nothing and everything

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TireSmoker
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nothing and everything

Post by TireSmoker »

It's been awfully quiet around here the past week or so. I know most of our core members are aware we are back up. Or maybe everyone has just been enjoying the nice weather outside of the garage.

I know for me, I just haven't been working on too much -- or rather, not working on *my* stuff. VeeDub and I spent a weekend helping Fatica do a powerglide to TH350 swap in his '69 Chevelle. As usual, it wasn't the big parts of the job that gave trouble, the just the little stuff -- like shift linkage, speedo gears, and the torque converter dust cover. This past Sunday, Fatica and I took a long drive to Michigan to pick up an engine he found on craigslist that is almost exactly what he wanted to put together. 350, Vortec heads, 220/224, .474 lift roller cam, Performer RPM Air-Gap intake. It won't get installed this summer, but by next spring, he should have a full drivetrain upgrade completed.. going from a 307/PG/3.08 --> 350/TH350/3.36 or 3.55. This combo should easily run in the 13s.

The Tiresmoker is still assembled and drivable, in a technical sense. It is hobbled with a problem with low oil pressure. (20lbs or less) I haven't torn it apart because right now it's more important to me that it can move in and out of the garage under its own power. Unfortunately, it will probably not be driven again this summer. The past 5 years have not been kind to it with the EFI issues (mostly resolved), cracked block, and now oil pressure. I have two guesses about the oil pressure -- hopefully something simple like one of the galley plugs (behind timing chain) came out, or the oil pump is bad/worn. But I've had the motor in and out so many times the past few years that I just lack the motivation to pull it out one more time. I've never pulled an oil pan with the engine in the car, but there's a first time for everything, right? Fatica graciously offered to let me use the just-acquired 350 for the season, but that would involve 2 more engine swaps. Ugh. If it were April or May or even June, I'd have given it some thought.

I've been driving the Corvette off and on. The more I drive this car, the more I like it. Dad bought the parts to convert it to power steering. I just need to schedule some time to do the work. Last year's heater core swap has revealed a blower motor that no longer functions. Hopefully it's a loose wire.

The TiresmokeTruck has developed some squealing brakes which will require some attention soon. I've put 20k miles on it since I bought it from BP when he worked at Classic Chevy in Aug 2005. It's also starting to show some rust in the lower rear cab corners. Aside from The Tiresmoker, I've held on to this vehicle longer than any other I've owned. Cue up the Bob Seger music.

The SV got most of its attention before I left for Down Under. Everything on it is good and it has been running *great*. I do need to tighten the chain a little, but that's a 10 minute job. But other than a marthon 500-miler on July 4, I've ridden it very little this summer. I started this season at 23,650 and am only at 25,000 now. I bought it in late June 2008 with 13,600 on the clock.

My little SS keeps soldering on with Daily Driver duties. I still like it a lot.

The Woodward Dream Cruise is coming up in a few weeks. Fatica will be taking his Chevelle and I'll be taking the Corvette. We have a hotel room at the Radisson in Bloomfield, right on Woodward Ave. Expect a bunch of pictures and some live updates over the Aug 20-22 weekend. This is the first time for both of us at this event, and in years past there has been a reported 30,000 (!!) cars. It should be awesome. If anyone else is interested in coming, let me know and we'll see what our options are for the room.

Finally, I'm heading to Vegas with my longtime friend Brandon and a few other guys August 12-16. I'm really looking forward to it, as I've only been there once before, back in 1997.

Thats it from Tiresmoke Central.

-Dave
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