I found the elusive air bubbles in the right rear line, took it out for a drive, and the brakes are FANTASTIC. On loose gravel, the rears lock up just a hair before the fronts. I think I'll try to find more aggressive front pads/less aggressive rear pads before I mess with valving. It stops on a dime with minimal effort on pavement without rear lockup.
I found a problem I'll need to address: the harmonic balancer is a mess and will need replaced. The crank pulley wobbles like crazy, and I think it is spinning inside the rubber and it's preventing me from timing the engine properly.
I threw its clothes back on for a glamour shot to see how it sits with the front lifted. Better. (Although I?ll be back in the same boat again if I put a winch up front.)
The next day, I found the cause of my moving timing mark on the crank pulley. The key that is cast into the timing belt pulley was sheared off, and it was allowing the pulley to spin freely on the crank.
Luckily it?s made from steel (or cast iron); I was able to build it up with weld and file it to fit.
This explains the weird feeling I was getting through the power steering. It was working great, just slower than I felt it should have been. I was chalking it up to the large pump pulley, but the steering pump wasn?t getting full power under load. It?ll be interesting to see how it feels now.
Also, I started on relocating the pull point on the clutch pedal to be closer to the pivot, and I decided to shorten the clutch cable. The stock length works, but it gets jammed in between the engine, cage and fender, making it sorta square. It won?t lend itself to longevity.
I can turn the section that fits into the bellhousing to adjust it way in (11? shorter will be a comfortable spot), cutting the casing, and shortening the cable.
So if I have cable failure and need a replacement out in the boonies, the stock size will fit, the shorter one will just work better.
I got this done this morning. The clutch is sooo much better. I can push the pedal with one finger now, and engagement is proportionate to the pedal travel. I took pics of the process, but I apparently didn?t save them off of the photo app, so you just get finished result pics.
I couldn?t drill the cable out of the original tip, so I made a new identical one out of a bolt. I drilled a hole all the way through it, stuck the cable through so it stuck out about 1/8?, then welded the tip to the end of the cable. I then took a center punch and peened the rest of the length of the tip to pinch the cable. It should be pretty fail-safe between the two processes.
I raised the cable attachment point as high as I could on the pivot arm and moved the cable mount.
Here you can see how the shortening benefited. Before, the cable was jammed in against the engine and the cage post on the left, and stuck out from under the fender. It?ll fit inside now and touches nothing but where it rests on the frame.
I also tested the steering, and it?s notably better, but still slow. I might choose to change out that pump someday. Revving doesn't affect performance, so I?m thinking it?s a relief valve issue.
Edit: Some quick searching shows that this pump is a basic GM type 2 pump. Cheap and plentiful.
It was set to put out 820-870 psi when coupled to a rack, and ~1100 psi when coupled to a gearbox. I?ll pull it apart when I get a chance to see what kind of shims are in it. It should be as simple as removing a few shims for higher pump pressure.