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Today I dialed in the carb a little better. I started out at about 7.5% CO and got a nice idle at about 4.5% CO. Idle at 475 made the bat light flicker, so I raised it back to about 500 or 550.
As the car gets more dialed in, I am noticing things that are not right.
The ex pipes are not fitting well.
Should the hump in the exhaust be inboard or outboard of the shock? I had it inboard, and it was rubbing on the shock. I switched to outboard, which overall seems to fit better on the tail pipe between the gas tank and spare tire.
The hump is now hitting the frame cross bar where the shock mounts.
I think if I cut an inch or two from the down pipe and can move the whole system from the muffler on forward, it will fit better. Any ideas from the pros and those in the know? I bought it from kepich a few years ago.

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The hump should be inboard of the shock. You will see a place on the crossmember just inboard of the shock where the flange is bent away to provide extra clearance. Some of the later Kepich exhausts were, uh, challenging to install.

Thanks Ross, I will put it back the way I had it before, and will try and do a little tailoring to get a better fit. If that doesn't work, then I can take it to a muffler shop...

Went for a drive yesterday to visit the in-laws. 30 mile round trip, and she ran well. The gas gauge stopped working... grrr. I had bought a ford unit that fit, but still read 1/4 tank when empty, and since I filled it up, the car sat for a few days and now the sender is saying empty. The cable from the back and gauge itself are fine, so I think I will call and order a new sender from Kanter and hopefully fix it for the last time. And have an accurate gauge.
I finally got around to cleaning the whitewalls! Also, the hubcaps are still spinning, so they landed in the trunk. Still finding things to fix and adjust, but it is nice to be able to drive, and confidence is building as the miles add up.

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Great looking car! Get those metal valve stems ASAP!

Congratulations, the car presents VERY nicely!!

Thanks guys! About the metal valve stems...Does anybody know the diameter of the hole where the valve stem sits in the rim? This way I can make sure the local tire shop has something that fits.
I wired in the glove box light before going to work this morning. A nice little luxury!

Hi, I have a 53 Clipper Deluxe and I noticed tonight that my differential plugs are the same as yours. I am not a mechanic but I think I might try to change and refill it myself. The bottom plug is the empty plug right? And the silver one in your photo in the middle is the fill plug?? What is the black plug of the 3 plugs for? Much appreciated.

What gear oil did you use? Some say Valvoline w85-140, any suggestions?

Hi Brenda, changing the rear axle oil is pretty easy. Make sure you can open the fill plug before your try and open the drain plug. (If you drain the oil and can't fill it back up, you'll be in trouble, but that should not be a problem here)
Anyway, you are correct that about the two silver plugs being drain and fill. The black plug/bolt on the side of the axle is for adjusting the axle, you don't need to mess with that when changing oil.
-I forget which oil I have in the rear axle, I can check and get back...I think I might have gone with 90wt, but I will look in the garage.