3/5/09

I think I'm going to stop trying to have a rant on Wednesday when we are going to the shop. My reasoning is twofold. 1) By the time we’re done at the shop and I've dropped John off at his house and driven home, it is too late to send it to Spiderman. Yeah, it really isn't, but I'm going with that reason anyway. B) Usually by Wednesday I've told the whole story of the preceding weekend and am struggling to come up with content. So, y'all are just going to have to deal with the loss of one more day’s rant per week. Ok, so here’s what went down last night. John and I arrive at the shop to find Aaron sitting next to his car with a dead starter. Apparently his conked out and he had to push start it to get there. We searched the shop for another A-series starter and finally decided to cannibalize the one from Herman and see if it was any good. John and I stood there while Aaron pulled the starter and then we went in to test it. It worked fine so we tested his. It worked, not so fine. He installed it and the car started up. Huzzah! We then began the process of bartering and trading and wheeling and dealing on parts and stuff. It went through several machinations (yeah, I'm not happy with that word but I'm too lazy to look for a better one) before we settled on the following deal. We would give Aaron the rear end from the Chickenhawk with the welded differential, Johnny (the orange 1200 John and I keep passing back and forth), and a cross member to install a CA18 in a 1200 in exchange for a 1981 five-door HL510, the A-14 from Gil which we’d sold him some time back, and some cash. John and I will be making a run to Hurst or some place with Fifi and the trailer on Pi day to make this transaction happen. While all of this was going on, Kevin showed up and had another look at the POS. He fiddled with the carburetor and reset the timing then he drove it around. John took it around the lot and said it was like a different truck. I refused to drive it, mainly because John had already parked it. Kevin left saying, “One way or another, we’ll have that out of your hair this weekend.” I assured him that one way or another it would be out of my hair, either I'd sell it or I'd crush it. Everyone has had a week now to buy this thing. Either I’m going to get $1,500.00 cash for it, or I'm going to get the satisfaction of destroying it. Period. Ok, so back to the Aaron deal, what the hell am I going to do with a five-door 510 you ask? To be honest, it will probably donate drive train and suspension then the shell will probably get loaded with dead cars and go to the crusher. Of course I might like the thing and decide to resurrect it, we’ll see. I wouldn’t hold my breath for that, but it is possible. John wants the Z-20 and dog-leg five-speed for the 510 wagon he’s getting from Marty so we’d need to come up with an engine for it. Hmm, perhaps the V8? We may have to take a look at that option. Of course this project would have to sit and wait for Roku-Hyaku, Barbecue Bob, George, and the Chickenhawk to be finished. We’ll see. Oh yeah, we’re also talking about putting the hot cam from Gil’s engine in Shichi. We’d either freshen up the bottom end of Gil’s motor and put Shichi’s head on it or freshen up the A-15 in Shichi with the big cam. Thinking about it right now, I think freshening up Gil’s A-14 with the pistons in George’s turbo engine and using it with the turbo bits, and a stock cam, in George makes a little more sense. Then we’d freshen up the A-15 with the hot cam for Shichi. Of course with summer coming, I'm not taking Shichi off the road until next fall unless that bottom end totally gives up the ghost. Yeah, I like this plan. Of course if I'm just building an over-bored stock A-14 bottom end, why mess with Gil’s motor? I don’t know. That is a good question. I don’t have a good answer for you. John and I will need to discuss it some. Hey, I just had a thought. If I change George to an A-14, I can move the alternator to the passenger side of the engine away from the heat of the turbo and down pipe. It means moving one wire and rebuilding the brackets. Ooh, that’s tough. That will also make routing the lower radiator hose easier. I'm getting more and more “on board” with the A-14 turbo in George. Ooh, wait. Hood clearance might be an issue. I'm already hitting the bonnet with the carburetor now, a “tall deck” engine like an A-14 might not fit. Well, the engine will fit, but will the turbo bits? I don’t know, I don’t think so. Ok, I'm not opposed to ditching the passenger side vent and replacing it with a “power bulge” of some sort. Hmm, I need to wait and burn that bridge when I come to it, I guess. Well, I've been staring at the screen for a while now trying to think of more to say. I guess I'm done for the day.