Bloo

So far the Halon one is propped up between the back seat and the armrest. As long as there's luggage back there it's fine. My trunk would be way too slow. I've not yet found a good spot to put one of the little "Element" sticks permanently. I have the bigger of the 2 sizes. They don't fit the glovebox.

I wish I could answer that but I don't know. The idea that you need more Halotron than Halon is just something you see all over the internet, but I suspect it is true because Halon is still recommended for aircraft. This in spite of the fact that new production of Halon is banned, and new extinguishers have to be made from recovered Halon. It is expensive. If buying Halotron, I definitely would not get the smallest size. More is better of course. At some point the size and weight might become a problem. Where do you put it in the car so you can get to it quickly?

"The Invaders" was full of Fords. David Vincent's 1966 convertible:

Is this a Champion or is it something bigger? Does it have Overdrive?

IMHO bite the bullet and change the head gasket, how hard could it be on a 51 Chevy? More to your question, it probably depends how the head gasket is blown. If it's water in the oil, or maybe even oil in the water, there might be a pretty good chance of success. If there is combustion pressure getting into the radiator, there really isn't any way it could work. You would be trying to seal against the fire and high pressure that pushes the truck down the road, with goo, from the OUTSIDE. Not a chance.

It's the "within tolerance" comment that might explain the brushes not seating properly, as they are attached to the endbell, not the case like on other makes. A slight tilt and there goes the connection (brush to commutator). Wait what?! Yeah, I think that would do it. Sounds like a good plan.

Are your threaded holes and bolt sizes lining up in the right place when you clock it? Many alternators are clockable, but generally speaking I don't think generators are. I would expect them to use different end bells for different applications like opposite side of the engine, or upside down mounting with the adjuster on the bottom, etc.

Those are load testers, mainly intended for testing car batteries (not that there is anything wrong with that), and quick alternator testing by the "pull the battery voltage down" method, but aren't quite set up for test procedures as described in most old service manuals. I have a harbor freight one with no return spring on the knob, so that's a big plus. It's useful, and affordable, and it has a carbon pile. It could be bigger though. It really could use some modifications to maximize its usefulness for generator testing, but offhand I don't remember what.

Low reading is probably a sunk float. Disconnecting the wire should make the gauge peg high. Ground troubles at the tank should also make the gauge read high not low. Bounciness might be unavoidable because the AC (GM) gauge is an instant response type. In the mid 30s, the senders had a brake made of cork to counteract it, but the brake might not work after all these years unless someone rebuilt it. When they are working right, the senders don't really respond until bumps and road vibration are encountered. These are the sending units that have 2 exposed gears. I think Buick may have stopped using them by 1940(?). The newer Buick type does not appear to have a brake, but I am not 100% sure of that. A modern replacement sender definitely wouldn't have one. I don't know if the Bob's and the C.A.R.S. sending units are the same or not.

Something has to be making a bad connection. I see no way for it to make any difference. Also, I am 99% sure those terminals were up on my 1961 352.

Dry chemical fire extinguishers are the most common, and are better than nothing, but might do quite a but of unnecessary damage if you actually had to use it. At least it would probably put the fire out. For something that will put out a fire without causing more harm, Halon is preferable, but expensive and hard to source. Halotron is a modern substitute for Halon. It is easier to get and cheaper, but maybe less effective. Buy a size bigger in that case. There are also "Element" fire extinguishers that are a stick of a chemical compound that "lights" or "strikes" like a highway flare. Like Halon and Halotron, they do not cause more damage. I bought a couple of them on the recommendation of another member here, but have never discharged one. They do look promising.

Most of these little auto electric shops will sell you starter, generator and alternator parts. I still have one locally, although it has been bought out by Romaine Electric, who once upon a time were a rebuild shop like this near downtown Seattle. Now they are a chain with a big hub in Kent, WA. Prices have always been reasonable when walking in. I don't see a shopping cart, but I'll bet if you contacted them you could get the parts you need. It would pay to know exactly what brand and model of starter/generator/alternator you have, and exactly what parts you are looking for. The make model and year of the car might be useful too. Be an informed customer. I have never tried to buy over the phone from them, but I'll bet they would help. https://www.romaineelectric.com/index.html

I'm no GMC expert, but I'll bet the Pontiac engine is original.

I think so, and that is what I remember from a couple of cars I owned. I looked all over for a picture like you did. It was inconclusive.

And with that, @58L-Y8 deserves some kind of award for "understatement of the year". 🤣 I was driving a 63 Daytona Wagonaire around Seattle in the early 90s. It looked so much like the one in the original post I did a double take until I saw the black interior. Yes, you can haul ridiculous things in it, and I did. Here is a side view of a Wagonaire I found online: Note that the roof slides in some channels or rails. In fact, you can see one of them in white at the left rear of this car. Now imagine in your minds eye about how long those rails must be to accommodate the whole sliding roof. Those rails fill up with water. It can really surprise you how much water they hold. When you stop, all that water comes rushing forward and lands right in your lap. Speaking of water, there is also this nifty feature: Note that piece of trim that says "Daytona" on it. It gathers all the water that runs down the side of the car from the door back, as well as everything the drip rail collected from the roof, and drains all of it right on the gas filler. I hope that cap has a good gasket on it. Speaking of Wagonaires, @Gary_Ash is restoring a 6 cylinder one, and his is looking really nice. I'd like another Lark-type someday but probably not another Wagonaire. A 66 Commander coupe or sedan with v8 and overdrive would sure pique my interest. My 63 Daytona Wagonaire had a 289 with one of the engine blocks that support a full flow oil filter. Those aren't laying around everywhere, as they were only made for about a year and a half. If the Wagonaire in the original post was made late in the year, it just might have one.

There is absolutely no room for error when setting one of these up. I marvel at the fact that GM kept this design for so long. I have been informed by another member who was there that it was not a problem in production, and I believe him, but I still marvel at it. New senders are universal fit for a bunch of different Buick tanks, made by some third party, shipped in from wherever and possibly clobbered by modern shipping methods. In my opinion, there is not a snowball's chance in hell of one of them working right if you just install it and hook it up. That is true no matter who made it or what country they made it in. An original part (my preference) also needs careful scrutiny after being rebuilt. To start, disconnect the wire from the tank. With the key on, the gauge should peg past full. Now ground the wire at the tank. The gauge should go to empty. If it won't do this, there is trouble with the gauge, the gauge ground, the tank ground, or the wiring that must be addressed. Buick gas gauges up until 1964(?) or so are 0-30 ohms. Did you zero your meter? You'll never get to E with 2 ohms. If you have a meter that you cannot zero, touch the leads together, note the number you see. It is the resistance of the test leads. Subtract it from the reading you get on the sender. If the sender can go to 40 ohms in tank, there will be a bunch of gas at the top of the tank that gets used with the gauge pegged full before the gauge needle even starts moving down. Starting with a completely empty tank, off of the car and drained, and a correctly working sending unit, there is going to be some gas that cannot be reached by the pickup and is simply lost. Then there is the reserve, possibly 1.5-2 gallons, that lives in-between the gas that can never be retrieved and the point where the gauge starts moving up. I don't think all that explains 7 gallons, but it explains part of it. The pickup should be as low as possible. In my opinion there should be a sock filter on it. Verify the sock does not interfere with the float. The float should get very low in the tank and should be very close to 0 ohms (less than an ohm) at the lower stop. This should not change with the sender in or out of the tank, because the float should never hit the bottom of the tank, but almost! If you flip the tank upside down, the sender should hit the stop before the float hits the top of the tank. The float should almost hit the top of the tank, but not quite. The resistance should be 30-ish ohms. There must be 30 ohms difference between E and F to get full swing of the gauge. A bunch of extra ohms at the top will result in a bunch of gas needing to be used before the gauge starts to go down. The arm length on a universal sender may be wrong. Too long, and it may hit the top of the tank before reaching 30 ohms. Too short, and it may get to 30 ohms too soon. Correct if necessary. Make sure the float isn't going to hit anywhere. Once you have 0 ohms empty with the tank right side up and 30-32-ish with the tank upside down, you can check the reserve if you want. put enough gas in to make the resistance come up above 0 ohms slightly. Using a HAND POWERED (definitely not electric) transfer pump, suck gas out of the tank through the fuel pickup. Keep jiggling the tank, as some sending units have a brake on the arm. When the meter is back to 0 ohms, put the output hose of your pump in a different container. Pump until you can no longer get gas from the tank. The gas in the second container represents the size of your reserve. Slightly bending the float arm can change the reserve if it is not reasonable. Always add a ground strap or wire from a sender screw to the body or frame of the car. This prevents calibration changes as the gas tank's grounding to the rest of the car deteriorates over time.

I'm pretty sure it is connected to the case. I don't have one to look at either. Here's a 61 Thunderbird schematic someone posted on fordmuscleforums.com. I think I see a ground symbol at the case. There's also a schematic of the regulator, though it looks like they have the relays labeled wrong. Top to bottom it's Cutout, Current Regulator, Voltage Regulator.

I am running the gap at .040 on a stock coil on my 36 six. I know that isn't right according to the book. It has been my experience that wider gaps (like .035) tend to run a little smoother on more modern cars that originally ran a .025 gap. The most important thing a larger gap does, bad or good depending on how you look at it, is raise the voltage the coil rises to before it fires. This is harder on insulation, like the cap and especially the rotor. Also the coil itself, and to a lesser extent the spark plug wires and the short insulators on my spark plugs. Also there is a limit to how much voltage the coil might be able to provide, and the engine needs more under heavy load. It might not be able to do it. The spark might just go away on a hard pull. On my car I was most concerned about the coil surviving, but after hearing that some of the early 6 cylinder Chevrolet enthusiasts were running .040 with no trouble, I decided to try it. Their coils came from the same source as mine. The gap has been at .040 for a couple of years and one really long trip and nothing bad has happened. I don't know how your 1953 coil would do, but I suspect it would be fine. Good question. I don't know. 6 volt cars have no way to compensate for the drop in battery voltage while cranking, if the starter drags the voltage too low it might not fire. My car has huge battery cables and cranks like crazy, so it hasn't been an issue for me, but it might be for someone.

I have not replaced valve guides in one of these yet! I second @Kornkurt for parts. EDIT: Maybe @MyhreMade has done it? I think he was planning to.

So many red herrings here! Yes At this point I am finally 100% sure what we are looking at. I thought so, but sold my last early 60s Ford decades ago. 12v to the field terminal makes the generator go full bore. That is correct. Yes, and you did it back in post 7, as seen below. I don't see any way that the generator could still be not polarized. In theory, yes. In practice, generators seem(?) to sometimes lose polarization after being banged around from removal installation, etc. and that is one reason it is advised to always polarize before trying to start the car. Now THAT will screw up the polarization for sure! Yes. Exactly this. That probably depends on who you ask. For predicatble results you would absolutely want the generator and regulator to be seeing the same voltage. Without a wiring diagram of the whole generator and regulator system I can't even make a good guess about possible effects of a resistive ground. For example though, if the charging voltage is being sampled at the regulator, and it probably is, resistance in the ground would change the charging voltage. It might also increase hysteresis in the voltage regulator relay, slowing it's response and causing more than normal flickering in the headlights. Good on Ford for putting this wire in. If I am building a wiring harness for anything with an external regulator, I always include it, generator or alternator, and no matter who made the charging system. It insures reliable regulation over the long term. The only potential downside I see is on a car that grounds one battery cable to the frame or body. If the big strap that connects the frame or body to the engine were to become disconnected, and someone tried to start the car, that little wire would try to carry the starter current. It would go off like a flashbulb. I am pretty sure the battery cable goes right to the engine on a 1960 Ford so this wouldn't apply. Err.... sort of. That used to be true, when auto parts were expected to work for a few years. The manufacturers tailored the precious metals used in the points and so on for maximum life. Not anymore. New production electromechanical regulators make no distinction between negative and positive ground. I have yet to hear even ONE positive review. Fortunately the old ones typically still work, and are often repairable if they don't.

And 7.4-7.6 volts (at room temperature) is typical, checked with a charged battery. Most run about 7.5. There is leeway of a tenth or two to compensate for driving habits. This is because generators barely charge or don't charge at idle, so the amount of charge time can vary quite a bit depending on how the car gets used. The normal factory voltage setting will be in the service manual.

I'm less informed about the warranty end of things... but If I had a dollar for every car that landed in my service bay with a new ECM already installed and the original problem still present.....

Shout this from the rooftops.

I don't drive a Lincoln, but I have encountered this. I am size 13, 6'3", and the distance you describe is shorter than one of my shoes by quite a bit. Much to my amazement, the problem sorted itself. My ankle learned to twist at exactly the right time after the first week or two. I don't even realize I am doing it now. It's automatic.

A period accessory, super common in that era on brand new cars, but almost never seen today. Their condition lends quite a bit of credibility to the 22k mile claim.