As with most project vehicles, they always need maintenance. Much like my buddies Nova wagon which is in the process of being built. Its been sitting for a while, but it just recently got a new tranny, motor and exhaust put on so when it was time to fire the old girl up...nothing. Not even a click from the battery. No lights, no radio-nothing. So, we fired up the battery charger and let it sit. After some time juicing up the box, we threw the keys in and gave it a go. Finally, we got a click from the ignition, interior lights on and sound from the radio. However, it still didn't have enough energy to turn the motor over. We waited again and finally said, "Let's do it." We inserted the keys, and it cranked over as I worked the carburetor trying to fill the bowls with fuel so they could begin squirting into the manifold. Once the motor was fed the go-liquid you could tell she wanted to purr like a cat. Voila! It started and it sounded mean especially with the new custom stainless exhaust and cross-over pipe installed and hidden away. The sound was deep and the little mild small-block was a raspy son-of-a-gun. But, like most projects this one was far from done. As soon as the water from the radiator began to flow-instead of it flowing into the block it was pouring out all over the spinning fan which was being chopped and sprayed every which way. We quickly shut the motor down and re-tightened the hose clamp. We fired her up again, double checked the timing with a timing light and made sure the leaks were through. Too bad we couldn't rip her around while the sun was still out. It's got no headlights yet and the alignment is so far off, we can't even push the thing. At least it starts and runs though without a hitch. That's just the long road we take when it comes to a project car. Slowly but surely we'll get this wagon on the trail.