As I mentioned, Gene was coming over today to swap out the leaf springs, but as it turns out the round body and square body hardtops used different springs. So will have to live with the ones in there for a while. I have a set of Monroe SensaTrac shocks with helper springs on it I'll probably throw in for now.

I then diverted Gene towards removing the exhaust system. I knew going in that it was a temporary thing, so will be reworking it somehow - if just to weld everything instead of 12 sets of clamps. But I really want this to have a more throaty sound, so I'm definitely getting new mufflers. I like the sound of Borla's, but they are expensive and don't do anything smaller than 2.25" pipe. So, we'll be looking around.

While crawling around down-under I noticed the rear brake hose/line connection, which is supposed to be on a hanger, was flapping around in the breeze. Almost looked like it was removed to clear either the exhaust or the rear seat belt mount bolt. Anyway, that got fixed.

The greatest discovery of the day was my investigation into why one cylinder was not just sooty, but very wet/oily too. So I popped the valve cover and had a look. It appears that the valve stem seals on #2 were both off their guides allowing the intake vacuum to suck oil down the guide. As was the intake on #5. So I pulled the rocker rail and pulled the springs and pushed them back down and over the guide. I suspect this is going to be short-lived, but if it happens again I'll be replacing all of those. I think, or so it seems, the inner spring is too small for these to fully clear and they are getting grabbed and lifted up.

Spent the rest of the day working to get the new master cylinder in, but I need a new line to the passenger front after finding what looked like a deep gouge in it in the center. And I need to get a new 3-way tee as I'm converting to an inside brake switch.

The fun continues next week.