Bobby Galvez's Journal

Well, March 6, 2011 marks my third month of ownership!

It has been a treat so far. The car drives well, has lived up to all of my expectations and the few things I've done have all been "wannadoos" not "gottadoos."

I installed telescoping gas supports for the bonnet and boot. A peace of mind move to keep both myself and any other ham fist from bending up either lid by improperly operating the original struts. Both are an easy installation, it took a little over an hour to be done with both of them.

I also decided that a leather wrapped MotoLita was in order. Removing the original steering wheel was an ordeal that ended with a trip to the mechanic's. My puller couldn't get it to budge and neither could theirs. They ended up using the John Twist method - two men and hammers. They had to go after it aggressively to get it out.

The end result is well worth it. The MotoLita really polishes the look of the interior of the '79. I felt that the original wheel was a bit too "pickup truckish." The MotoLita with the polished spokes is a gem. The black spoked wheel was suggested to me but the inevitable scratches over time would make it look worn and that would bug me.

Ah - there was one "gottadoo." The turn signal/headlight control stem was feeling mushy and the headlight flasher didn't work. I got a new one from Moss and as luck would have it the old one finished breaking the very day I was installing the new one.

This turned out to be more of a pain in the neck than I anticipated, mostly becsuse of my being unaware that the easy way to deal with what look to be blind screws in the steering column cowl is to drop the steering column to create easy access. I ended up wrestling with one for close to half and hour and left the other out altogether.

As far as bodywork, I found that using a good glaze before waxing really makes a difference. I bought a quality carnauba wax, One Grand Blitz wax and was pleased. I read in numerous places that a glaze helps to get rid of swirl marks and I was seeing more than I was happy with. One Grand Omega Glaze and a waxing over that left it looking VERY nice indeed! see the photo below.

That's all for today. Next up will be a new top before the big Texas summer stroms come in - the current one is alright, but is close to end of useful life. Then leather interior - also before the Texas heat makes black vinyl seem like a torture device.

After that, a swap to the twin SU carbs and an exhaust header to work with it. The stories of leaks from the carb onto a hot cat converter causing fires have me very concerned. I don't want my little 'B burning up!