2 years since the last update... 2016 the pontiac just sat in storage but this summer i tried my best to drive it as much as possible and get to some events, it didn't go too well
So a quick recap:
Fall 2015 it developed a bad missfire on the return trip from a swap meet 200km from home..
I got home and tried swapping the carb, which i though helped for a while, but later i got a huge missfire, exploding both mufflers and leaving muffler innards along the road
So it sat for a while.. Last spring i finally decided to do something about it, and fitted a chinese HEI-distributor, a MSD 6-AL ignition box and MSD streetfire spark plug wires, along with proper wiring for everything. Whilst doing this i found out that the positive wire for the stock distributor had a tear in the insulation and had apparently shorted every now and then causing the missfire... At least i got an overkill ignition system now
Still needs a bit of tidying up, as things usually do.
In case of more missfires i got some missfire-proof mufflers, 3" Dynomax race bullets.
And a slightly less restrictive exhaust system overall. Sadly i had to do a huge notch in the pipes to clear the frame which hangs very low on these.
The MOT-man wouldn't approve of notching the frame...
I also soldered some leds here and there.
Did some quick first aid on the electrics under the dash.
(Notice that i also got a floor mat!)
Looks like curse word in photos, but actually nice although a bit dim in real life. Got a nice tach aswell.
Inspired by the 1966 dodge charger dash, not that it's even closely as cool.
Then i blew a headgasket and a freeze plug, which was delightful to replace with the engine in the car and long tube headers
Busted the oil pan whilst driving down a perfectly fine road..
After doing a quick fix on a saturday night welding it still attached to the car i did it proper with a new bottom made of 6mm steel.
The headers look nice and friendly sitting there, but makes removing or installing the engine a 5 hour job, one hour normal stuff and four hours cursing about the headers.
With the engine out of the car i decided to check why i had so low oil pressure.
At least they used a made in usa hose clamp.. To be on the safe side i got a new oil pump.
Sadly the damage was done, and two rod bearings had shrunk.
As the local yank parts store didn't have new bearings in stock i did the only logical thing and bent the bearings back to shape, hoping the new high flow pump would keep them alive the rest of the summer.
I also threw on a new water pump, rad cap and hoses, as the old ones had a tendency to start spewing water everywhere at the least convenient time and place. Tried to flush the engine aswell. Didn't dare to flush the oil channels without a proper break down though.
Official service position for a pontiac v8
Upgraded to 295/55 rears at the same time, used ones obviously
I got fed messing round with a screwdriver (that was always lost) when i had to open the trunk, so it got rubber latches instead.
Got the correct black plates aswell, '71 was the last year for black plates in finland.
#beacuseracecar
And to continue the race car theme it got some stickers, naturally i patinaed them to match the rest of the car.
So finally i was ready to actually use it, and i might even have put about 1000km on it last summer, including a few car meetings and stuff, didn't dare testing it on the strip or track it beacuse of the bearings though.
I even won an acknowledgement trophy at a radalle.com event!
The opel won the lemon award.
As is custom, the car shot a freeze plug leaving the premises, luckily we got to borrow some tools and a jack from black smoke racing, and my trusty accomplices replaced it in the parking lot while i drank cheap beer from the trophy cup.
Yes, i had spare freeze plugs in the trunk.
Another nice thing that happened was that a friend wanted both me and the pontiac to star in a commercial for his "beard stuff and other stuff" company. The end result was way better than i expected, so i'll give him some free publicity here;
The video is actually not staged, we were on our way to a gravel pit to do the shot, but i lost the oil plug.
And a bonus video of the very local drag event my friends arranged, apparently there's a lot of skilled videographers around here
True to form the pontiac was broken.
So i guess that's it for 2017, stay tuned for the next update, hopefully i'll actually do something to it this winter..
Oh, i also spun a rod bearing to finish the season off.
So a quick recap:
Fall 2015 it developed a bad missfire on the return trip from a swap meet 200km from home..
I got home and tried swapping the carb, which i though helped for a while, but later i got a huge missfire, exploding both mufflers and leaving muffler innards along the road
So it sat for a while.. Last spring i finally decided to do something about it, and fitted a chinese HEI-distributor, a MSD 6-AL ignition box and MSD streetfire spark plug wires, along with proper wiring for everything. Whilst doing this i found out that the positive wire for the stock distributor had a tear in the insulation and had apparently shorted every now and then causing the missfire... At least i got an overkill ignition system now
Still needs a bit of tidying up, as things usually do.
In case of more missfires i got some missfire-proof mufflers, 3" Dynomax race bullets.
And a slightly less restrictive exhaust system overall. Sadly i had to do a huge notch in the pipes to clear the frame which hangs very low on these.
The MOT-man wouldn't approve of notching the frame...
I also soldered some leds here and there.
Did some quick first aid on the electrics under the dash.
(Notice that i also got a floor mat!)
Looks like curse word in photos, but actually nice although a bit dim in real life. Got a nice tach aswell.
Inspired by the 1966 dodge charger dash, not that it's even closely as cool.
Then i blew a headgasket and a freeze plug, which was delightful to replace with the engine in the car and long tube headers
Busted the oil pan whilst driving down a perfectly fine road..
After doing a quick fix on a saturday night welding it still attached to the car i did it proper with a new bottom made of 6mm steel.
The headers look nice and friendly sitting there, but makes removing or installing the engine a 5 hour job, one hour normal stuff and four hours cursing about the headers.
With the engine out of the car i decided to check why i had so low oil pressure.
At least they used a made in usa hose clamp.. To be on the safe side i got a new oil pump.
Sadly the damage was done, and two rod bearings had shrunk.
As the local yank parts store didn't have new bearings in stock i did the only logical thing and bent the bearings back to shape, hoping the new high flow pump would keep them alive the rest of the summer.
I also threw on a new water pump, rad cap and hoses, as the old ones had a tendency to start spewing water everywhere at the least convenient time and place. Tried to flush the engine aswell. Didn't dare to flush the oil channels without a proper break down though.
Official service position for a pontiac v8
Upgraded to 295/55 rears at the same time, used ones obviously
I got fed messing round with a screwdriver (that was always lost) when i had to open the trunk, so it got rubber latches instead.
Got the correct black plates aswell, '71 was the last year for black plates in finland.
#beacuseracecar
And to continue the race car theme it got some stickers, naturally i patinaed them to match the rest of the car.
So finally i was ready to actually use it, and i might even have put about 1000km on it last summer, including a few car meetings and stuff, didn't dare testing it on the strip or track it beacuse of the bearings though.
I even won an acknowledgement trophy at a radalle.com event!
The opel won the lemon award.
As is custom, the car shot a freeze plug leaving the premises, luckily we got to borrow some tools and a jack from black smoke racing, and my trusty accomplices replaced it in the parking lot while i drank cheap beer from the trophy cup.
Yes, i had spare freeze plugs in the trunk.
Another nice thing that happened was that a friend wanted both me and the pontiac to star in a commercial for his "beard stuff and other stuff" company. The end result was way better than i expected, so i'll give him some free publicity here;
The video is actually not staged, we were on our way to a gravel pit to do the shot, but i lost the oil plug.
And a bonus video of the very local drag event my friends arranged, apparently there's a lot of skilled videographers around here
True to form the pontiac was broken.
So i guess that's it for 2017, stay tuned for the next update, hopefully i'll actually do something to it this winter..
Oh, i also spun a rod bearing to finish the season off.