There she goes!

Now that the exhaust is all sorted, the gas and oil are not threatening to set the engine bay on fire, the fans are operational and will keep the engine from melting itself, and I've figured out why that darn speedometer wouldn't spin, it's time to see if the contraption will actually move under it's own power. . .

(That would be a resounding "yes"!)

So it moves, but what good is a sports car without a good radio?

I had quite an amusing time annoying the young sales clerk at the electronics store.  He kept trying to do a web search in the company computer to figure out what size speakers should be installed in a '71 Saab Sonett.  Strangely, he couldn't find the answer.  He was puzzled that this did not phase me at all. . .

The speakers are not wired, yet, so I'm not sure how it'll sound, but I think the overall look is not too bad.  I suppose I could have searched the web for that one custom radio that would have fit in the available space, but I wanted all the modern conveniences.  Makes for a bit of an asymmetrical installation, but I kind of like the quirkyness of it.  And the available space behind the dash was just the right size.  The aluminum insert is recessed into the dash, but I'm toying with fabricating a second insert (flush mounted) to fit around the right side of the stereo with the same angled edge so the transition is not so abrupt.  Stay tuned. . .

Memories

It's the things you forget that cause the most problems. . .

Take, for instance, the little tidbit of knowledge that when I first removed the engine from the car about 2 1/2 years ago I sheared off one of the rusty exhaust manifold bolts.  All those many months the engine sat there - easily accessible.  And yet, it wasn't till I actually got the engine back in it's mountings, with all the hoses, wires, and other accessories connected again, before this fact was remembered.  At that point, the distance between the bolt and the sidewall was much too small to allow drilling and tapping.  So, after a lot of head scratching and several failed ideas, I finally cut the bolt off flush to the block and welded a new one on.

It's a little quieter with the exhaust on.  Not sure if it actually does anything for reducing noise, but it does transfer the exhaust to the back of the car now, which is nice.  It also contains the flames that were visible coming from the exhaust ports in the video from the last blog.

         

Then there's the matter of "where did I put the dipstick?".  No telling. I've turned the shop upside down (twice) and it's still AWOL.  I nice man from the web board offered to mail me one.  Should show up sometime this week.  Till then a wine cork seems to be keeping the oil from jumping out the hole.

Then there's that pesky little hole on the top of the fuel pump.  Seemed odd to me when rebuilding the pump that there was a tiny little port into the chamber (no screw, no threads, no plug).  

Funny thing - after setting for several days, the fuel filter was empty and there was air in the line.  

Not so funny thing -when fully pressurized, small sprays of gasoline could be seen falling onto the hot exhaust manifold!  

Got some copper wire and plugged that puppy quick!

And then there's that constant nagging question: "Were those bolts missing when I started, or is there another tub of parts somewhere?"  (I think a quarter of my expenditures to date have been various assorted metric hardware.)  

Case in point - the bolts securing the air filters in place.

Not to be outdone by: "now how did that fit together?"

(Door window operators.)

On the other hand, things you never knew don't seem to be much of a problem:

Like wiring a set of electric fans.