I made it to the Festiva show in Raleigh, just not in the red car. The starter was grinding badly and shimming the solenoid didn't help. It also leaked antifreeze from a drain plug, so I had to remove the header to change it out. I didn't have the rear axle built or in yet either.
We had a great turnout with 52 cars and what seemed like the most people of the last three events I've been to.
I was able to finally pick up the sliding sunroof at the show. The cover is in good shape, just needs cleaning. It'll need a new headliner but dad said that it would be an easy fix. It's dark grey so it'll blend in well with the bumpers, side trim, and wheels.
I plumbed the lines for both manifold and ported vaccum (the distributor uses both). Not the best looking but I'm not building a show car. It may need a vaccum tank to smooth out the pulses from each runner, won't know until I start driving it.
The leaking freeze plug. Someone had put JB Weld over it in the past.
I finished reshaping and welding the downpipe and installed it in the car. There's still a short section of original exhaust pipe that'll be replaced once I can drive it to the muffler shop. I'm pretty happy with how the header and downpipe fit since they were originally for a completely different car. The downpipe actually tucked up a little higher than the transmission crossmember so ground clearance won't be a issue.
I stripped and painted the rear axle last night, and assembled the passenger side brakes and camber spacer tonight. I should have the axle done and in the car tomorrow night, so I can roll it out and attempt to crank it for the first time!
Not related to the red car, but the white '89 rolled over to 167K today. It had 150k when I bought it last November. Mechanically it's been 99% problem free since swapping in the freshened-up engine and five speed back in February, 14k miles ago. It averages 30 mpg around town (driving it hard), and I get 35-37 on the interstate. It would get a bit better mileage without the roof rack and if I leaned out the idle jets.
