I love paper and sketchbooks. I prefer them to my plastic Wacom tablet. Don't get me wrong, I'd be lost without my Intous... but Wacom has created something very much worth looking into:
I seriously believe this is going to change how we work. And for only $199, I want one.
The Future of Digital Sketches
Meaner Stance
I always love finding videos of people enjoying their Pontiac LeMans. I found this one- I really, REALLY like how they've done the front end- no bumper and black grille- it looks really aggressive:
The ONLY bad thing about this car is they put a Chevy 350 in it. I realize he's still working on it, but it sounds like it's cutting out... aw well, as long as he's having fun with it- which it looks like he is.
RALLY ON
I managed to get the wheel locks yesterday using a 19mm socket and breaker bar- came off like nobody's business. After that I got the rallys on and my daughter even noticed it raised the car by 2 inches. It's stance is more brawny and it's amazing how much difference tires and rims can improve the looks.
My other brother-in-law Mitch offered to help me rebuild the engine- he has everything we'd need to do it... I'll definitely be taking him up on that offer. He's been working on cars for over 30 years, so I know I'll learn a thing or two! Maybe we'll be able to get this thing out on the street sooner than I thought- exciting!
The ONLY bad thing about this car is they put a Chevy 350 in it. I realize he's still working on it, but it sounds like it's cutting out... aw well, as long as he's having fun with it- which it looks like he is.
RALLY ON
I managed to get the wheel locks yesterday using a 19mm socket and breaker bar- came off like nobody's business. After that I got the rallys on and my daughter even noticed it raised the car by 2 inches. It's stance is more brawny and it's amazing how much difference tires and rims can improve the looks.
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| Used my cheap digital camera on these. Here is the front looking back. |
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| Back looking forward. |
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| A detail showing how much they fill out the wheel well... SOOO much better! |
Taking Stock in my Stock Car
So, I was all excited to put those Rallys on the car this weekend. I got a new 2 ton jack and some jack stands and popped the hubcaps off only to discover this on both back wheels:
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Yeah. And I don't have the key. Luckily, I was able to find the correct one online- but I'll have to buy the entire wheel lock set just so I can have a key- only about $25.
I know I could probably get this thing off by tapping on a socket and using a breaker bar... but I don't want to ruin the lock or messing with my bearings if I don't have to.
As promised, here are some pictures of the fuel tank intake- you can see what I mean about it being mangled and not taking a gas cap. Not safe at all. Replacing the fuel tank is the first item on my list.
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| Licence Plate Door |
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| "This doesn't look good." |
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| "What the #@$%!? Oh man!" |
I really think it's because someone pried off a lock cap.
Here are some undercarriage pictures of the tank:
On the opposite end of the fuel system is the vapor canister. I am going to replace the filter on that.
I wanted to also show the carburetor- it's a Rochester GV 2bbl, which came standard with the Pontiac 350. You can see the serial numbers too:
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| Definitely needs a carb kit. Definitely. |
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| I actually came across a website that explains what all these numbers mean- I'll have to dig it up and post it! |
Alrighty, more coming soon... and wish me luck with that wheel lock!!!
First Steps
FUEL!
The car runs decent, and is in fair shape but I'd say out of everything the fuel system is probably the worst (and definitely the most dangerous) part of this car. So the first thing I want to do with the car is get the fuel system working properly so I can drive it safely if I need to move it before the strip down next year. I'll need to:
So I bought an air cleaner stud kit and a siphon to empty the tank. Of course, the hose was too short to reach any of the gas a the bottom of the tank... but I have some tubing that I used for my swamp cooler that should work. The stud kit was only $5 at O'Reilly's Auto Parts. I got the siphon from wally's world, it's a cheap one but it beats doing it the old fashioned way.
I also took some pictures but they all turned out blurry, so I'll use my better work camera to get some decent photos.
TIRES!
I was going to hold off on installing the new Rallys, but my wife wants to have a yard sale in a couple of weeks and I felt that would be a great opportunity to sell the old ones. The old ones still have good tread and no cracks- they're really decent, they just don't look good on the LeMans. They'd be decent spares for anyone with a 5x4.75" (5x120.7mm) bolt pattern on their car. I'll probably sell them for $20 each. Plus, it will improve the look of the car, which satisfies my need to have something cool to look at :)
COOL '71 and '72 LEMANS VIDEOS
The car runs decent, and is in fair shape but I'd say out of everything the fuel system is probably the worst (and definitely the most dangerous) part of this car. So the first thing I want to do with the car is get the fuel system working properly so I can drive it safely if I need to move it before the strip down next year. I'll need to:
- Install a new Air Cleaner to replace the missing one - the guy had a pie tin and crumpled plastic bag protecting the carburetor... luckily he took it off before he sold it to me but all I can think is the mangled hood pad fibers being sucked into the carburetor when I have to move it. I just want to know what happened to the original Air Cleaner...?
- Replace the Vapor Canister Filter or the Vapor Canister itself. The thing is rusted and should probably just be replaced.
- Replace the Fuel Tank - if I can't get the cap on who knows what kind of condition the tank itself is in. I've been researching this one carefully- I'm definitely going to buy this one new, but I have to temper cost with quality. However, I think I have some good leads.
- Replace the Fuel Pump and all the Fuel Lines (including those that go to the Vapor Canister - might as well since I'm putting a new Fuel Tank in.
- Rebuild or Replace the Carburetor - Again, I've been looking in the classifieds to find a decent deal on buying a used Edelbrock or Holley. I have the option of buying a carb kit and rebuilding my Rochester 2bbl... that might have to be my long term temporary solution until I can rebuild the engine. Actually, it might be better to wait on getting a new carburetor so I can get the best fit for whatever form my 350 takes after the rebuild. (bear with me folks, I have a tendency to work things out while I'm writing)
- Install a better Intake Manifold - This will have to wait until I rebuild the engine, which I'm not planning on even attempting until next May.
I realize some of these things aren't necessarily part of the fuel system per se, but they're all related so I might as well start from there.
So I bought an air cleaner stud kit and a siphon to empty the tank. Of course, the hose was too short to reach any of the gas a the bottom of the tank... but I have some tubing that I used for my swamp cooler that should work. The stud kit was only $5 at O'Reilly's Auto Parts. I got the siphon from wally's world, it's a cheap one but it beats doing it the old fashioned way.
I also took some pictures but they all turned out blurry, so I'll use my better work camera to get some decent photos.
TIRES!
I was going to hold off on installing the new Rallys, but my wife wants to have a yard sale in a couple of weeks and I felt that would be a great opportunity to sell the old ones. The old ones still have good tread and no cracks- they're really decent, they just don't look good on the LeMans. They'd be decent spares for anyone with a 5x4.75" (5x120.7mm) bolt pattern on their car. I'll probably sell them for $20 each. Plus, it will improve the look of the car, which satisfies my need to have something cool to look at :)
COOL '71 and '72 LEMANS VIDEOS
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