The Gold Commode

Named after his father told him it was like throwing money down the toilet. This is my dad's 1970 Chevelle Malibu. 454 Chevy big block under the hood, with a 400 turbo, with reverse manual valve body, behind it. posi and 4.65 rearend gears, I love driving this car. It still has original paint, but it is lacquer so I hope I can repaint it sometime. He would also like to put a 4 or 6 inch cowl hood on it.
 

Every man dies. Not every man really lives. -William Wallace

Winter is still going strong here in South Dakota. Iroh still slumbers in the shed. However I have been busy helping friends with their projects so I'm going to take this opportunity to make some honorable mentions.
Firstly I'm going to show a good friend of mine, Ray Sondergaard and his '78 El Camino. I met Ray a few years ago while working at a grocery store. One of those friendly old guys you just can't forget. It always makes my night to see him come in, always love talking with him. I visited Ray one day to check out his Camino, the knowledge and experience that he has I just can't imagine. His grandchildren want to get working on it and I hope they do, it has a lot of potential.

The next gentleman on my list has become a good friend as well as being a fellow student at Southeast Tech, Vincent Turgeon. Vince owns a lot of vehicles also has a lot of experience. I haven't seen all the vehicles he owns as he said they are all over the country in storage. It will be a great Easter egg hunt for his children to locate them all. My friend, Connor, and I enjoy hanging out at his shop and helping him with whatever he might be working on. On the way to his shop one day he said, One thing a man can take with him when he dies, is his integrity. 

A neighbor and friend of mine, Cordell Miller, is building this 25 T Bucket kit from speedway motors. I had the great honor to shoot the Hemi Orange paint. He has a love for cars and has a talent for wood working. This little street rod should be ready to go come spring. I can't wait to go for a cruise with him. I even have a video walk around of it while it is running. 

The only disability in life is a bad attitude. ~Scott Hamilton

So I need to do a little up to dating on Iroh. Iroh currently is hibernating. He is in a storage shed as I have no money or space to work on him over the winter. My dad's Chevelle got to move back home for the winter. However, before parking Iroh we got the brakes plumed  the frame pulled, fuel cell hung and even started the engine again. Starting the engine again did require removing the intake and having it machined. That took care of the vacuum leak and she ran beautifully. I'll get the new video embedded or a link to it. I'll also put up some photos of the recent up dates to it.
I did have a scary moment when I was taking Iroh to school to put on the frame rack. She tried to jump off the trailer. I'll put up a pic of her hanging off the back of the trailer. So lucky she didn't fall she held on by a thread and lucky she is light enough my friend Connor, my brother and I were able to lift her back on.

Fuel Cell mounted with custom made straps (cheaper then buying them)

 Iroh at school after frame pull

 Iroh hanging off the trailer on the way to school.

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart. ~Kongzi

Iroh is getting brakes once again. Brake lines have now been run and all that's left is to fill the reservoir and bleed them out. The rear end was pulled completely out and painted, and pan hard welded in. I've modified the front inner fenders to fit the new front suspension, even got a new air filter that better accents the beauty that is that big orange rat between the frame rails. I don't want to chat too much so I'll post some pictures and let them do the talking.

Rear end painted (Keystones from my brother, fit better than the steel wheels)

6 inch tall air filter, still have hood clearance

Brake lines so to have stopping power

 Got to make some custom brackets to mount the brake lines on the rear axle

 

When your work speaks for its self, don't interrupt. -Henry J. Kaiser

It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to. ~Annie Gottlier

I always enjoy ordering new parts for my project. When ever they arrive it feels like Christmas. I'm still waiting for the coil overs for the rear suspension, but I ordered and received new Hooker headers and Comp Cams aluminum roller rockers. I love the look of the roller rockers compared to stock, and the extra horsepower is nice too.
I've recently contacted the former owner of my truck and he is planning to come see my progress. I have been working on it for over 2 years now. I have set the deadline of the 26th, which is when he will come see it, I plan to have the firewall in primer and the engine and transmission back in. I also plan to have all the fenders put on. I'm excited because I haven't seen the rear fenders with the Cadillac tail lights on. When I do get it together you can count on pictures being posted.
I don't know how much work I will be able to accomplish over the winter, simply because of funds. I have another year of school to pay for. I will still see how much I can accomplish up until the money runs out for the year.

Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal. -Mario Andretti

I finally got to do what I have wanted to for a long time now. I heard the big block fire up. The engine hadn't been started in a couple years. We mocked it up on the engine stand, with some old headers. The headers were not the best. They left no room for spark plug wires, so we used an old set so we wouldn't melt the new ones. We are hoping the wires are to blame for the miss fire. Otherwise the engine seemed to run well with little timing adjustments.
We tore the engine back down and checked compression, which was alright, and loosened the rockers to close the valves. We pressurized the cylinders and had a little bit of valve leak. I'm hoping it is just carbon or oil gunk that can be easily loosened up and blown out. But if I have to I guess the heads will be coming off.

After timing it still had a miss fire but got it to idle