...and the saga continues

Jim came by and attempted to sync the carbs although after a few short minutes it became apparent that something else was wrong.  The left choke was very hot to the touch and wouldn't sync with the right carb.  After a few adjustments, it was discovered that one of the linkage bits (can't figure out what the hell its technical name is) was sticking and not allowing the carb to settle back to idle - it was also the source of the backfiring.  When the car was able to idle, however, it was nice and smooth.  The engine sounds very strong.

I found a spare carburetor and pulled the top off of it-it's going to soak overnight to get cleaned up and then we're going to swap it out with the one on the car-hoping that this is the last real issue with regard to the engine.  My parts hoarding comes to the rescue once again.  I had extra parts and a gasket kit at the ready for the re-installation.

At some point in the near future I'm going to pull the front brakes off the car and swap in the Airkewld kit I bought last year.  I made the decision to help out a guy I've never met fix up his 65 Variant S by selling the brakes to him.  It'll be good for both of us; he will get parts he needs and I'll get rid of parts I don't need.  I decided that this is also when I'll swap out the speedo cable for the correct/shorter version and fix the speedometer so that it'll stay put in the dash hole (it moves around freely right now).

I started cleaning the spindles but only managed to get one done before Jim arrived.  I'll have to wait until next weekend before I can get back into them again.

I also discovered some oddities with the under dash wiring so it feels like I'm going to have to find some heat shrink to cover the exposed spade connectors.  I could swear I heard a wire sizzle but I didn't see anything upon inspection.  Maybe this can be a Winter project and I'll swap the fuse panel for a 12 pole while I've got it all apart.  I can also properly install the headlight relay and pull the random wire I've got in place for the push button assembly that's no longer being used.  I'm hoping that there's a limit to the under dash electrical gremlins

It's supposed to snow tomorrow  soon...so the car likely won't make it back outside until next year which is kind of a bummer.