An update is way overdue! I've been busy with several projects to prepare the car for a lot of activities coming up soon.
First up was to improve the fuel fill and venting. I modified my custom fuel filler neck to reduce splash back and to better fit the standard fuel nozzle. And following a tip from i.e.427 Garage I added a fuel evap cannister.
Next was to deal with the problem of my leaking radiator. I had to have it repaired three times last year with leaks in it's upper left side where the upper tubes connect to the left tank. After some digging I came to the opinion that the left/right flexing of the tubes that support the hood hinges was forcing the upper radiator mount to twist the radiator. After trying a few approaches to better isolate the radiator from the upper nose tubes I decided to stiffen them instead. I installed some swedged tubes across the upper nose tubes behind the radiator and a gusseted brace between the nose tubes at the front. I found a reasonably priced radiator from Griffin and made a new upper radiator mount. The look of the bracing might not be for everybody, but it works for me!
The view under the hood
The view from above
I did some work on the trunk area. You might remember that I dropped the rear portion of the trunk floor by about 6 inches (the reason for the custom fuel tank and other mods). The well area looked like the perfect place to store road trip tools so I created a false floor and finished it off (for now) with some cheap carpet.
The trunk well
Lots of storage
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Finished ... for now
Finally, I was not happy with the turn downs on my undercar exhaust so I recruited some help from The Travelling Builder to route the exhaust through the cove. This eliminates the hard bend after the muffler so I might pick up a little horsepower and maybe get rid of some noise. Anyway, I think it looks a lot cooler. And I'll probably adjust those tail lights some time.