5/2/07

After re-reading yesterday’s entry, I have come to the conclusion that I am a self deluding douche bag. How in the hell could it be in any way possible for the installation of a supercharger to be just a wee bit more difficult than only swapping on a carburetor? Don’t get me wrong, I'm still going to look at it when Barbara moves into the main bay for hydraulics and other stuff. I'm just not going to let it become another major project while George languishes again. Technically, it would make George, Barbecue Bob, and the Chickenhawk all languish if I cut Barbara to the front and made it a major project. No, I need to stick to the simple things. I'll fix the clutch and brakes, check the A/C, ditch the smog crap, swap intake and exhaust manifolds, swap in the zorst from Gil which is standing in the corner of the shop, and maybe install rally tires on a set of six spoke Z-car wheels. Now, by exhaust manifold, I'm not sure if I'm going to install the header or the ceramic-coated Siamese-port manifold. Gregg wants the header but still owes me for other stuff. I'm not going to commit one-way or the other until the last moment. If he comes up with cash before I get the thing installed, he can have the header. When I'm ready to install it I'll call him and give him one last chance to buy it. Any hesitation on his end and it goes on Barbara. Probably. Of course if I'm going to install the supercharger… well, I guess it would be the same either way. Never mind. So, I think the next trip to the shop is going to be a “crawl on the floor” day with George. I need to get it up on stands so I can do a bunch of stuff underneath. I need to poop or get out of the Ganges about the 4.11 R&P axle. I'd like to have the added torque multiplication of the lower gear but I'm loath to do the actual work to install it. I suppose I could swap out third members rather than whole housings. I need to take a look at the rear brakes anyway and probably rebuild the slave cylinders back there. With the shoes off and the slaves out of the way, it is just a matter of four more bolts per side to release the axles and yank them out of the way. I could then take the third member out of the housing and swap in the 4.11 unit. I could even zook up the spider gears in the differential at that time. One thing I hated about Gil was doing “peg-leg” burnouts when trying to leave a stop with any authority. Then again, Gil did have a more radical cam for top end power and needed some revs to get away. No, I think I'm going to lock up the differential on George. It’s not like the car is going to be a daily driver. Of course I did daily drive the Chickenhawk with a welded differential for a few years. Ok, George is getting the 4.11 with a welded differential. So let it be written, so let it be done! All right, George is going up on stands next time I'm at the shop. I need to do all of that stuff I just talked myself into. I need to install a drive shaft after the rear end work is done. I need to run the battery cables for the remote battery. I need to secure the zorst so it doesn’t torque and twist like it is doing now. I probably need to do a few other things that I can’t remember at the moment as well. I wonder if Pat's slide hammer is still at the shop. I doubt it. I guess I'm going to have to go buy one to pull all of those axles in order to do the third member swap. No big deal. I'm sure Pearl Harbor has them, cheap. Well, I'm expecting a sales dude here at noon and it is about four minutes of. I think I'm going to shut down and go meet with him. I'm back. The Tail of the Dragon thing is rapidly approaching. It isn’t so close that I'm dreading it yet, but that time will come soon enough. I need to do a nut & bolt of the Seven before then. I'll probably throw some spark plugs, a new cap, rotor, and wires at it as well. I'll adjust the valves too while I'm tuning it up. I think that should make the thing roadworthy enough for the trip. I need to take those tie-down anchors I bought down to the Motorsport Ranch and install them in the trailer. I'll probably do that while driving the Seven so we can make 100% sure the car will fit. I'm sure it will. Perhaps I'll do the nut & bolt down there on the rack to make life a little easier. That’s not a bad plan actually. I guess I should schedule a weekend, or just one of the days more likely, with Ray so I can do that. I think I'll send him an e-mail to that effect. Yes, I think I'll go to the internot, shoost this off to Spiderman, schedule some time in Ray's bays via e-mail, and waste the rest of the day somehow. Toodles.