Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Thanks JR, I'll be at the shop tomorrow and walk down and talk to him again. We really didn't look at any swatches, as our discussions didn't get that far along yet.

Appreciate the info.

Don

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

Don,

I approached the throttle linkage from a different angle (pun intended). My carb is a Speed Demon. The lower cable is the throttle. The upper is the TV cable for my 700/R4.

Although the upward angle looks odd, it's pretty much a straight pull from idle to WOT.

Nice looking engine you have there, by the way.

Jack, run dual return spring's, they do break.

Ron

Yep, I've already got dual springs on the one I just installed, but am thinking of adding a third coming off the front . The reason is because I like a stiff throttle pedal in a car that rides rough, like a hot rod. If the pedal is too easy to push down, as the car bounces around so does your foot, and it tends to keep pushing the throttle up and down.

My alternator mount came from Summit yesterday, and it is going to work out fine. I painted it last night (some of it was raw steel) and sandblasted the billit portion to make it look non-billit. Now I can get the alternator installed today. I'm also going to clean out the entryway to the shop so that Dan and I can push our cars outside tomorrow to get a better perspective of how they sit and look.

Dan decided last night he doesn't like the way his bed looks, and is going to lower it an inch. Looks fine to me, but there is something about it that bugs him. Plus now he has decided to repaint everything on the car a different color combination, so it looks like we will be blowing it all apart while the body is in the paint shop. And only about 4 months left until Daytona. It must be hell being a perfectionist.

Don

Ron,

Unlike most Holleys, the Demons have a very robust return spring on the linkage, so I already have two springs. I have the other spring from the kit, so I'll probably install it also. Thanks for the reminder.

Don---I tried a double return spring system on the RPU. What I found was that when leaving a dead stop, the car either didn't want to go at all, or else wanted to go like stink, all of a sudden. After laying about 8 foot of rubber when coming off a red light, right beside a local officer in his cruiser downtown one day on hot pavement, I slunk home with ears burning, and went back to a single spring system.---Brian

Come to think of it, that's why I removed the center spring from the return set. With about 440 HP, the gas pedal felt like an on-off switch. I'll double check, but I think I still have two springs.

.....and you are saying laying 8 feet of rubber from every stop light is NOT a good thing? What kind of teenager are you Brian??


Don

Well actually---I run the stock GM "spring inside a spring" accelerator return setup that came with the engine. In an overabundance of caution, (and because I was trying to get the engine to rev down to a respectable idle) I added what was actually a third spring from the other side of the throttle pivot out towards the front of the engine. It certainly did bring the idle down, but you needed an ankle like Hulk Hogan to step on the darn gas pedal, and then, as I explained in my earlier post, you went from zero to "too damn fast" almost instantly. As to what kind of teenager am I---well----I'm the kind of teenager that looks all around in front, behind, far as I can see off into the distance, checks the rearview mirror---- and if I don't see anything resembling a uniform---THEN I squeal the tires!!!

The Geico caveman says:

"Binary computer - good . . . binary throttle - bad."

Jack
- There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary . . . and those who don't.

Worked on getting the alternator mounted tonight. Got half way through and we had the worst thunderstorm I think I have ever seen. Lightning was striking all around the shop, and finally knocked the electric out. I had to close up by using my generator for lighting to see where I was going. Finally about 9 PM the electric company called back and said it was fixed, so the Kid and I went back to the shop.

Dan has decided his bed was one inch too high, so we pulled it off and he cut out some bracing and put it back on. Darned if he wasn't right, it looks so much better dropped down that little bit. Once I was done helping him I got back on the alternator mounts.

When I switched from the long style Chevy water pump setup to the short style, I had two choices of where the alternator could go. One place was on the drivers side header flange, and the other was down low on a special bracket made to do that. I first tried the header mount, and the alternator just sat too high for my liking. I ordered the low mount, and I painted it last night and installed it today. It is tons better than the other one, and the entire top of the engine is clean now.

It was a pleasant surprise that an aftermarket kit actually went on without the need to modify anything. I bought Summits billet one, and sandblasted it to take the billet look away. Nothing else on the car is billet, so it stuck out. It will darken with age to match the silver parts I painted, and not look too bad. This position is ideal, and clears everything.......headers, motor mounts, block, etc. Now I can order my starter and some lines and get ready to fire this baby up.

Here are a couple of pictures of the alternator once I got it installed.

Don

Billet . Just kidding Don. It looks great. I like it when the top of the engine is clean and simple like you have done here. We got those storms over here on the Fl east coast too. Nasty weather indeed.

Yeah, I couldn't get the billet pieces into the blast cabinet fast enough.

I honestly can't remember many storms that severe. The thunder was cracking right on top of our shop, and the rain was going sideways. WIthin a half hour it filled the drainage ditch outside the shop, and that thing is deep enough to sink a car in.

I didn't realize you guys got it on the east coast too.

Don

That looks really good, the motor looks really clean. Well done.

Looks like you guys got some of our weather, weve been getting it bad , every afternoon. i like where you put that, my power steering is right there, so it would not work on mine, im stuck with it up top.

Now that you have media blasted the mount, could you paint it if you choose too? Or maybe powder coat it?