It’s the Little things……

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Its been an interesting few months….The car was running really poorly. The engine was running very rich. The car was vibrating from the rear end when pulling from a stop and the steering and front end felt VERY loose and unstable. Driving the car was a real pain. No fun at all. I put the car up and pulled and tugged and could not find anything loose. I started with the rear subframe mounts. I got a new set of mounts and the stiffening polyurethane inserts. I had those installed and I INSTANTLY noticed a difference. The rear end was more solid feeling. The car felt more stable. The problem was the steering and front end still felt loose and the vibration in the driveline was still there. The general thought is that driveline vibrations can be attributed to a few things.

1. Driveshaft Center Support Bearing
2. Flex Disk (Guibo)
3. Driveshaft U-Joints
4. CV Joints
5. Driveshaft

This was looking like it could go deep in the pockets. So I got a center support bearing and a guibo. The people I talked to thought it might be a center support bearing, but they said once that gets bad it may take out the guibo, or vice versa. Got it up into the air and it looked like it was indeed the guibo. Replaced that. The center support bearing was good so I kept it. Most of the other parts including the driveshaft will be changed when I do the 5 speed conversion so I hoped that it wouldnt be too serious. At the same time I also did the center track rod on the front suspension. Once those things were done it COMPLETELY transformed the car. The handling was sharp, the steering was crisp and precise and the rear end was completely solid.

This took care of the suspension and steering, but the engine was still running rough. Well I went to adjust the carb and realized the choke valve was not connected! Well this is why I couldnt easily adjust the carb. So I reconnected it, adjusted the carb and what a huge difference it made! Then I adjusted the timing. The car now idles smooth, pulls like a train all the way to redline, and is as peppy as ever! The only thing now I need to address is the squeeling brakes now. Next up…big brake kit!

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