My Dad was a Mopar guy too; until the late '60s when they started changing things. He looked at me clocking the distributor and shook his head. Then starts telling me about how good he had it with his old points distributors; where apparently if you're 1 tooth off, it's not the end of the world. Then he tells me the story how one night on his way back from NY state, his dizzy started acting wonky. So he pulled his '57 Fury into the next gas station to switch it out for the spare he had in the trunk. Fortunately the attendant was also the mechanic; and gave him a wrench for that task. My Dad said he clocked it as close as he could and was on his way. Oh yeah, my Dad's Fury had a 413 wedge swapped in; that he found in the junkyard (another amusing story that's similar to mine with the 351W); and the mechanic was enthused when he saw it in the engine bay. I've heard the story many times, but it still amuses me to hear it.

Back to the present day: I switched over the wiring on the starter solenoid last night. I looked the EVTM over and confirmed that the only wire that goes on the opposite pole of the battery, is the starter signal wire; everything else goes onto the B+ pole. If the weather holds on Friday, I will connect the battery and see what I got. Then make a 3rd attempt to fire it up on the weekend.

 

Well, I'll cross my finger and hope it fires off for you. My dad had a 413 in a 62 Imperial LeBaron and that was one hell of an engine. Once that sucker got wound up, it was very fast.

 

Yah, my Dad had the choice of getting the original 350 Commando engine; a 383 Wedge; or the 413 that wasn't too far from it. He picked the 413 because he thought it would have more low-end grunt. Turns out that with that engine and a tall ring and pinion in his Fury; the car didn't come alive until 70mph. Kinda like the Crown Vic in stock form with its 2.73 rear gears. I will see how it drives with the 351W. If I'm motivated enough to snag the rear out of the '94 Grand Marquis at the junkyard; I will put a 4.10 ring and pinion in there. We'll see

 

Man, if you put a 4:10 under it, you're going to be spending a lot on fuel. I wouldn't do that unless you plan on drag racing it.

 

MPGs is no longer a concern with this car. After break-in, it might see a few hundred miles a year. It will just be a boulevard cruiser. It’s daily driver days are over. I’ll see how effective the GT500 rotor and C5 caliper upgrade works. If I feel that I need rear discs; I will snag that rear and install 4.10s.

 

Ahhhh, in that case, give it hell!!! LOL

 

Hooked up the battery Friday night and saw lights in the car (yay!). Felt confident as I went into the weekend to make the 3rd attempt Saturday afternoon. But my laptop wouldn't load the FTDI driver so I could talk to the Moates Quarterhorse. I discovered that my network adapter failed again. I had dedicated that laptop to live in the CV when it failed the first time (after using it for a Zoom and Microsoft Teams meeting). So I tried getting into the setting menu to troubleshoot; but it wouldn't open up the menu. Restarted the laptop and still no go with the setting menu. At this point I was getting fairly hot with that laptop; so I smashed it on a rock nearby, separated its casing, and yanked the lithium battery and hardrive. Then threw it in the back of the garage where the roof caved in. It will remain until we demo that garage. Picking up a new laptop this evening. I am beginning to see why people send their cars off to builders; and why people who build cars charge the $$$$$ that they do. So freakin frustrating at times!

 

Ah, the blue screen of death or the never ending circle- both are extremely frustrating. I hate Windows based programming!

 

I love my crew cab Diesel, no computer on board! Now if TCI would get their act together and deliver my input shaft/drum combo for my 700R4 I would be on the road again. Reminds me of a song…..😀

 

My Maserati does 185, Andy? LOL