Dust Off is alive!

[TheJDMan]

Well folks,
I'm pretty psyched, I started Dust Off today. This is the first time it has run in twenty years. I had to replace most of the light bulbs and found a small fuel leak but overall no major problems were found. I have a short list of adjustments that I need to make and then I can take it out for a short shake down drive. One thing that I was completely unsure of was the exhaust. As some of you know, I have no mufflers only 3" tubes with Afco auger style baffles inside. I was totally pleased with the sound. It is still a tad loud but I can add a couple more baffles to bring the sound level down more. I'm really looking forward to driving the car on the street. The last time I drove it on the street was 1976.

This is the car as it looked in the late 70's set up for drag racing.




This is how it looks today set up for carving corners.

[GeoffP]

Nice! I know you're proud to have it running again!

[Vicinity]

I really like that car, got a very clean and simple look to it, but it's still memorable.

[oestek]

Looks great, glad to hear it's alive!

[Glenn]

How about a video so we can hear it ?

[BirdsThaWord]

WOW! I thought I took a long time to get my projects back on the road! I bet you are stoked out of your mind after waiting that long. Car looks great man. I love it!!!

[Hugger67RSSS]

Car looks sweet, big fan of the subtle builds that keep the original look

[Rod]

I like it!! and glad to see it back were it belongs!! on the road

[TheJDMan]

Well Damn!
Today I took it out for a short drive, at least that was the plan. Clutch felt good in the garage but once out of the drive the pedal went to the floor and the clutch would not disengage. Pulled back in the garage and put it back on the lift. Turns out I have two problems, the clutch fork and pivot ball were not seating properly and allowed the fork to work it's self inboard and was binding on the throwout bearing bending the end of the fork. So new fork and pivot are on order. The second problem was tight brass syncronizer rings on 3rd & 4th gear forcing the main shaft to try to rotate rather than freewheel in neutral. This only got worse as it got hot and made it impossible to shift. The T-10 is now on the bench in pieces while I make a shim to space out the intermediate bearing carrier plate away from the main case which will give the brass more wiggle room in the 3/4 slider. Neither problem is an expensive fix but it is frustrating to have to pull the trans. I guess this is just new car bugs.

[Ron.in.SoCal]

Congrats Steve. Been a fan of your project since you started and following every step. Hang in there Sir and after about three of four more shakedowns you'll be cruising in style...

[CruizinKev]

wow congrats! nice transformation! ..oh man, my monte carlo sits 10 years now in the garage

[TheJDMan]

Well after removing the transmission three times to sort out the clutch I finally got to actually drive "Dust Off" and put some real miles on it. A couple of things really impressed me. One is the ride quality. I am pleasantly surprised at how smooth the ride actually is. I was expecting a very harsh ride but that is not the case at all. The other thing that I'm really excited about is that I have the car setting with about 2" clearance and the front tires are tucked up in the wheel wells. I love the look but I was very concerned about tire rub. I have put about 100 miles on the car so far and the tires have not rubbed the fenders once. The manual C6 Z06 brakes work spectacularly and the floating hubs have been a non-issue so far. I plan to put more miles on it and make adjustments as necesary. Once I have it sorted out I will start on the creature comfort updates. Now I need to learn how to make videos so I can post them.