Carl Bilter writes:
Work continues on the J detailing/fixes. Everything came off the engine smoothly but more problems surfaced. You might notice that the engine is listing towards the driver's side. Yep, the motor mount is shot. The passenger side mount is just starting to crack so I will add new motor mounts to the list (or send them to Then & Now). I'm sure it didn't help that the guy who put this car back together forgot to install the motor mount heat shields!
The G long rams are off. The short rams are getting prepped and one is at the welders getting fixed because somebody chewed up the choke well trying to remove a broken bolt. It needs welding before it will accept a helicoil for the bolt on the block-off plate. The G exhaust manifolds will hopefully get replaced with proper headers. The headers I bought broke in transit. I have them with a welder now who has a lot of experience welding cast iron. He says he can fix them and I remain hopeful I can use them.
Any sane person would have walked away from this car at the auction back in 2004, but not me. I am a 300 nut. The only good thing mechanically, as it turned out, was that it had its original engine, carbs and transmission. When I got it, it barely ran or drove. The transmission was shot (rebuilt in '05). The wiring was messed up – the wires to the ballast resistor were switched with the A/C resistor. That sent too much voltage to the ignition points and coil. The car had G long rams and exhaust manifolds. The header support brackets are gone. The A/C compressor was seized up and the A/C pulley was completely missing the clutch & coil. All the spark plug wire holders were missing. Spark plug wires literally broke when I removed them. Two of the A/C support brackets are missing. The cooling system was plugged with mud. The radiator leaked and was clogged (since recored). The oil pump was leaking badly, the brake system was shot, the front end was shot. The ball & trunnion and rear u joint were shot as I discovered at Elkhart Lake. Rear shocks, when I removed them, had zero resistance left. None of the interior or dash lights worked. The console light wires had been cut. The timing chain had over 1" of slop (replaced in '05). Just about everything else rebuilt or replaced. And this was advertised as a "restored" car! Lesson learned – be careful at auctions!
So we've come a long way – and keep working to get it right. Hoping things will be done for Minneapolis next year.

Dave Dumais writes:
I've been working on my K 4 speed. I decided to remove rust and recoat the rear springs.
Click here to see the progress.