Daze wrote:

those look like some nice spark plug wire holders, where did you get them??

Those are factory for Y blocks.  My metal pieces are original while the rubber inserts are reproductions. I purchased the rubber inserts from Macs Auto Parts.
 

Still moving forward on the Fairlane. 
I finally found a throttle return spring and bracket.

Rebuilt the starter.  I just love the starter drives on these motors.

I had a starter repair shop weld in new brushes.

I installed new bushings.  It seems good to go.

Once I got the engine bay wiring hooked up I had to turn on the famous "Jet Age" round tail lights.

Hooked up the clutch.  Installed the NOS Z bar.


Reinstalled the core support, radiator, and fenders.


Ready for startup!

Okay.  I did the first startup and it was disappointing.  The motor just did not run right.  It seemed to have a significant vacuum leak.  So....I changed out the intake manifold.  This did not help.  I took the carburetor apart to double-check it.  I found the booster venturi cluster had some soft spots that were causing a vacuum leak.  I was able to find a NOS cluster from Green Sales Company.

This helped quite a bit but it still wasn't 100%.  I took the carburetor back apart and it appeared to still have some blocked passageways.  I ran a copper wire through all of the small holes and blew them out with carburetor cleaner and compressed air.  Finally, the motor started running good.  I spent about a month trying to track down the problem.  Really disappointing.  I paid a business to rebuild the carburetor.  If there is a next time I would do better research and pay additional money for a more professional carburetor restoration shop.  As for the low vacuum, I believe the machine shop installed a mild cam into the motor.

Here is a video of the motor running.  This is from a cold start so I could do the final adjustment on the choke.  I think it sounds pretty good!


 

Last edited by finsrn (February 2, 2023 7:12 pm)

I am seriously considering sending the car out to a restoration shop to finish the restoration.  My original plan was to get it running and driving and then let someone else do the finish work.  I found this place in Illinois;
Restorations Unlimited.
If anyone has experience with them or any other suggestions I would appreciate any input.


 

Last edited by finsrn (July 16, 2020 6:50 pm)

Taking a test drive.  I think I'm really going to like the power steering!


 

I adjusted the valve lash.  The manual says .019.  They were set at about .011 from the machine shop, which is way too tight.  A correctly set Y block is a little noisy.