old-tank
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Posts posted by old-tank
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Another unbelievable story here from the investor point of view.
Now what was the wholesale cost of gas before and after Katrina? Did the author even check the wholesale price of gas before and after Katrina? How can the station owner be gouging if they are charging just a few cents above wholesale both before and after Katrina?
We're getting gouged and blame is being deflected all around.
Willie
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Gene you should meet Lamar, and since Seguin is half way for both of you...
Lamar the beer is Shiner Bock and doesn't need lime or salt to taste good.
I will probably wait to see how the engine sags with the tranny out and then rig a support.
One other question (never is JUST one more): any problem with removing the unit with the rear cross brace still attached to the tranny? When I have pulled engine and tranny together, I left the brace attached. Probably another decision when we get in the middle of it.
This should be a 2-4 hour job, leaving time for refreshments.
Willie
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Justin
On any engine that has been sitting for years, you should pull the pan and clean the sludge that is sometimes so bad that it will restrict the oil pickup screen. Also look for engine pieces such as chunks of piston that will indicate other problems.
It is not that hard to pull the pan on a 322. Your service manual will tell you how or ask and I will tell you how I do it on a 55 Century.
Willie
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Saturday is the day. I have a rebuilt tranny, facilities (air conditioned with a real lift), tools and help all lined up (and some beer too). I have removed the rear axle in the past and have just pulled it back to replace the seals in the front of the torque tube and back of tranny. I have removed the engine either by itself or with the tranny, but never the tranny by itself.
Maybe I made a big mistake by looking in the service manual, but I noticed a reference to supporting the engine. It seems that it would be supported by the exhaust pipe where it goes through the frame. Would this put too much stress on the pipes/manifolds?
Any thougts on this or other pitfalls on this specific model?
Thanks in advance
Willie
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Hey Ken
I think we should designate you the 55 steering specialist! I wish you could do mine. The last one I did was easy: convertible with no fenders or dash...
Willie
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Bill
After you get it apart, you will be telling us how it works. Just clean it up and dress the points with a points file (never sand paper/emory)...if that does not fix it, ask someone else.
Willie
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Joe
The routing of the vacuum lines is as follows: from the manifold to the connection on the lower part of the fuel pump (back side). The front side connection goes to the wiper motor right side (not the center, which is not used).
There is "Y" fitting before the wiper motor, splitting vacuum to the washer switch if equipped.
For trouble shooting connect directly to the manifold....the wipers will work well until the engine is under load. Also eliminate the "Y" connector in case there are leaks to the washer switch.
Willie
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Be sure that the vacuum lines to the wiper motor are good and attached correctly, and that the vacuum boost part of your fuel pump is working well. If that is OK then send the motor back to Wiperman. If the motor is working correctly, it is better than any electric and is infinitely variable.
I have no trouble with mine and I do drive in the rain anytime I get more than 50 miles from home.
Willie
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Ken at Wheatbelt should be able to help you.
Next check all of your pipes and hangers to be sure there are no more breaks.
On my 55's there is a hanger at the front of the transmission that is often discarded.
good luck
Willie
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Thanks for all of the replys and comments. I sent the radio to Alan Kriss. He does not do FM converstions but told me about a device from 'back when' that I had never heard about. It is and FM converter. Seems it plugs into the antenna wire between the radio and antenna to enable FM reception. I already bought one for $38 on ebay...never could resist gadgets! I already have an FM transmitter attached to my Walkman cd player. Now I will be able to listen to Blasmusik all the way to Rochester.
Willie
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Thanks for all the suggestions...keep them coming. Right now I am leaning to send the unit to Alan Kriss, since his ballpark estimate is reasonable.
I have already done in the past all of the capacitors, solid state vibrator and replaced the rectifier tube with diodes.
Dang those things are HEAVY...shipping will eat up a big chunk of change.
Willie
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Just looking for some recommendations on radio repair. This includes good and bad experiences.
Thanks
Willie
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Lamar
As stated above dual points offer no real advantage except for"braggin' rights". Those setups that use the stock distributor usually have the condensor(s) mounted externally, the setups with an after market distributor usually don't have a vacuum advance making them less suitable for routine driving, and the points are not stock/generic items , making replacement difficult or impossible today.
Willie
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Brian
Thanks for taking the time to offer some suggestions. I am using Standard brand components which at least used to be good products. The Pertronix unit never did work using the stock coil or the "Flame Thrower" with the resistor in place...tended to die when idling, so I had been using the FT coil with with the resistor bypassed. The plugs were gapped at 0.036 instead of the stock 0.032 per their suggestion. The plugs looked good today but were in service for a long time (multiple clean and regap)...my guess is the coil or old plugs. Today it is all stock with newer plugs and (still) runs good, gonna try that for a while until new info.
Willie
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Back to points/condensor, no more Pertronix for now.
On the way to Batavia the rotor in the distributor of my 55 burned the tip off...the thing was actually on fire at one pont. replaced the rotor and drove to Batavia and home ~3,000 miles and pulled the distributor to clean it properly and found the new rotor was starting to destruct: evidence of lots of arcing and chips of plastic missing at the tip. The car runs well. I have the lobe sensor unit and their "Flame Thrower" coil. (I thought that "Flame Thrower" was a marketing designation, not a literal description...)
I have had the Pertronix installed for 20,000 mile sith no trouble. Pertronix has no technical support so unless I get a definite diagnosis it is gone.
Willie
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Wedneday 13 July: Finally on the road again. The first axle shaft was wrong, so it was this am before the final assembly. We left Cincinnati (actually just south in KY) at 10:00 am and pulled into Forrest city AR at 7:00pm with no new issues(535 miles). (this is like a car race: boring until a big wreck...I'll try to keep it boring for now) Maybe home tomorrow or at least close. Still having fun. (may have to post this later since it appears that the internet service at this motel is non-functional?)
Thursday 14 July: Home at last (656 miles) Left Forrest city AR at 8:00 am and pulled into Seguin, TX at 9:00 pm. 90 miles from home we were detoured from IH 35 due to a wreck and hazmat cleanup.
Friday 15 July: 3,600 miles. Cleanup and service day (car and me).Looking forward to the next road trip.
Some observations:
1) Batavia was a loooong way!
2) How do you prepare for a burned rotor and broken axle?
3) Trucks were driving slower this year. Still some jerks out there (car and truck drivers). Most courteous was Schneider Trucking (orange
trucks)
4) Gas purchased in a metro area dispensed with the funky nozzles always gave poor fuel ecomomy and driveablility.
5) It costs more to pay for repairs than doing it yourself.
6) Car got 15.6 mpg overall (you do the math if you need to know how much it cost). Gas cost 15 cents more per gallon on the return trip. Price range that I paid was $1.92-$1.34.
7) Glad I got to hookup with Bill Stoneberg as much as I did: he can ALWAYS find the best food and well poured booze and beer!
8) I was happier that Mike...Buick5563 recieved a gold/senior on a driver than if I had received it myself.
9) Some axle pics:
Looks like it was trying to break for a long time.
Willie
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Gotta get home from this last gig and do Minnesota first...
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I guess I better report this before Bill does. My highway charger is dead (sniff...). Broken axel shaft; yep, that one inch (+) sucker broke in the middle. I thought at first it was the tranny which would be a BIG problem. Replacement parts will be here (Crescent Springs, KY) tomorrow morning, so I should be ramblin' again. We got a rent car, a Tayota Cerolla (gag) and feel like I am nearly a-foot. (preceeding words are not misspeled).
Bill went out of his way to help and lend moral support; the replacements parts are coming from Doug Siebold who sent the parts without requiring payment in advance: thanks to both...ain't this a great club with friends and selfless help.
And no, I will not give up traveling in the old iron...just may have to add axel shafts (magnafluxed) to my pile of take-along parts.
Willie
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Great meet, cars and great people. And getting an award did not hurt either. By the way the preservation award I received and the new senior Mike (Buick5563) received were on cars that were <span style="font-weight: bold">driven</span>! So far 2300 miles for me. You can drive and have fun and win awards if you want. The only down side is detailing for show and unless I restore another car I will not show again...better to spend the time with people...but I will drive. Mn should be a piece of cake compared this year...may have to retire again so I will have the time to drive to Seattle.
Drive those Buicks.
Willie
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Well it was a FORD: <span style="font-weight: bold">F</span>ound <span style="font-weight: bold">O</span>n <span style="font-weight: bold">R</span>oad <span style="font-weight: bold">D</span>ead.
Next time you see it call it a Ford and maybe it will be good.
Willie
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And now a picture of the rotor
And remember it was still running, but barely and did run enough to get off the road with the vacuum advance disconnected.
Happy and optomistic times Dixon, TN (July 4) before Bill's car 'croaked'.
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Give this car a name or at least some incanations to cast off it's demons.
My choice is Robert...will explain later.
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For my part I hope this thread gets boring from now on.
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Made it to south of Columbus, no problem on my end, but Bill has a different story that he should tell.....
Willie
R&R dynaflow 55 Century
in Buick - Post War
Posted
Ok, we got it done. It took 3 hours....to get it out....3 hours to get it in and that is with 3 people working mostly full time, and no real glitches. That was yesterday. Today I spent 3 hours chasing leaks (ever hear of a Buick leaking?).
I already mentioned the air conditioned shop (NICE!) and the lift, a 2 post that lifts from the side leaving the whole underside accessible. The only last minute issue was the borrowed trans jack which we assumed would be a 2 stage telescoping unit, turned out to be a floor unit which we put on a sturdy metal table with castor wheels. I did the job. We cut a 2X4 and used it vertically to support the engine under the pan as a supplement to the exhaust pipe. The rear was supported by a floor jack sitting on a couple of 2X12 boards that were on 2 saw horses.
We basically followed the procedure in the shop manual, except that I did not disconnect the factory air and did not first remove the rear tranny cross member when removing. There was some binding between the cross member and the frame when dropping the unit due to the jack not staying vertical when raising and lowering. The cross member, trans cooler, trans mount and trust pad were transferred to the replacement tranny after the bell housing was secure.
The leaks. The leaks were caused by mental and physical weakness probably due to a beer deficiency. The worst one was at the low accumulator. The rebuilder left out the outter long bolts that hold the exhaust pipe hanger (someone in the past used short ones and left off the hanger). I used my old ones...What I did not remember him telling me was that the inner bolts were not tight...they are now. I only lost about 3 quarts on the test drive and after letting it sit overnight. The pan was leaking...bolts were not tight enough and the torque ball retainer mounting surface was leaking...again the bolts were not tight enough. Even then it still leaked around one bolt that was removed, degreased and coated with RTV before replacement.
I rained here all day today so I did no driving other than the 5 mile drive from my friend's shop and mine....maybe tomorrow. More to follow.
Willie