Sunday, November 23, 2008

Tuning the Chevy : A diary


It's been a month since I joined the V8 world, and have the following to report :

The engine was "blowing" Champion plugs at high revs, and, on reccomendation by the legendary Thundersports, I replaced all 8 with NGK 6BPFS, and the improvement was both immediate and significant! With the spark now healthier, the revs respond a lot earlier to the throttle, and she starts easier as well.

What was interesting with the plugs, was the range of prices they were being sold at - I found them in Richards Bay at R15 and R20 each, whilst Thundersports were asking R25 each...

A starting problem prompted me to take the car to a workshop near me, and they replaced the battery, which had been "cooked", due to not getting sufficient charge, or due to reaching the end of it's useful life?
The friendly and helpful team at Car Service City, Umhlanga, were excited to work on the car, and excercised great care and respect at all times....

I ordered a K&N performance air filter, in order to give the huge 750 Holley carb the air it needs to really make the engine roar, but when it arrived, it was slightly too large for the filter housing - will need to order a larger one from Thundersports...

After finding and fixing a wiring fault, replacing the tappet cover gaskets and adjusting the vacuum advance on the monster carb, Mervin and the boys at Car Service City returned the Chevy to me with a purr and a new willingness to roar!

After a test drive, it was determined that the knock that we heard coming from underneath was a result of worn bushes on the rear suspension - replacements will be ordered, to be installed next weekend. In addition, the vehicle pulls left on braking, and that'll also be checked out at that time.



With the oil leak hopefully a thing of the past, it was safe to pull the Chevy into the garage, even though it meant that would spell the end of any previous shortcut access from inside the kitchen....if this reduces the dust accumulation and the chance of chips and scratches the reduced access would be worth it!

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