On 12/19/2004,
I took BDR #144 on her first test drive! I went around the block once by myself and checked out the clutch pedal adjustment, seemed ok. I tried out the brakes, they squeak and groan a little when just about to come to a complete stop, maybe too new and need more use. Came back parked for a few minutes and asked my wife if she wanted to go for a ride, she was still in her PJ's and we had to be at her mothers in an hour. So, I went out again by myself and went around the neighborhood a few more times! The weather was excellent for the first drive @ 70 degrees and sunshine.
Came back once more and took some pictures and then parked it in the garage for cool down and leak inspection.
We went to the in-laws house for the rest of the day, which worked out perfectly for cool down.
That evening, I found a drop of hydralic clutch fluid on the floor underneath the master cylinder, just needed to tighten the connection for the output. Also found a few drops of coolant on the floor. The NPT chrome plug on top of the intake manifold was leaking. I had applied some thread sealant on the threads when I originally installed it, but it still leaked under pressure. The next day I removed it and cleaned the threads and applied a different hi-temp thread sealant. I will have to test it again, with another test drive!
