Project status...deadline approaching!

[radrambler]

hey chris

kicking but on the ride i see....im ready for a ride this weekend .....
34 years old sunday...
JUST THINK WE WERE 17 WHEN WE MET..BOTH HAVING THE 69 CAMAROS...
and you have yours back .restified .mine doesnt exsist .....
MAN, HALF OF OUR LIFE time flies.......
crazy ...
the rambler is sitting LIKE A BOAT ANCHOR........NO IT HASNT BEEN TOUCHED THIS WEEK.... NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.....
ill call ya

radrambler

[69MyWay]

Hey Rad, headers will come off by the end of the day so let's get together early afternoon for a ride!

Took the car out last night with the family. The baby fell asleep before we hit the interstate. All systems except the cruise control were working great. I have to take a mean grinder to the rear wheel lips because I was scraping the sidewall on the tires on bumps and acceleration.

Here is the bad/funny part. I RAN OUT OF GAS!!!!!!!!!! I guess I now know my fuel gauge is not 100% accurate. I installed a fuel pressure gauge and that was the way of knowing quickly the engine was indeed starving. Broke down going UP HILL. Got out and started pushing. I was amazed how far I pushed the car and was thinking I could go the distance when a VERY nice lady named Tina stopped and helped me get it into a parking lot. She took my wife to the gas station for a can of juice. Soon as I got some go juice in she fired right up. The baby was having a blast hanging out in the vacant business park parking lot while we waited. He thought it was part of the evening program.

I have a handful of things to tackle but am feeling more confident now that we can make the deadline.

[awr68]

Chris glad to hear it's all coming together in time and you'll make the deadline!! I love your stories and the fact that you include the family every step of the way!!

[69MyWay]

UPDATE!

Just drove the Camaro with my wife and 15 month old about 200 miles to the Florida National Parts Depot hub to return some items and pick up some floor mats.

Oh, I also had to pop for two new rear EMT Goodyears today A tad of $800 later and I have fresh rear rubber. The right rear that I had got a cut on the bead where my buddy remounted it for me and it kept loosing air. Since the fronts are in perfect shape and are EMT tires AND I don't carry a spare, I thought it would be best.

Still having A/C problems. Vintage Air has been awesome helping me trouble shoot the problem. Got some more tweeks to do there and should be G2G soon.

Can't get the cruise control to respond. I replaced the entire unit this last week and still no go. I am going to set the dip switch to another PPM pulse per mile and experiment. That means the original one was good so I can slam that on the 69 Vette some day.

Other items are holding up well including the crazy hidden wipers that came in handy today as it has rained off and on all day.

More soon..............

[69MyWay]

Good news, short term update.

Got the cruise working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hated to do it, but it turned out easy and quick to just mount the magnet pick up instead of tieing into the stock VSS. Cruise kicks butt!

It it 100% hidden under the dash and uses the stock GM cruise switch which I blended right into the custom fit 1981 Vette tilt tele column.

The a/c was working okay, but at speed would get to about 55 at the vent. It would start out much colder and the car was comfortable, but nothing to bragg about. In the beginning the heat switch was bad causing an open circuit that was pooring the heat on making the a/c impossible to cool the car. The guys at VA have been great and have given suggestions to follow. The first thing we did was flip the heater hoses.

Long story short, we found out the switch was bad but I didn't re-flip the hoses. I was up against two problems. Once the RPM came up the reversed hoses caused the heater valve to be bypassed and run hot air out of the box on top of the a/c. Got that fixed yesterday morning leading to the final problem.

Turns out I was also a tad low on a/c charge. I may have a slight leak in one of my connections so I shot in some red dye and am checking all of that now. VA is also sending me a new a/c switch as the one I have failed in one position and can't be turned off. He said that happens once in a while.

So, now a few more tweaks and a few more miles before the big road trip!

Oh...the starter is failing now too. I had it redone by the same guy at the same time that did the alternator. Picking up another starter today. Once it gets hot it does not want to engage.

[camcojb]

Cool Chris! Can't wait until mine is at the point yours is. I love the way you did this changeover, looks completely like it belongs, and very well detailed.

Jody

[Jay Hilliard]

Thanks for the updates Chris. Let me know how the VA cools once you get it working properly.

[69MyWay]

One week from today, this Camaro will be pointed north and about this time in the moring (5:00 a.m.), it will be fired up and rolling.

Pressure? Nah.....

Got the a/c sorted out. It cools like a dream. In fact with (humidity factore added) 100 degree weather, we had to adjust the a/c warmer on our road trip last friday! Cruise is also right on target. Going to spend some quality hours this weekend going over all the nuts and bolts and gathering my gear to pack for the trip.

[JamesJ]

After it is done, all the problems make you really appreciate it, you should be very proud. Great car

[69MyWay]

Well, this is it. Today was the last chance I had for wrapping up details on the car. It is full of gas and ready to roll. My wife will pack the clothes and baby gear on Tuesay so that we can roll out first thing Wed morning.

I decided not to take Tuesday off work to save the vacation days.

Catch you guys on the flip side.