[mrennie]

Finally got the car inspected yesterday, and drove it for the first time ever. Was a very anxious drive to town to get to the garage (6 miles), new brakes/engine/clutch/trans/gears, was not used to anything and worried something bad would happen. Actually felt sick to my stomach with worry which is not logical but hey, I put thousands of hours into this thing...

When it came time for the test drive, the owner of the shop that also was the mechanic doing the inspection asked if I was coming with him, I said no, you go by yourself, it will be less stressful for both of us. He asked why I wasn't more worried about someone else driving it. I told him I insured it for a very high amount so if he wrecked it, wreck it good because I don't want to fix it. We both laughed. I wasn't really feeling funny

He was gone for what felt like forever, I was starting to worry that he broke down (only a few miles on everything new), but he came back after about 10 minutes grinning ear to ear and said the drive made his weekend. Awesome!

So I go over to the license bureau to make it official then to my nephew's house to pick him up, and we start driving around town to break in the clutch and get used to the car.

First impressions:

-could not believe how many waves and thumbs up I got

-was not sure what to expect with how it would drive. Everything is new, however even with stiffer sway bars and poly bushings it does not at all feel like a modern car to me. Initially I was disappointed with how much sway or movement I thought I was experiencing, but I later realized that much of it is the seats! The springs allow for a lot of bouncing and side to side movement which just felt weird compared to modern cars. The car actually handles quite well.

-my home alignment with the Tenhulzen kit worked just fine. Car does not pull at all, and wheel is straight, so very happy about that.

-have a 12.7:1 steering box from a Monte Carlo SS, love it, nice and tight, was worried it would be too twitchy from some of the reviews I had read but not so in my case. It has the original G body stops in it and I did not notice any issues with turning radius that some have spoken about.

-brakes not too impressive for first few miles of driving. All new parts everywhere except for rear brakes. Factory front rotors/calipers/pads, but smaller dual booster and 81 M/C from 4 wheel disk Trans Am. Rear has discs off a Blazer and I have a pressure control valve (yet to be adjusted). After several stops, braking seemed to get better, either the front pads were wearing in or I was just getting used to it. Nothing scary about it, just doesn't "grab" like my wife's Ford Edge does when you apply first apply the brakes.

-even with Dynomat installed on firewall, under carpet, and inside doors, still noisier inside than what I expected (again, compared to new cars). It does sound good inside though, and no sounds from wind leaks (40 hours adjusting glass was worth it??)

-McLeod RXT dual disc clutch is going to be a b!tch to get used to. Very grabby. Like really really grabby. This was recommended to me by their techs over the RST due to vehicle weight and my desire for something that would handle the torque and hard use if needed. There is no marcel in the plates and the friction pads are ceramic. If I try to take off normally, there is a lot of shudder in middle of the release. Increasing the RPM's helps (more slip), but then when clutch is fully let out I am going faster that I may have wanted to (more on gearing later). After much stop and start around town, I realized that once the clutch starts to engage, it locks up more and more even without letting the clutch out further. The smoothest engagement without extra RPM is to start letting out the clutch, and once it starts to grab, hold the pedal in the same spot...the clutch continues to engage more and more, and once the clutch feels about 75% engaged, I can let the rest of it out. The pedal feel is great, nice and light as advertised compared to a big single disc clutch. This may be one of the many "overkill" items that I chose, thinking bigger is better or planning for abuse that may not happen, that doesn't work as expected. Time will tell.

-T56 Magnum trans is crazy...even with a taller shifter stick, the throws are sooo close together. Took me a bit to get 1/3/5 figured out but once I did, I have no issues finding the gears. I have never driven a Muncie with a Hurst shifter, so going from 2nd to 3rd was not a problem as I just push the stick up and let it go over to the middle gate before continuing to push into 3rd. When I let my nephew drive, he had a terrible time with 1/3/5...he drives big trucks and was just not in tune with the tight gates of the T56. He got some gear grind on one shift which upset him greatly and which made me laugh (not because I don't care, but because he is a pro commercial driver and this was such a challenge )Was also surprised by how much gear whine I could hear when in a higher gear at low RPM (just above lugging speed), but in any gear at the appropriate RPM for cruising it is quiet. I did find it hard to shift into 1st when stopped several times, and think I may need to adjust the clutch for a bit less freeplay and more release. Seemed like the carpeted floor mat might also have reduced my travel a bit.

-Gearing...hope I didn't mess this up...my goal was <2000 RPM at cruising speed on our "normal" highways up here (60-65 MPH). With 27" tires and desired RPM of 1800, with the close ratio T56 gearing, I chose 3.42 gears for the 12 bolt. So the first thing I noticed is how tall 1st gear feels when taking off, which is probably affecting the shudder with the RXT clutch. Of course, this is related to my experience with other modern manual trans cars which have much lower first gears. When cruising on my secondary highway out to my house, the speed limit is 50 and 5th gear is perfect as I expected. At 60, the RPM is ~2000 RPM and dropping to 6th gets me 1800 RPM as planned. Didn't spend much time at that speed so will need to take a few short trips to see if I have any regrets overall. I'm sure many will question why I went with a 6 speed over the 5's...I bought and installed the trans around 2014 and there were very few available choices then other than the TKO. I wanted the most torque capacity available and the T56 was it at that time.

-factory rally 2's and Cooper Cobras: Drive better than I expected. The wheels sucked to balance. I made my own lug centric adapter from a front rotor to fit the local garage's balancer shaft, as their adapter wanted to centre in the lug holes which are not stamped properly in several spots. Visually, it is obvious that the lug holes are slightly further away from the centre of the wheel than where the lug nuts actually seat. With my adapter, tightening up the lugs put the wheel exactly where it sits on the car...and even then the side to side and up and down runout of the wheels sucked...a lot. The Cobras also have a fair amount of up and down runout, definitely not precision tires, which is probably why they are cheap. While quite upsetting (not perfect!), we went ahead and balanced them with tape weights in the inside, with some wheels needing 4-5 ounces. Happy to report the car drives fine and there is no shake or noticeable handling issue at all. I also had a pair of Nitto 555's installed and balanced on Wheel Vintiques Rally 2's (for future drag run) and those wheels and tires had no visual runout, and both took less than 1 ounce to balance. Lesson learned? GM Rallys suck and if money is no object and you aren't needing specific wheel stamps, the WV units are functionally better.

-So...how is the motor? Well, it has the older Stump Puller can, Comp lifters (the older ones before the S version, bought around 2011?), 1.65 Crower rockers, Cliff Q-jet, SD/KRE 290cfm heads, RARE d port Ram Air manifolds with larger outlet, 3" Pypes exhaust with RacePro mufflers into 2.5" tail pipes. Idles with some lope but not crazy. Has a tick that is pissing me off immensely. Lifter for cylinder 8 exhaust ticked really bad when engine started up after 8 years of sitting, adjustment seemed OK, added some Seafoam and got really quiet but starting to hear it again. I am not screwing with the motor beyond tuning right now as I want to drive this thing and get it sorted out, so plan to add more Seafoam followed by an oil change and see what happens. The current tick is enough that I can hear it but my nephew didn't really notice. At least it is not getting worse.

-The power....better hold on when carb opens up! Was cruising around town, then went out on a back road to try it on the secondaries. Was too scared to floor it in 1st so took it to 2000RPM in 2nd then floored it and both my nephew and I were scared sh!itless...took it up to around 4500RPM, shifted to 3rd, did it again, then slowed it down. I have NEVER been in a vehicle that pulled this hard, and I have a turbocharged motorcycle that is good for 11.0 quarter times. This engine is crazy...violent even...yet when not on the gas it putts along and just sounds cool and collected. I can't imagine what the suspension and frame are doing when it starts to pull, there must be a lot of stress and flexing. The best part is even with ~65F temps, the tires did not break loose in 2nd and nothing was out of control. Could feel a tiny bit of the back end walking side to side in the upper RPM of second and that was it. I am sure 1st gear would be a smoke show. Very happy it isn't breaking loose and all over the road as that would be risky. Dave B from SD helped me pick the cam and offered suggestions based on my goals and cruising RPM, and I recall always asking him if I should be bigger on everything...he kept telling me that if i wanted to cruise at 1800 and run AC, the combo he was suggesting was what I wanted. He was 150% correct. So glad I listened! This engine is just awesome.

-Exhaust sound? More awesomeness. Fairly subdued when cruising, you can hear there is a performance exhaust on it, but not offfensive. Once you step on it, it changes dramatically. Certainly gets louder, and sounds great. No sense of drone (yet), will need more driving time at cruising speeds to be sure. At this point, zero regrets on exhaust choices.

-Carb/choke and maybe ignition will need some tweaking. Car is jerky and surges a lot at idle with the clutch out in 1st and a bit in 2nd when on flat ground. When under a bit of load, all is good, when moving above 1200 RPM, all good, but at ~900 RPM in 1st it wants to buck and surge. Not sure where to start with this, feel free to offer pointers. Carb was built by Cliff ~10 years ago and I haven't touched anything yet other than idle speed screw. Car starts great, idles fine, so far this is the only issue I am having with fuel/ignition. One thing I considered is that I filled the tank with 91 octane gas I bought in February, which was blended for winter use. I added 1/4 tank last night with fresh 91 octane but did not notice a difference. I am aware that summer/winter fuel blends are different and may be a factor.

-Choke needs less tension I think. Starts fine but when fully warm, shutting engine off for only 5 minutes results in carb going back to 1st fast idle for a few minutes. I realize the KRE heads have no crossover ports so my manifold is not as hot as a stock one would be, this may be a factor. I will turn the choke back a smidge and see what happens.

The best part is the engine survived 6-7 full throttle blasts in 2nd and 3rd and it did not blow up...considering engine assembly and all work was done by me except the heads, block machining, carb rebuilding, and distributor tuning, I feel considerable achievement. Oil pressure and engine temps were steady. Other than the tick, the surging, and the clutch shudder, things are pretty good. The factory cruise control worked while tested on axle stands months ago, but isn't working now, so need to check that out. Also still need to charge the AC system.

In hindsight, the closer I got to finally getting the car on the road, the less I actually wanted to drive it for fear of something bad happening. I kept thinking it will only be "new" once, and that really bugged me. It was officially "new" until yesterday at 4 PM when I rolled it onto the highway for the first time. Now that I have driven it, it has dust on it, bugs on the windshield, sand on the floor mats, and all I can think of is wanting to go for a ride and play with it some more!

I sincerely thank everyone that has supported me through the exchange of information and advice over the past 24+ years. I could not have made it to this point without your help and this forum.

[johnta1]

All I can say is ..... WOW!

Congrats on getting it out and driving!

[RAIIIJudge]

michael,

from one 24(+)year-project-finally-done-first-drive-owner to another ... congrats, man. car looks and sounds badass.

I took first drive in my 69 Judge, that I used to beat the snot out of as a teenager, in 30 years last week! car was also taken down to nuts and bolts so I can really empathize w/ how you felt and I too have learned a boat load via the forum and it's members .. much obliged.

looking forward to seeing more!
mike
MA

[Shiny]

That is a fantastic post, thank you.

What a great story and so cool to share your experience so well.

Congratulations would be a weak compliment for what you accomplished.

Wow

[Scarebird]

Glad to see it finished - too many are not.

[indymanjoe]

Great read! the first couple runs are always nerve wracking! whats that smell? noise? etc... Glad ya got back on the road

[PAUL K]

Very cool!

[BB70]

Have fun putting miles on it. Love the stance on it.

John

[JSchmitz]

Great story! Congrats! Did you bed-in the brakes? Important to do. Enjoy!

[Pepper Judge]

Congratulations Michael.

Long road but good to see you finish and get the chance to drive your GTO!

[JSchmitz]

Beautiful car BTW! Some more pics would be nice.

[tjs72lemans]

I know your feeling. Except I did everything myself on my frame off, so I was to blame if a failure. All was good to my relief as well.

[kingbuzzo]

What an amazing car...congrats!

[gassman_67]

Right there too, 45 years of ownership, 7 long years of nut and bolt resto, the thumbs up when you drive it made it so worthwhile

[roy381]

That is a bad ass looking car!!!

[mgarblik]

Sounds like a successful first day out with a completely "new" car. Sure there will be some bumps along the way to making it exactly the way you expect it to run. Even after 40+ dyno pulls on engine now in my 62 Catalina, it left me stranded on the side of Interstate 75 on my first trip over 50 miles in length. That was a humbling experience. But I got is straightened out and love driving it now. You will get more comfortable as you rack up some miles on it. Beautiful car, enjoy.

[gtospieg]

Sweet ride...love the color. What color is the interior?

[HWYSTR455]

Very nice! I'm in the 24 year boat too! Mine won't be ready until spring though!


.

[Tempest]

Congratulations on a great build (looks fantastic)

as mentioned earlier, it is so true on your first few drives, "what's that noise?" or "what's that's smell? is something burning?"

enjoy the drives, and thanks for saving an old Pontiac

[RAIIIJudge]

totally nerve wracking, yes

I was out the other night when I saw my temp rising and my oil pressure dropping ... definitely got my attention but made no sense as car was running fine.
immediately got her home ... next morning everything was fine. it dawned on me to get her warmed up and turn on headlights ... sure enough headlights ON, blinkers too to a lesser extent, alter both gauges (in the bad direction ha) by like 20%.

looking at grounds now