old-tank
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Posts posted by old-tank
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Will
Don't run the engine anymore until you put fluid in the dynaflow!! There are parts that are running without lubrication.
Put in 3-4 quarts, start the engine and pour in the remaining specified amount, checking the level when get near the end.
There are a lot of good engine first run procedures out there, but most do not address a first run on the transmission at the same time. Buy an extra 6-pack for that extra helper whose only job is to service the transmission.
Willie
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Engine=635 lb; the dynaflow probably 300 lb range.
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The 55 cam is steel vs cast iron as used in later nailheads. My guess that there is minimal wear on the cam and would need very little if any surface treatment. On the 55 cam that the machine shop ground the journals to fit the bearings, they said that they had to resurface the stone more often than expected. They also said that the crankshaft was harder than most.
Willie
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Jim
Looking better and better!
Nothing is removed during judging. See the judging manual HERE
And as you can see the glove box is not opened ( On my first judged car I spent days installing a new liner and trying to get the light to work...time I could have spent detailing where it counted).
It looks like you will be OK on condition and workmanship...authenticity should be no problem with all of the 57 gurus here!
Willie
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Jim
If you use full wheel covers, the stripe cannot be seen, and all that is seen is the exposed edge, so that is all you would have to paint.
I got the full wheel covers restored for near the price of paying a professional to stripe....I tried myself, but it was a steep learning curve.On my CVT I was going to use small caps with beauty rings and stipes...looked too dated, so I went with full wheel covers until I finally got wire wheels.
Willie
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He told me every variation of the nail head from 53 to 56.
I hope you took notes...there will be questions to answer soon.
With out this forum I may have screwed up my engine. Thanks, guys! Mud
Don't worry, there are still plenty of ways to screw it up. Such as cam bearings: they can be put in wrong, especially the front. Also after installed the cam will not fit. Nobody does align honing like the service manual says, because they are all different sizes. Ask Russel Martin how to deal with this problem. I have had some reamed using an old camshaft and some that the cam journals were turned to fit....serviceable but not ideal.
Willie
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They told me that my cam was in good enough condition that they would not have to remove too much. He said they also resurface, rebuild and test the lifters too. (He sends them to two differnet places to have this done) It is about 1/2 the cost of new. Mud
Sounds like a deal to me! All you will need in addition to the rocker assemblies (did you ever find some?) would be 55 push rods and if you don't want to buy the new fat ones I have enough original 55 push rods with smooth balls with dimples on the ends...straight even; also some 55 lifters and 55 used cams if there are issues with yours.
Willie
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Mud
I have a reground cam in my CVT and that has not been an issue. I worried about it too, but it was explained that if all the other components are within specifications (valve stem height, rockers, shaft, pushrods, etc) it will not matter since hydraulic lifters will allow for at least 0.80" variation. Ask the regrinder how much is removed from the base circle. In my case it was 0.040" and that was for a high performance cam; a stock grind should be much less.
Don't even think of using a high performance cam with that dynaflow and stock 3.4 rear gears. The cam I installed raised the hp and torque curve about 500 rpm and that made it a slug in normal driving...but it really cooked at high rpm. I changed to 3.6 rear gears from a Special and now normal driving is near stock feel...3.9 or 4.1 would be better.
Willie
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, I actually had an older lady stop by....
I did my first restoration in the driveway also. I had that same lady walk up behind me right after I discovered that I had buffed through my paint and uttered some words of disappointment (something like fiddlesticks, shuckydarn...) After a lecture on language that put all of my English teachers to shame I decided to move my operation to a shop in the middle of 5 acres.
Great work...I look forward to meeting you next to that project.
Willie
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This is what I am dealing with...
The neutral safety switch has 4 terminals, according to the manual: 1 2 3 4. Only 1 and 2 have wires and the colors do not match. 3 and 4 have no wires going to them...
Yikes! Most aftermarket wiring kits have the individual wires identified. It looks like a lot of green wires in that setup...
The neutral safety switch on my 55's has 2 terminals used for the safety start function and 2 terminals used for the backup lights.
Willie
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Mud
9.0:1 is what the service manual says and that should give you 170# cranking compression. 9.0:1 is what Egge said their pistons were and I get only 120#, and of course they are not as tall as stock. It is a big hassle, but you could order sets from Egge, Kanter, Martin, compare to your stock piston and send back what you don't want. I did that with a set from Terrill which had a smaller surface area dome. It is just too much trouble and expense to change after installed and you don't need the aggravation of finding out that it is not performing up to snuff.
Willie
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I use a household freestanding oven/range that I picked up off of Craigslist for $50. It's in the garage (away from the wife) and shares the same 30amp 220v plug that I use for my welder, and just unplug one/plug the other when I need to use them. I am able to coat up to something the size of a tire rim, but nothing larger. The only other "large piece" solution I've seen for home use would be infrared panels and a laser thermometer , where you heat up sections of the part to temp and move the IR panels along as needed for proper curing. Theoretically you could do your frame and such with these, but would probably be less hassle to just ship it to your local powder coater.
Budd
Budd
When you mount and balance tires have them static balanced with all of the weights on the inside...It looks better and keeps from scratching your coating. Believe me, the ride will be as smooth or smoother than tires balanced with weights scattered all over both sides of the rim.
Willie
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That'll do. Thanks Willie. But can you see if you can report a little earlier next time. I'm gonna have a hekuva time matching that layer of grease and road grime.
Hey, what can I say...I'm old and slow.
I think you're trying to convince ol' Bob to send you those nasty gold plates in exchange for the ones you pictured...practice until he gets it right.
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Here is an e-mail I just got back from Russell Martin. Mud
I can sell you 56 Pistons and steel shim head gaskets to get the most compression.
Sounds like a plan. If you do use 56 piston, check clearances. I have some slightly used head gaskets if needed.
Willie
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All of the 55 plates I have worked with were gray on exposed surfaces and gold on the protected surfaces. A set of 54 plates that I acquired from a rodder are the same... maybe the car was late production and used 55 parts:confused:
Leave them alone...they are too nice the way you have them now, and like Mike said black will get you 400 points.
Willie
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Shown is a NORS piston on the left and the Egge piston on the right; both hanging on the same wrist pin with a straight edge on top. There is a 5/64 drill on top of the right piston. Sleeves are a possibility, but it is 8 places for something to go wrong. I guess the bores are not usable with just honing even using moly rings which will conform to taper and out of round?
Willie
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So what your saying is that you can not get .030 over pistons with the same compression ratio? Mud
Yes, that is apparent from the ones I bought from Egge. Russel Martin at Centerville Auto sells nailhead pistons on ebay and has a contact phone where you can call and a least ask some questions. I also ordered pistons from Terrill Machine and they did not look like originals so I sent them back. I will try to post a picture of the difference between an Egge piston and a NORS piston from when these cars were contemporary.
Willie
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Mud
That's a bummer about the pistons/bores, since the available pistons at least from Egge are a compromise. They list the same piston for 54 and 55 which will give you a cranking compression of 120# vs 160# from stock 55 pistons...this will get you back to 200 hp vs 236 hp. Sure, you can use regular gas, cruise all day at 70 mph getting 15 mpg vs 17 mpg. But the "seat of pants" zip of stock 55 will not be there. I have stock pistons in 2 of my 322's and one with Egge pistons and there is a very discernible difference in performance. If you do end up with Egge pistons and don't balance the whole assembly, be sure to at least match the pistons, which in my case were way off. Also, check that all pistons are the same size before installing the connecting rods. A set of 0.030" oversize that I received from Egge had one 0.040" oversize in the box.
In the past 1956 Buick pistons have been used (1956 Buick Performance Parts) with 1955 heads resulting in even higher compression, but I have no idea what the available 56 pistons are like. And I heard of one case where this trick was used and the pistons hit the head.
Save at least one of your stock pistons and attach it and your replacement to the same wrist pin to see what the differences are.
Happy Shopping!
Willie
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David
I really appreciate your help and words of wisdom on these forums, but I hope no one even considers using these highly toxic chemicals. That is the main reason professional platers will not do it. I don't even know if you can buy these chemicals, but if you could where are you going to dispose of them. We don't need any more mysterious fish kills. Years ago I treated a couple of beautiful 110 pound German Shepard dogs that got into the owners metal plating chemicals --- one died, and the other made it after many hours on oxygen. There is no real antidote after it starts affecting the body. The effect is that it inhibits the utilization of oxygen by the cells. You or an animal can still breathe, but it does no good --- a very nasty and agonizing death.
Willie
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I think you nailed it on those backing plates...almost good enough for a driver.
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The following is something I copied from our forum many years ago. User was MARTINSR: A search did not bring up the original post or that user name....so if you think you may do some body alignment copy this since it may disappear again.
Body panel alignment
Nothing adds to “detail” on a car more than nice fitting panels. If the car is a light color it is even more important. Those “black lines” that are the gaps between panels really look bad if they are not a consistent width. While using this guide and aligning your panels be sure that you open and close the moving ones very carefully after a change. You can loose the gap fast which will allow the panels to hit, so be careful.
I have to start with this very important point. ALWAYS have the car sitting on it’s wheels or at the very least the weight of the car should be on the axles. That being if you want it on jack stands to raise the car up and give you more access to the bolts and such, place the stands under the control arms as and rear axle. They should be out as far as possible towards the wheels. This can still cause problems on the front. Even in a little from where the tire actually holds the car up can change the amount of pressure being exerted on the car’s body. A car can be twisted or bent more than you can imagine up on jack stands when the stands are set on the frame allowing the weight to hang off the ends. This is VERY, VERY important. Of course this goes for anytime a panel is being fit, either welded or bolted on.
Hood alignment: Let’s start with raising and lowering the rear of the hood. If the car you are working on has a hinge that sits on top of the cowl, your only options are to shim or bend the hinge. Bending the hinge slightly is one way to move it. If you need to come up in the rear you can put a small block of wood or other item on the hinge, to bend it. When you close the hood down (NOT ALL THE WAY) it will get in the way of the hood closing and bend the rear or the hinge up. If you need to bend it down, the only option may be to remove it and bend it a little. You can also shim the bolts between the hood and the hinge, more on this later.
If you have a hood where the hinge mounts on the side of the fender or the side of the cowl like with an older car or truck, you want to "rotate" the hinge on the fender. Just pushing the hinge up and down will give you very little movement on the top of the hood.
This is the strange little trick that you have to remember, if you raise the back of the hood on the hinge or raise the back of the hinge on the fender the hood will go up. If you raise the "front" of the back of the hood ON THE HINGE or the hinge to the fender it will go down. What you have to remember is you are working with a pivot point in the hinge, not a stationary part.
If you loosen the FRONT bolt on the hood (where it bolts to the hinge) and put a shim, or washer between the hood and hinge, this will LOWER the hood on that side. If you put that same washer under the rear bolt it will RAISE the rear of the hood on that side.
So, if you loosen the bolts from the hinge to fender and close the hood, the hinge will rotate on down in the front right? This will raise the REAR of the hood like putting a shim in the back bolt between the hinge and hood!
What you need to do to lower the back the hood is to loosen the bolts (only slightly) and PUSH UP on the front of the hood. This rotates the hinges back, thus raising the front of the hinge and lowering the hood in the back.
If the hinges are warn out it won’t change how high the hood sits when the wear, not by more than a fraction of an inch. And I have never seen a car with these style hinges that you couldn't put the hood a half inch LOWER than the fenders if you wanted to. The adjustment is HUGE on these cars. That is one of the things that is easy to do on them is align panels.
I recommend you remove the striker or latch from the hood so that you can move it up and down without worrying about the latch grabbing the hood. After you have aligned the hood, take a piece of dumb-dumb or clay or something similar and put it on the latch. This way you can see exactly where it hits when you do install the latch. You bring the hood down till you just tap this dumb-dumb but DON'T LATCH IT. Just so the hood makes an indentation in the clay/dumb-dumb. This tells you where you have to move the latch.
I do this at work everyday, by myself so if you can't get help this is the trick. Always leave one bolt on the hinge tight. If you want to rotate it back, leave the front bolt tight. If you want to rotate it forward, leave the rear bolt tight. When you move the hood forward or back on the hinge, leave the bolts snug enough that you have to tap on the edge of the hood to get it to move. Or if it needs to go back, leave the bolts a little snug, and wiggle the hood up and down and the weight of the hood will make it slide down. Remember it only needs a 1/16" or so to make a 3/16" or more change at the front. To pull the hood forward on the hinge loosen them so they are still a little snug so you have to pull up on the back of the hood to make it slide that little bit. If you loosen it up so it moves anywhere you want it, YOU WILL NEVER KNOW HOW MUCH YOU MOVED IT AND YOU WILL MOVE IT TOO MUCH, GUARANTEED.
Get the hood laying flat first, then move the hood forward or back on each side to make the hood fit the hole between the fenders. If the gap is large on the front right and small on the front left, then the hood needs to me moved back on the right side. As you move the hood back on a side it will close up the gap in the front of that side and open it at the rear of that side.
You may need to move fenders too. Just do each change slowly, move it VERY LITTLE. Look at the bolt and washer as you move the panel, you will see where the washer used to be, the amount is much easier to control if you watch the washer movement.
If you need to move the hood up or down at the front, you have a few ways to do it. First, on each side there are the “bumpers”. The hood bumpers are located at each front corner and look like a bolt with a rubber pad on top. Just unlock the jam nut and raise or lower the “bolt” so it holds the hood at the height you need to match the fender. You may find that the hood won’t go low enough even with the bumper down far enough. The latch may not be down far enough. When you close the hood, you shouldn’t be able to pull up on the hood or push it down. The latch should be tight enough to hold it against the bumpers tight, but not too tight. If you have to apply too much force to open the hood or it opens with a loud POP, the latch is probably too tight. If it is at the right height but you can lift it up some, then the latch needs to be moved down.
Doors: If the doors are off the car, bolt the hinges to the door and the cowl in the middle of the movement allowed. Let’s face it, it “shouldn’t” be too far off the center of holes. If the doors are on or if after putting them on things are way out of whack, raise the door up on the hinges as far as it will go while still staying about the right height. You always want to start high, it is much easier to come down than go up. Besides this is the ONLY time you will loosen all the bolts on the door. I don’t mean ALL the bolts, leave the hinge to cowl (or center post on a four door) tight. Only loosen the door to hinge bolts. Unless it is WAY down then you may need to move the hinges up too. But do one at a time, both door to hinge or both hinge to cowl/center post.
While moving the hinges aligning the door NEVER loosen all the bolts on the hinge, NEVER. Loosen all but one, just till it is still a little looser than “snug”. Leave that last on just a little snug. Let’s say the door fits well but is a little too far rearward. NEVER loosen top and bottom hinges and move it forward. Loosen the top hinge to cowl/center post as described above and lift the rear of the door, a LITTLE. This will push the upper hinge forward. Now TIGHTEN that one bolt that was left snug. Do the same on the lower hinge, pushing down, but remember the weight of the door is helping, so little push is needed. Many times no pushing at all, just the weight of the door will do.
If the door fits well but is out at the top or the bottom, again, loosen ONE hinge to DOOR in the manner described and push it out or in. If it is out or in at the top rear for instance, move the bottom front in the opposite direction. This will pivot the door on the striker, and move the rear top where you want. Moving the bottom rear takes moving the top front of course.
You may need to twist the door. If the front fits well and rear is out at the top (or bottom, just reverse) you can put a block of wood at the rear of the door at the top lets say and push in on the bottom to twist the door. Some will take a LOT of force to bend, and be VERY careful not to let your fingers hang around the outside of the door edge!! I lost a finger nail doing this on a ’69 Shelby GT500 convertible once (remember it well) when the block of wood fell out with all my weight on the door while twisting!!
Tip: If you are hanging the door and you have access to the hinges (either through the wheel well with the skirt off or if the fender it’s self is off) you can simply hold the door up to the opening and push the latch shut. Then put the bolts in the hinge. I can often install doors all by my self in this way.
Deck lid: The trunk lid is pretty much like the hood but the hinges don’t move at all on the body (usually). So shimming and twisting are a few of your only options beyond the movement in the slotted holes on the hinge. Bending the hinge or pushing up or down on the sides of the quarters, front or rear panel are the others. These should be done ONLY after all other things are tried.
Fenders: Most of the tips for doors and the hood work here, with a little twist or two. Start with fitting the rear top of the fender. I like to put all the bolts in, loose. Not falling out loose, just so the fender would easily move. Close the door, and with the hood open adjust the gap at the top of the rear of the fender to door. After you tighten other bolts this cannot be modified so, do it first. Tighten the bolt under the hood closest to the door to secure the position. You may need to shim a bolt at the rear of the fender to the cowl, to move the fender forward or back. After you have that bolt tight and the gap is to your liking open the door and tighten the rear fender bolt that is at the top of the fender in the door jamb. Now do the bottom bolt, with the door closed, adjust your gap. You may need to wedge a flat blade screwdriver or body spoon to “force” the fender forward to get the desired gap. Or just the opposite, use a 2x4 or something similar off the front tire to force the fender back to get the gap. This is one of the hard spots to get nice because you have to get both the gap and the in and out of the fender to door at the same time with the same bolt. Some cars have two bolts that are far enough apart to get the gap and tighten the front bolt and then pull the fender in or out and tighten the rear bolt to get the flush fit of the panels.
General tips: Bending a panel or adjacent panel is sometimes required. You can get this done in a number of ways, one is to use a block of wood. Let’s say that along the edge of the hood there is a spot that is high. Well you can’t adjust it down, the front and the rear are perfect. So you can lay a block of wood on the spot, right at the edge where it is strong. Using a big hammer (the bigger the better, trying to make a small hammer do the job can cause a lot of damage) hold the block and strike it nice and solid. Then check the results, you may need many strikes to do it. In doing this you may want to support the hood at the front with a block of wood under the hood. This way the hood is up off the fender and it will bend easier because of the solid rest it has. You can also put the block under the edge of the hood at a low spot and with steady pressure bend it down at a point if you need it.
If you are working with very tight tolerances, you can actually grind the edge of a panel or jamb to get an extra fraction of an inch. Be VERY careful and using a fine disk like 80 or 120 take a LITTLE off. You don’t want to grind the metal thin of course but a LITTLE can make a big difference when you are fighting for fractions. Now, you really won’t be cutting too much metal, you are really just cleaning off ALL the primer and paint there. Then when you prime it, don’t put a lot or sand it thin so there will be very little on the edge.
You may want to paint the hinge with a little contrasting paint. Do it with the hinge bolted on, right over the bolts. This way you can see easier how much you have moved it.
These directions are for doors where the hinge bolts flat to the side of the cowl and then flat to the front of the door. There are of course many ways the hinges can be mounted on cars. If yours are different than you need to use the “concepts” that I have described here. If for instance you have a 1950 Chevy pickup. The hinge bolts flat to the back of the cowl but will work the same way. The door hinge bolts flat to the side of the door. In this case you do just the opposite as I earlier described. You would loosen the hinge to cowl bolts to move the door in and out and the hinge to door bolts to move it back or forward. If you find that your car has a design that hasn’t been addressed, take a good hard look at your hinge arrangement. If the door is open, close it enough while you can still see the hinges and imagine what direction will it go if you loosen a particular set of bolts. Get an idea of how you can move it, then start the alignment process.
These are just ideas that I have used over the years and some may work for you some won’t, but it is a start.
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The problem with the old iron is that at highway speeds you cannot tell the difference between a good radio and a bad radio.
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Jim
Drive it! If they look good and drive smoothly, I would not hesitate. Bias ply tires age more gracefully than radials which will start separating after 3-6 years regardless of miles. If you do get new ones, I will buy your old ones.
Willie
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Willie, I did not have a feeler gauge large enough to get an accurate measurement of what it was. The spacer block will move around on the large retainer pin that slides through it. How do you get an accurate measurement? should I force it to one side and then measure the gap?
I will try to find a larger gauge and get a proper reading
Thanks
Usually the largest feeler in a set is 0.025" and if the gap is larger than that you need to close it. If machinists' measuring devices are not available you can stack the feelers and then add up what you have; then measure the block plus feelers with a good caliper to get the thickness of block that you need. If only a few ten thousands needs to come off the thick side of the block you can do that with sand paper on a glass plate...or take it to a machinist ($40+).
Willie
I got the full wheel covers restored for near the price of paying a professional to stripe....I tried myself, but it was a steep learning curve.
I smell Smoke
in Buick - Post War
Posted
It could also be shorted field coils...