil pan, fasteners, etc.

I’ve not had any offers on Glinda as of yet, but I’m still hopeful a buyer will come along soon.
As part of my Corvair Reduction Plan, I’ve taken another load of GUPs up to the Corvair Ranch. In return Jeff presented me with a front end of another ’64 to use to repair Scarlett. This cleansing has allowed me to take down the storage shelves in the garage making more room for working. Unfortunately, after pushing Scarlett against one wall, there’s still a large part of floorspace is being taken up by aforementioned front clip. Hopefully, this weekend I can cut it down to something that’s closer to what I need and recycle the rest.


Here are more photos of Luna.

UPDATE: Glinda has SOLD. Time For Another Change (i.e. Glinda's For Sale)

UPDATE: Deal went through. Car has gone to VA.
UPDATE: Well, actually I have a deposit on her sale. Fingers are crossed it goes though.





For Sale: 1968 500 coupe. Tripoli Turquoise. Was a 110/PG, now has a four speed manual transmission with a posi rear differential. Engine is the stock 110 with 75k miles and runs strong. All the smog equipment is long gone. This was my daily-driver until the salt hit road here in Baltimore.

Other changes from stock include: relocated jets in the carbs, Z-28 wheels, lowered one coil all around, Koni shocks, polyurethane bushings, quick-steer arms, Roger Parent throttle linkages, Cobalt seats, raised air cleaner, Flowmaster muffler, Pertronix II ignition, Seth's plug wires.

Extra parts included: solid trunk-lid, solid trunk bottom, tight steering box, choice of Corsa dash w/ gauges or manual transmission Monza dash with gauges, driver’s door panel, leftover touch-up paint, rear bumper, 5-point harness.

Also available are the following 140 HP engine parts: '66 RM code block, crank, cam, distributor, like-new heads, exhaust manifolds, '65 throttle linkage, two secondary carbs built by Grant Young and never used, and upper engine shrouds.

I’ve driven this car at NECC events and it is a blast to drive - competitive too. Brett Aston is fast and drives a quick Corvair. At New York Safety Track, his best lap was 2 minute flat. My best lap was 2:03.

The whole package can be yours for $2700. Minus the 140 engine stuff, I’ll let it go for $2100.

So Much To Do, So What Do I Do?

There’s a guy here in Maryland who recently posted on Facebook that he’s looking for a daily-driver Corvair. Given all the work ahead of me with Scarlett and, probably, Luna, I’ve been toying with the idea of trading Glinda for something more modern – like a mid-90s MX-6. So, after some thought I messaged him that I’d sell Glinda for $2200. He says he’s interested, but nothing’s happened.

If Glinda didn’t need so many little issues dealt with, I wouldn’t even consider giving her up, but she does, so I am. In addition to the items on the To-Do list (see sidebar), here’s a mostly complete list in no particular order.

Install the Cobalt rear seat

Clean and reinstall the carpet
Fix the courtesy light
Repair and install the GUP driver’s door panel

Replace the rear bumper

Install the GUP steering box
Splice the broken oil pressure gauge tube and replace the ferrule at the rear of the gauge
Remove the heater fan and clean and lube the motor
Replace the package tray cardboard with something that will accommodate speakers
Install a good mount for the racing harness shoulder belts
Bolt down the fourth hole of the each Cobalt front bucket seat
Weld in a new trunk bottom

Rebuild the blinker switch
Plug the smog hole and AT dipstick hole in the engine bay

Replace the gauge panel with a GUP I’ve got from a manual shift car (need to choose 500 or Corsa style)
Replace the hood with a GUP I’ve got

Eradicate rust: rear shock towers, multiple body locations




Paint the car orange

Kinda’ daunting given all my other commitments (put big sad face here). She runs really well right now, so I do love to drive her.

Exhausting Work

Night before last, I finally got some time to work on Glinda’s leaky exhaust. I had thought that the donuts (gaskets) between the exhaust manifolds were the only failed parts in the system, so I backed Glinda up on the ramps to do a remove-and-replace (R&R). After letting the pipes cool down, I unbolted the two manifold flanges and the hanger strap and slid the exhaust assembly out from under the car. The next chore was to clean off the old gaskets which had hardened to into rings of rock. My quarrying tools of choice were hammer, small cold chisel, and a couple screwdrivers. Way too many minutes later most of the old stuff was off and I was able to wirebrush the rest off at the bench grinder. I’d previously purchased a couple new gaskets from Gary the Corvair guru a week ago, so I slipped them on and slid myself and the assembly back under the car and bolted everything back together. With the engine fired up, I immediately noticed I hadn’t solved the entire problem. There was still exhaust escaping someplace other than the tailpipe. I slid under the car again and felt around until I found pulsing hot air from the top side of the joint where the straight pipe goes into the crossover pipe. Out came the assembly again and my MIG welder made molten metal closing up the crack. Sadly, the last extraction broke the rubber piece of the muffler hanger, so I had to R&R with a GNP that I had sitting in a cubbie. Once the assembly was properly bolted into place, the only exit available for the exhaust was outlet of the Flowmaster. The car sounds soooo much nicer now.

One other quick task I did before calling it a night was to get out my Vernier calipers and measure the journals of the crankshaft I’d removed from Corsavert. For the mains, I got 2.0985 for all four. The manual says they’re acceptable between 2.0978 and 2.0988 for #1 and #2 and 2.0983 and 2.0993 for #3 and #4, so I’m good. For the rods, I got a range of 1.798 to 1.800. The manual says they need to be between 1.799 and 1.800, so I’m a thousandth low on two. The reason I did this was I wanted to see if I could buy standard bearings and begin assembling a 140 horsepower engine for Glinda. I think I’ll buy the standards and cross my fingers that my measurements are a hair off. The proof will be when I check the assembly using Plastigauge. That’s more accurate than a Vernier caliper.

A Quick Trip to the Pick-a-Part

Yesterday evening I spent about forty-five minutes in the garage between getting home from work and dinner. Since Glinda is now running on the two racing carbs, I wanted the spark plugs to be clean so I can best determine if the fuel mixture is not too lean or too rich. I pulled all six of plugs and wire brushed them back to silver goodness. The photos below show their condition as they came out of the engine. Plugs 2,4, and 6 are on the side that had the race carb on it for a couple weeks now and they look a little sooty (rich), while the 1, 3, and 5 plugs were on a stock carb and they look like the mixture was pretty close to right on. I’ll drive her a bit and recheck the plugs. I may go to a slightly smaller jet from the #53 that’s in both carbs. With a little time left before dinner, I yanked off the stock throttle linkage assembly and starter the reinsallt of the fancy after-market setup. I didn't complete the project, but it's nearly done.




At lunch today I popped over to Crazy Ray’s to see what was available. I’ve been toying with relocating Glinda’s battery out of the engine bay, so I was looking for a BMW so I could harvest their battery cable. BMW typically puts their battery in the trunk and uses a long, thick cable to get the juice to the fuse panel. Within the first couple minutes of entering the yard, I came upon a 3-series. About a half-hour later I had a cable in my now-filthy hands. My Leatherman’s knock-off did a great job freeing the cable from its German home. I came back to my desk at work and promptly ordered a battery box off Amazon. Now it’s just the effort of the install and I can cross another item off the To-Do list.

Nothing to See Here

Victoria has committed to spending at least four hours a week working on her convertible during the Fall and Winter, so the first step was dealing with Luna’s home. Wednesday evening she and I spent an hour or so putting a new cover on the portable garage. It was nice to rip the nasty, worn out one off and expose Luna in all her ignored glory. She’s in need of a good cleaning since the resident cats like to nap on her. The plan is to get her running first so we can drive her between the portable and permanent garages allowing us to do the work in heated comfort but not tying up the heated area when she’s not available. In order to make that happen, I first need to end the carburetor adventure I’ve been on.

That started last night when I successfully got the second modified carb functioning properly on Glinda’s engine, but not without some shenanigans. To catch up: a few weeks back I used the newly modified bases (relocated jets) and tops (vents tubes added) and put together two racing carburetors with GUPs and new gaskets. I bolted them on to Glinda and the left carb flooded – stuck float. I pulled the top, checked the float (it was fine) and needle-and-set (also fine), put it all back together, and re-started the engine. This time there was no flooding, but the left side of the engine was not working right. I swapped back on the previous carb and set the racing carb to the side. Fast forward to last night when I tore down the misbehaving racing carb and blew out all the passages before putting everything back together with new gaskets and installed it onto Glinda’s engine. This time the engine fired up without any gas geysers. I blipped the throttle a few times while looking down the throat of the left carb to see if there was a squirt from the accelerator pump, but there didn't appear to be any. I shut off the engine and tried to blip the throttle again only further this time, but the throttle wouldn’t go past halfway. Irr. I investigated and discovered the linkage rod was hanging up on the tip of the tab that rides on the fast idle cam (see the surfaces indicated by the purple arrows in the above photo; the upper surface is the tab while the lower one is the surface the throttle rod sits against). Off came the carb so I could bend the tab back into place. Once I was convinced it was out of the way, I reinstalled the carb and made sure I could get full throttle travel. I also verified that the accelerator pump was squirting as it should. With those two hurdles crossed, I re-started the engine and happily felt that the engine was finally behaving properly. This was confirmed by both chokes opening simultaneously. I shut off the engine and hooked up the clear tubing to each carb’s vacuum port. With the engine running again, it only took a couple turns of the left carb’s idle speed screw to stop the bubbles from moving in the tube.

By that point, bedtime was fast approaching so I put away the tools, reinstalled the air cleaner, and called it a day.

A Short Shift in the Garage

I scored a little garage time last night, so what did I do? I worked on the truck (aka Tow Vehicle). I purchased a replacement power door lock switch for the driver’s door months ago, but never got around to installing it – until last night. I pulled the door panel off after removing the three screws behind the two pop-off panels, disconnected the plug from the switch, popped out the frame from the panel (with switch), and took it to the work bench where I pried the switch out of said frame. I pulled out the replacement and noticed right away it wasn’t going to be a direct drop-in. Irrr. The toggling parts didn’t match, nor did the switch bodies. The toggles just popped off and I swapped new for old, while the frame was hacked down to accept the new, larger switch. I needed to replace the now-missing retention feature of the frame, so I applied some RTV and crossed my fingers. I plugged the switch back into the cable and tested the buttons and they worked. The reassembly was a breeze and I was on to working on a Corvair.

Since Scarlett (and Mikhaila) were off somewhere, I worked on Glinda, and, of course, the task I chose wasn’t even on the To-Do list. I decided to swap off the stock front wheels for the Camaro wheels so the wheels now all match. In doing so, I also put on the replacement center cap (replacing the one that went lost sometime while Mikhaila was using the car). I now need to buy the CHEVROLET insert (another $10 to Amazon). With Glinda now properly shod, I put together the last of the carburetors. This one is the second of ’68 vintage and is earmarked for Luna since I stole Luna’s ’66 bases to be modified. With that done, I called it a night.

Portable Garage Tarp on the Way

Last weekend Victoria and I talked about what we should be doing with Luna. We decided that we’d get a replacement tarp for the portable garage and she’d commit to working on her car at least 8 hours every two weeks. I did some shopping and a new tarp has been bought. It will be here before the snow files, so Luna will be protected for another winter. We’ll get the car running so we can drive her in and out of the heated garage during the upcoming cold months. She’ll be sharing garage time with Glinda, who will be getting more rust repair, including a new trunk bottom, as well as crossing off some more of his tasks in the blogs To-Do List sidebar.

Last evening Mikhaila and I spent some quality time in the garage taking care of Scarlett issues. We lubricated the speedometer cable, screwed down the hi-beam foot switch, installed the C, the I, and the crossed flags on the engine lid using caulk, and adjusted the front toe-in.

The alignment project went exceptionally easily due to Scarlett’s rust-free condition. The clamps nuts over the tie-rod adjusting sleeves turned without drama, the adjusting sleeves themselves also turned with just a pair of vice-grips clamped to them. We started the project by Mikhaila driving the front tires onto round serving trays I’d sandwiched a layer of grease between. This allowed the free movement of the wheels without much resistance. We then determined the center of steering wheel travel by going lock-to-lock and marking top dead center with a piece of masking top at 12 o’clock. Next we laid out our strings along each side of the car exactly ten inches out from the face of the wheel. Then we measured the condition of each wheel to the string at the front of the tire sidewall and then at the rear. Then, with Mikhaila measuring and me spinning the sleeve, we set toe-in at an eighth of an inch (in other words an eighth of an inch difference between the front and back measurements with the front one being larger). I told her to drive the car around and make sure the tape on the steering wheel was still pointed at 12 o’clock while she’s going straight down the road. That’ll indicate where we re-set the steering wheel’s location on the steering column.

With Scarlett back on the street, I moved Glinda to the curb and put the truck in the driveway. I’m such an optimist that I don’t think I’ll need to use the truck any time soon.

An Empty Stall Is Good News

After the successful roadtrip of last week, Mikhaila and I had our eyes on the prize this weekend – putting Scarlett right enough for daily-driver duties. The two main items to address were the sticky throttle and the dim brakelight. We dealt with the former by removing the two screws holding the throttle pedal pivot to the floor, sliding the bound bushing off the rod, sanding the rust off the rod and greasing it, sliding the bushing back over the rod, and reinstalling the pivot to the floor. We dealt with the latter, by reattaching the ground wire to the back of the socket and binding it with electrical tape and a zip-tie.

With those two items resolved, and some time left in the garage before dinner, I dug out the cavity coating kit I'd bought months ago. After shaking the can for one minute, Mikhaila, now wearing safety glasses and gloves per the instructions, gave the inside of the rocker panels a healthy coating working both from the heater door back and forward and from the hole under the back seat. We then moved on to the upside-down steering wheel. In my mind, a misaligned steering is a sign the front wheels are also out of alignment. Using the string method, we determined that the front wheels have roughly .8 degrees total toe-out. The car is supposed to have roughly .6 degrees total toe-in. Some adjustments will be necessary, but, by that time, dinner was upon us, so we had to quit.

With the promise she’d stay within a 5 mile radius of the house and limit her route to surface streets, Mikhaila and Scarlett hit the road to visit friends. When they came back home, they parked on the street thus affording me the opportunity to take the above photograph.

Big news regarding Glinda. I think (hope and pray) I’ve solved the starter issue. Thanks to Jeff at the Corvair Ranch for the parts, I rebuilt her starter with a new Bendix, a very GUP solenoid fork, and a new felt washer. I also cleaned the commutator, checked the brushes (plenty of life left), and lubricate appropriate surfaces with synthetic grease. Once it was all reassembled, I rolled it under the car, and I followed armed wrenches, light, phone, and a mirror. Prior to reinstalling the starter, I wanted to shoot some photos of the ring gear teeth to make sure they were in good order. From what I can tell (see photos below) everything looks to be in pretty good condition. With the starter bolted in and the wiring hooked up, I gave the key a twist and the starter spun the engine just like it was designed to. I gave it about six times to misbehave, but it worked right each time. Glinda is back into daily-driver service.

So Close

Last weekend was a busy one, but Mikhaila and I did spend some quality time in the garage. Friday evening I pulled the right-side carburetor off Glinda and installed on the right side of Scarlett’s engine. I also removed the front bucket seats and laid down two coats of shiny black Rustoleum on Glinda’s floor.

The next morning, Mikhaila and I started up Scarlett’s engine and, finally, the right side was getting hot (meaning it was working), so the choke on that carb opened at roughly the same rate as the left side. This proved that the carb that has twice shown some sort of vacuum leak still leaks.

Now I needed to get a functioning carburetor to fill the now empty spot on Glinda’s engine. I recently received the modified carb bases in the mail, so using them to make whole carbs was the next project. I’d put all the pulled parts from the pre-modified bases in a container and I was actually able to locate said container and put the carbs back together. Part of that effort was to drill out one of the tiny brass screws that holds the throttle plate to its shaft. That went better than expected thanks to my drill press, a sharp bit, and the softness of the screw. Also part of the reassembly was installing the o-rings, washers, and springs that serve to seal the joint between a worn throttle shaft and the holes in the base. With both carbs complete, I installed the closest one to hand in Glinda and fired up her engine. Within a few seconds fuel was gushing out the vent holes on the top of the carb – stuck needle-and-seat. I yanked the coil lead from the distributor cap killing the engine and stopping the geyser show. Before pulling the top off the carb to fix the issues, I did a quick blip of the throttle to see if the old accelerator pump was working – it wasn’t. With the top off, I cut off the old pump cup and popped a new one in its place. I also, blew through the inlet of the carb with the float in the up position to verify it would close, and then, right before reinstalling the top, I checked the float and all looked good. With everything back together, I fired up the engine hoping all was good – it was not. The new carb was still misbehaving, so off went the engine and I had another choice to make – put on the other modified carb, or put together one of Glinda’s original-style carbs (earmarked for Luna) and install it. I opted for the latter and fifteen or so minutes later, Glinda was running smoothly again.

The next day I had some time before Mikhaila got off work, so I swapped on the second modified carb and, lo-and-behold, it worked fine. So, for those keeping score, it’s one modified ‘66 carb and one stock (LM, but not original) carb working on Glinda; one recently rebuilt LM carb and one stock (also LM) on Scarlett; a non-functioning stock and a non-functioning, a recently rebuilt ’68 carb, and an unassembled ’68 carb all sitting on the workbench. The last two Glinda activities of the weekend were squirting beads of high-quality caulk into all the joints around the new floor patches and then bolting in the front bucket seats.

Once Mikhaila was home from work, we headed out to the garage to work on installing Scarlett’s rear window. We carefully removed the staples holding the trim strip to the rear bow allowing us to remove that, but before we did, we used masking tape to mark exactly where the strip went on the top. With the strip out of the way, we removed the staples at the same bow holding the top in place. With those gone, we peeled back the top allowing us to move on to the next step – installing the rear window piece. In addition to its top edge being stapled to the bow, its bottom edge is stapled to the three trim sticks and that’s what we tackled next. Using marks that were already on the vinyl, we located and stapled the window to only the center, long trim stick and then, using only three bolts, installed said trim stick. After checking that the window was even on the bow, we pulled out the stick and stapled to the two, shorter, side sticks and then, using just enough bolts, we installed the sticks to the car. We then pulled the bow back as far as we dared and put in a few staples. The next check was pulling the top back over the bow and seeing if everything lined up – it appeared to be right on. With confidence we went ahead and completed stapling the window to the bow. At that point, it was dinner time and we called it a day.

So, we are so close to getting Scarlett on the road – just need to remove the trim sticks, staple the top’s bottom edge to the sticks using the existing holes as guides, reinstall the sticks, re-staple the top to the bow, and install the new leading edge weatherstrip. Okay, maybe not so close.

Second Seat In

Yesterday, after dinner, I donned grungies and proceeded to do what had to be done to get the front passenger Cobalt seat installed in Glinda. I placed the seat in the car lining up the outboard rear mounting screw, and marked the locations of the four feet on the floor. The angle grinder with a wire brush made quick work of removing all coatings from the areas to be welded to, while the bench grinder’s wire wheel cleaned up the four pieces of square tube. The angle grinder, now with a cutoff wheel installed shorted the feet so they’d fit into the tube pieces. After rolling the MIG welder out to the car, I welded the four pieces of tubing to the floor. For some reason the welding was not a nice as the driver’s side even after adjusting the feed rate a few times. I remembered that I’d put the heat setting on C, but I’d forgotten what had worked for the speed before. It also could’ve been that the connection to ground was farther away than last time. So while it didn’t look as good, the weld was still complete enough to provide good anchors. Once the four tubes were attached and the welds had cooled, I covered all the exposed steel with primer and let things dry while I turned my attention to the clutch again.

This time I decided to actually follow directions when setting the locations for the two clevises (or is that clevii?). After putting Glinda up on the ramps, I slid under the rear and disassembled both clutch linkage pivots. I tugged on the cable with roughly 15 pounds of muscle and spun the first clevis down the thread until the pin lined up with the hole in the fork (z-bar). All this with the fork set as close to 7/8ths of an inch from the cross-member as I could measure. With the fork engaged with the clevis, I then pulled all the slack out of clutch and spun the second clevis until the pin lined up with the corresponding hole in the other end of the z-bar. The final instruction was to, “Back off (3) Adjusting Rod three turns and assemble to lever with (2) Clip.” When something’s underlined, I tend to think it’s important. Well, I backed it off three from being inline and now the clutch grabs as soon as it’s off the floor. I think three should be two. Since the rear was up on the ramps, I

Having given the primer some time to dry, I decided I could install seatbelts and the front passenger seat. The seat bolted right in, so now I've got the ability to transport a passenger.

Before calling it a night, I started Scarlett’s engine to see if my vacuum blocking had fixed the right side’s cool running. The engine fired right up and there’s now a significant amount of vacuum at the right carb’s air horn and no hissing when I put my hand on top. However, the choke still didn’t move much from cold, but I can attest to the exhaust manifold putting out the heat. Not sure what the deal is – maybe the thermostat is bad. I’m thinking of investing in a new tool – an infrared gun to compare right and left sides. Also, thinking I’ll swap right with left carbs to see if the problem stays with the side or follows the carb.

Oily Mess

It was a very busy weekend car-wise. It all started Friday evening with the hitching and re-hitching of Ringo to the truck. After gathering all the parts that were going with Ringo to his new home as well as the parts destined for the Corvair Ranch, I loaded them all in the bed of the truck. Next, I hitched Ringo to the truck, and as I was finishing Ariel drove up. As she rolled down her window, I could see the disappointment on her face - she’d hoped to drive her car one last time. I quickly offered to unhitch him, but she insisted it was okay. As she drove away and I went to the garage to close up for the night I couldn’t get her disappointment out of my head. So, I decided it was early enough that I had time to give her that one last drive. I called her and told her that I was on my way over with her car, so be ready to take him on your last ride together. I went back to the curb and undid the towbar from Ringo’s front bumper and the chain and wiring for the lights from the back of the truck. Knowing it would just be a short drive on neighborhood streets, I didn’t bother climbing under the car to disconnect the chain from the crossmember, but, instead, put the loose end with a good bit of length in the trunk and closed the lid to the first catch making sure nothing was dragging. After driving over a speed bump, I started to hear the chain dragging. Using my cellphone as a flashlight I found the chain hook dragging under the crossmember, so pulled it out and added that end to the end already in the trunk and continued to Ariel’s. After she and her fiancé, Jeff, drove off, I sat down on their front stoop and reached into my pocket for my cellphone, but it wasn’t there. Must’ve fallen out in Ringo – no worries. When they returned a few minutes later, I climbed behind the wheel and drove home where I grabbed a flashlight to find the phone, but it wasn’t there either. Okay, maybe it fell out when I climbed out of the car at Ariel’s. Using Brianna’s phone I called Ariel and she did a quick search but found nothing. Not good. It then occurred to me I didn’t remember having the phone with me after I used it to deal with the loose chain, so I wandered out to the spot where I’d used it as flashlight. I fully expected to find a smashed phone lying on the pavement, but saw nothing there or along the first few blocks of the drive after that corner. Big time not good. Fuming at my stupidity, I re-hitched Ringo to the truck and called it a night.

Saturday morning I arrived at Ringo’s new home around 9:30. John and I conducted the transaction and I headed on to the Corvair Ranch. After relieving the truck bed of its contents of cylinder heads, Glinda’s back seat, a large collection of wheel covers, and some other odds and ends, I headed into their office to gather the few parts on my shopping list. Jeff had the new key ready and I verified it fit the trunk lock I’d brought along. Next, Jeb (Jeff’s assistant) and I headed upstairs in one of the buildings to hunt for a ’64 Monza wheelcover for Scarlett and a driver’s door panel for Glinda. The former showed up right away, but I didn’t find the latter until the last section of panels. Fortunately, the first one I finally came across was in pretty good condition with just a few edges peeled from the cardboard – easily fixed with some spray contact cement. The last item on the list was a GUP finned, rear drum for Scarlett. Jeb had pulled a good one from their stash and I was set. Once I was back home, it was time for Mikhaila and I to do some work on her car. We decided to tackle the door weatherstripping. It took careful cement application, a bit of masking taped, and some sore fingertips to get both doors done, but done they were. At that point, we decided to be done with Scarlett until the next afternoon.

As I mentioned in a recent post, I needed to get Glinda back on the road, so putting in the floor was next on my agenda. I measured out and cut a large patch from an old LM hood and tacked it into place along the edge and with some plug welds where the u-beam ran under the floor patch. A smaller patch covering the forward part of the missing floor was cut and welded in as well. With the floor whole again, I coated all the added metal with primer and left the windows down so the primer could dry. Dinner time was fast approaching at that point, so I put the welder and the rest of the tools and supplies away for the day.

Sunday, before Mikhaila got back from work, I opened the garage door with the intention of ensuring Scarlett was running right for her first foray onto the street. I wanted to make sure all was good with the drivetrain before we spent the time putting the rear window in. With the brand new DieHard hooked up, I turned the key and a few cranks later the engine fired right up. As the engine warmed up, I put the shifter in D, but the transmission did not respond. The dipstick was dry, so I poured about a quart of ATF down the fill tube. After that, a flip of the shifter was followed with the associated lurch forward and drop in rpm. Same response when I flipped the lever to R, with the lurch being backwards. With that victory, I went back to the engine compartment and noticed the choke on the right side wasn’t opening up like the one on the left. I put my hand over the air horn and heard a lot of hissing – crap, a vacuum leak. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for me to determine the hissing was coming from the hole for the air cleaner hold-down j-hook. Since Mikhaila had decided she wanted the EM air cleaner set up, we didn’t need that hole, so I shut off the engine, mixed up a tiny batch of JB Weld, and plugged the hole. She arrived home soon after that, but, sadly, the new plug had to harden before we could start up the car again for its maiden voyage. So, instead, we changed the rear shocks. We’d put new ones in a few months back, but I never liked the way the rear of the car was way too bouncy. I dug through my stash and came up with a pair of GUP KYB’s that I decided were stiffer than the Clark’s Red Ryders. We swapped them out and then Mikhaila was done for the day – too tired from her job to continue contributing.


The final (I thought) fleet activity for the day was bolting in Glinda’s driver’s seat so I could put her back into daily-drivership. That went easily enough, but when I fired up the engine I noticed the oil gauge stayed on zero. Since the idiot light was not illuminated, I knew the issue was with the switch not the engine, so I backed the car out to the street. After helping my future son-in-law change the oil in his car, I went back to the street to put Glinda up on the ramps to adjust the clutch. As I approached the car, I noticed a shiny puddle under Glinda. I stuck my finger in it and the cause of the non-functioning gauge became apparent – a break in the nylon tube. For once I was actually prepared for such a failure. I opened the tool bag I pack for my trips to the track, dug out the small plastic bag with the pipe plug. With plug and wrenches in hand, I removed the fitting at the engine and filled it to keep any more oil excaping from the engine. Then, instead of backing onto the ramps to access the clutch linkage, I pulled forward onto them so I could remove the tunnel cover and clean up the oily mess I was sure the tunnel’s inside surface was coated with. A bunch of screws later the pan was loose and leaning against the fence where I coated it with Purple Power and brushed and rinsed the oil away. Thinking it was one of the splices on the clutch cable that had caused the tube to fail, I also removed the inside cover so both splices were exposed. Neither of them appeared to be rubbing on anything critical, but the upper splice was catching on a zip tie causing the catch near the end of the pedal travel. I cut it off and put on a new just out of reach of the moving splice. I also wrapped both splices completely with vinyl tape before putting the covers back on. I decided I’ll buy a whole new length of tubing with the fittings since I also needed to deal with the leak at the back of the gauge. Then I drove off the ramps, moved the ramps to rear of the car, and backed up onto them so I could move the clutch clevis a few turns out. Back down off the ramps and it was time to put away all the tools.

I Like Welding ... or How To Put a Bucket Seat in a LM 500

With my semi-daily-driver Ringo soon to be parked in someone else’s garage, I needed to get Glinda roadworthy again. Currently, she’s occupying the driveway with her interior in disarray. Before last night the only front seat that would quickly bolt in was sitting in one of the Corvair Ranch’s buildings, so something had to be done, and quickly, to get the Cobalt bucket seat bolted in a space where no bucket had gone before.

I tried to find a good photo online of the front foot of the Cobalt’s seat track, but was unsuccessful, so the following, poor enlargement with red highlighting will suffice to enlighten what I needed to deal with. Coincidentally, this configuration is somewhat like an EM with hooks on the front of each track that go under a __|~~~~|__ shaped bracket bolted to the floor.

In preparation for installing these seats, I bought a piece of 1” square steel tube from Home Depot. My plan was to weld inch-an-a-quarter long sections of the tube (cut with the a disc in the angle grinder) to the floor and slide the feet into the open end. Since the foot was taller than the ¾” opening of the tube, I cut down the feet to fit. This also slightly lowered the seat in the car. LM 500s with their front bench seat only came with threaded mounting holes in the floor for the outboard ends of the seat – no inboard holes. I lined up the rear mounting hole of the new seat’s track with the outer threaded hole in Glinda’s floor and, fortunately, the center of the seat matches up with the center of the steering wheel – TYL. Using masking tape, I marked where the two tube pieces needed to be welded to the floor and then removed the seat. Out came the wire wheel and off came the paint in the areas where the welds would be. The sections of square tube made a visit to my bench grinder’s wire wheel to remove any external coatings that would impair the weld. I placed the first section on the floor holding it in place with a block magnet, connected the ground cable of my MIG welder to the nearby center seatbelt fitting that’s bolted to the body, and proceeded to lay down a bead of molten metal. The welder was set for melding sheetmetal, so I bumped up the heat and feed since the tube was significantly thicker than the car’s skin. While the first line was not that pretty, the next two looked pretty good (see below – you be the judge). I welded in the third and fourth sections replicating the spacing I’d measured from the actual seat. The moment of truth came when I hefted the seat back in, slide the front of the tracks into the ends of the square tubes and happily saw the outer rear hole line up perfectly with the threaded hole in the floor.

I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with the rear inboard hole yet since it sits partially on top of the tunnel. I’m leaning towards welding in a piece of 5/16ths threaded rod. All in all, a good night in the driveway.