Hey all. My name is Josh and I live in OKC. Good to be here. I'm a new 57 owner. This is one of my dream cars, unfortunately all of my good mechanic friends are back in Arizona, so I'm here trying to do it on my own. I know enough to do some stuff, but definitely missing that knowledge base from my friends. It's my understanding that this car is basically a third hand project. It belonged to someone who had it supercharged or turbo charged at some point, and was setting it up for drag racing. Then the really cool guy I bought it from had it for about 2 years and got it running and took it to some shows in DFW area. Definitely have found some issues that I've been working on, and at least one it's going to go to a shop for (if I can find one), but more on that in a minute. First a look at the car, and a little about it:
A look at the car (let me know if you happen to know any of the history of the car!):
https://youtu.be/DsWgIXNig_I
A bit about the car:
It's heart is a 468 BBC, with a FiTech 30012 fuel injection kit. T400 (which has some sort of manual valve body that might be reversed? 1st is where Drive would be, 2nd is right, and third is where first would be.) Some sort of 4 wheel disk brakes. Currie 9" rear. Caltrack bars. Power steering.
The issues:
First and foremost, and the thing I'm working on now, is the cooling system. It has a front pusher fan (16") that doesn't do much, and a flex fan without a shroud (which just moves hot air around). I fabricated a fan shroud that a friend is stamping out and welding for me, planning on removing the pusher and installing 2ea 10" Mishimotos. I did find the shroud from the company that made the radiator (which is for an impala or something), but the way the rad is mounted, I don't think I'd be able to put it where it needs to go without some modification...Making my own is just cheaper and easier.
The brakes need some work. They're not very positive feeling, and ON OCCASSION the pedal sticks down. I can lift it with my foot, and it works again. Not sure what the issue is, but I plan to find a shop that will take a look at it. I suspect there's something wrong with the master cylinder, vacuum, or a line. Not sure and I'd rather a professional fix it.
The wiring is a total disaster. Whoever did it did not bother trimming or fitting wire. It's coiled and zip tied. Its all over the place, not well run, and has no covers or protection. I found the S wire for the starter less than an inch from the header, and it's very cooked. I patched it temporarily and put a DEI heat shield around it for now.
Well that's it...Good to be here, and I look forward to getting to know y'all and my car a little better.