The Biscayne Build Begins...

It's alive! So rad.

When I started the truck up this summer (first time in probably close to a year...) it sounded amazing. 440 with a mild cam, 3" exhaust with glass packs, inside a tin shed, and barely running because of crappy gas. It sounded like a dragster, except this actually would die at idle if I let it... Took a good 5-10 minutes of feathering the gas to get it cleaned out.

 

Nice, Galaxies have long been a favorite of mine

 

Minor update, been tinkering with the engine here and there trying to get it running smoothly. Seemed like there was a vacuum/intake leak so I pulled the carb and manifold off to make sure everything was sealed up. Slight improvement but still not running right so I tried pulling the fuel line and feeding it fresh gas from a can. Again, ran better but not smoothly and still wouldn't idle so today I pulled the carb and opened it up. Found lots of aluminum oxide buildup and a couple plugged holes, which explains why it ran like it wasn't always getting enough fuel. Cleaned it a bit and reinstalled, still not quite right. Just ordered a carb rebuild kit so once I'm done with that I should hopefully have the issue finally resolved. With any luck I'll have another more positive update soon.

 

Got my carb rebuild kit yesterday, had everything done and back together this afternoon. Didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped due to a couple broken valve shaft screws and a subsequently bent and broken choke shaft, but I was able to use a few parts from the old quadrajet to make it work. Ran great once it was back in, idled smoothly at about 1k cold. Didn't go so well after the gas can ran out and I switched it back to pulling fuel from the tank (sputtering, missing, etc). I did add some fuel treatment stuff and another couple gallons of fresh gas but no improvement so far. I'm guessing after I run that junk through and add some more fresh gas it'll be fine.

 

Any chance you can just drain out all the old stuff?

 

It was pretty low already, might have to do that if it doesn't clear up soon though.

 

Long overdue for an update, so I probably should get this thread up to speed. I've spent most of my free time this summer doing landscaping work around the house so I'm finally giving the '64 some attention again.
After the initial carb issues I drained the fuel tank, ran some cleaner and fresh gas through, still wouldn't stay running. It'd idle ok for a minute but then the engine would die unless you manipulated the throttle just right. Ended up swapping out for a different carb of the same model (Edelbrock 1406 600 CFM) and problem was solved so something was screwy with the first one. Got the timing and AFR dialed in and it runs great now!
I also tidied up the wiring and engine bay, secured my sagging headliner, and scrubbed a ton of tree sap off of it. Really not much left to do now, getting really excited to have it finally done. Next up will be working out a few electrical issues with the signal lights and fuel gauge sender, installing a set of 3" drop coils, and bringing it in to have some exhaust fabbed up. Won't be ready for the Wheels & Wings show this year but with any luck I'll have it on the road before the snow starts falling!

 

Some recent pics, just because.

 

Nice. That color scheme is pretty rad. Are you going to clear coat it or just leave it as is?

 

You know, my plan has been just to leave the body as-is aside from replacing a couple rusted chrome pieces but now I'm not so sure. With everything I'm putting into the rest of it I'm actually starting to consider doing some work on the body too. It'd need new fenders and maybe 3 or 4 small patches, but otherwise it's pretty straight and solid so it wouldn't be a huge project to make it look clean. Still, I'm just as tempted to let it stay faded, flaking, and rusting as nature intended.

 

Clean is nice. I've always liked that faded/rusted "as is" look on those older cars though, with something to seal and protect it from getting worse

 

Spent a little time cleaning up some electrical connections for the lights this morning and now in the process of installing the drop coils. Only one in so far but it is definitely lower than I was expecting, which I'm happy with as long as I don't scrape too much. Frame is about 3" off the ground now...

 

So here's how it's sitting with both front coils in. My shocks looked like garbage when I took them out so I ended up ordering a set of KYB Gas-a-Just shocks too. Waiting on those before I put the rear coils in, probably next weekend. After that I can go get the exhaust fabbed up and it'll be ready to cruise! Still a few other odds and ends to do like replacing the seatbelts, a couple rusted bumper pieces and sorting out the speedometer but that's about it. Hard to believe it's finally almost done.

 

Slowly but surely making progress, got my new seat belts and front shocks installed the last couple days. Also pulled off the front bumper so I can disassemble it and replace the rusty chrome (obligatory dog photo bomb). Should have some more interesting pics this weekend...

 

Installed the rear shocks and coils after work yesterday and finished up the bumper today. Need to sort out a few minor electrical issues (fuel gauge, LT/front turn signal, and dome light switch) but that's about it. Should be ready now to get an exhaust so hopefully I can get that done pretty soon and be able to drive it a bit before winter.

Old rusty bumper pieces I replaced...

 

No, but close. I picked up a pair of 22" Smithy's glasspacks, plan is to use 2.5" tubing all the way back from the headers running true duals. Really no good place to put a crossover pipe on these x frame cars.

 

Man, I have not been having much luck with this exhaust. So I brought it in and they got it on the lift, first problem was with my headers. One side the flange was basically up against the croasmember and they exit too low (straight down in the center), leaving no room to go back with the pipes. Swapped out the headers for some ceramic-coated ram's horn manifolds and that fixed all the clearance issues, but the shop still can't do it because of the bends needed in the front pipes. From the manifold they have to make a sharp 90° bend towards the rear, then another slightly offset sharp 90° bend out toward the sides to go under the frame rails. Because of how tight the bends have to be and how close together they are the shop's mandrel setup can't do it. So...now I just spent nearly $600 ordering a full kit from Summit that I hope like hell fits without any issues. It's designed specifically for this setup so I'm optimistic. That does leave another decision to be made though, because it comes with a pair of Flowmaster mufflers. So what do you guys think, should I run the Flowmasters or use the Smithy's glass packs I have? I don't really care too much about how loud it is, just want it to sound good and run well. The Smithy's would be a nice old-school touch I think, but I'm debating it.

 

This is the kit I have coming, the two short sections at the top of the picture are the ones that were causing the problems.

 

I already have the Smithy's. The Flowmasters appear to be clamped on from the photos, and I'm inclined to do that and see how I like it before cutting the pipes and putting in the Smithy's. It would be nice to just sell the Flowmasters and help cover a little bit if the cost on everything else though. Not really sure yet what I'll do.

 

Side pipes?

 

I could always add some lake pipes later with cutouts I guess. Not really commonly done on these cars though, closest thing people usually would do is bellflower pipes like these. Not a fan of them myself though.

 

Yeah, those are a little weird. And yeah, I get that side pipes are also weird, but those behind the wheels only ones just look silly...

 

Plumb it up through the trunk floor and actually come out between the tail lights. Haha