- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
Handy video?
Grandmas Skylark project
- Thread starter mbryson
- Start date
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
Observations from working on this over the weekend.
-i need to do some serious wiring work. Bonus is that there isn't a lot of wiring in the car. Battery relocation to the trunk was not done at all how I would do it. In my mind it should at LEAST have some kind of a fuse or circuit breaker to run a 12'ish cable forward to the starter. I relocated the battery back to the engine compartment. More work to do there
-Ford Escape cooling fans are run off a 30 fuse and 14ish guage wire. No relay or anything. Fuse wasn't blown but definitely heat affected. I went to take care of that with a relay and realized I had a battery issue.
-i added an Edelbrock AVS2 to the car. Out of the box it just runs WAY better than the gummed up and leaky Holley. A little tuning and I'll likely just sit on the carb rather than go fuel injection
-header gaskets... I have a love/hate relationship with headers and their associated gaskets. Huge difference in sound from replacement
...and yes, I did cut a slot in the center bottom bolt hole so I could leave the bolt in the header.
-I need to get serious about swapping springs to a different set.
-no interior progress this weekend unfortunately. Was sidetracked by battery cables. I'd like to get the headliner installed. Side windows and associated weatherstrip as well.
This car is really fun. Pulls REALLY hard if you lean on it (I haven't really tuned it since the carb change so I don't want to drive it a whole lot until I make sure I'm slightly rich vs slightly lean). The manual T400 isn't a big pain even with the column shift but it's something I will ultimately change. Car goes down the road pretty smoothly and gets a LOT more attention than I expected. A few folks even know it's not a Chevelle.
If you drive it like your diesel Gladiator from a stoplight, it will respond with a strong bark of wheelspin. Sorry to the cars around me at the NSL Center Street/89 intersection on Sat evening
-i need to do some serious wiring work. Bonus is that there isn't a lot of wiring in the car. Battery relocation to the trunk was not done at all how I would do it. In my mind it should at LEAST have some kind of a fuse or circuit breaker to run a 12'ish cable forward to the starter. I relocated the battery back to the engine compartment. More work to do there
-Ford Escape cooling fans are run off a 30 fuse and 14ish guage wire. No relay or anything. Fuse wasn't blown but definitely heat affected. I went to take care of that with a relay and realized I had a battery issue.
-i added an Edelbrock AVS2 to the car. Out of the box it just runs WAY better than the gummed up and leaky Holley. A little tuning and I'll likely just sit on the carb rather than go fuel injection
-header gaskets... I have a love/hate relationship with headers and their associated gaskets. Huge difference in sound from replacement
...and yes, I did cut a slot in the center bottom bolt hole so I could leave the bolt in the header.
-I need to get serious about swapping springs to a different set.
-no interior progress this weekend unfortunately. Was sidetracked by battery cables. I'd like to get the headliner installed. Side windows and associated weatherstrip as well.
This car is really fun. Pulls REALLY hard if you lean on it (I haven't really tuned it since the carb change so I don't want to drive it a whole lot until I make sure I'm slightly rich vs slightly lean). The manual T400 isn't a big pain even with the column shift but it's something I will ultimately change. Car goes down the road pretty smoothly and gets a LOT more attention than I expected. A few folks even know it's not a Chevelle.
If you drive it like your diesel Gladiator from a stoplight, it will respond with a strong bark of wheelspin. Sorry to the cars around me at the NSL Center Street/89 intersection on Sat evening
Last edited:
anderson750
I'm working on it Rose
- Location
- Price, Utah
If you ever want to rebuild that Holley, my go to mechanic who rebuilt mine on the El Camino is a Holly wizard.
TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
From takeoff? How is the 1-2 upshift?
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
If you lean on it, it will spin in first gear. I haven't "power shifted" it under more than about 1/3 throttle. I don't think I've ever went over 3/4 throttle with it yet. Shit happens pretty fast (likely similar to the Gran Prix?)
TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
I expect your car to be faster given your higher compression ratio coupled to similar curb weight. Yes, I'll get spin if I jump on the throttle too quickly from a standstill. But I really enjoy the tire spin I get at the 1-2 upshift, be it a solid chirp at light throttle or a few car lengths worth of spinning at WOT. As you say, shit happens pretty fast at a WOT upshift--it demands concentration, two hands on the wheel, and a straight level road to stay out of trouble. (Did I mention how much I love my TrueTrac?)
TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
Oh! I forgot to mention this.
You're running a manual valve body? Sweet. Is it forward or reverse pattern?
I still miss the RPMVB in my Caravan terribly.
You're running a manual valve body? Sweet. Is it forward or reverse pattern?
I still miss the RPMVB in my Caravan terribly.
- Location
- West Bountiful, UT
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
I believe fwd. I just column shift it like normal. 1 is lowest, bump to 2nd, then bump to 3rd
TurboMinivan
Still plays with cars
- Location
- Lehi, UT
Yes, that's the standard ("forward") arrangement. In case anyone reading along didn't know, a reverse pattern manual valve body results in a shift pattern of PRN123. Serious drag racers came up with this idea so that, in the heat of a race, if you accidentally move your shifter too far you simply go into a higher gear instead of neutral, thus preventing you from accidentally over-revving your engine and blowing it to smithereens.
I ran the reverse pattern valve body not only because I was serious about bracket racing, but also because that was the only Cheetah manual valve body they made for my transmission. (LOL) But in six years of daily driving with this setup, it never bothered me.
My little project has reverse manual valve body, probably one of the last ones Gordon Turner built before his passing. TH-400, 2200 stall, hurst pistol grip and also I have some gear vendors now for when we get some time to throw on, should put 3rd over at 2.70 ratio
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
Took this thing out for a burn today on the mostly dry roads. It really is a good thing for me to have. Good for my soul
xjtony
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Grantsville, Ut
I know what you mean. There is not much like getting on the road in an old car. Driving the Power Wagon is like therapy some days
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
Checking out rear diff noises
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
Since your pinion is moving in/out, that's changing the pinion depth when you're on vs off the gas. On power, the pinion is pushing "out" agains the inner bearing, and everything is pretty happy. Decel pulls the pinion against the outer bearing, and since there's slop it allows the pinion to be too deep now.....making noise.
If the gears haven't worn weird, you might get away with just tightening the pinion nut. (which really probably means a new nut, and new pinion bearings/seal)
If the gears haven't worn weird, you might get away with just tightening the pinion nut. (which really probably means a new nut, and new pinion bearings/seal)
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
Probably not a lot of miles on the gear set? I'll check it out later tonight