Ben’s 1967 Pontiac Firebird 400 Rod & Restoration

I worked from home today (due to some gastro-intestinal issues which I won’t go into), so on my lunch hour I installed the rear shocks, took the car off the stands and drove it to the gas station.  Ten gallons for the economical price of $40.  Holy crap.

The rear end felt pretty solid, so the lift kit seems to have worked, except while going around a corner I heard a noise that may have been the tires hitting the body.

The speedometer worked pretty well – or as well as to be expected, it’s a little bouncy under 30 mph.

The left front brake is still too soft, and it’s veering right when I stop.  I’ll see if I can’t mess with it a bit when I replace the rear brakes, which are squeaking like hell.  What I really need is for Chris and/or Roy to ride around in it with me and help diagnose the problems with the brakes.  Of course, I know Chris will say it needs a brake booster and front discs, which is true, but I’m not gonna dump $1000 into it if I don’t have to.

The header seems to be working fine… I think.  When I started the car there was a lot of smoke that didn’t have much force to it, so I assume that it was just the gunk I’ve dripped on it burning off.  When I parked the car and let it run a bit, I didn’t see any exhaust issues, so hopefully that’s solved.  I guess I’ll find out once it cools down and I restart it.

The gas gauge still doesn’t work, and that might be due to the sending unit, or the fact that there’s a leak in the gas tank.  When I filled it up, it started dripping before I could finish, so I guess I’ll drive around until I’m low on fuel, then take the tank off to replace the sending unit, and will probably replace the tank at the same time.  Ug.

It’s loud as shit, since I’ve got the interior pretty stripped, but that pretty much expected at this point.

I still need to dink around with the wiring, to finish hooking up the gauge cluster and interior crap.  I also need to finish the front end lights and clean up the wiring in the engine compartment.  I guess I’ve got some shopping and driving to do.