Impressions

I would like to take a moment and describe the driving experience. As I have detailed in previous posts, I have replaced the motor, front and rear suspension, transmission, brakes, wheels and tires. That is pretty much all of the moving parts that matter.

So, as expected the car drives completely different. Not only is it much more peppy than before, it stops with aplomb. The steering is a bit light for my taste but it has less play than before. The car tracks better in turns with much less body roll. Braking is so much better than before it is hard to believe it is the same car.

I have noticed that in hard right turns, I get a rubbing from the left rear tire. It is contacting the fender. I plan to install a Panhard Rod to positively locate the rear axle. That should take care of the rubbing. I was a bit surprised this happened given the stoutness of the new leaf springs along with new bushings. But this project has been a learning experience for me.

The mufflers were mounted too close to the rear end. The axle housings would contact the tail pipes so I moved those up slightly.

I wish that I had routed the fuel lines differently. I should have run them along the tunnel all they way. I will remember that when I build my next project.

Speaking of the next project, I was thinking about a Mod motor in a new Dynacorn 67 body. That won't happen anytime soon but it is fun to plan.

Driving Car Daily

Daily drives to the store and such have revealed a few small problems but none have left me stranded.

While driving at night, the headlights would blink off for a few seconds then turn back on. The circuit breaker built into the headlight switch was tripping. I knew that these switches are not built to last so I decided to change the way the headlights were operated. I ordered a new switch and installed it. Then I spliced the hot-out for the parking lights onto a relay. This way, the headlight switch would only see a few milliamps. I then ran a new power source to the relay input and attached the stock parking light wire to the output post on the relay. I did the same thing with the head lights. I installed a relay between the switch and the headlight dimmer floor switch. This way, both the high and low beams are powered by the same relay like the stock switch was powering both. Except I am using a 40 amp relay which is considerably more stout than the stock switch.

I have been chasing a squeaking belt. I am pretty sure it is the A/C compressor since that is in a non stock position and I located it with a set of fabricated brackets. I continue to adjust it and I almost have it perfect but when cold, the belt still makes a little noise.