62 Chevy II AF/X

[squirrel]

Ran pretty good at the Meltdown Drags....



But now it's time to think about Drag Week. I got this wild notion, while towing the "race car" home, that maybe I ought to drive it to DW. It's something like 1400 miles to St Louis from Arizona. That's a long drive. And a long ways from home, if something breaks. But hey, no guts, no glory!

I have been wanting to change a few things on the car to make it more comfy on long trips. The seats were just a little too tight, so I ordered some different ones that looked in the pics like they had more room a the bottom. They do...not much more, but enough that they don't pinch my hips. So they're in the car now. Looks the same, so no picture. I also wanted to make it quieter, the glass packs were obnoxiously loud, even with full tail pips. So I ordered some "Cadillac mufflers"...full length, regular car mufflers with 2.5" in and outlets. I put them in today, and boy did it change the car! Now the exhaust is quiet, and the engine, fuel pump, blower, and drivetrain are loud. But that's going to make it a lot nicer on the drive...and for bystanders and other motorists, too. The car was so loud that guys in other 9 second cars were bitching about how loud it was, when they were following me. No more.

And the car has been sagging in back, I guess the springs or shackles or something settled...and then on DW we put a load of crap in it. I need to re arch the springs, or find some different ones, or something. So I decided to switch my brain into the 1970s and I ordered a pair of air shocks. They seem to do the trick, so far. I still need to load it down and see if they will support an extra couple hundred pounds.

[squirrel]

It's July already...and I'm getting ready to head up to the Meltdown Drags, in Byron Ill next week. Hauling Plan II up there behind my suburban, it's going to play the part of an old match racer, like it's 1966 all over again. I did a little work on it to get ready for the trip...I serviced the transmission, and decided I need to get around to overhauling it before Drag Week. I might get a new converter for it, too. Nothing fancy, just another modified switch pitch 12" unit.

I also was looking thru some old pics, and found a few of the engine short block going together. A few months before I got the car. I was building it for my 55, but decided to change plans before I finished it.

[squirrel]

I've been driving this car for a year now. Getting ready to turn 4000 miles on the odometer. Out for a drive on a nice summer night.

[G-Motive]

Interesting - have you looked at any Jones exhaust? They have some nice looking stuff, haven't heard any mufflers in person though, they are made in U.S.A. They have a small case oval muffler that will work on my falcon, reasonably priced too. Cherry bombs as I recall (Mom says I have expensive ears) are cool, for about a week, then they just become too loud, sort of like flowmasters... except they are never cool! IMHO.

My glass packs are so loud my stereo went into protect mode.

[squirrel]

They were both intakes. The intakes on that set were made differently than the exhausts, and different than the replacements. I think they were just defective.

[CDMBill]

Hey Jim, on your pushrod issue, I'm catching up on stuff here, were the bad ones on both intake and exhaust? You have replacements now, but maybe a heavier wall pushrod is in your future?

[squirrel]

Haven't gone racing yet, but it's running fine around town. I probably should get it to the strip, just to see how it does...before heading up to Illinois for the Meltdown Drags in July.

[Deaf Bob]

Wondering if you took this to the track after the repairs?
Running great lately?

[squirrel]

Thanks I'll take a look when I get home

[yellomalibu]

I bought a walker 18 series muffler for my 84 C10 because I wanted a regular muffler that wasn't loud. Not sure what inlet / outlet sizes you need, but they have a nice gadget on their website.

http://www.walkerexhaust.com/catalog/walker-exhaust-systems/universal-muffler-dimension-search

[DanStokes]

Jim's right - you can see the curve at Bonneville quite clearly. We live on a coastal plain and it's pretty flat around here - easy to build a drag strip. There are enough trees to prevent you from seeing the curve, though - unless you're at the beach.

Dan

[Deaf Bob]

Went out in a 21 ft boat till all I saw was the lighthouse.. Looked curved to me, even if the boat was rising and dropping with the swells...
Truely amazing how fast the weather changes out there!

[squirrel]

If you're standing on the salt, it sure looks curved. Same with a boat on the ocean. Or a beach on the coast. Or a spaceship.

[DanStokes]

Our part of the world IS flat. Chris Columbus was WRONG!

Maybe it depends on where you're standing.

Dan

[squirrel]

Not around here. Lots of mountains.