RealWing said

Haven't had time to get back on the Cuda for quite a while due to yard work etc and a bucket list trip to East Africa!!!
Fired the engine for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Just used a carb because I wanted to be sure it started right up to get the revs up and break in the cam.
Had some small leaks at one tranny fitting at the rad and some at the heater hose connections at the firewall. Did a search to see what others had done about leaks here since I've had problems with these fittings in the past. The consensus seems to be it is a combination of poor quality spring clamps (ie not strong enough) and the repro hoses are thinner than the originals. Thus not enough clamping force.
I saw one neat idea and that was to use some small gear clamps (along with the original style spring clamps) , paint them black and put heat shrink over part of the threaded section. I think it looks pretty good and you can't really tell they are there unless you look close.
I didn't see any nasty looking bits on the oil filter, so hopefully the cam broke in OK.
Now I can start the installation of the Holley Sniper and Hyperspark CD ignition.

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