neil morse
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Posts posted by neil morse
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One further photo: Here's what my crankshaft looks like. The pistons look very new, which is good news. (As I've said earlier in this thread, I don't have a good history on this car, and don't know what has been done to the engine -- although it runs very well.)
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Oil Pan and Pump
With a shut in order in place, I was looking around for another project to take on so I decided to finally drop the oil pan on my car and take a look at the oil pump. First, I had to seek advice on the technical forum because I couldn't figure out how to get to the front bolts on the pan. I got immediate and welcome help, as I figured I would.
I followed Dave Stovall's step-by-step procedure, and got the pan off pretty easily. The only difficulty was (as Dave warned me) the four bolts -- two on each side -- that are in between the front bolts and the remaining openly accessible ones. These are hard to reach, but with a socket extension, a U-joint, and a lot of patience, I eventually got them out. The only thing I would add to Dave's list is a tip I got from Don Micheletti. I got two 2" bolts and put one on each side before I used a screwdriver and a hammer to finally pry the gasket loose. This way the pan was caught by the two long bolts when it dropped. Also, as indicated in the other thread, I actually had to remove the pump before I could wrestle the pan all the way out because the bottom of the pump was hanging up on the forward baffle in the pan. Here's how it looked when I got the pan and pump out.
The pan has about 1/4" to 1/2" of sludge in the bottom, which I guess is pretty typical. The pump looks fine, but the pick-up screen was pretty clogged up with the same kind of sludge.
The plate at the bottom of the pump didn't look too bad, but I will go through the routine of sanding it smooth to see if it gives me a little more oil pressure. (My car's pressure is okay, but not great. It's about 45 lbs. on cold start, but goes down to 10 lbs. at idle when hot. It maintains about 30 to 35 under load when warmed up.)
So that's all for now. I have the messy job of cleaning up the pan and then plan on giving it a new coat of Dante Red. I also have to clean up the screen and then sand the plate and check the clearance with Plastigauge. Standby for more reports.
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This seems to be such a good deal that I wonder if it's legit.
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You're more than welcome. Us Neils (Neals) have to stick together!
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A picture is worth 1,000 words.
Thanks again for the help. I followed Dave's suggestions. The only problem I had was that the bottom of the pump was catching on the front baffle in the pan, and there was no way that I could get the pan off with the pump in place. (The tie rod kept the pan from dropping low enough.) So I just removed the pump and that freed up the pan.
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I'm sure you just have a bad ground situation. Since you put in a new harness, you know that the wire from the sender goes up into the trunk where there's a butt connector to the wire that goes to the gauge. Disconnect this and ground the wire from the gauge. If your gauge goes to empty, you know that you have a bad ground at the sender. The sender is grounded through the metal fuel line. If you have a bit rubber hose between the metal line and the sender, you will not have a proper ground. Just ground the sender with a separate wire and you're done.
If the gauge doesn't go to empty when that wire is grounded, then you unfortunately have a problem with the dash unit.
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I wish you the best of luck even though you spell your name the wrong way! 😄
Question: did your fuel gauge work before you put in the new wiring harness?
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I can only speak for my '41. I don't know when they figured out that they needed a vacuum assist for the wipers, and it may very well be that they didn't have it in '37. I can certainly see why you would want to convert to electric if you're going to be doing a lot of driving, whatever the weather. It's easy for me to rely on the vacuum system since I rarely drive in the rain!
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Sorry to be a contrarian, but the vacuum wipers on my '41 work fine (after I fixed the "dual action" fuel pump). Before that, my car was as Jim describes. Without the vacuum assist from the fuel pump, the wipers will indeed fail to work at just the wrong time -- when you're trying to accelerate up a hill. I just like to keep things stock if they work adequately -- even if not up to "modern" standards. I can understand why people change to electric, but that's just my personal choice.
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On 4/10/2020 at 6:42 PM, keithb7 said:
If I had more space to store and work on more cars, I’d probably pick a big coupe. The 47-48 New Yorker coupe with a straight 8 is very appealing to me for some reason.
Not to divert your thread, but as long as we're all sitting around at home I thought I'd make a comment on your choice for your next car. In 1946 through 1948, Chrysler made a limited number of New Yorker three-window business coupes. It was kind of odd -- a sort of luxury version of what is normally the cheapest car in a line, something that was popular with salesmen. Only one bench seat, and a huge trunk for all their samples. But the New Yorker version is really unique. I knew three people who have had them over the years. Imagine a 19-foot long, 127" wheelbase car powered by a 323 ci straight eight with a single bench seat! They are almost cartoonish (but in a good way). But you would be very fortunate to find one for sale -- I think they only made about 800 of them during those three years.
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Just click on the photo, Matt. It will miraculously transform itself!
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Congrats, Matt. You're on fire! 😄 (Oops, sorry, that's not a very good image. I should say, "You're knocking it out of the park!")
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Yup -- the holes are there as you can see in this photo. As I said, I missed them because I just wasn't looking for them. Thanks again for the help. I will follow Dave's step-by-step approach.
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The guy on the left is a dead ringer for Popeye Doyle, as played by Gene Hackman in "The French Connection."
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Just look for the car photobombing this shot of someone's brand new Valiant!
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34 minutes ago, JohnD1956 said:
Thankfully they have pictures, otherwise can you imagine trying to explain that one to the insurance guy? 🤔
Just another day in a typical Canadian town, I'm sure! 😁
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2 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:
FYI, my '56 uses the same key for every lock.
Same on my '41 -- including the glove box.
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This is all very helpful -- thank you. I will go down and check tomorrow for the access holes in the cross member. I must have just missed them because I didn't expect them to be there.
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59 minutes ago, Jim Nelson said:
Neil, Did you use SS bolts on the water pump?. Its one of those things not mentioned but the first time you pull an old pump that won't allow you to remove the regular bolts will you say - - ya, the solution is - - -
I did not use SS bolts, nor did I have any trouble removing the old ones -- but I will take your advice if I ever have to do another water pump!
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Thanks for the help, Jim. Someone else also suggested the idea of loosening the front motor mounts and raising up the engine a bit. I will check it out. I have the 248 engine as well.
I had the fan belt off last year when I put on a new water pump and I just re-used the belt that was on it. I don't remember what type it was, but I will check that out also.
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Being home with a lot of time on my hands, I've been looking around for things to do on my car. I have never removed the oil pan to see what kind of sludge is in there and check on the oil pump, so thought this would be a good time for the job. But when I look under the engine, I can't see how to reach the bolts that hold the pan at the very front. I'm sure there's a way, but I need some assistance to figure it out. Anyone out there who has dropped the pan on a '41 who can help me? Thanks in advance.
Neil
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Yes, under the rules it is only the direct listings that are off limits for comments. If it's just a link to a listing somewhere else (like Craig's List or eBay), we are free to comment all we want.
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Neil's '41 Super Model 51
in Me and My Buick
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Yes, thanks for that advice, Matt, although I had already come to the same conclusion. Dealing with main bearings is way beyond my job description, at this point, and I agree that there is no indication that anything is wrong with them at present -- so that's the way I'm going to leave them!