chris_58

Hello folks, I have a problem with my 1958 Cadillac. When I came back from a car show today, the engine died at a red light. It was running fine before. I was able to restart it and initially I thought it was vapor lock, but when I tested later on, after the engine had cooled off a bit, it is still doing it. Once I restart the engine after it stalled (struggles a bit starting and blows out smoke) and rev it a couple times (it does rev fine without hesitation), it idles fine for about 20 to 30 seconds, then the rpm drops and the the engine stalls. I repeated the process a couple of times and it doesn't matter if the transmission is in park, neutral or drive (with the brakes applied) - it idles for a while and then dies. If I catch it beforehand and rev it a couple times, it idles again for about 20-30 seconds before it drops and stalls again. The fuel pumps seems to deliver ok, as the fuel in the glass bowl filter never drops or shows bubbles. What do you think? Clean and rebuild the carburetor? Or what else could cause the issue? Thanks, Chris

Beware: I was contacted through this forum by a member named EVAN 1 that I should contact robertsmith71859@gmail.com in Montana, since he supposedly has the parts I wanted. Made contact with him and he confirmed that he had the parts. Paid through PayPal to tammyhadley44@gmail.com and have since then not heard from him anymore. I placed a fraudulent complaint with PayPal since I expect EVAN 1, Robert and Tammy being the same person. If anyone has heard from them before, please let me know.

I am looking for the under dash map/courtesy lights for a 1958 Buick Roadmaster. 1957 should fit as well. Those are two lights (one on drivers side and one on passenger side). Thanks, Chris

Hello retiredmechanic74, I couldn't find anything about decarbonation in the AACA forum, but I found some videos on YouTube. Some poured Seafoam, some poured Mystery Marvel Oil and some just plain water into the intake system. It seems like a pretty radical procedure, especially when using water - at least the smoke coming out of the tailpipe would not be more poisonous with water than your normal exhaust. I see your point though, especially since I had to replace my fouled plugs before due to damaged/missing valve stem seals. I am just concerned adding water into the interior of the engine. Christian

Hi guys, Thank you for the feedback. I think I'll start with the easy ones first: I will have the battery checked first. If that doesn't solve it, I will check the wires and contacts, making sure all connectors are clean. And if that doesn't do it, I will replace the starter with a spare unit. Chris

Hi everyone, I have a starting issues with my 1958 Cadillac and was wondering if anyone had this problem before. First of all, I don't think it's Cadillac specific, but more a general problem. When I start the car in cold state, the starter and battery have enough power to crank the engine until it starts. However, if I stop briefly (like for filling up the tank) after the engine is hot, the starter barely manages it to turn the engine over. It sounds/feels like the battery is empty. When I do get it started again and go to a show for example, shut it off and let the engine cool off, it starts fine again. Any idea what the culprit could be? The battery connectors are clean and protected with dielectric grease. The voltage measures good. Thanks, Christian Aicher

Hello 62 driver, You were onto something. When I disassembled the pump today, I found one of the valves had become unseated, bypassing the system. Only pressed in, not even staked, either. So when the pump became warm, it came lose and when the engine cooled off, it wedged itself in again until it came lose again. Chris

Hello everybody, I am becoming frustrated beyond believe with my fuel system. Last year my car left me stranded with a defect fuel pump. I bought a brand new replacement one and it was working ok for the rest of the year. Then, two weeks ago after a car show, the car started up, but died after about 30 seconds of idling and would not start anymore. After I pushed the car out of the street and called AAA (about half an hour later) I tried starting it again, and oh wonder, the engine started and kept running so that I could make it home on my own power. The next day I checked the fuel supply (using a hand pump I was able to suck gas from the tank with no effort - so no clogged fuel line), took the fuel pump out and bench tested it (getting a good fuel flow). Once installed again, the glass bowl fuel filter filled up ok with no visible bubbles and the engine ran great (idle and driving). Today I drove to a car show and the car behaved normal until 3 miles into the trip: the engine started hesitating, like being short on fuel. After pumping the accelerator a few times, it cleared up and the engine kept running without further issues. Then after the show, I started the engine, it fired up, but died after a few seconds. I checked the glass bowl fuel filter, but it didn't fill. So I took the fuel line off and sucked on it (with an extension and felt the fuel coming). Then I took the fuel line to the carburetor off and cranked the engine - no fuel being pumped! So I took the pump (less than a year old) out and replaced it with a spare pump (was rebuilt with ethanol resistant new components). Once the fuel reached the carb, the engine immediately started up and I made it home with no further incident. What are the chances that a fuel pump goes bad in less than a year? Could it be that the pushrod or the cam driving the pump are worn, reducing the available stroke when hot? I am grasping at straws and looking for a solution other then changing the fuel pump every few months... The car has issues with vapor lock when hot (hard starting when hot), but so far (until the last car show), I was always able to get it started again. Thanks, Chris

All, So my fuel sending on my 1958 Super was working great, when I realized that the soldering around the return line tube had cracked, allowing a small amount of fuel to come out through the crack. I dropped the tank, carefully removed the sending unit, carefully cleaned it around the soldered area and used J-B Weld to seal up the cracked solder. I then reinstalled it using a new gasket and even added a ground wire and reinstalled the tank. I then (last night) filled in approx. 5 gals of fuel, which is about a quarter tank. When I turned the ignition on, the needle went to 1/4 tank. So far so good. When I started up the car today the needle moved, but barely made it to "E". I added 5 more gallons (total of 10 now - which should be 1/2 a tank) but the gage reads on 1/4. Any idea what could cause this? The gage was working fine before I pulled it out. PS: The float is the original cork block. Is it possible that it dried while it was out and is now soaking up the fuel, making it heavier - alas showing less fuel? Chris

John, Buick advertised the rubber fuel line as "Anti Rust Fuel Line" (see attached Dealer brochure) and was standard on all 1958 models. LikeTtotired stated, the openings and chassis clips all fit a 5/16 fuel hose. The vent opening in the fuel filer is metered (see second pic of a similar fuel filter off a Cadillac)). It is just a small opening allowing only a little fuel (and vapor lock causing gas bubbles!) to escape through the return line. I assembled the hoses without the brass fitting and the brass piston and so far it seems to work ok. Chris

Hi everbody, I have a question regarding the fuel tank sending unit for a 1958 Buick with factory A/C. Those cars came equipped with a fuel return line from a metered opening in the fuel filter to avoid vapor lock. While replacing this return line (a rubber fuel line from the engine to the tank) I stumbled across a mystery that I hope someone can explain to me. I attached three pictures in hopes they will help understanding my explanation. The sending unit has two hose connections - one that is the pick-up that goes to the fuel pump in the engine bay and the return line (capped off with red cap to avoid dirt getting in while I work on it). When I took the old line out, there was a brass hose connection just before the 3rd clamp in a horizontal position (indicated by green box in blue line). Inside the brass fitting was this lose "piston" (shown next to brass connector). There is no stop for this "piston" within the brass fitting but is seems the fuel hose tightens up just enough at each end to contain that "piston" inside the connector. Does anybody know: a) what this is for? how does the piston stay in place (am I missing parts)? c) is it needed or can I just connect the return line directly to the sending unit? Also, as you see from the pictures, the sending unit is wet, because the return line is somewhat lose where it goes into the sending unit. Therefore my question: can the sending unit can be replaced without removing the tank or is it better/easier to drop the tank? Thanks, Chris

All, The car had about 1,000 miles since the rebuild when I bought it. Since I have it, it was driven regularly in the summer, however mainly to local car shows and back - no long distance driving. Longest I have ever driven her was 2 hours one way and then back in the evening. I have not pulled the spark plugs lately, especially since the worst one sits behind the generator and the A/C compressor - both of which have to be moved to get access. Chris

Bernie Daily, Did you ever own a 1957 Chevy 2dr HT? I had a leaky waterneck when I bought it and after removing the bathroom silicon bead around it and taking the bolts off, I saw the "seal" had the Kellogg's logo on it.... Chris

Hi there, On my 58 Cadillac I seemed to have an oil problem (spark plugs oil fouled, using oil - even though it has only about 4,000 miles since a complete rebuild). With the plugs fouled, I initially thought it could be a valve stem seal issue, so I replaced the all (and actually found three seals that were crushed during install - however, those were not the fouled cylinders). So last year someone recommended to change the oil, replace 1 quart of oil with 1 quart of Marvel Mystery Oil and drive the wheels off. Well, I did this and drove the car quite a bit last year. However, for several reasons I did not manage to change the oil again last year (I know you should do it BEFORE the winter), but with the temps back in the 70's, I was able to change the oil today. On a 58 Cadillac the oil filter sits on top of the engine and one has to suck the oil out of the filter housing once the filter is removed. What I noticed was that the oil in the filter housing was extremely "thick". Could it be that the Marvel Mystery Oil "washed out" all the crude and sludge and deposited it in the filter housing? I am not sure if this is the case, but I for sure replaced one quart of oil with MMO again when I filled the oil up again after the filter change. Thanks, Chris

Hi Smartin, I just saw your comment - thanks. That is what I was thinking about. No necessarily jacking it up at the balancer, though.. Thanks, Chris