Coming Down Home Stretch

Moss motors could not get us a throwout bearing that was narrower.  So we ended up making ours narrower, ie ground off some of the pin on the right side.  Took about 0.040" off, filed it nice and smooth, reassembled and parts now fit great!  Root cause was original bell housing machining was slightly off center, which was fine with a wider throwout bearing but not the new narrower ones.  Then we finally got transmission reinstalled.

Received refurbished steering wheel and control head, got them installed.  They both look and function great:



Got rest of interior done, including seat installation and carpet.  Those "hot rod" seat rails work pretty darn good!




Got new top installed.  Well, it was actually several years old from sitting around in it's box.  Had to let mother nature stretch the material during installation.  We think it turned out real good:




Developed a "punch list" of things to finish up.  Great progress on the list.  Doors now open and close well.  Wipers aligned well.  Powder coated wheels look awesome.  Glovebox installed.  Took compression readings - ranged from 155 to 175, great.  Installed new fuel shutoff valve, old one leaked despite installation of new cork seal.  Installed door pull straps.  Got bulb installed for hi beam indicator.  Installed headlights including buckets.  Aligned headlights.  Checked front end alignment, had to adjust slightly to get toe in.  Speedometer cable installed.  Made followup adjustment to drum brakes.  Installed spare tire - had to release air due to 165 series tire on the rim, someday someone may want to get a 145 series tire instead.

Have driven the car several miles, overdrive works awesome.  Engine overall runs great, transmission shifts great, clutch is great.  Temperature gauge reads about 30 degrees high - when it shows 200 degrees a temperature gun shows the sensor on the block at 173.  Thermostat at 169 at same time.  Not sure this is worth having the gauge recalibrated since we know it's off and by how much.  

Now waiting on hood stick cover, which will require some fasteners to be installed.  Then we'll take a whole bunch of pictures and some videos in preparation for listing the car on BAT.  

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