The car is running beautifully, and the driving weather has been superb. There’s little chance I’ll be taking the bird out of service for any extended projects in the next few months, but I do have a few smaller jobs waiting in the wings—just in case I have a free weekend over the summer.
Probably at the top of this list is new rubber bushings for the rear leaf springs. I measured the stance of the car and found no droop in the rear, but I do get a lot of rattling around back there over bumps. I believe that swapping out the old for the new pretty easy project, but the prospect of stuck bolts and springs under tension have kept the new bushings in the box for some months now.
In a moment of boredom last week, I found a decent original air cleaner assembly at a reasonable price, as well as a potentially good turn signal switch on eBay. I ordered both, and they are now on my bench, waiting expectantly.
The air cleaner will take some cleaning up. With it, though, I could take another stab at installing the Autolite carb I have on the shelf. Last year, I was unable to get it to idle—an issue that should be relatively simple to trace, though I didn’t have the patience for it at the time. Bringing this all back to original would also allow me to reinstall the hood insulation, quieting the car a bit more.
I will have to be pretty bored to tackle the turn signal switch—it will take some disassembly of the column in-situ and require quite a lot of time under the dash. Still, it would be nice to have the horn working, and I’m getting a little tired of the non-canceling right turn signal.
Long-term, I’m planning to revamp the front suspension, which rattles and squeaks under the right conditions. The project will include ball joints, tie rod ends and the control arm joints. With luck, I will also have time to replace the leaky steering box.