So I did.
Spent a few hours after the kids were in bed and tinkered away into the wee hours of the morning: fixed non-working brake lights (it was the switch but was a pain as sometimes it wold work and other times not), fixed a headlight retaining ring and then the trim (had to drill into the body as the original mounting point was rusted out); changed all plugs, looked at carb throttle body to make sure both barrels were fully opening, topped up coolant, installed fire extinguisher in passenger footwell, etc.
Today I actually drove it quite a bit (probably about three hours or so in all). I was happy that temps seemed reliable and nothing too out of the ordinary. My confidence in the car really grew. Then, after my last errand and about 10 minutes from home - the throttle stopped responding. Ack! The engine didn't die, but throttle did nothing. I immediately knew what was wrong: the throttle linkage to the carb body must have slipped. Turns out a nut had fallen off. I scoured the road for it -- even picking odds and ends of debris is the hopes of fashioning a makeshift fastener just to get me home. Finally settled on a set of vice-grips that I have as emergency tools in the trunk.
Very gingerly applying throttle I made it home. An 8mm 1.00 threaded nut did the trick, plus locks of loc-tite. The folded tab that had been there before to prevent the nut backing off clearly hadn't worked.
I was only at the side of the road for about 10 minutes, which isn't bad, but it was only the second day of driving the car.
Cheers,
phaetn
. Glided to the right and brought that lane to a standstill while i popped the hood and plugged her back in. Was the longest 30 seconds of my life. It was either that or run. I can tell you that sucker is now glued in place.
. Cable ties have been employed to resolve the issue, easy to remove, I keep a little bunch of them in the tool bag now as I do a few 10, 13mm, assorted nuts and bolts, bits and pieces.