Since I last posted, we sold our house in Atlanta. Meanwhile we lived temporarily in our second home while our new house was being built. Much of what we owned, including the T-bird, was put in rented storage. The Bird stayed in storage for about 9 months. Our new house has a 3-car garage with work shop space, a significant step up from working on cars outdoors.

I replaced a leaky coolant pump with a high flow pump from Summit. Removing the old pump entailed removing the electric fan and the bracketing that supports the aftermarket A/C system, much of which is bolted to the coolant pump. Luckily I was able to do that without actually disconnecting the A/C or removing the radiator. After installing the new coolant pump and reassembling the brackets, the car started right up.

To further ensure that the car won’t overheat (a previously annoying problem), I’ve wrapped the exhaust pipes with titanium mesh heat wrap.

The test drive got only as far as the community stop sign, where it stalled and wouldn’t restart. I had to tow it back the ~400 ft to my garage with my truck. The problem is that the carburetor was not set correctly. So, I got the carb set up so that it ran OK and the test drive was good.

But I wanted it to be fine tuned by a pro. I went to a small speed shop in the neighborhood. He told me the gas had been in the tank too long and had gone bad. The fuel system had to be flushed out, the tank cleaned, and the carb cleaned out (possibly rebuilt). I removed the tank and cleaned it out with acetone, flushed the lines and replaced the fuel filters. I removed the carb but decided to replace it with Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI).

I’ve received the computerized EFI system from Summit and an Edelbrock high-pressure fuel pump. Will post more as I install the system.

Cheers,
Hwy Thunder