Have you ever met someone with extensive knowledge of the minor engineering changes made within a model or brand? Someone who can say “oh, this is an early ’82 car, so you need the EA44517 starter, not the -524″ or “don’t get the Moog part for that bushing, their book is wrong”? You know how they know that? Because at least one time a thing that was supposed to fit, didn’t.
I’m becoming such a guy with this build…
The second quote is me, now, referring to the rear leaf spring bushings on ’60-63 Falcons. Moog seems to think my springs have a much smaller ID loop on the end, as their parts for the application (courtesy or RockAuto) are a good 1/2″ too small. The early cars use 2″ wide rear springs (whereas the ’64-65s and most other leaf spring cars use 2.5″) with a 1 3/8″ ID spring loop, which is apparently a pretty rare configuration. My typical go-to, FalconParts.com just lost their supplier (be sure to read the full description before adding to cart) and can’t help me out. Napa theoretically has some that work for way too much money. One set is in Fresno, the other in Nashville and can be delivered by burro train ground to arrive next week, but only after I go there physically in person and do something with paper (not online, not over the phone). I know NAPA has a great reputation as an “old school” auto parts shop, but maybe we could do without that aspect of “old school”. Anyway, I’ve got a set of Energy Suspension polyurethane units that are too long (but can be cut down) coming in 1-2 days via Amazon Prime for half the price. I’ll roll by NAPA and get that other order started soon, just in case.
The other end of the leaves came together without issue. Thankfully the bushing kit included the nine-inch long varying diameter bolt that goes through both the frame and bushing, because we bent one of them while getting the old parts out and it looks like it’d be a pain in the ass to replace. Greased everything up and they pop right in. Alas, I need those front bushings to put the axle under the car and drop it to get final ride height and driveshaft length correct.
So, Carburetors. We now have five, with a total of six barrels. I was happy to see that the rebuild kit for the Autolite 2100 two-barrel is going to get here by Friday and the adapter to bolt it to our one-barrel intake was already here. Yeah, that one’s going right back to Amazon and the proper unit will be here shortly. We’re trying to get the car started this weekend, so it’ll be a toss-up between just running the Holley 1940 without a rebuild (it’s taking forever to arrive) or scrambling to make the whole 2-barrel thing work. That clean looking Carter BB? It doesn’t match any bolt pattern I have. At the rate we’re going, there’s a decent chance a home-made wood carb spacer/adapter will make an appearance. Any particular wood you’d recommend?
Ending on a more straightforward note, I swapped the fuel tank sending unit as it was electrically screwy and looked ready to start leaking. Being on the side of the tank, that seal is constantly submerged and I really didn’t feel like dealing with mid-race fuel leak issues. The old unit pops out by knocking the locking ring loose. Contort the unit out and scrape the gasket surface clean. Apply gas-resistant sealer, then the new O-ring, then contort the new unit in. Tap the locking ring back in and you’re good to start wrestling with fuel lines.
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