SHE LIVES!

[SirNik83]

The screws for the tie down hold the plywood down. The screws for the tie downs nearest to the seat are only screwed in on the side closest to the seat. the other side is right above the wires that run along there, and the air line for the air shocks I installed. Those screws are only attached to the plywood. I used machine screws and nuts like the ones in the McMaster Carr link below in the spots that I couldn't screw into the car.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#weld-nuts/=mh7zqr

This car never came with carpet. I used news paper to make a template. but the carpet would likely work well.

[ARCHINSTL]

This really gave me an idea!
I have nearly-matching carpet that I bought last year to redo the whole car (and possibly the headliner).
I've long chafed at the lumpy floor in the back, so putting in your idea and then covering it with my carpet would result in a perfectly smooth floor!
A similar hatch in the carpeting might result in ultimate fraying, so possibly some sort of EZ-Removal clips for the whole floor would work - or perhaps a piano hinge in the wood at the "front" of the hatch under the carpet.
Tom M.

[marlinh]

I've always wanted to build a permanent lockable tool storage system for my car. I hate the 'visibility' of whatever you are carrying. I've always considered something on the floor behind the driver, but you've given me some ideas...

[SirNik83]

Getting a flat floor was one of the reasons I decided on the plywood. I slept in the back of the car a few times and always wished it would have been flat. Now the only bump is the one where the rear cargo area meets the folded down seats.

When I made the spare tire lid (or the toilet seat as everyone calls it) I made a lip attached to the main plywood so it sits flat. even if you remove the tire. I really want to use the car as a camping rig, but will also use it for daily driving. When its in daily driving mode i'll keep the tire under that hatch. when in camping mode I'm working on a roof rack so I can store the spare tire up there and not have to dig through the camping gear if i needed to change it. With the lid having that lip i can store what ever I want under that hatch when the tire is not in there.

[SirNik83]

Got her on the freeway today!
Everything is working great, except the charge light and the brake light are both on all the time. I took the alternator out and had it checked at the autoparts store, but tis working fine. All the fuses under the hood are fine. I'm not sure what to check next.

Anyway, here are some pics from her maiden voyage.





At home in the stable.

[SirNik83]

Voltage regulator was bad. All systems are now go!

My sister finished paining my valve cover!!!
It's perfect!

[dlb]

that is supremely badass! looks so nice.

question though: it looks like your vac advance is capped off. do you not have it hooked up?

[SirNik83]

That dist has 3 vacuum ports. I have it on the one farthest from the dist. I think that's the correct one. Haven't really thought about it lately. I remember questioning when I got the dist, but that was over a year ago.

[SirNik83]

BTW, shes officially back to life today. She took my butt to work!

[marlinh]

I love that valve cover!

[dlb]

That dist has 3 vacuum ports. I have it on the one farthest from the dist. I think that's the correct one. Haven't really thought about it lately. I remember questioning when I got the dist, but that was over a year ago.

the outermost port goes to ported vac on the passenger side of the weber carb, the normal inner port goes to manifold vac on the intake manifold, and the inner port with the brass restriction gets plugged since it used to be for the HAC, which i presume is gone. i'm not sure if the HAC would even work with the weber—we don't have them up here in canada so i've never read up on them.

also, the line from the charcoal canister should be hooked up to another port on the passenger side of the weber. it gets hooked up to the weber port designated for EGR.