I ordered some Kuhmo Solus HM KR-22 tires in 195/70-14 tires on TireRack. They are supposedly low rolling resistance and have a 6 year / 100,000 mile limited warranty. If they last half as long then that will be great. When they arrive I intend to add the whitewall paint. They are about 2" shorter in diameter than the 8.00-14 tires.
The gas gauge does not work yet. I found the fuel float potentiometer always reads empty. Autozone has a replacement on order that should remedy the issue. They also had in stock a set of 4 shocks for the car that I hope to install later this week.
I am still daily driving the car and it is a total joy. I finally ended up getting rid of that dangerous single piston master cylinder. I bought a 1967 Ford Mustang dual piston master cylinder and installed it. The swap was effortless. The swap required me to unhook the rear brake line and extend it to the front most port on the master cylinder. The open port at the distribution block was then capped off with a 1/8" NPT plug. This car does not have a proportioning valve and instead has a distribution block. I flushed the old fluid and air bubbles out of the line with a vacuum pump, one wheel cylinder at a time. The brakes work quite well, except now with the added safety of a dual circuit system.
I also added an electric fan controller. Advance Auto parts sells the universal controller. Fairly easy install and the set point is adjustable.
Currently it is not easy to keep track of fuel economy. It does not have a working fuel gauge and the speedometer drive gear is not the correct size. The new properly sized drive gear and fuel sending unit should arrive early next week. The only partially scientific fuel economy test I have performed is a complete fill and top off in Eugene followed by a road trip to see a friend in Tigard (just south of Portland). I used a GPS device to monitor driving speed. About 105 miles passed when I filled up again and topped off the tank all the way to the filler neck. It accepted 4.49 gallons which would amount to 23.39 miles per gallon. I made much of the trip in 4th gear since 5th brings the engine RPMs to a shuddering low RPM approximately idle speed. I really need to get a tachometer. I think those new smaller diameter tires will help make 5th gear useable. As soon as all of the support items are in place I will start keeping a fuel log.
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