Thanks!
This weekend has been a little bland and boring in terms of updates, but it's progress nonetheless. I have to keep moving. The broken alternator brush has been a real drag because the intercooler bracket doesn't go on without the alternator. Having the alternator in one piece means the whole front of the car gets to go together! Out of excitement and anticipation I just had to see what the alternator would look like when finished. I think I'm going to like it.
So there's that. Time to move on. The super nice MSD plug wires I bought at the Nats for $90 in 2017 are all gross from oil leaks and mouse piss. The boots are chewed up too.

I was hoping to stick new boots on them but they seem to have been glued or something because they tore the connector right off. They're garbage. I whipped out the old Taylor wire building kit I made started sizing things up.
You know how the cookie crumbles. I made the fifth wire and only had about 6 inches left. I'll have to wait for my new 50ft roll to arrive. So far, I'm happy with the look. These shitty bulk boots I have in my kit make installing the wires a huuuuuge PITA if you cant reach really well though. I'm not gonna worry about that right now. These are new, and look nice.
I actually had to get under the car to install #6 which is not normal. It was just being too much of a pain. While I was down there I noticed another action item. I wouldn't have if I wasn't just talking to a buddy who did the same job last week.
These body bushings are shot and not helping the #6 plug wire situation. I ordered a poly set on Summit which include the extra GNX bushings. This will be something I do AFTER the car is back on the road or if I'm literally just twiddling thumbs waiting for Racetronix to ship fuel pumps. This car is not rusty, but I don't want to accidentally open a can of worms.
Moving on. This downpipe has been the biggest pain to paint ever. It scratches if you look at it with sharp eyes, and it runs really easy.
Sanded smooth and started over.
It still got all messed up so I took it to the bench where it's warmer. That helped a lot.
I was just trying to cross all the little piddly stuff off my list. So here's the old tensioner bearing! TA DA!!! MY BELT SQUEAK! I think I finally found it! I don't know why the bearing failed, but it shouldn't be greasy. I remember that I was in a rush to get to the Nats a few years back mangled a plastic pulley to extract this bearing and pressed it into the GN pulley. This time I have a new bearing that is actually meant for this pulley. I'm not sure what the difference is, but hopefully it lasts a lot longer.
I wanted to keep prettying things up but maybe try something that would give me some more satisfaction.
Scotch Brite pads got this heat shield looking really nice. It's not perfect, but a lot better than I expected to get it to be honest.
This morning I decided I was satisfied with the downpipe paint and threw it in the car. As I expected, this was not a smooth process, and I ended up scratching the shot out of the paint. Oh well. To be honest, Id rather see scratches than some paint newbie's runs.
I almost had a panic attack over the connection to the elbow. I forgot there was a donut gasket and I had no idea where TF I put it. I started googling it and it's been an issue to source for many years. I'm pretty sure Bowling Green Customs has been out of business for 20 years. Some people have provided a Sterling truck PN, but that's no longer made either. Then somebody else found out that it might be shared with a Ford F700 of some sort. I better figure it out because although I did eventually find my old one, it's seen much better days.
This last bit of assembly is going way slower than I anticipated, but I'm happy with the results.
I pulled the intercooler out of the basement. As per usual it's condition is no longer acceptable. I first dumped a big jug of denatured alcohol into it, hoping it would break up the oil in there. It came out looking a lot yellower than it went it so I guess that's progress! It will also need some paint touch ups and screws for the shroud though. It's been missing four of them since I bought the car. I bought a new set on ebay.