Bloo

Yes. Unfortunately it was just a gag voiced by Mel Blanc and was not ever real. Too bad, because that makes it impossible to nail down the model and year. There are at least 2 scenes on film where Jack was filmed with a Maxwell, and if I remember correctly both of those cars were late 1920s "Good Maxwell" model 25 touring cars. I have read that someone gave Jack a brass-era Maxwell, but that was later in his career. Since it is impossible to determine, I vote for the "Good Maxwell".

Penrite make a dedicated steering box grease for the sort of steering gears some people like to use corn head grease in. It is semi-fluid. I have been very happy with it. Restoration Supply (of California) stock it.

Sometimes you can just turn the bolt or bolts around backwards and get another life out of them. The trouble with that is you usually find out someone in the past already did it. EDIT: I see Frank beat me to it.

37 Specials have 4.44:1

Bad valve timing will make low compression across the board. It is about the only thing that will other than completely wrong pistons or something like that. I also think the wrong piston thing would be hard to do on an FE engine. So many of the FE pistons have the same pin height. I don't think wrong pistons alone will do it. Going purely on memory, which might be all wrong, I think it would take something like a 360 crank with 390 rods and 410 pistons to get the pistons ridiculously low in the bores. I'm not even sure if that will all fit together. Absolute numbers in compression tests don't usually mean much, but when they are all down as much as yours it usually means the timing chain has jumped. Even if they put the wrong timing set in, using one from the smog era, it is going to be only wrong by about 4 or 6 degrees. It will have an effect for sure and lack performance, but I have a hard time believing it could get you down to 70 pounds. That sounds like it might be a whole tooth off. Or maybe it sheared the pin like @roysboystoys suggested. You might be able to tell something by watching the overlap on the opposite cylinder as you crank forward by hand through #1 TDC on the firing stroke, with the spark plugs out and the valve cover(s) off. The intake opening and exhaust closing events (overlap) will be more or less centered around TDC. Any car with a conventional timing chain set will have more slop than it should. Hydraulic lifters muddy the waters a bit as well. Still, the shop manual will give you the design opening and closing points, and that's better than just knowing it should be sort of centered around TDC. If you can figure out from the pictures in the shop manual how many teeth are on the crank gear, divide 360 by the number of teeth, then you know how many crank degrees a tooth is. Slop will muddy the waters a bit, but only crank in the forward direction so the slop is predictable. If the valve timing including the slop is off more than enough degrees to account for a whole tooth, you have found your problem. 390 Cylinder numbering, starting on the passenger side, (front to rear), is 1-2-3-4, continuing on the driver's side (front to rear) 5-6-7-8. Firing order is 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8. so the opposite cylinder is #6. As #1 (passenger front) passes top dead center on the compression stroke, #6 (second back on driver's side) should be going through overlap.

If the car is old... and cold... and has been sitting a while you can: 1) Do as @Larry Schramm says EXCEPT before trying to start make sure the ignition is OFF and the fuel is ON, open the primer cups, choke it. and crank the engine over a couple of revolutions. 2) Close primer cups, reset choke to wherever you would normally set it for the temperature, then pick back up on Larry's step one. This preloads the cylinders with air/fuel mixture.

^^^Good advice!. Two things: 1). ALWAYS connect the battery charger red lead to the post marked (+), which is the larger post, and ALWAYS connect the battery charger black lead to the post marked (-), which is the smaller post. This is true with any battery charger. There are no exceptions. This is an exchange between the charger and the battery. The car does not matter. If the charger will not work this way, it is probably a smart charger. Nobody should really have a smart charger as their ONLY battery charger. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s almost every household had the same kind of battery charger. It is a dirt simple metal box with an ammeter on the front panel and a switch for 6 or 12 volts. They are rated about 6-10 Amps (it varies). There were a zillion brands of them and the front panel layouts vary but they are all about the same inside. If you have only one battery charger, it should be one of these. They are super common, and if you don't already have one, you can probably score one at a yard sale for $5. That won't help you today, but start watching now. Here is an example: And another one: And now the second thing: 2). I believe you said the charger works if it is hooked up backwards. This SUGGESTS that you are using a smart charger and the battery is charged backwards. That is a lot to assume, and we should not assume it. Check it. As @m-mman says, take a step back. Disconnect the battery and check it with a multimeter. If you don't have a multimeter, one of the absolute cheapest will do for this. It is about $6 at Harbor Freight, and on some days can be had free with a coupon. Check with meter red (VOmA) to positive on the battery, and meter black (COM.) to negative on the battery. Set the multimeter for DC Volts (DCV), and some scale range that is higher than 6 (20 would be good). If you get negative voltage, the battery is charged backwards and you will need to run it down and then charge it correctly as outlined earlier. P.S. One more thing (I guess that's 3 now), NEVER EVER believe the color coding on the battery cables in a car. They are often wrong. You need to know if the car is positive or negative ground, you cannot tell from cables. If you don't know which polarity it should be on some particular car, you can ask here, or you can look in an old Chilton or Motor manual that covers the year. Old 6V Mopars like yours are positive ground. Most 6V GM cars are negative ground, except some prewar Cadillacs. Most 6V Fords are positive ground. Once you know whether it is positive or negative ground, just hook the battery to the car that way and ignore colors. On your positive ground car the battery cable that goes to the frame, or to the cast iron of the engine block, or to the transmission case ALWAYS connects to the (+) positive terminal of the battery.

Sounds good to me. On a positive ground car, the positive cable goes to the chassis. The battery charger does not care about any of this. You always hook the red charger lead to the positive marked post on the battery. It is the battery you are charging, and how the car's electrical system is wired need not be considered when charging the battery with a battery charger. Check as you outlined with a meter. Red meter lead to positive post and black to negative post. Proceed as you posted above. If it is reversed, the battery may be toast, but the best way to try to save it is the method you posted above. I would only add that if you have an old fashioned "dumb" battery charger, use it! Some smart chargers will refuse to charge when the battery is completely dead, and it will be completely dead after you run it down with the lights. Letting the battery sit dead while you figure it out is bad for the battery. A possible workaround if that happens, and if you only have a smart charger, is to temporarily hook a second 6V battery in parallel with some jumper cables, and that brings the voltage up enough to get the smart charger started.

4 pounds might well be too much. It would be too much for many cars in that time frame. The shop manual should have that. I would hook that gauge up on the supply side (vacuum) and see if you have a restriction at the tank. Then I would probably take the pump apart, bolt part of it back on the engine, crank (no spark or fuel) and see how much the diaphragm moves. The manual might have that too. In any event I would not expect less than 1/4" or so. Some cars in that period used to wear the fuel pump lobe off resulting in insufficient stroke. If the pump or arm is incorrect, you might catch it this way as well. While it is apart, rig up some way to test the check valves with a mityvac. Do whatever is necessary to make them not leak. The knock that you can kill by shorting a plug sure sounds like engine bearings, wristpins, or piston slap, probably bearings. I wouldn't jump to conclusions though. Fuel pump knocks are not uncommon but I can't imagine the spark or heat really making any difference. Timing gear knocks can fool you into thinking you have bearing trouble. If it has timing gears (not a chain) and if the big gear is metal I would not rule it out. The mechanical pump pressure will be pulsing and probably low when it is filling the carb. When the needle gets mostly steady the float valve is shut, the diaphragm is full, and the pump is not pumping more because the diaphragm has pulled away from whatever is pushing it. This is the true fuel pressure.

I understand the reluctance to take it apart without knowing exactly what is going on. The intake manifold on one of these weighs about like an engine block in a small car. I have done this semi-recently and my back hurts just thinking about it. An engine hoist would have been nice. I guess it wouldn't be too bad to get at the timing chain, but that involves disturbing the pan gasket. I don't think the pan needs to drop like it would on a small block Chevy. I think you can leave the pan in place if you want, but you would still have to splice the gasket.

In addition to the condenser @m-mman suggested, when blowing up mufflers, always check the ground wire inside the distributor from the breaker plate to the housing.

It will be fine then. The Special probably CAN keep up, the question is would you? The Ford probably has taller gears, and if it does not already have them, they not that hard to find. It probably also has a later flathead V8 engine in it, as do nearly all of them that people daily drive. The Special's gearing is about right for a 45MPH cruising speed even though it can go a lot faster. It is about perfect for it's time. Today it feels undergeared, and basically every new Special owner who comes in here complains about it. Higher gears are not readily available. The ones from the Century fit (same year 1937), but are like rocking horse poo. The car has a torque tube used as a suspension member, so if you turn out to be one more person who does not like that gearing in the modern world, any changes are expensive, way more expensive than a Ford. Your choices are 1) Pay through the nose for some Century gears if you can find them. 2) Gear Vendors Overdrive (really expensive). 3) The Lloyd Young Borg Warner overdrive conversion (now done by someone else since Mr Young's passing). 4 Mitchell Overdrive (find some machinist to help figure this one out because Mitchell does not support it - at all). Any of these could easily exceed the price difference between a Special and a Century by the time all the hidden costs are added up, so go with eyes wide open and choose carefully. Number 3 is probably cheapest. If you can love a Special with it's factory gearing, then it could be a great deal. It is twice the car the Ford is. The Ford still has transverse leaf springs and mechanical brakes in 1936. The Buick has independent front suspension and Bendix floating anchor hydraulic brakes, similar to those used on some American cars into the early 70s. Also a 1937 Special is just new enough to have an all steel body, so the wood rot factor that figures in some Buick/Ford comparisons does not apply here.

"Sparrow strainers" as Tom McCahill put it.

This exactly. 5" of vacuum stands out to me, too. If the rings and valves are sealing, that has to be valve timing, or extremely retarded ignition timing, or both. Well, I guess it could be an enormous vacuum leak. Does the car have power brakes? If so, I would disconnect the hose and plug the port at the engine for a test. The PCV valve should be connected to the plate under the carburetor. Is it?

The engine is not a "360". It could have been and probably was a 361, which is unrelated to the 360, but what is there now looks like a 1970s 400. The thing is, I don't think it will bolt to a transmission older than 1962. The 1970s transmission won't work with the pushbuttons. Maybe it is still the 361 with some newer valve covers? Chrysler blue wasn't a thing until 1970. Maybe it has a 1962-65 transmission? If it does, there's probably no parking brake because that was on the transmission? Cool old car, but it really needs a close look.

A few thoughts: Is your Airtex pump a thumper? If so, it is probably fine for draw through. If not you may need check valves to let the fuel around it. It is possible to check for restriction in the fuel pickup (or from the fuel pump in the rear) by teeing in to the suction side of the mechanical pump and connecting a vacuum gauge. Run a hose up and tape the vacuum gauge to the windshield. Clamp all hoses very securely. If you see the vacuum skyrocket just before the car starts to have trouble, the line is restricted. Some 1930s GM fuel pickup sender combinations use a copper tube for the pickup. Crimped sheet metal holds the tube in place in a couple of spots. The copper cracks there, usually at the one on the outside of the tank, letting air in. Does your mechanical fuel pump have phenolic check valves? They might leak, especially if new. If they have to be wet to seal, the car will have trouble recovering from vapor lock. Is the fuel pump diaphragm getting enough stroke from the cam or whatever is pushing it?

Good question. I don't know. They sell selective lengths of pushrod. I think Fords come from the factory with an assortment but offhand I am not sure. Ford would have you collapse the lifter with a lever and check in the shop manual if I remember correctly. It would behoove you not to soak the lifters in oil before installing them. My 202,000 mile engine wound up with about 3 unbent originals in different spots than they came from, a bunch more bought from the cam grinder, and the last 5(?) from Smith Brothers Pushrods in a custom length that Ford never offered. That was to achieve the .060" the cam grinder recommended plus or minus .020". I don't remember how many different lengths altogether. Several. That much precision is not strictly necessary, although in my case I couldn't get some of them even close to reasonable with off the shelf pushrods. I think most guys don't have a bunch of bent pushrods like I did, and so they just put in whatever they took out and hope for the best, probably not even realizing it is an adjustment. Since the rockers wear out and never get replaced, it probably winds up looser than it was when it left Ford and still runs. Maybe it's noisy. Once in a while one won't start because the valves won't close. I always poke holes in cardboard and keep track of what order the pushrods come out of any engine so they wind up on the same valve going back in. Ford wasn't the only manufacturer who used selective pushrods. I draw a fan at the front of the cardboard so there is no doubt. On an engine overhaul I always check the preload, because the pushrod length might be all wrong.

Regarding the pushrod length, I just had to deal with this a couple years ago when some two year old gas glued my valves in place and bent a bunch of pushrods. The pushrods are selective on FE engines. Ford's procedure for setting the preload in the manual may be defective. My engine was all original and had obviously not been set up "by the book" at Ford so apparently they were not following their own procedure. Lots of things can affect the needed length, such as head milling, deck milling, head gasket thickness, rocker arm wear, reground cams, reground lifters, different lifters, etc. The rocker arms and shafts are usually worn out on FE engines, and are available new, but rarely actually get replaced. The rockers themselves do not have enough metal there to rebush without weakening them significantly, so often they get run as is. My engine got repaired, not rebuilt. The guy who reground the original cam and lifters recommended setting the lifters to about .060" preload. This is a lot less preload than Ford says. His reasoning is that if the lifter piston is halfway down like the shop manual wants, the lifter piston can block or partially block the holes in the side of the lifter. Any engine will have a valve or two open when the engine is shut down, and those lifters will bleed down overnight because the valve spring pressure is against them. If the hole in the side of the lifter is wide open, it will fill instantly when the oil pressure comes up. If the hole is blocked or partially blocked it might take a while. Food for thought, but your symptoms don't really sound like pushrod length to me.

390s do have selective length pushrods. I wouldn't expect that to be the problem if the compression is even, The potential trouble would be with holding valves open (and no compression) if the pushrods are too long, and rattling if they are too short. One thing that has not been brought up yet is the timing chain. Is it the correct year? I saw you checked the valve timing, but if you only checked the marks and did not verify it with a degree wheel, the timing could still be wrong. In the early years of emission controls, cars in general had retarded cam timing. Unlike most others, Ford in some cases used the same cams they had been using, and made a different timing chain set with the key in a different spot to retard the cam timing. I don't know for sure this exists for the FE engine. If I remember correctly the FE stayed in production in trucks until 1976, so it probably does. I checked mine with a degree wheel just to be sure.

Welcome to the forum! I would just like to quickly point out that posting your email address in a public forum is a very bad idea. Scams are rampant in automotive forums these days, and an email address in the ad allows a scammer to contact you without even registering on the forum. Be sure to carefully vet any seller who pops up with the part you need, as that part may not really exist. I wish you the best of luck in finding the gear you are looking for.

I feel more like I do now than when I came in.

403. I don't know the year, but that matters less in European cars that do not go through major styling and mechanical changes every year.

If I am reading this correctly, the starter is engaging all the way "CLUNK" but not turning, right? 99% of the time that *is* the copper bolts already mentioned at least twice in this thread. I understand you have already replaced them. You need to revisit them. This happens when the disc does not reach the bolts, usually due to erosion of the bolts. If they are new, there must be another factor like something bent or misadjusted. Some older Buick starters have an adjustment on the solenoid throw distance. I don't know if that still applies in 1960. I kind of doubt it but you should check the shop manual and see. On the ones that have the adjustment, you have to pull back the outer part of the plunger (not the center or any part of the linkage to the drive gear assembly) all the way. If there's a boot remove it. You pull the outer part of the plunger back until bottomed and measure the distance from the tip of the drive gear to the inside of the nose of the starter. To adjust you take the solenoid plunger out and there are threads. Reassemble and recheck. Then if there's a boot, put it back on. With that possibility out of the way, what has to happen is that the copper disc has to hit the copper bolts enough to compress the spring under the copper disc a little. The spring takes up the slack as the bolts wear out. The trouble could be in the starter motor too, but much less likely. If it drags you should be able to see evidence of dragging on the pole shoes. You should also be able to see obviously uneven sideways wear in the bushings allowing the dragging. If the brushes are gummed up or too short to still have any spring pressure against the commutator, you should be able to see that too. Even most armature problems can be seen (any solder joints melted, unsoldered? any obviously burnt black powdery windings?). There could be a problem with the armature that needs a growler to find, but now we are in something like .02% territory. I am not knocking the mini-starter if that's what you want, particularly if it is known to work on nailhead engines without causing other issues. These old GM starters are about as simple as a starter can be though. It should not be a big deal to fix it if you want to. P.S. It's always the copper bolts.

I remember when I was in college I had a Ford with one noisy lifter. I dumped a quart of Rislone in it, and then I had 16 noisy lifters.

I am never a serious buyer. I am at best a sarcastic one. I see I am in good company here.