I finished installing the new Autolite plugs yesterday, and had hoped that they would be the solution to my ongoing engine miss problem. While there is still a noticeable engine miss present on the highway, these plugs did seem to improve drivability. The biggest difference is the new plugs reach significantly further into the combustion chamber. I was lucky in the sense that the plug length proved to be the same as the Accel shorty plugs they replaced. I've never had a plug that was so difficult to gap. I had to use an old school spark plug gap gauge in order to set the gap, and it got all bent to hell in the process. These electrodes are seriously stiff, and took many attempts to increase the gap to .055 as recommended by MSD. I was skeptical of opening the gap that far, considering these plugs are labeled as "race plugs" and came gapped .020. I was half tempted to install them as is and see how they worked.
As far as the miss, I'm calling it quits for this season. Woodward Avenue is less than a week away, and effectively signals the end of cruise season to me. I will still likely hit a few cruises here and there, but with my wife back teaching this week, I don't anticipate hitting more than a couple. One in particular I'd like to make is in Blissfield, MI, down near where I grew up. It's a once a month cruise on the first (I think) Thursday of each month, and goes through October. I feel that my car is up to par for such a trip, which will be a little over an hour. I would venture to guess that with my engine tuned better than ever, I'll probably knock down better than my previous best of 6 mpg highway, maybe even hit 7 mpg!
Looking ahead to this winter, I plan on keeping my car here this year, as opposed to storing it at my parents and allowing me to park my daily driver in the garage during the snow season. I have chosen this route in order to finish up the many little things I have left to do on the car, and hopefully, finish the upgrades needed in order to take it to the race track. As for the interior, I need to install sound mat, carpet, dash cluster, headliner, and a stereo system, all of which will be relatively inexpensive. Outside the car, my wish list to complete by next year includes custom headers, possibly new mufflers, and tail pipes over the axle. The exhaust system is almost a necessity, as the headers are already taking their toll on a few spark plug boots, and I'm sure the heat is also doing a good job cooking my power steering fluid due to the closeness to the steering box. So, as you can see, the exhaust is torward the top of my list.
Next, I plan on buying a new Victor Jr intake, as I fear my gasket matching from over a decade ago may in fact be causing an insufficient seal to the heads, possibly causing the engine miss. I would also like to replace my 750 Race Demon with a Holley rated at 850-900 cfm, as I'm a bit under carbed for what I built.
I may upgrade the fuel system a bit, while sticking with a mechanical pump, possibly a new gas tank with sump, and pressure regulator complete with gauge. With some many attempts on solving this engine miss, I'm no longer confident that the fuel pump that doesn't require a pressure regulator could also be causing my issues via too much or too little fuel pressure. Until I can absolutely rule everything out, I'll consider anything that could cause the problem.
With all the above taken car of, all that's left is a Ford 9 inch rear end, drive shaft, and safety equipment, such as 5 point harnesses (possibly race seats), window net, and to install the kill switch for the battery. I may also rewire the car, which is hardly intimidating having already done it once. I'm a little concerned over a few electrical gremlins and for $180, it would put my mind at ease rewiring things.
That is about it. If I can accomplish everything on that list above, I think I would be ready to race come next season. Obviously, all those fixes don't come cheap, with the most expensive being the Ford 9 inch, which will set me back about $3,000. That said, aside from the 9 inch, and the new carb, the rest of the list is relatively inexpensive, just a lot of "nickel and dime" stuff, in the form of $200 and less. I will say this much, I will only tackle one project at a time, as there is no way in hell I'm going to have it off the road come early next spring. I want to be able to take it out for a drive on that first nice 50 degree day we get, even if it's in February.
Not to sound like the cruise season is over, as we got the Grand-daddy of them all come next Saturday. I had thumbed through the latest Jeg's issue early tonight, cover to cover, trying to list everything I would possibly need to go racing, and start mapping out this year's off season fixes.
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