I've shelved working on my rpu project for a little bit and am concentrating on helping Dan get his rpu done. We've realized that we have a good shot at getting it running in time for Billetproof on April 9th if we really put our minds to it. If nothing else it might be running well enough to drive from the trailer into the fairgrounds to at least show it for the first time.

We got the engine started and did the break in procedure quite a while ago, but that was with it running on a gas can and electrical test panel. For the past several weeks Dan has been installing the American Autowire kit and finally got that all done. Last night we installed the permanent fuel tank, electric fuel pump, regulator, and all the lines to the carbs. After some fiddling around we got it to start and run on the key. All the gauges work and the car is holding about 50 psi oil pressure and the temp stayed at 170 the whole time.

One glitch we found is that the ignition switch that comes with the kit is set up for a starter with those two little posts on it, one to activate the starter and the other one to supply 12 volts to the coil while cranking. Dan has a Powermaster single wire starter so we were not getting any juice to the coil while cranking. We rigged a temporary wire to do that and on Monday I will call American Autowire to see if they carry a switch that keeps the ignition post hot while cranking, or we can use one of the marine switches we have used in lots of other projects. Just a small thing.

The engine sounds great, but something funny happened. After running it for a while in the enclosed shop both of our ears were ringing from the open headers. When we took a drink of our celebration beer I got a sharp pain in the left side of my jaw. Dan said his jaw was stiff too. Evidently, the loud exhaust had plugged up our ears and it wasn't until an hour later that they unplugged and the pain went away. I guess next time we will have to wear earplugs.

I think our project today will be to remove and replace the front spring. We are using a Posies front spring and evidently the weight of the 468 Olds and heavy frame have flattened it out. We bought a heavy duty one from Posies and are either going to use it as is or use some leaves to get the car about 1.5 to 2 inches higher. That is good news to me because I can use the too flat spring for the front of my own rpu project.

In case there is anyone in the free world who hasn't seen the old YouTube of Dans car running, I'll post it again.

Don

http://www.youtube.com/user/dhdh71#p/a/u/0/R-j2Q75Y4b0