Good news and more progress.

Lots to talk about. Been getting a few minutes here and there to work on Barney and things are going well!

In my last post I talked about the fuel line leak I've been working on. Turns out that the NOS hard lines I got from SASCO were fine - the problem was in the brass 90-degree fittings I got from the Dorman bins. Seems that 2 of the 4 I purchased were defective! Bad seats straight from the bin. That's why the leak moved from the fuel pump to the carb end, and why replacing one didn't help - the replacement was defective too! Finally I got a good one (the last one in the bin drawer) and it worked. Fired up the car with the new carb for the first time last weekend, with no leaks - purrs like a kitten!

Yesterday I got under and got the front sway bar bolted in. This had been giving me fits. There are four links on the Stude sway bar: two in the center of the bar on the front frame crossmember, and one on each end that connect to the A-arms. The centers were easy to get on, but the ends - OY! The bolt holes in the bar end clamps would not line up with the holes in the A-arms. I could not do it. So it had been sitting, partially assembled, since May.

I'd solicited the SDC Tech Forum about how to get them on, and various suggestions were proffered, such as using a floor jack to hold the brackets in place, but none of them worked. Finally, I tried a variation on Dick Steinkamp's suggestion: if pushing UP didn't work, maybe pulling DOWN would. So I pulled the brackets into alignment using a drift (OK, it was a small Craftsman screwdriver!) and used my biggest Channellocks to pull down, holding the bracket in place long enough to get the bolt in.

The driver's side was easy, but the passenger's side gave me fits even with the new proceedure. Turns out the bracket was tweaked just enough to prevent the bolt from sliding in, so I clamped it in my vise and gave it a few bangs with the lead hammer to get it square. Finally, I got it on (to the detriment of my powder-coat job) and now the front suspension is, at long last, complete.

Next step is to time the ignition. Once that's done, I'll have it flatbed towed to my brake shop for installation of a new master cylinder and steel lines and alignment of the new front end.