Getting a Wagin Ready for the 2014 Hot Rod Power Tour!

The new EEC cleared up a lot of problems.

They are calling for good weather Monday. I hope to drive the Poverty Wagon to the alignment shop!!!

 

My buddy Tony just about wrapped up the interior for me on Saturday. He has just a little bit to go but cannot finish until I get a bit more of the floor covering. Nonetheless I thought I would show off some pictures of his work. Here is how his interior looks now:





















And since it is a Ranch Wagon, I hung my Cow Girl from the mirror:




Tomorrow we work work on wrapping up the stuff to get the car running and I will post up again after that.

 

Well yesterday we wrapped up everything but the AC. Most of it works as it should except for a few issues with the stereo so I need to go see what I screwed up but I am sure it won't be a big deal.

I have all of the AC fitings and ordered the lines today. We will mock them up and then get one of the local shops to crimp the fittings. Once that is done, we will assemble the AC system, vacuum it down, and charge it.

We put some test miles on the car yesterday and dropped it off at the alignment shop for the alignment and new tires. That should be wrapped up today (the tires had to be ordered). For road trips like this, I like a good tire and so they are getting me some BFGs.
The car ran very well during the test miles. The converter locks and unlocks when it should and the trans shifts well. The Over Drive cancel even works.

The car is no rocket ship but it has plenty of power. I was concerned that when we put the shortyer runner intake on it we would lose too much bottom end torque but that does not seem to be an issue so we can stick with the 3.00 rear gear which should help with the gas mileage while we are on the Power Tour.

Once the AC is wrapped up, I will put some city miles on it to give it more of a shake down. My early imoressions are that the car came out even better than I expected.

I will post more pictures soon!

 

Sounds awesome, Marty.

I am loving that interior!
Its such a radical departure from the usual interior styles you see and I mean that 100% in a good way. In another car I don't think it would fit or work, but here it works great!

Glad to hear you've got some test miles on it!

I look forward to more pictures!

 

I just read this thread; I can't wait to see it in Hot Rod magazine. You need a couple beauties with 'heavy arthritis' and t-shirt-based cowgirl getups to go around with you as they photograph this hay wagon.

I took note of the problem you had on the oil pan; didn't a 5-qt. front-sump for '70s intermediates work? I had to put one from JC Spitney for T-bird/Cougar(chrome, of course) because I couldn't find a natural-finish 351W pan for my '77 Ranchero.

 

The pan was a real PITA. We tried a few different approaches until we came up with the pan we used and even then, we had to do some surgery to the frame. That was the biggest problem with the motor swap.

Meanwhile, I have started putting test mileage on the car and it is running pretty solidly.

I even took it to dinner last night!!!

 

Looking sweet!

I love the simple white steelies with Moon caps!

 

Are those caps the actual Mooneyes, or the cheap American Racing knock-offs? My Ranchero has the chrome AR wheels and had the center caps. I replaced the tires a few years ago, and when I went to put the caps back on, the damn things dented when tapped with a rubber mallet. I got them on, went for a test drive, and one popped off, landing in front of a Honda, which ran it over. *bugler plays taps* So I pulled the others off and tossed them.

 

eBay cheapies for the baby moons!!!!!

This is a budget build after all!!!!

 

Wrapped up all the details today and git the AC blasting ice cubes!!! I got an under dash unit that is awesome and only ran 119 bucks to my door. It makes the Wagon an ice box!!!

Here are a few pics of the AC, the gauges, and under the hood. As you can see my voltage is a little low so I ordered up a new alternator which tosses out some more umph and will be adding it in soon. On the other hand the motor is running super cool and never gets above 165*! We will see how it holds up tomorrow when I run it into the Atlanta rush hour traffic!

The AC and proof that it is blowing cold:





Under the hood:



The in-dash gauges:



Oh, and here are some custom stickers that I got to put on the Poverty Wagoon and the other cars in this years crew:

 

Absolutely Beautiful.

 

Well done MartO and good luck at the show from Downunder

 

Could you pm me a link to the air conditioner unit you are using? it might be a viable option for my 61 Chevy..
thanks

 

That's absolutely cool! have a ball on the Power Tour, and tell us all about it!

 

Here ya go:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/26140994634...NX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_2149wt_706

Some of the ebay sellers have them a couple of bucks cheaper but this place is close to me so I get them in a day or two.