IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!

Wow...that 428 FE sounds sexy. I mean...in a manly sort of rumble kinda way. It is the sweetest sound I have ever heard...also in a ground pounding, earth shaking, take your kids into the house kind of way.
Let me recount how I got here. When I last left off, I was having issues with the starter. I was on starter #2 and I was still hearing and awful noise when I tried to turn over the engine. After hours underneath the car (inspecting every inch of the fly wheel), I found out the issue: the starter was not aligned. It seems the top mounting stud for the starter was loose. The threads more specifically were loose where the stud was tapped through the bell housing. I had to tighten up the threads to get it to align right. I also opted to go with a mini starter. WOW....I highly recommend it. So much easier to install and you can just tell the quality difference. Anyway, the car was turning over, I started to get gas to the carb (primed the fuel line with my mity vac) and the car sputtered but wouldn't come alive. I was a bit apprehensive. My lovely wife, however, had a plan for me. For father's day, she gave me a gift of two hours with a local mechanic who works on another guy's cobra. I decided not to temp fate and take advantage of his expertise. The mechanic (Tom Dench) came over and supervised. Seems my carb has a manual choke and mine was closed (I had no idea...I am still learning). It fired up right away. It was nice that he was there because things happened (like massive plume of smoke off the headers and block) that would have freaked me out. This was just oils, paints, etc heating up and cleared up soon after. Anyway, the first start illuminated a couple of areas that I need to address:

• Clutch is not disengaging: For some reason, we can't get it to come loose. I will have to call Southern Automotive for some quick advice then I will trailer over to Tom's shop to get it up on the lift as we will have to pull the tranny and bell housing to get to the clutch...oh and pull the starter again....
• Expansion tank in coolant system leaks...a lot: The black expansion tank that sits upon the engine is old school; made of brass and soldered together. Well, there were several pin holes and seems that leaked when the system built up pressure. This makes me wonder if they even pressure tested the unit before selling them. Anyway, any old skool radiator shop should be able to fix it good as new. I am going to call Hawthorne Radiator here in New Jersey
• Throttle & manual choke linkage clearance issues with the turkey pan: You will see some pics below that describe the following. Basically, the linkage of both the throttle and choke do not allow for the cables (throttle and choke) to operate freely. I had to cut some holes in the turkey pan. Some purists might cringe at this but it is the only way to make it work right. Again, this is a driver, not intended to be a looker.
• Weak throttle cable end: I couldn't believe it. I paid really good money for a throttle cable from Lokar and the stud on the throttle cable end that connects the cable to the throttle linkage sheared off while reinstalling the nut. This was with hardly any torque mind you! Clearly a defect. And the killer is that they don't sell the cable end separately
• Gas Level Gauge not registering fuel level: This might suck. It is either the gauge or the sending unit. If it is the gauge, then no big deal. Will just get another one. If it is the sending unit, well, I have to open the gas tank again and it is full of gas! Two things I will see before ripping anything out will be to fill the tank with more than just a couple of gallons of gas to see if it registers and if that doesn't work, check to make sure the connection is still good (which requires removing the trunk pan).

But the MOST exciting thing I am waiting for is the arrival of my baby....TOMORROW!!! I am have so much energy waiting for the arrival that I felt, heck, I will do another entry! I can't wait to meet this kid (don't know if it is a boy or a girl). Wish Eva and I luck!