72 TA : New Project

[Postsedan]

Great pic, looking forward to the ink! Congrats!

Dan

[njsteve]

Took her out to the local cruise night in Flemington, NJ yesterday. Good showing of cars there and it was about 90 degrees out.

There's nothing like rolling up the windows and running the A/C full blast on a hot day. She ran ran great -and the temp gauge never went above the first notch. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

Since we are in the midst of an apocaliptic heat wave here, (It was 108 yesterday), I took the 72 T/A out for a spin in the inferno, better known as New Jersey, today.

I went to the local cruise night again but only 20 cars showed up due to the oppressive heat.

The car uses its original, four-speed radiator (no trans cooler) that was recored with a modern three row, copper core. She handled the climate amazingly well. Here's some temp samples taken with a heat gun:

Outside Temp: 102 degrees
Pavement Temp: 121 degrees
Pass-Side Radiator Tank Temp: 153 degrees
Dr-Side Radiator Tank Temp: 183 degrees
Thermostat Housing Temp: 197 degrees

A/C on Max, center outlet temp: 35 degrees [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/cool.gif[/img] There's nothing like a good running, old R12 system.

Factory temp gauge reading: about a millimeter past the first hash mark on the gauge.

[njsteve]

Today's 72 T/A Temperature Update:

Outside Temp: 92 degrees
Pavement Temp: 110 degrees
Pass-Side Radiator Tank Temp: 138 degrees
Dr-Side Radiator Tank Temp: 178 degrees
Thermostat Housing Temp: 185 degrees

Factory gauge reading: directly on the first hashmark

A/C still blowing nice and cold [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/cool.gif[/img]

So there you have it, I guess the first mystery hash mark on the gauge is 185, even though it is exactly halfway between &quot;100&quot; and &quot;210&quot; on the dial. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

I spent a hour or so removing a valve train noise that I suspected was the crazy oil dripper contraption that the 455HO's used under the valve covers. It was a tinny/clanky sound that obviously wasn't a lifter but was definitely in the valvetrain somewhere.

It seems that the roller tipped rockers I am using were nicking the oil dripper indentations on the passenger side. I pulled both valve covers and removed the contraptions as they are not really needed with the roller tipped rockers. There is enough oil spray coming out of the rockers to lubricate everything that needs lubricating in there, anyway.

Top view:



Underside view:



Closeup view. Some of the nicks are old and some look fresh and shiny.




Now there are no more annoying noises that shouldn't be there. Just the annoying noises that should be. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

[njsteve]

Now through the wonders of modern science, you can hear for yourself what the engine sounds like, after I removed those pesky dripper shields.

Just click on the photo:

[Xplantdad]

Nice!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]