Beemon

Starting the year off strong.. The fuel pump I got from the big K blew the main diaphragm five months back and I salvaged it luckily from my original pump. Today I lost fuel pressure because the pulsator diaphragm bolt was over tightened and it finally wormed its way out of the damaged threads just enough to spray fuel everywhere. I had to go and get a longer bolt and re-tap the threads to go deeper into the pocket. I used a felt washer as both a positive seal and a crush washer so the new bolt wasn't over torqued. Kinda wish they came out of the box with excellent quality but I guess that's too much to ask. The burn list continues to grow. Thankfully I did this without removing the pump and we're back on the road. All is well again. I kept smelling gas coming from somewhere, too. I'm just glad it blew in the driveway and didn't start a fire.

Starting the New Year off. I'm trying to do mostly cosmetic upgrades this year. A gentleman locally was selling these hubcaps for $100. They're the best condition I've seen locally and he lived within 10 minutes of me. OfferUp truly is a great thing because I have never seen spinner caps as good as these go for so little! The centers are solid and still vibrantly red. Minor pitting on the spinner, but they look good for a driver. one cap has a scratch on the top by the spinner but it's not bad. Other than that, it's got the usual dings around the retaining lip but no road rash at all. Now I need to buy myself some curb feelers!

The only way you'll get it apart is if you drop the crank or unstuck the engine. The torque converter does not come apart like you think.

Ben Bruce aka First Born put AC on his straight 8 Buick. If he doesn't see the thread, you could always PM him for information. If I recall correctly, it has to do with modifying pulleys.

I forgot 56 was the only tri-5 Buick that had hanging pedals. The Studebaker solution would probably be your best bet then. You might just want to invent some type of splash guard. Living in a wet state like Washington, you have to be careful with wet roads and puddles. I'm sure North Carolina isn't quite like Washington, but still gets pretty wet from time to time. I used to think the hydraulic switch worked great, until I got pulled over for no brake lights and had to prove they work by mashing the pedal. Checking at the house is very different from actual stop and go traffic.

Crazy, I live right off the Benson S- curve just after the bridge if you're coming from 212th.

That Super must be pulling quite the load.

CJP, I just checked your profile (sorry) and saw you're from Kent, as well. Small world! You must be on the lower end because I was tearing up the upper end from Benson to Petrovitsky during the initial snow fall in my 56 Buick. It was kind of nice, I was shielded by two car lengths on each side!

this post was from 15 years ago. Since he's a guest, he won't be notified and most likely isn't a contributor anymore.

Today was our first snow. My girlfriend let her sister drive her car, and that usually never goes well. She ended up rolling her front passenger rim up over the curb and nearly split it in two, one turn from my house. I told them they weren't to drive the car until a new rim is procured, it was a miracle that it was still holding air. It even split the tire at the break in the rim. In any case, I still had to get her sister home. So, my only two options were to drive a vintage Buick in an inch of snow or a modern Jeep with no coolant.. This was the beginning of our adventure, or about 30 minutes before. The snow accumulation was quick and unexpected. Snow was definitely sticking to the ground, but it wasn't too bad. The only tires I could buy for the car were M+S SUV tires over the counter. I guess it paid off? After I dropped off her sister, I had to get myself a cheeseburger so I casually whipped the Buick sideways into a parking spot. It's not very often I can put the old iron sideways. And this is right after we got back. I had to hand push the Jeep through 1 inch of snow so she could park the car behind it. They were scared, but I wasn't. Kind of reminded me of that scene from Star Wars where they rescue Princess Leia from the Death Star and she says to Han Solo "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought." It's good practice for when I go back to Pullman, considering the Jeep won't be fixed anytime soon and I'm not privy to running the risk of blowing the block.

Out driving.

Doesn't look like anyone could have walked away from that smash up..

Happy Holidays everyone!

Vacuum lines are easy, just run them the length they need to reach the vacuum reservoir and master cylinder from the manifold check valve. They use the champs you fasten with needle nose pliers.

Would be just as interesting as the Nailhead margarita mixer on YouTube, or the Buick powered chainsaw.

Are you asking allot the vacuum lines to the master cylinder or the steel brake lines to the wheel cylinders or both?

Was waiting for you to say that! A bit out of the budget at the moment.

Yes this is it exactly, and I understand what I'm comparing. I like the look of the Carter WCFB much better than the look of the Carter AFB and clones. However, as you've said in the past, re calibrating the carburetor for modern fuels requires precise machining, which is something that is more expensive than just slapping a $100 rebuild kit in there. I've found a few places local that could bush the throttle shafts, but no one to re-drill and plug the fuel passages, or drill out the idle and transition circuits to be calibrated for modern fuels. I am sure a 100% fully restored original carburetor would be flawless with leaded gasoline from 1956, but without precise machining of the transition circuits, it won't run as good as it should. Maybe I'm making it a bigger deal than it should, but carburetor restoration is going to the wayside very quickly, and is getting expensive pretty quick, as is expertise. The shops around here won't attempt it unless it's a late model Carter, Holley or Quadrajet. I do not like the base Edelbrock, but the AVS could be tuned on the secondary side to eliminate a secondary bog with the variable spring loaded air valve. I do not feel a secondary bog personally with their basic 600CFM carb, but I can see why others would. Their AVS2 model even has annular discharge boosters, which puts it above any carb that doesn't. Every thing I have mailed to be restored by a shop has come back garbage, and I have been burned at just about every corner of my "restoration" from engine to steering box. So for me, I would rather run an Edelbrock carb than send my carb out to some shop on the other side of the country and have it come back with just a kit installed. I mean if you (Jon) were still doing restorations, it would be a no brainer. But that's just where I stand. I've made the concious decision where if I cannot find a local shop, it is not worth the risk and money. If there was an AACA or BCA vendor that did full restorations and a re calibration that isn't just idle circuits, then I would try to find them. But my steering box and pump was also through an AACA vendor and I'm pretty much burned on anything internet related.

Make sure they still have the original air cleaner. That would be a deal breaker for me.

I feel the exact same way! It just doesn't look right.

Oh yeah definitely less problems but you don't get the same look as the original carb. I would like to some day to machine a new rack and pinion gear for the steering box and restore the carburetor to reliability (remember, not only do you have to bush the throttle shafts, but we're constantly reminded the idle tubes must be enlarged to recalibrate the carb for modern fuels, not to mention a lack of affordable tuning options post idle). I'm terms of modern carburetors, on the Edelbrock from 650CFM and below the primary plates are the same size as the smaller carbs but the secondaries are larger, so despite the adapter plate changing the flow characteristic into the plenum, the flow restriction is on the secondary side only. So you can really benefit from the modern calibrations and that's probably why there is widespread reports for increased fuel economy with a modern carb. The only issue is that you have to detune the secondary side, assuming primary side is okay outside the box. It sure would be nice if someone made an AFB base intake for the 322 that isn't a dual quad manifold. ?

That's where I was going to stop next, but I figured they'd give me the mark up and realistically are probably being supplied by NAPA, as well, for a majority of the basic clips. We got our winter coldsnap. The roads have frost over them, so conditions are right for snow but we most likely won't get any here at home. The university is apparently buried deep right now, the snow hit the night I left. I also found out that there is a leak somewhere in the coolant system of the Jeep, and I can smell it burning off so I'm more than positive it's the heater core. To make a long story short, unless the coolant system can be fixed by January 7th, I'll be driving back in the old iron. I don't want to risk blowing a head gasket due to steam pockets in the block. I don't have the money to fix the coolant issue, I definitely do not have the money to fix a blown engine. On these 2002 Jeep Liberty's, the heater core is behind the dash and requires the complete removal of the dash to get to the core. It kind of sucks that the only good car I own is the 60 year old one with the messed up paint and open differential. We went out today and she started right up. The heater core was so hot she almost cooked me out. I took the WCFB off again and looked over the throttle shafts. All my old carbs weep from every corner and smell like gas whenever I turned the car off. The intake has this dirty brown fuel stain, too. Kind of a shame, but I'll be using the Edelbrock until I can afford a carb restoration that oversizes the throttle shaft bores and installs bushings or something. Maybe I'm looking too far into it, but the Edelbrock gives a much better vacuum signal and the rough rumble is gone, indicating that the idle quality is much better. I understand these old carbs are calibrated for a leak around the shaft, but the shaft play is excessive and worn. The 4GC is pretty bullet proof on the shafts, but it leaks from the plugs so its a loose loose. If only I could use the base of the 4GC on a WCFB.. haha. Anyways I like to drive my car and I'm not going to any big shows soon, and my car will never be original when I replace the steering box so I'm practically eliminated from any type of potential concourse unless I drive the car with dysfunctional worn parts, so why not do with it as I please?

So I want to make sure I understand this, because I'm still new to the scene and everything. If you take a 2 door hardtop Special with a 2 barrel detuned engine, standard shift, manual brakes and steering and you add a 4 barrel intake and carb, power brakes and steering, a Dynaflow, A.C. and add the larger radiator , that's ok? But when you change the scripts and front fenders it's not? Again I am completely ignorant on this subject, only been participating for 2 or so years.

Is the choke adjusted properly for cold starting? Are there any vacuum leaks?