Having a ball with the 62, it's one of those cars that really wants to
be good. Initial driving impressions (aside from the shaky front end and
awful brakes) were that it was tired, very slow acceleration. Now I'm
thinking rear end, there's no tag on the pumpkin but I suspect it's a
3.07, it comes off the line slowly but really likes to run once it gets
going. Started it in 1st and ran it up to almost 50MPH without a
stumble. I'll know better when I get the tach in it and check RPM at 65.
The Edelbrock 1406 works just like all of them, if you punch it from a
standstill it bogs and wants to die, if you nurse it it works fine. I
reset the accelerator pump to give the least amount of fuel, helped a
little but not much. Plugs (RJ14YC) were also black and sooty. Yesterday
I changed the main jets from .095 to .092 and dropped the metering rods
a size as well, that brought the AF mixture at 2500RPM from almost 16 to
around 15. I'm loving this exhaust analyzer ( http://tinyurl.com/858rq 
). I was able to use it to set the idle mix, by ear is good but being
able to watch it on the meter is better for carburetion-challenged folks
like myself. I wasn't able to test drive it after the jet change, will
try to do that today but I have a lot going on before leaving for
Salzburg tomorrow afternoon. Worst case that waits for my return on
Wednesday. Speaking of tachs, I bought a Sun supertach (2 5/8") in the
hopes that it would plug into the hole now used by the dead clock - no
joy, of course, as the hole is about 1/8" too small. As I discovered
that the dash had been butchered at some point with a saber saw to
enlarge the radio cutout (shaft mounting holes are history) I don't feel
bad about enlarging the clock hole for the tach. The radio will be a DIN
unit with kick panel speakers and a subwoofer nestled under the
convertible top along with the amplifier.
I put a Pertronix-enhanced Delco in it, made a nice improvement. While
bringing the #1 piston to TDC I noticed that the pistons are dished - is
this normal for a 259? Seems to be begging to be blown. (OCF, feel free
to jump right in).
I ordered some stuff from SI to be installed when I get back, I think
this one will be on the road sooner rather than later. I'm torn about
the paint - it's crap, but my paint shop is backed up and taking forever
to get to the Wagonaire, and I want to drive this one. It needs total
interior and top, which my upholstery guy can do in a day or two, and
some front end work. Speaking of front end, the Phantom Rack & Pinion is
finally getting used. I sorted out the steering column issues, I need to
cut the outer jacket of the column a few inches above the steering box,
cut the shaft, remove the box and use a coupling shaft (
http://tinyurl.com/88otd ) from Flaming River. Alex M was kind enough to
send a picture of how he supported the steering column on his ride -
since the stock steering box serves as lower support, a little fab work
on the firewall is in order. A closer look at the R&P assembly shows
that it will be very easy to install - then I need to make sure the
Turner disk conversion bolts up the same as it would on a Stude.
Guess I'll wait on the interior until the R&P conversion is done, then
worry about the paint later.
I'm having fun! Pics when I get back.