OK, it's (basically) done. Clutch works great - nice & smooth. The bad news is I found that the front brakes didn't work well after fixing the leaky wheel cylinder and installing a new set of NAPA organic shoes. I had bought NOS front & rear Delco shoes (boxes dated 1971), but one side of the front got ruined from the leaky cylinder. Luckily, the guy I bought them from had another front set. I installed them, adjusted the brakes and everything is back to normal.
All I can say about the car is WOW! It seems way faster than I remember - and it makes all those sweet small block sounds. I'm having a hard time keeping my foot out of it. The Polyglas tires actually ride quite nicely and hook up well in a straight line. But if I get on it pulling out of the neighborhood, the back end comes out fairly easy. It's a little weird - no tire noise, no smoke, just spinning tires.
The car still needs to go back to LaBrecque Autocraft for the final paint buff-out, but it looks pretty good after a clean-up with the Griot's Speed-Shine kit that the family got me for Father's day.
Anyhow, I'm a happy camper. My dad will be visiting at the end of October and he can't wait to go for a ride. At 86, he doesn't want to drive it, but I'll make sure we put the 'ol girl through her paces.
