Headers are packed up snugly and on their way to New Image Powder Coating in Ohio

But they will ceramic coat them, right ?

Didn't get what you were looking for from Clinton ?

Can't wait to see how they turn out. Looks like they aren't very far from here.

Mitch, Clinton shot me straight. He was really trying to talk me out of doing the headers in white because they're a PITA which I understand. Few others here used New Image with white headers so I decided to give them a shot. He does a similar process to Clinton with multiple layers. Clinton was trying to talk me into chroming the headers then scuffing them and painting them with VHT... I'm sure he knows what he's talking about but I didn't want to do that.

I had a fellow I race with who owns a powder coating company do two sets for me. He actually sent them to a vendor he uses specifically for white. Cost me $700 for both sets.

I agree, why spend all that money on ceramic and then paint over it ?
He is concerned that the job will come back when the white starts to discolor and having to strip and redo.

I hope what you get back is to your liking and stands up to the heat cycling.

I hope so too, this car is going to be driven!

Still waiting on my headers to come back from New Image Powder Coating back in Ohio... He said he should be done next week. In the meantime I decided to start assembling the dash. I installed a new dash pad, restored the heater box, lubricated the heater cables, detailed the radio, installed an NOS speaker I've had laying around for way too long, installed the ORIGINAL non cracked gold dash pad, all the original cleaned up switches (ignition, headlights, wipers, and cigarette lighter) look NOS, and the gauge cluster.

I originally planned on going with Stewart Warner Green Line gauges for under the dash but was persuaded by Jose, JBTech, to go with 2-5/8 black and white small letter mechanical gauges. He had this NOS set that he sold me and glad he talked me into them! Jason, SupernovaSS, sold me the 977 pedestal mount tachometer a few years back and man it looks GREAT! I am going to install a quick disconnect for the tach wiring in case I ever need to remove the gauge cluster. Dash is now about complete minus the glove box, at least I've stayed a little buy while I'm waiting for the headers.

Looking good buddy!

Those look perfect on your car, glad you went with those.

Looks great, did you convert the tach to electronic operation or are you still using the sender?

Looks great!

Jason

I still have the sender… I’m using MSD ready to run (no CD box) not sure if I need the 990B or the 990D monitor… I have two 990D monitors.

Looks great Chuck!
:headbang:

I have to concur.

Gauges look great in there and the Tach is spot on Mr Goldfinger.

How's the car coming along Chuck?

The car is coming… I got my headers back from New Image Powder Coating, Jim did a great job. The shipping killed me though… hopefully the white holds up. I put the headers back in the car and quickly discovered the clearance between the original starter and the headers was only about 1/16” but it did fit! Too close for me so wound up flipping a power master mini gear reduction starter upside down. Plenty of clearance now. Power steering is in, BB Harrison radiator is in, 772 fan is in with reproduction BB fan shroud from Heartbeat City, pretty impressed with the fit. For the upper alternator bracket I used a Big Block corvette piece that uses a single bolt mounted to the cylinder head, my original BB upper mount wouldn’t fit with the Torker manifold. My alternator is the original 54k mile date codes 37 amp unit rebuilt and restored by a local guy. We swapped the fan and opted for an NOS GM deep groove pulley.

Went to fire the motor Thursday and discovered the ignition module in the MSD failed. Car would only run on 4cyl. It’s always something….

Also had some nice Mickey Thompson’s polished up, I think they really set it off that much more…

Love the white headers.

Looks fantastic! Nice touch with the Coors coil.

Ditto....my choice would have been "Old Style" :)

Dan

Oh my!!

Beautiful Chuck!:biggthumpup::biggthumpup::biggthumpup:

Very nice !!
I have the same intake and it can be challenging to find all the correct parts to get everything to fit nice.

I believe the upper alt bracket should be on the front of the alt. It appears bowed from bending to be on the back side...:dunno:

I put in a vice after I took this picture and straightened it. If the alternator is on the other side, the bracket hits the upper radiator hose.

I chose an old Coors can due to it’s popularity in California. I know many places in the country couldn’t get coors back then…

You all know truckin' Coors beer east of Texas is bootleggin'.

In the mid seventies, a guy down the street would make a run to CO a couple times a year and bring back 12 cases of Coors. It is good beer, very mellow, but Miller High Life, the original beer, not this light crap, was about as good and local, so I helped their stock rise for a number of years.

I used to love Miller when I was younger. The Coors can is still way cool but I gotta hand it to you Chas...those headers look flat out killer. Motor is looking like a million bucks now.

Betcha it's starting to feel like a million too isn't it?

Keep up the great work buddy.

Lookin awesome!!

Wow. Those M/Ts must have quite a few hours in them. They came out beautiful.

Chuck, hurry up and finish it :)



We'll be out your way in December (maybe even in September, too) Looks great....

Thank you, I agree. I sent them to a guy around the corner from my work and he did a great job. He did a nice job between the fins too. $200

Thank you Bruce! I'm trying to finish it! Seems like every time I take one step forward I take two steps back.

The week before last, we tried to fire it up with no success... I want to make sure there are no engine leaks before we put the front end sheet metal on the car. It didn't leak two years ago when the engine ran on the run stand, but better safe than sorry. When we went to start it, the engine would only run on 4 cylinders. Turns out the ignition module inside the MSD took a crap. Going to give it another whirl this afternoon with a new module...

Another step backwards was an issue with the paint on top of the left 1/4 panel. Unfortunately the paint began bubbling. I figure it was corrosion starting... When my painter sanded the paint off we found no evidence of rust. My guess is it was moisture under the paint, maybe another form of contaminant like oil or something. This was stressful because so many of the restored parts are already on the car... Luckily my painter took his time masking everything with cars! He was able to spot the area with paint but had to blend the clear into the roof and right 1/4. Repair looks great but now I need to sand it back down and polish it all over again. My buddy and I spent 4 days polishing this car the last time.... I mean this is FUN right? :hmmm: At least we caught this early on and the paint matches perfectly.

Chuck...I was just funnin' with ya! It looks amazing still.



It's fun, just remember that :)


:headbang::headbang::headbang:

For starters, the engine is ALIVE!!! It sounds WICKED, killer idle and nice crisp throttle response! BTCHIN'. I need to make a YouTube account so I can post videos.
For those of you who have Instagram, you can follow me at day2_bowtie and hear it.

Unfortunately the tachometer doesn't work :hmmm:

The tach is a Stewart Warner 977 J pedestal mount. The ignition is MSD Ready to Run (more or less and HEI system). I have tried using SW 990B and 990D Ignition Monitors with no success. The tach does have some function. If I plug the tach wire directly into the tach signal from the dizzy, the tach reads 3,000rpm when the engine is really at 900rpm. At this point, I'm thinking I will just send the gauge out to be retro fitted with better guts. Anyone have experience with D&M Restoration?

Sorry to hear about the paint issue. It does look great again and he cleared A LOT of the car to blend well, but, yeah, buffing the second time won't be quite as much fun as the first time...:tongue:

Yesterday ordered a driveshaft from a local drive shaft shop. 3-1/2" steel with Sonnax chromoly slip yoke. 1350 u-joints.

Sent my tach out to Chris Schlaff in Michigan to get it working again, thanks Jose for referring me to Chris.

Next will be installing windshield and rear glass then front sheet metal....

D&M is a stones throw from my house - they did my clocks and my mechanical oil pressure gauge for my vette, quick and great work.
That being said regarding a MSD - I know on my factory TI system I have to hook my tune up tach to the positive side of the coil.

For sure. Chris turned my tach around in about 4 days. It works perfectly now. I retained the Ignition Monitor just for looks. I took the resistors out of one and just added a jumper wire from the ignition terminal to the tach terminal. Hoping to get the front end put on it soon.... Having a problem with the lower valance and grill fitment, going to require a little metal work to get it just right.

I got my driveshaft built by a local shop here, Driveshaft Pro. 3-1/2" steel with Sonnax slip yoke and 1350 Spicer u-joints. I was reluctant to add holes to my virgin floors for a driveshaft loop but decided it was for the best. I had an old Lakewood universal loop but didn't like how it fit, seemed too many mods to the floor would be needed and there wasn't much clearance with the larger than stock u-joint and drive shaft. I ended up buying a loop from Metco Motorsports which mounts to the tunnel instead of the floor. Lower profile and more clearance as it is perfectly round and has a 6-1/2" diameter.

Loop install...