Gramma's Car: the new project!

[njsteve]

I swapped the thermostat and it runs at pretty much the same temperature - 190. I did test the thermostat on the stove with a thermometer and it does start to open around 160.

The funny thing is that the car runs cooler the faster you drive it! It pulls like a monster with those 3.08s from 35 to 100 mph. It pegs the factory 100 mph speedo in nothing flat...and the coolant temperature drops, the faster you go. At 100 mph the temp dropped to 170. (Allegedly, of course) ;-)

I think I need to swap out the 1975 100 mph speedometer for the rally gauge 160 speedometer. At least I wont worry about snapping the needle off.

[Xplantdad]

Awesome...allegedly!

[njsteve]

I took gramma's car out today for a 117 mile cruise with my son. Mostly highway speeds. It was about 70 degrees out and at 75 MPH the temp was around 170. It moves up to around 190 in traffic but immediately resets to 170 when the car is moving again. The car cruises so smoothly with those 3.08s that my teenaged son fell asleep half way through the trip, even with the loud exhaust!

It did use around 3/4 of a tank, too! I think it gets around 8 MPG (highway). Your actual mileage may vary.

When we got home I changed the oil and filter as we just hit the magic 1,000 mile mark on the new 455.

[9999]

That car is absolutely beautiful, man I gotta get my projects going faster, hahaha.

[njsteve]

Brought her out to the first cruise night of the year on Saturday. Runs great and that A/C works chillingly nice. Here's a shot one of my friends took when I was wandering around.

[9999]

What paint did you use for the under hood area? Thanks a lot Steve.

[njsteve]

VHT Roll Bar and Chassis Satin Black epoxy paint. Great stuff!

[mockingbird812]

Smart looking Steve!

[whitetop]

Originally Posted by njsteve

What color blue is the car? Looks great!

[njsteve]

It is 1970 to 1972, code 26 Lucerne Blue. I think Chevy called it Mulsanne Blue.