Next I moved on to getting the motor to run better then it did from sitting for so long, Changed and confirmed routing on all vacuum lines under the hood. Oh and since I am a CA emissions car there is not much that I can change on this motor, But I was able to swap to an EO CARB compliant accel super stock upgraded coil and 9mm wire set. added plug heat sleeves, fixed some leaking power steering lines and have been working on getting it timed in to the best setting I can in order to be able to pass smog this year. Put in a new duraspark control box and distributer(factory cause of smog laws), Planning on changing the intake manifold(edelbrock performer), valve covers(cheap chrome ones for now), and carb to a Holley 650 4 barrel after smog. Also going to mount the coil in a different location to free up that portion of the crowed motor. If any one has any other ideas that are Carb compliant w/ EO numbers I am all ears. Really not liking having to switch out parts for every single smog .
I have also changed every single light bulb in the car over to 6000k bright with LED bulbs( which made a huge difference in hoe the gauges look at night) when I changed those I also had to change the turn signal and hazard flasher to LEd flashers and ground them to make turns blink.(Super easy change, bought off amazon cheap) come with polarity adapter base with the hazard one needed.
Ragnar, welcome to the site!!! You have my favorite flavor of Ranchero (77-79) and I am quite interested to see what you are going to do as you have hit many of the items I have been or will be working on in the near future. I got mine (Midnight) murdered out in gloss black which appeals to me but the inside is still baby blue. I have a few under dash parts that I am going to pick up in March that will eventually fall into an after market AC system (mine didn't come that way) and I'm going to pretty much change all the flat panels of the dash to suit my needs similar to what I did with my instrument cluster. So essentially a custom interior if I can find a shop to do it w/o Fantomworks prices. Also planning on powder coating my new (to me in March) bumpers gloss black and doing a chin tuck to snuggle it up to the grill. Looks like you have one that is mostly together but I'm sure the gremlins will keep you occupied as they do all of us. Cheers, Doc PS: Can't help you with CARB, all I need is to keep a pair of non O2 sensor'd cat's and I'm good, hell I don't even have to get it safety inspected it's an Antique!
I saw yours the other day, I like it. Do you know what springs you are running in the front? My nose dives to the ground and water collects in the bed which I hate you are super lucky. Mine has factory r12 a/c that still works great. although I will be changing that up to a more effective system later, also mine already has the factory, I like the factory look of the interior of the car although it does need to be redone.
I added some seal sealer between hood outer and inner panels and filled them with Nioco 80mil heat/sound barrier panels and have order a repop hood insulator
I didn't like them at first but they have grown on me and when I redo the paint I am keeping these original colors
I would really like to add factory cruise control and power windows, but I have a lot other things to figure out and adjust first. Like the interior and the anti rattle clips/ parts for the door windows and the squeak in the dash
I'm pretty sure mine is saggy stock but there is a possibility that OEM/factory replacement parts were put in. I have a binder from the PO who got it from the PO who got it from the PO who used to post here and there is a Summit page printed out with springs on it. Not sure if that was on the to do list or if it was purchased. My tires are 235/70R15's and I get a bit of fender rub slow turning right so I need to get the front end up a bit. I get water in the back too as I like the nose down rake but it drains fairly well on a flat surface, unfortunately my driveway lists a bit to the left so I always seem to have water in the bed behind the drivers seat (until I get on it ). I guess I'm lucky that I don't have to convert the AC but at the same time I need all the bits to make it work. My ride is turning into the $1K car, everything I need/want to do costs $1K. T5 - $1K, Clutch & Brake Assembly $1K, AC - $1K, Headers and Exhaust - $1K. Seats, Door cards & Carpet - $1K. Hell bumpers are going to be $1K after I finish getting them stripped and powder coated. If I combine new stereo, speakers and sound deadening as well as under coating the cab it will be $1k. That said she is pretty at 20' and can get to triple digits in a fair hurry, The POx3 said he put in a limited slip but I've laid rubber for 60' and can't get the 2nd tire to spin, sooooo maybe no LS. Cheers, Doc
I have the 215/70/15s on Babe, but I have the 'cheat' that I replaced the 351M/FMX with a 351W/C4, so the front end's a smidge higher. By how much, I don't know.
