Congrats on getting it smogged! :)

Just drove 0327 home from the shop. Starts up right away; I love it when you just turn the key and an engine starts immediately, cold or hot. Idles nice and smooth at 950 rpm, and has all the power I remember. And it is way under the California emissions limits. That is a good rule of thumb indicator of an engine's overall health. For me that's good enough and I won't need to rebuild it.

Great to hear, Steve!

Good news, way to hang in there!

good news. Now does the car have to be smogged every year?

Yes, it will have to be retested but only every two years. Even though it is registered as a Historical vehicle, and is only supposed to be used for special occasions, it still is treated as any other streetable vehicle. It makes no sense, but that's the way it is in California. Things don't have to make sense here...

0327 Update
 

Today the registration was completed for 0327. The Historical Vehicle plates will come in the mail in a few weeks.

I drove 0327 to a differential shop today also. There was a rubbing or grinding sound coming from the rear axle, sounded a lot like it was coming from the driver's side, so it may be as simple as an axle bearing. I should have a diagnosis today or next Monday.

What I like about this shop is it's a small shop, run by the owner, who does all the work. As soon as he saw 0327 he knew what it was. He said he had a friend who had an 84 SSP, so he has some familiarity, and thinks it's a cool project (I liked hearing that a lot better than "You want to restore that thing? lol). Of course he knows all about the 7.5 inch differential and it's issues.

So I think 0327 is in good hands.

Differential Rebuild
 

0327 came home from the Differential Shop today. It has been making a lot of noise, especially from the driver's side of the rear axle. Sure enough, the axle bearing on that side was shot. The positraction unit was also worn out, no surprise there with the history of these units.

I thought about where to rebuild the stock rear axle, or get an 8.8. In the end, for the sake of originality, I had them rebuild it. New axle bearings, new axle shafts, new Posi. Drives great now and nice and quiet.

If I was doing anything high-performance with the vehicle, or modifying anything else, I would have gone with an 8.8.

That same bearing went bad on my car too but the rest of the rear was good to go. Who knows how much of it is still original.

Good decision on keeping things on yours to original spec. Once you are finished with your restoration and have spent all the time, effort and money on it, true performance driving will be the LAST thing on your mind. Take it from someone who's been there for the last eleven years - you'll be concentrating WAY more on avoiding rock/debris hits plus all the lousy and crazy drivers around you and on hoping your decades old ride will get you home at the end of the day without a breakdown.

+1 on keeping the original rear diff. Swapping in an 8.8 would have been a total fail....(to me anyway)

:)