Well, its been a frustrating season but I think I am ready for cruising. First of all, my 283 was getting tired and ready to be swapped out. I came across a "Good Deal" for a 350 with a 700r4 that was sitting for 2 years but was led to believe was a good engine. Against my better judgement I purchased it. I hooked a battery to it ,spun it and compression was right up there. Just to be sure I pulled the heads and oil pan for a look. No ring ridge, the cylinders were great, the heads and valves were very good and the oil pan and lifter gallery was spotless. That is as far as I went. New gaskets and paint and in it went. I pre-oiled it and fired it up and it purred like a kitten for about 20 minutes. I was just about to shut it off, ( it was almost fully warmed up and no leaks) when I heard a ticking sound like a lifter. The ticking got worse, turned into a rattle and when I revved it, ouch. I thought it might be a wristpin. Now I am really mad at myself, got on the phone and ordered a new 290hp  crate eng. from GM. Ordered it on a thursday and they called me monday morning that it was in at the dealership. ( I am kicking myself because this is what I intended to do in the first place). Anyway, it turns out that the rattle was #2 cyl. connecting rod bearing. While this was going on I took my front seat to Otto's Upholstery due to fading and the stitching letting go. My back seat was still intact. He found the original material and re-did it even getting the Pontiac emblems back into the backrests. A great job. I also found a spare instrument panel, cut out the radio panel and installed four 2 inch gauges in its place. For the purists and for future considerations ,I still have my original panel and radio. I wanted auto-line gauges but at this point for now my budget was suffering so I opted for cheaper gauges. Surprisingly they really work well and seem to be very accurate. I love them being at eye level. I now have about 250 miles on the car and the transmission works well. The pressure switch I installed for the lock-up works well and I am turning 1950 rpm at 100 kms./ hr. I am having some timing issues. If I try to time it to the recommended specs. it runs like crap and can only time it by ear. I attribute this to not having the HEI unit they recommend. I will deal with this later after some miles on the car. Also, a higher stall converter would be better. But for now, I think and hope all is good enough for cruising.

Jim