Roar of the Beast

Man, one thing I've always kind have known about working on classic cars but really understand now that I have been working on the Beast is this:

They always keep you on your toes.   

There is always something.  But that is honestly half the fun in my opinion.

Proper bed attire

Since the Beast came home with me,  I finally got her a cover to shield her from the rain and freezing temperatures Reno is prone too.  It is your standard 4-layer cover,  tie-down holes on each side of the car; front,back,passenger and drive side.  Just enough protection to prevent water from getting in the car and such.

While we were at the store, I decided I needed to get some of those clips/carabiners so all I have to do is just 'clip' the ropes on instead of tying an extravagant knot every time.

You know, these things!

Well of course, the store I was at didn't have those types.  All I could find were a party package of these:

Yep, that is literally shaped like a guitar.  Welp, what did I expect when it was probably next to the party napkins and the leaky keychain squirt guns?

Well, you know the drill: of course I got it because I don't want to go hunt proper ones down and I'm SURE this will work out for me just fine, right guys?

Right?

Are you guys getting a feel of my selective laziness/impatience?  I have a lot of "whatever, it will work fine" moments.

Anyway,  the cover fits...

And there is our stupid guitar carabiner doing its job.  It just took a bit of finagling to route it on there but it isn't like I'll need to rip this off in a hurry or anything.   *cough*

Also, this:

My antenna doesn't retract and I'm not sure I want to commit and poke a hole through the cover just yet.   "Whatever, it will work fine."

Rude Awakening

Fortunately, this isn't in the metaphorical sense, but in the very literal sense.  

I wake up slowly to what sounds like a horn going full blast outside.  My wife wakes up at the same time.  It's 5 in the morning.

"Is that the Beast?"

Now, all guys like to think they are this in a panic-wake-up situation:

Nope!  More like:

Pajama pants half on, ended up throwing the shirt across the room, for some reason, flicking on all lights as I run out to the garage and open the door.

Yep, it's the Beast, at full tilt/roar at 5 in the morning. I'm sure my neighbors love me by now. "Crap crap crap crap!!!"

One thought is going through my brain at this moment: The horn switch is stuck; gotta get to the battery and just quickly pull the quick-disconnect.

Well, in order to do that, I have to pull the car cover up over the hood.  

And in order to do that, I have to solve the Rubik's cube of a maze-puzzle by routing that stupid carabiner through the grommet hole in a very specific fashion to get it to come out.  Let's just say finesse isn't my strong point when I'm 'full turbo'.

Welp, full adrenaline, still half asleep and lack of coordination made that whole attempt unsuccessful to an extreme degree.    I rage quit that and ran into the garage to grab wire cutters; I'll just cut the rope.   

Guess who didn't put his wire cutters away last?  ----> This guy <-------

Fortunately, my brain decided to engage another 1% and I found a 'good enough substitute' on the wall next to it.  I manage to cut the rope on the cover free, rip it back, access under the hood and disconnect the battery.

Silence fills the neighborhood street again and my heart decides to back off from mach one.

Things I learned:

• When I'm full turbo and half asleep: I revert to cave-man like status by grunting,  yelling and banging on things until something happens.
• Under full adrenaline, my hands turn into giant blocks of clumsy dumb wood.
• I can't properly dress myself in a hurry.
• I do however get **** taken care of,  just don't expect it to be pretty.
• GET A NORMAL CARABINER.
• The horn on the Beast is actually decently loud. 

Aftermath

Well, I ended up just disconnecting the horn switch for now.  When I get to it Sunday or next Friday, I'll inspect it further and find a solution.  Until then,  the Beast will be a mute.

Oh and the next day, 

Reno decided to do it's weekly "hurricane winds" during the night.  Guess who didn't properly go back and secure the ropes on the car cover?

Sweet car parachute, bro.

Other stuff

In other non-panic related news, I did other things this Friday to the Beast.

I made a proper cork gasket for the air cleaner assembly. Before, the air cleaner neck was a bit uneven after our modifications and sitting clean on the metal gasket we made for it.

So above you see the bottom of the air cleaner assembly.  That ring you see is the metal gasket - I want to make a nice cork style gasket so it can sink down into it, making a nice air seal so air goes in through the air cleaner, not through the sides.

Boom!  Bought some 1/8" cork from O'Reilly's Auto, cut out a ring and slapped it on the throttle body.

The Air cleaner sat nice and snug once it was tightened down.  Though this caused some interference with the hood when I tried to close it.  This is due to the scoop coming forward a bit now that it was sitting properly on the throttle body.    No problem!

A bit of widening the corners out and it fit perfectly afterwards.

Making her quiet

At least taking some of the exhaust resonance down - I purchased some cheap sound deadener from Amazon.  

Time to do a bit of cleaning...

I had to grind down some of the rust - but after I did that, I slapped a few strips all round the area.  

Forgot to take pictures of my handy work - but I should have some next week when I lay down some more.

Anyway, that's enough fun for now; hopefully this next week will be a bit more...  quiet.

Until then!