You see a mousetrap; I see free cheese and a fucking challenge!

So...let's get caught up, shall we?

I static timed the engine, installed new plugs, reset the carburetors to spec, replaced the plug wires because I found one that looked to be coming apart (yay! New Bosch garbage parts!).  Fired it up.  Idled really shitty so I hooked up the strobe, balanced the carbs (using the snail) and the timing is damn close.  Small tweaks to improve the carb balance and tried to lean it out a bit because it's running rich like an old lawnmower and the car died.  Put it back, fires right up but the engine rocks from side to side at idle.  Any changes that might reduce the rocking prevents the engine from running at all.  No hesitation at all when increasing throttle - just idles like shit and now rocks side to side.

The engine got stupid hot after running for only 10 minutes - so hot, in fact, that the rear bumper was hot to the touch.  I shut it down and contemplated the next move...which clearly had to do with figuring out why it was getting so hot.  I'd had a frustrating day of just finding more problems so I called it a day.

The next evening, I pulled the right side lower sled tin and the thermostat bracket and thermostat.  I manipulated the thermostat flaps linkage with my fingers and discovered that it's only opening about 1/4 of the way.  That combined with what might be a burned exhaust valve on #2 means that, at best, the engine tin has to come off.  At worst, the heads will have to come off.  I then noticed that there was clean oil seeping out of the space between the heads and the cylinders - an area that should be dry - which lead me to wonder about the head studs and or torque rate on them.  This is an early case with 10mm head studs and no case savers - torquing the heads down may result in a pulled head stud - something that would require significantly more work than what's currently on the table.  After a bit of back and forth, I've decided to start sourcing parts for the replacement engine and transmission.  I'm kind of done fucking around with this engine - every time I work on it, something else breaks and it takes weeks to fix it after I've found the parts.  I just keep dumping money into it and it fucks up someplace else.

I'm out of town for a few days for work - but I'm going to continue the trek to getting a better built engine and a rebuilt transmission.