Biohazard

Alright, last night was productive I'm pleased to say.

Ignition coil tested perfectly within spec. Right at midway of the range for both primary and secondary resistance.

I had some vac hose leftover from work done on my VW so I used it to replace the lines going to the choke pull-off and the distributor. The old hose was just ridiculously brittle and dried out - not reliable - and I know how tiny little vacuum leaks can wreak havoc with a motor.

Ran some tests on the no-crank situation and never did figure out why it wasn't cranking but I will assume it was one of two things: either the shift linkage not being in exactly the right position to close the neutral safety switch or my key switch just needed some exercise. This is the sort of thing I worry over when cleaning parts. Some things I think are safe to flush with water may not be. I always dry them thoroughly and promptly and even shoot a small amount of lube in 'em but...you just never know. The key switch was a bit stiff turning to crank the first several times I did it. Now it moves like butter. Whatever, it works now so I'm happy.

Let the engine run a bit, fiddled with carb adjustments. Brought the warm idle down in RPM and still trying to get the choke valve in the right spot for cold starts.

Checked voltage across the battery terminals and, at idle, I'm seeing 14.1v. That's my solid state "resto-look" voltage regulator doing it's thing.

Checked the tranny fluid and it's on the dipstick but still a bit below range. At least we know it's not over serviced and that that isn't the cause for the leakage. I still need fresh cardboard under the car to determine what its doing now.

Trunk seal.....a brand new, still in the bag, trunk seal was included with my purchase of one 1969 model year Plymouth Barracuda. Heck of a deal, yeah? Damn thing doesn't run the full perimeter of the trunk rim so looks like I'm buying one after all. I've heard steelerubber is the way to go for these. Now can someone just explain to me what side gets glued to where exactly?