AL1630

Do I just take a multimeter and set it to ohms to test the wires? I live in the high desert 500 miles from the ocean and it's dry so I'm not sure what caused it. The boots fit pretty snugly as well. What's a 'normal' amount of corrosion, if any? I pulled the other plug wires off the cap and those terminals have black deposits, some more than others. The rotor looked ok. This was probably the worst one:

ojh, sorry I didn't reply, I didn't see this post. When it was idling the engine did start to stumble and almost die while I played with the screws. I backed it out before it did. Also, I was cleaning the engine bay today and found something interesting and maybe related? I pulled off the wire that goes from the coil to the center of the distributor and there was a large amount of green corrosion on the coil terminal. But on the distributor side, the 'cup' terminal in the cap had lots of black, sooty looking material and upon closer inspection I found the end of the wire was falling apart! I found a piece of metal from the wire inside the cap terminal and the metal plug on the wire is cracking. Coil side: Metal that was in the distributor cap Hard to tell from the photos but there is another crack in the wire on the distributor side where the first piece broke. What could have caused this and could it be related to my issues? All the plug wires are NAPA brand, only about 1 1/2 or 2 years old and have less than 3000 miles on them.

These things are awesome. Well, maybe not for the neighbors.

I don't use facebook either but I can still browse the marketplace without an account. It's not like I was planning on buying anything on there anyway.😀 Craigslist was getting to be almost unusable with the amount of scam ads and junk on there though.

Yep. Most parts stores still stock at least some points, 10 dollars and a few minutes later you're back on the road. And if you break down on the side of the highway, some sandpaper will probably be enough to get you to the next town. Of course, it's all up to the OP and what their needs are.

There is a pair of youtube channels called "The78Prof" and "The45Prof" that catalog most every hit song (pop, and some country and R&B) from about 1925-1950 and then 1950-1966 respectively. They have lots of songs from the 50s and 60s that were popular back then that never get played on radio anymore. They're sorted in to "Hits archive" playlists with lots of songs from a particular year all in one that you can shuffle. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBdfpBp6qA6WwTpFF0utT9A/playlists?view=50&shelf_id=3 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC43oS1vZRDBWr3f2N7m8B8g/playlists?view=50&shelf_id=3

I wash with regular car soap and water, then dry. 2-3 times a year I use some Meguiars #7 which really brings out a shine, but is a lot of work. Then I wax it after that. When it rains I just hose it off after and towel dry, we don't have really hard water so spots aren't much of a problem. Do any of you use the quick detailer spray stuff? Is it just to clean up minor dust and bring in some shine? If so I might pick up a bottle.

I have a similar philosophy. I know it's been said many times but modern cars all look the same to me. I drive my Rambler year round. (They did it in 1963, I can do it today!). Luckily they don't use salt here so I don't have to worry about that. Nothing beats cruising around in an old car with the windows down listening to the engine and some music!

I took a drive out on the highway then went to hang out in the park.

Didn't drive my car today but I did give it a wash. I'll go for a drive tomorrow and probably this weekend, we're supposed to get temperatures into the 60s which is exciting.

Rolling out a new payment system with direct access to bank accounts + new taxes = probably not good for ebay.

Yep, I believe Rambler took the #7 spot for sales numbers in 1958 (with a car that was just a reheated Nash), up from #12 in 1957, which made the big three get their butts in gear and start making smaller cars people wanted to buy. And that was a sign of things to come - by 1961 Rambler took the #3 spot, only behind Ford and Chevy. Proof that people were tired of the 'barges' and wanted something smaller and more economical going into the new decade.

I think people just got less flashy. Small economy cars like Falcons, Ramblers, etc. were getting really popular in the early 60s and people may have just wanted to cut down on the excess a bit. That spilled over into full size cars too. Then as the decade wore on and things like JFK's assassination and Vietnam happened the more positive, flashy attitudes of the 50s gave way to a more serious and uncertain nation. This same change can be seen if you follow the musical trends from the late 50s to mid 60s as well. That's my theory, anyway.

I didn't sell much on there but I quit when they wanted to force me to switch. Not a huge deal since I just used it to unload some unused stuff. I can still buy using paypal so I'm fine with that but selling with the new system seemed to be kind of a headache from stories I've heard. It'll be interesting to see how swap meets come back after covid and then ebay's new system. Hopefully they'll be bigger.

Always good when it's an easy fix!

I turned it in until it barely bottomed then turned out 1 1/4 turns. That seemed to help low speed driving around the neighborhood a lot, the engine was more responsive.

I've heard lots of conflicting info about operating temp but it makes sense for it to not run at peak efficiency if it's cold. My drive is about 5 miles. I guess that probably is the biggest issue. The weather is nice the next couple days, maybe I will go for a nice long drive🙂

Are they similar to a 45 changer with more vibration damping? I wonder if any reproduction records could be custom pressed. There are a few vinyl pressing plants around.

Best bet is probably record the 78s you want or find them online and play them through a wireless speaker hidden in the glove box or on the floor. Much more portable and a lot harder to break!

Alright, I finally got the compression test done and here's what I found: 1: 135psi 2: 150 3: 150 4: 145 5: 135 6: 140 I had another thought though. I filled up for the first time in about 2 months the other day and I'm getting 9.5MPG now 😬. I think maybe my short commute combined with the cold weather means the engine isn't warming up enough. How much does engine temperature affect mileage and performance on the street?

Mine is a Bendix 3TBA (Same model with push buttons). Mine only has one wire with a fuse that goes to the ACC terminal on the igniton switch. The volume control doubles as the on-off switch. Mine turns the light on with the radio.

My neighbor has a late 50s/early 60s M-B 110? sitting in his driveway, there is definitely some resemblance to the Studebaker, at least up front.

I think most independent makes are pretty much forgotten. My Rambler has a badge on the back that says 440H for the trim level. I've had people ask if it has a 440 with a Hurst shifter in it. I say nope, it has the mighty AMC 195.6 OHV with a Twin Stick. 😄

I agree with the others, it doesn't make sense for someone to hack up their probably perfectly good 3 year old car to get a little gas, especially during a time when new cars weren't even being manufactured. I could see someone doing that to a teens/20s car maybe, but this? I doubt it. It kind of looks like a bunch of random parts from someone's backyard, honestly. I'm sure working on it will be an interesting experience.

Also if it just randomly didn't start one morning and the battery was normally fine before, there could be something drawing current even with everything turned off. Just a thought.