The Green Mile is almost to the "will it run" Stage

[Steve Wood]

My Miata is back home and it about 25% the size of the Green Mile! Heck, look at the go kart sitting in the back.  It appears bigger than the Miata! 

Taylor Wood spent several days trying to ignore me while I directed him as to how to hot wire the HEI ignition and electric fans using the Mopar wiring that remained after lopping off most of the Mopar wires. I apologize to the purist Mopar guys out there that are rolling over in shock but it was garbage in 1972 and is much worse now.  We used the Ignition 1 & 2 wires to trigger the relays. 

We have three relays in the box that are unused as of yet. I am thinking of some major league air horns (hey, the Miata has an air horn), police spot lights, and a PA system for the three available ones.
At midnight of his last day here, we realized that we needed to make an HEI COIL wire to a conventional old school distributor cap plus regap the plugs to 0.045" to better benefit the HEI ignition.  He was supposed to leave first thing the next morning for a few days in San Antone.  He decided to leave finding the spark plug holes in the heads to me. Headers may look cool, but they are a pain in butt!

We also installed and adjusted the throttle valve linkage,  heater hose connectors/hoses, plumbed the fuel system, gauges, tested the wiring, and other such things.

Spun it over on the starter and got oil  pressure, put some transmission oil in it and did the usual cussing, arguing and car hate as we worked.  His wife asked him if he really like doing this stuff because we argued so much.  Women don't understand man stuff or bonding.

We also spent six hours removing the factory exhaust manifold from my Miata and replaced it with a Polydyne titanium coated aftermarket header which should add three HP at the rear tires. Thank goodness for a sawzall and a son who likes to cut stuff up into small pieces. The the car sounds like a Saber jet between 6000 and 7000 rpm. Puts a grin in my soul.

[nocooler]

Sounds like some good progress was made all around!

[TurboMonte]

Steve, it looks like your project vehicles are becoming smaller (in size) with age--however, the Green Mile appears to be a BIG exception.
I've really thinned the herd, from 4 to 1, and my last project in & out was also "much smaller" (in size only)--an 80 MGB Roadster.

[Steve Wood]

Yeah, I'm a bit creaky these days LOL

The Satellite wagon belongs to my son.  We are dropping a 440 in it and it has given us fits-mainly on the transmission end, but I think it is all good now.  I had forgotten how big those things were.

The Miata is basically a big gokart and it makes me smile when I drive it.  It's lowered about a 1.5" and has some good tires on it.  I went with basically track springs and I should not have done that because it does not like expansion joints and such but it will probably out turn the gokart. My son had driven it home after bringing the wagon out here.  I have really missed it.  As I said, it makes me smile.

The gokart has a fried engine but I have the stuff to rebuild it.  I wanted an offroad kart with full suspension and this one has it.  Should be much better in the rocks out here.  I guess I am in my 5th childhood or so because I enjoy all the stuff I did 60 or 70 years ago...at least when I am not napping

Oh, the Miata has not been licensed for two years.  I took it to get it inspected on Tuesday and one of the owners took me to look at her new "baby".  It was a red 64 MGB.  I had one just like it when I lived in Libya in the '60s.  Mine was a '64 as well.  I told her to be sure to pull the pots off the carbs and clean the piston/walls good if she wanted it to run like it should LOL

[Steve Wood]

Jeremy, we actually got more done that I thought...main ly the tedious stuff.  Another day, and we would have been driving it...assuming the engine still runs anyway.  I have everything I need to finish it off...it's a pain out here in the boondocks when it can take two hours to go get a fitting or something.

[TurboMonte]

Yepper Steve, seems we all tend to somehow gravitate back to our "roots" vehicles/memories. Hence my black 51 Merc cpe (past 20 yrs), similar to one I graduated HS with in 58 & off-to college...

Some vivid traveling trips/memories in a friends 70 Dodge Polara wagon w/ 440 engine & bad accelerator pump.  We would load up 4 golfers and gear for week-long trips & travel to upstate NY (in mid-80's). We appropriately named it "The Lurchmobile", and were lucky we didn't have accidents when pulling out into traffic. I'm recalling in a dual-action tailgate also...? They seem known for tranny issues?

The MGBs make the Miatas look large/full-sized...

Thx for the recent chat and ALL the GN help over the past years--now time for my nap (it's almost 9:30, but a.m. !!) 

[Steve Wood]

LOL I have trouble with those morning naps and afternoon ones as well!  All I have to do is sit down in my recliner.

The Mercury cpe is the top of the mountain.  No one can aspire to more.  I was shocked to  see how small that MGB was.  I don't recall it being that small back in 1966 when I first got it.

The wagon was scary with the 318 in it.  It cruised nicely if no ran over you when you tried to get on the freeway!

It is really good to see you again~!

[phil_long]

Super cool!!! Out in the boondocks...LO L. Sounds extremely peaceful though

[Steve Wood]

I live just out side of Eden in the country.  Eden's population sign shows 2500 people but about 1500 of those live in the privately run prison which is inside the city limits.  Most of the time, it's pretty peaceful out here in the country side.  This would be a bad place to decide to start trouble in as most of the county residents are better armed than the average national guard armory LOL.    Coyotes, feral hogs, rattlers, bobcats, etc.  are not rancher friendly.

The young, that can, leave.  The old come back.

[daveismissing]

Do they actually count the prisoners in the population? LOL

[Steve Wood]

US census does.  I guess they have to get their benefits accredited to an address?

[Steve Wood]

Spark plugs, big blocks, and headers.  Sounds like a country song.  Gapped the plugs out to 0.045" so the GM HEI module could could have a chance to live up to its reputation.

Started with Number one because it has more room for a hand than any of the others.  I guess I should have installed a piece of hose for a handle even on the easy one.  On number 3, I had a 4" piece of fuel line on the end.  By the time, I got to Reno, that had become about an inch as space was not infinite as some profess to believe but they are all in place (but not tight-that's next.

I am going to do my next engine install with quick disconnect fittings and a hydraulic hoist built into the installation to make things more user friendly.  I don't have the energy to cuss when things don't go my way any more so I just mumble and bear it.  Pretty sure I will be laying on the floor reaching up to snug some of these down but I got this far before it got to hot to worry about that.  I am moving north to live with Jeremy this summer.  I think he probably needs someone to tell him how he should have done it.

I need to figure out how to route the wires before I worry about getting the plugs tight.  Wish I had labeled each plug wire so I could make that go faster...

[Steve Wood]

Need to break out the simple green aircraft version to clean up the valve covers before I mount the looms.  Did you all know that regular simple green does not like aluminum all that much?  Me neither, but Google does.

[nocooler]

I’m not a fan of not being able to see the spark plugs. I helped my cousin once change the plugs on his 400rb mopar that was in a 72? Imperial. For such a big car there wasn’t any damn room anywhere!

[Steve Wood]

I may have more sparkplug sockets for the Mopars than I do for the Buicks....LOL