RIP Josh.  Now you can be with Tanya.  Maybe you will meet up with my red351 and you can talk about The Bashes.  Mrs. red351

Mike, I did the cheap battery thing and they both have Clevelands.
Texas bash is a no because of a wedding about that time, but we do Texas a few weeks on our way to and from our AZ winter spot. My spanish is getting better.

Hagerty for many years now. Had a $2500 claim when the front tire came apart on the red car. That was the 1st year with them. They paid, didn't get dropped and premium rate never went up.

Varnish buildup on intake valve stems is my concern using cheap gas. Hopefully top tier fuel helps to prevent the buildup, but I still like to run Seafoam in the tank every so often.

I don't expect any new battery's to last long. 11yrs ago we could get one that had 6 to 8 yr. warranty which is what this one was. Today only 3 yrs.for the best. No virgin lead mining, just recycle stuff. Don't hear good things about optima for what they cost, so I stay away from them.

For a battery in the red car. 24F & 27F battery's are shrinking in width so my problem is the original hold down (7" wide) can't sit and clamp down on a 6 1/2" wide top. Group size charts are wrong because my measuring device prove it after running from store to store yesterday. So has anyone else run into this problem. Universal tie downs can't work and they look all wrong and shimming the original looks cheap.

Well since we are getting a little off topic I will admit I like sticking my tongue on a fresh 9v battery. 

Anyway years ago, taking the red car to our local 1/8 mile. It made no different with plug gap with the Pertronix.

I'm sure there enough of us on the east side that can help if there a problem. There to many things to see and do along the way. It would take us months for a trip like that. 
I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Hi-temp RTV. no leaks yet after 10 yrs.

6sally6 wrote:

Give us a little 'mo info' Rich....... Did you grind out the welds on the truck section and slip in the 8" tubes?
No shortening of the tubes?
6s6

I cut off the bigger tubes flush at the center section ends and the 8" tubes could be pressed inside. Using an I beam as a jig to measure off of, I could rotate everything to be sure it was straight before welding and after. Yes I did shorten the 8's some. I only needed 1" off each side to keep the tires from rubbing.

I use the same jig setup and made a few driveshafts. It now just collects dust under the work bench.  No more cars for me

6sally6 wrote:

Rich...........How can you sit on your transistor radio AND drink a beer?!!! I'm sure I would fall off !
6sal6

Typing while watching Gunsmoke and the wife talking to me at the same time is how (on) got in there somehow.

You got to always remember that little gear is always pushing the big one away. Side bearing preload is important that more is better than not enough. Factory (WAR) housing need more that a (DIF} and nodular need because its a bit weaker. The only aluminum one I ever did needed a lot more than I would have preferred. Third time was a charm.

The last and only 8.8 I did, didn't have enough from the get-go. The cup was moving on the driver side. You could not hear the radio or hold a conversation after the 1st 100K plus miles

Easy to setup with stackable shims and easy to understand using fords instructions not someone else's 

So what is so bad about the stock Eaton setup? The rebuild kits are cheap and I don't understand the (I need to feel the road) thing I get with a Borgeson box. The 67 is 4 turns lock to lock and the resistance enough to always return to center driving.