Lebowski

Thanks for the info. I found a diagram for it in the factory shop manual on page 10-11. It looked easy enough so I went out to see if I could do it myself. I removed the junction block from the main light switch but didn't know that the fuses were in the junction block since they were on the top and I was under it. I continued on to do what you suggested which turned out to be completely unnecessary since there was no reason for me to pull out the control knob and shaft, remove the bezel and remove the main light switch but I didn't figure that out until it was out. I removed the bad fuse and replaced it with a new one and then everything went downhill from there. After reinstalling the main light switch by attaching the bezel to it I inserted the headlight control knob and shaft which was supposed to click into the main light switch but it wouldn't click into it. I twisted it in several directions, loosened up the bezel to see if that made any difference, pushed, pulled and twisted it many different ways for about 20 minutes until I gave up and decided that since I never drive it at night I don't really need the headlights anyway. Then I tried to plug the junction block back into the main light switch but they wouldn't attach to each other. I finally removed the bezel and dropped down the main headlight switch and plugged that into the junction block and attached them to the bezel. I spent several more minutes trying to get the control shaft and knob to click into the main light switch without success so I reattached the negative battery cable to see if my dome light, tail lights and brake lights were working and they were NOT. So after an hour and a half of lying on my back with my head against the clutch pedal my back was killing me so I decided that was enough for one day. Instead of accomplishing anything I now have no headlights to go along with no tail lights, brake lights or dome light. Any suggestions?

What brain-dead idiot thought it would be a good idea to put the fuses on the back of the headlight switch way up under the dash? I need to replace the one that covers the tail lights, brake lights, dome light, etc. and I can't even see it with my head stuck up under the dash as far as it will go. Are you supposed to remove the fuse box/switch from under there just to replace a fuse? How can I replace it when I can't even see where it is? Please tell me how to do it before someone rear-ends me. Thanks in advance....

Is this car equipped with a PCV valve (positive crankcase ventilation valve)? Jeff checked and said it didn't have one. Thanks for the suggestion....

has anyone checked out the air filter on this car? I replaced the air filter 2 weeks ago.

The straight 6 in my '60 Edsel runs good but smokes pretty badly when I shift gears (3 on the tree) and when I decelerate. It has 108k miles on it and I don't think it's ever been rebuilt. I know I could get this one rebuilt but it would be a lot cheaper, quicker and easier to simply swap it with a similar 223. They made them from 1954-64 so any from that era should work. If you have one that isn't a smoker or know someone who does that's within 1000 miles of Louisville please send me a PM. Thanks...

It may be easy for you but it's not easy for me. It's not a numbers matching car. There are lots of Edsels with 6 bangers....

Junkyard Jeff drove over from Dayton today to take a look at my engine. We went for a drive and he could see that it was smoking pretty good. He checked the timing and it was way off so he adjusted it but that was about all he could do. He told me what I was pretty much expecting-that the engine is tired and needs to either be rebuilt or replaced. I like the replacement idea better because it would be faster, cheaper and easier. If anyone knows of a rebuilt or good running 223 between model years 1954-64 that doesn't smoke within 1000 miles of Louisville please let me know. Thanks again to Jeff for cruising over to take a look at my engine....

Lots of old classics here. At the beginning the guy is driving a '63 Chevy but after he supposedly gets into an accident they show a '62 Chevy hooked up to the tow truck. Thanks to Hemmings for this....

I'm pretty sure the sponsor needs to be a member of the Kyana (Kentucky-Indiana) chapter which leads me to believe that it's kind of a "good old boys club". Fred (the guy who called me) said he would call me next August to see if I wanted to attend one of their functions as a guest but I'm not holding my breath....

I tried taking it apart last night like someone suggested and let's just say it's in the trash can now. I called Mac's this morning and ordered two new ones so hopefully they'll work. I'll post the results here next week after they arrive....

The president of the Louisville chapter of the AACA called me tonight and we had a nice chat for 45 minutes. He said they have a limit of 275 members and that they are very close to that number now. He also said that a new member needs to be sponsored by a current member. I'm not sure what happens if you don't know any current members. I guess I have plenty of time to figure that out since they only accept new members during the month of October-no exceptions. Is this the way all the other chapters operate? He also said he didn't know of any current members who would be willing to help me try to figure out why my Edsel smokes so much. I'd like to get the problem resolved one way or another over the winter instead of waiting until next October so hopefully Junkyard Jeff will come down from Dayton sometime in the next couple of weeks so I'll at least know if I need a valve job or rings or something else....

I'll give them a call tomorrow. Someone mentioned taking the old one apart and fixing it. I don't see any way to disassemble it unless there's some kind of a trick to it so I guess I'll just order a new one. Thanks....

Thanks for finding that for me. It looks like the right part except for one problem. I went out and measured the hole and it's not 7/8" in diameter. It's between 1/2" and 5/8" so it's at least 1/4" too small. Should I go ahead and order it anyway and hope for the best? Thanks again....

This button operates the dome light when you open the door on my Edsel. The light comes on when I open the passenger door but it doesn't come on when the driver's door is opened. When I switched them with each other the driver's door lit it up when opened but not the passenger door so that tells me it's not the wiring it's this little button thing. Will someone please tell me what it's called and who sells them? Thanks....

This morning I replaced the plugs, condenser and distributor cap in the Edsel. I bought a rotor too but it was the wrong one so I put the old one back in. I didn't replace the points because I don't know how to adjust them after you put them in the distributor. Anyway, it smoked a lot less when I started it up in the garage. Could replacing these things have anything to do with it? Several pages back in this thread someone suggested that I do that so I did. I took a pic of the old plugs and they don't look too good to me. What do you guys think?

A few minutes ago I called and left messages at the homes of the club president, VP and webmaster (the only 3 numbers listed on the site) and asked for info on joining their chapter so I'll let you guys know what happens. Like I said in an earlier post, in the past I've been told that they are "not accepting new members at this time" so we'll see if that is still the case....

The backfiring problem has been resolved thanks to Helfen from Vulcania who said I should rev it up to 3000 rpm and put my hand (I used a rag) over the carb until it almost dies and repeat that procedure several times. I took the car out at 7:30 this morning to be first in line at the motor vehicle department to get my Kentucky antique plates and it didn't backfire at all during the 10 mile round trip. Several others passed along a lot of good ideas too. The engine still smokes pretty good but Junkyard Jeff is coming down from Dayton, Ohio in the next week or two to check the valves, timing and some other things so I've been very fortunate to get a lot of help from the great people on this site. Thanks again to all of you....

Did Henry Ford or Ransom E. Olds or the Dodge brothers take an auto shop class in high school? I don't think so. LOL

A lot of guys are great mechanics who have had little to no formal training so at this point if someone is going to be generous enough to help me I'm not going to start asking for credentials. That may be a common practice in Vulcania but it's not cool here unless "ASE certified" stands for Avanti, Studebaker and Edsel. LOL

I took the car for a drive today on the wet roads to see if it was any better after performing your "carburetor trick" last night and it didn't backfire through the carb at all! I left the choke in all the way and went through the gears several times with NO backfiring at all. It still left the same big cloud of smoke behind me but I believe that your trick definitely resolved that issue. Thank you!

Did you see my earlier post about replacing the valve stem seals without pulling the head? Do you want me to buy some of them or any other parts since NAPA is closed on Sundays? If we don't need them I should be able to return them for a refund....

I just went out and did that now. I'm not sure what the air horn is so I revved it up and covered the top of the carb with a rag until it almost died, then I revved it up and did it again. I did that at least 12 times. It's been raining here all day so I couldn't take it out for a drive so I'll drive it tomorrow or Monday. Should I be able to notice anything different about the way it runs now?

Thanks to you and Tom for the kind words. For more info and pics of the car check out my thread in the "General Discussion" forum under the backfiring carb thread....

That was my post. A guy named Bob in Ohio sold me a rebuilt 1960 Ford AM radio. He wanted $35 plus $8 shipping but I thought that was too cheap so I sent him $50. I installed it and it works great. You can email him at rrosengarten1@woh.rr.com for more info....

I have a factory shop manual. The plugs looked pretty old and worn when I did the compression test which leads me to believe that the other tuneup parts are pretty old too. I should probably get some points too even though I don't know how to adjust them. The seller said it hadn't been lubed since 2004 so it could probably use a good lube job too....