A12 - time to get busy

[b-body-bob]

I decided this weekend to spend a little time with my A12. I'm hoping to put the 6-pack on it soon, but I don't think it's been started for 5 or more years so it would be best to prime it and get it running with known working parts before adding unknown parts to the equation.

So I carefully marked the distributor, noted the rotor position, and noted the oil pump drive position before taking it out. I turned the crank over 2x, trying to turn it about 1/4 turn at a time, and primed between. Success.

Then I put the oil pump drive shaft back and put the distributor in, then realized that I'd turned the engine over from an unknown point so hooray I got to start from scratch with the timing. I turned the motor over (CW direction) until I came up on compression in #1, then set the timing mark at about 20* BTDC, and found that the spark plug wires needed moved around too, so I did that next.




That was all clean enough to eat off of when I covered it up.

Then I put the fuel system back in it.

 

[b-body-bob]

FWIW the story I got was it was bought about 1976 in street trim but used as a drag car in the Akron OH area.

The owner started having success

So he sent it to Akron Arlen's shop to be race prepped.

Which loosely translated means - cut the hell out of my perfectly good car.

It was my understanding that the parts deemed surplus to requirements were all sold at a yard sale. So a 69-1/2 hood, carbs/intake, air cleaner, interior, fenders, and doors were all sold that way.

I bought it stupidly thinking it would be easy to hire the work out, but after waiting forever on someone to even talk to me about it more than once, I taught myself to MIG weld and started cutting away at it.

Before that I tried a few test and tunes, but the local strip has you backing into the water, with a wall right behind that and just a dip in the pavement to let you know when you're in the water. With the way the thing was set up I couldn't see behind me, and I sure to hell couldn't tell when I was in that little dip with 30" slicks and a 440 banging away in my ears. So I worried too much about backing into the wall. Racing is really more work than fun anyway. I gave that up.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Perhaps you could find this M. Neptune character and smack him upside the head for not being faster. Had he won that race, maybe McCoy wouldn't have done what he did to the car. You could also potentially find an idle Hatfield to beat the crap out of McCoy himself.

Realistically, though it's clearly been hacked and slashed for racing you're probably better off in terms of the big picture. Had the car remained in street trim in Ohio you'd probably be dealing with a rustbucket--assuming it had survived a'tall. At least you've got things to which you can weld. Ever seen the pics of my friend's '68 Charger? Besides, a lot of what's gone is bolt-on stuff anyhow and the only '69½-specific bit is the hood. Everything else is basic Belvedere/Satellite, and someone would probably be happy to buy the 'glass stuff for the Hemi convertible they're hacking up as we speak. And with its racing heritage and provenance, dragging out those photos and telling people your A12 "is the real McCoy" will likely never get old (though personally, I tired of it before I finished typing).

For the record: When the distributor is correctly installed, the vacuum-advance nipple should be pointing at the driver's side shock stud. The #1 wire should be in approximately the 8 o'clock position when viewing the distributor from the front of the car, or about 5 o'clock if looking from the passenger's side fender--the rotor points toward the front of the valve cover when it's firing #1 . I know this kind of detail keeps you up nights, but it's nice to have constant reference points when you're say, I dunno, changing your oil pump in a Hardee's parking lot in Norcross, GA without a timing light or service manual (yes, that's oddly specific).

It's a good car. I look forward to watching it progress toward Platinum Tent greatness.

 

[b-body-bob]

Perhaps you could find this M. Neptune character and smack him upside the head for not being faster. Had he won that race, maybe McCoy wouldn't have done what he did to the car. You could also potentially find an idle Hatfield to beat the crap out of McCoy himself.

Mr McCoy said it best. If I hadn't done all that dumb stuff, I wouldn't be selling it to you for this price either.

I don't know if it's visible in any of my Duster photos, but there's basically an entire 69 satellite in the garage, in parts. Fenders are hanging on the wall along with the rear seat halves, and the front seat is in the corner.


That's a fine Texas Flintstone mobile there. There was no floor front back to under the rear seat. That 1/4 there that looks good was actually mostly rusted through from the inside due to someone stashing a 70's porno mag down in the drop. There's a little bit of repairable damage on the door and fender there too. It had most everything I needed though.

There's little left except the chassis now and it's still sitting in that same exact spot. I hope to clean it up before winter this year. It's been there far too long but it's out of sight, out of mind, and our neighbors won't complain.

 

[b-body-bob]

For the record: When the distributor is correctly installed, the vacuum-advance nipple should be pointing at the driver's side shock stud. The #1 wire should be in approximately the 8 o'clock position when viewing the distributor from the front of the car, or about 5 o'clock if looking from the passenger's side fender--the rotor points toward the front of the valve cover when it's firing #1 . I know this kind of detail keeps you up nights, but it's nice to have constant reference points when you're say, I dunno, changing your oil pump in a Hardee's parking lot in Norcross, GA without a timing light or service manual (yes, that's oddly specific).

I think that's pretty much where it is but will check and adjust it if necessary. IIRC #1 is 2 plugs CCW from the clip on the vac advance side.

 

[b-body-bob]

I think #1 is @ 8 o'clock - it's the wire with tape on it.

 

[Halifax Hops]

Looks right to me Bob

 

[b-body-bob]

I was kind of hoping they'd be wrong and maybe a change would compensate for some of those wires that are 2x as long as they need to be. But no.

 

[Dr.Jass]

...maybe a change would compensate for some of those wires that are 2x as long as they need to be.

I had the same issue with a couple of different big-block wire sets. Curiously enough, a lot of the off-the-shelf small-block wires are too short, although the inexpensive StreetFire wires on the W2 engine fit pretty well using the factory valve-cover wire provisions.

If it works, it's good. It's a little different than my go-to arrangement (which is apparently pretty close to the FSM) but I wouldn't screw with it or suggest that you do either. The only possible issue would be with using the factory wire holders, but they start far enough from the cap that I wouldn't expect problems. Don't mess with something that's working.

Why the B/RB setup is nailed to a specific orientation in my brain I don't know. I can (and have) literally set one up in a parking lot without reference, but I have to check every single time with a small block. My lifetime LA:B/RB ownership ratio has been about 20:1, so it's a bit of a puzzle.

 

[b-body-bob]

When I got the car it had a different carb setup on it. This is the front bowl from that



Yes, that is exactly what it looks like. The bowl has a hole drilled in it, that is precisely the size of that cut off piece of a bic ballpoint pen. It's kind of stuck in there now, you can see how far I pulled it up before it stopped.

That's all it is, there is nothing else to it. It is a mystery.

 

[69.5CUDA]

isnt there a jet or something you can get to thru that hole, ive seen that done before

 

[Dr.Jass]

I can't for a second imagine why that's there, unless it's a front float bowl from a different application that had a lever-style bowl vent. Even then, the bowl vent is usually directly behind the needle/seat adjuster. That's the approximatel location for said adjuster on a side-hung float, but again... why it's there makes no sense. There's nothing that could be accessed through that hole unless you felt a need to push down on the float for some reason.

 

[b-body-bob]

isnt there a jet or something you can get to thru that hole, ive seen that done before

Nope, those quick change kits come through the lower front of the bowl

 

[b-body-bob]

I can't for a second imagine why that's there, unless it's a front float bowl from a different application that had a lever-style bowl vent. Even then, the bowl vent is usually directly behind the needle/seat adjuster. That's the approximatel location for said adjuster on a side-hung float, but again... why it's there makes no sense. There's nothing that could be accessed through that hole unless you felt a need to push down on the float for some reason.

The best answer anyone came up with was they did it just to mess with people.

I'd forgotten about it until I found it again digging around for spare carb parts.

 

[b-body-bob]

I still haven't done squat with this car yet, but I did find this from back when I first bought it

 

[Halifax Hops]

Like most of us!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Well get to work already!

 

[b-body-bob]

Well get to work already!

I'm still fighting the other one!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

OK , one battle at a time is quite enough for us old folks!
I'm close to throughing in the towel on my paint job, seems I'm having way more trouble than even my first attempt on the other car, I'm supposed to get better with practice, but I'm just wasting moola painting over & over again!

 

[68R/T]

Rusty, it's not that you're painting worse. Rather your experience has taught you to find that grain of dirt in a box of soap. You are merely honing your perfectionist's skills.