Yesterday I adjusted the valves with a new $80 valve wrench set. The exhaust valves were off by a lot and I set them to the factory specs of .40mm. The intake valves were all in perfect adjustment at .10mm. I cleaned and lightly polished the valve cover and installed a new valve cover gasket (old one was cut from being overtightened).

Today I think I solved the mystery of the fuel tank not venting. The vent tube that drops out underneath the car was clogged with mud at the end.

I also fixed all of the lights. The previous owner must not have been able to find the proper light bulbs for the front turn signals, so he broke off the connectors for the three bulbs, drilled a hole in the center of the housings, installed a new bulb holder with caulking, and spliced the wires to make it work (not pretty). The lens gaskets were missing so he used caulking on the edges before installing, however the new amber bulbs he installed were too long for the lenses to go on completely and the bulbs melted them a little since they were touching the lenses.

What I did to fix this (for now) was to clean everything up and install shorter bulbs that were the same voltage and wattage as the previous bulbs. Now the lenses go on completely and with a little space between them and the bulbs. I boiled the housing gaskets for a few minutes then sprayed 303 Aerospace Protectant on them so they would go back on the housings more easily. It looks a LOT better and works. Now all of my turn signals work, including the indicator lights on the dashboard. I think I want to look for nicer housings eventually (and maybe upgrade to the European style with fog lights built in).

The tail lights were a hokey nightmare as well. The previous owner installed a third brake light and cut into the wiring harness to do so (why?). The electrical connections at the light bulb housings were broken and full of caulking. There were also a few different ground wires that had been added. I cleaned the bulb holders and installed new bulbs. The reverse light bulb holders for the left tail light are broken (apparently the caulking didn't hold up in that spot). There is lots of metal tape in the housing. The brake light bulbs that were installed before were too big and they touched the plastic sides of the housing and melted them a little.

I'd like to find nicer tail light bulb housings in the future. But, for now all of the lights work except for the left reverse light. Now to patch the radiator with some JB weld until I have it recored.