IML: The Black Bitc_!! first driving impressions.

["Ernie Stepney" <estepney@xxxxxxxxx>]

Well the saga nears its conclusion. I finished rebuilding the spare
transmission on Wednesday, purchased all the parts from a gentleman on
the net with a company called Autotrans USA. Well service par
excellence, I placed my order by phone, confirmed by email, payed by
paypal and received it all in less than a week. I needed a low/reverse
band which I didn't order on the first order, ordered at midnight EST
Thursday and had it by 10 am PST the following Wednesday. 
Friday morning I drove up to the shop and installed the shiny new
torqueflite. Well I must have done something right, she had 3 forward
and 1 reverse gear running on the hoist, oh yeah neutral too. Road test
time, shifted slick as a Canadian politician, sure nice to have all the
gears and no strange noises. Took her home after a short drive and
treated her to a wash and wax, boy it that a lot of car to wax. Later
that night Colleen and I went to A&W for dinner with the Bitc_!!, she
tried the well only took 3 years line from the commercial but it's just
not the same when its only been 19 months. 
Saturday morning, I needed to go out to one of my parts suppliers, what
better excuse to hit the freeway and let her stretch her legs a bit.
Well 60 mph came up in the blink of an eye and it felt almost like
sitting in the living room, I ran her up to 80 for a short burst, speed
limit is 55 after all and except for a bit of wind noise she was
perfect. My parts guy was suitably impressed, asked about a couple of
areas which am aware do not meet my usual high standards (read as I
haven't redone them yet) and was quite impressed with Georges emblems
and lenses. 
Noticed two problems on the run, first the rear axle has a slight growl
on a pull at about 30 to 45 mph, the pinion bearing preload was a bit on
the low side when I put it together,(can't I get away with anything any
more) and the water pump bearings are a little noisy. 2 more items on
the "to do list" for next week.
All in all it was a most satisfying week at Ernie's Garage; I may even
rename her "Black Velvet" tm reg. 

Bye for now:
Ernie and The Black Bitc_!!




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