by Z-type » Sun Aug 17, 2014 8:31 pm
Well, good news and bad news.
Took the Skyhawk for its first extended drive. Took it to get gas at a local station, and something might be wrong with the tank/filler neck. The gas gauge hasn't moved and I only got about 2.5 gallons in the car before it came shooting out of the neck.
Good news - it drives GREAT. Ride is good, steering is nice, and it handles pretty decently. The transmission is perfect and the lockup works perfectly.
Bad news - the carb really needs tuned badly. The car is so slow and bogs down a bit when you get on it at all. Possibly a fuel pressure thing, possibly not.
More bad news - the car seems to keep the RPMs high, like 3,000 in lockup at 55 MPH (the speedo doesn't work either so I'm guessing). Maybe the tach is bad, the car didn't SOUND like it was revving that high.
MORE bad news - the car got hot - quickly. The coolant was boiling by the time I limped it home from getting hot in the first place. New thermostat, but original water pump. I'm going to replace both. The heater core is not clogged.
So, a few issues, but I'm happy with it even with that short drive!
1978 Buick Skyhawk - Buick 4.1 V6, THM-350C...
1979 Century Turbo Coupe - Buick High-compression 350, 200-R4 swap...
1988 Buick Lesabre T-type - L67 supercharged swap/4T60E-HD
1997 Riviera - L67/4T65E-HD