Friartuck

Agree with trimacar and 31 Caddy, this is a useful thread (problem and solution) and is now a few years old. I'd like to take it one step further and if 36 Ford Truck (Original Poster) is monitoring his own thread I'll suggest doing one thing to help determine which solution did the most good: Disconnect the cable from the engine to the frame and how does the starter perform? In other words was increasing the cable size or adding the cable from the engine to the frame or a combo the real solution. My experience with the Optima brand has not been stellar. The initial output is good, but lacks in longevity. While two in parallel may improve the cranking time, I have a confined space. Given the price of the Optima, I'll stick with my wet cell and replace every 5 years.

Jim, I recall leather washers/bushing at the top of the steering column that dry up. The stiffness you're experiencing is not in the steering box but the friction between the shaft and the leather. Pop off the horn button cover (press down and twist 45 degrees and release up) and the Alum steering wheel hub to properly get access to the leather washers. If you don't want to remove the steering wheel hub you might get away with using a syringe to inject fluid up between the lip of the Alum hub and the steering wheel outer tube. It may even be possible to use a spray lubricant to spray up under the lip. Your choice on using neets foot oil or lubricants. Chris in NJ.

A Man of vision and true to the hobby.

A modern material to consider are the boards used for Printed Circuit Board (PCB) electronics industry called Glass Epoxy. Agree on carefully drilling out the old rivets and use tubular rivets. Big flats rivets is a good source.

Frank is close in the explanation. UVIRA deposits an aluminized glass coating over a nickel plated surface. Their process is used in making medical surgical lighting systems. Bill Atwood at UVIRA is a car guy trying to offer a service to the car hobbyist. You must supply the reflectors already nickle plated (not chrome). The advantage is the reflection is slightly better than silver, AND does not degrade over time. I use their service and am fully satisfied. Uvira, Inc. 310 Pleasant Valley Rd. Merlin, OR 97532 Telephone: +1.541.956.6880 Fax: +1.541.476.9096 email: uvira@terragon.com They put a glass coated aluminum surface on that is almost as good as silver and will not tarnish with age.

Check the specific clear coat that is available today. PPG's refinish website lists data sheets for their products. The DCU 2002 Concept high solids polyurethane clear is compatible over Deltron DBU Basecoat, Deltron DBC Basecoat and Concept DCC Acylic Urethane. Check the data sheets and also consider Shop-Line brand clear. Ask your jobber: http://us.ppgrefinish.com/PPG-Refinish/Products/Automotive-Refinish/Deltron

I recall seeing a cartoon in an issue of Automobile Quarterly that someone may remember. The cartoon showed two prisoners; the older "senior" inmate wearing old faded black and white stripes sitting on the lower bunk sobbing into his hands and the newbie with brand new prison garb just entering the cell. The caption reads: "never, never, never again will I use a Huppmobile as a get away car" Anyone remember this cartoon and in what issue? It's not listed in the first index and I'd like to avoid going through all 200+ volumes to find it.

I like Bhigdog's suggestion of using the rolled pin over welding. Pin could be removed if needed in the future.

I've used Flexane in making door rattle bumpers. This large axle bumber, I would make a wooden pattern, make a mold out of plaster of Paris (cheap and easy) and use lots of mold release on the wood pattern, perhaps even a coating of petroleum jelly (Vaseline): http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public4/door-bumper-3.cfm

Some additional thoughts on this garage project: 1. Depending on how you use the other garage and/or basement, include some PVC conduits for air, phone, security, CATV, Network cable, etc. I have my compressor in the detach garage and have air going to the basement for the bead cabinet, and other air needs. 2. How will you heat your shop? I like radiant concrete floor radiant. Even if you don't select radiant floor tubing into the slab, at least insulate the slab. Given your KY location I think, 1 inch thick should be effective enough. Colder climates would use 2 inch thick. Purpose of insulating the slab is to minimize the slab "wicking" the heat from the shop. Without insulation, the slab will always be at outside temp. The foam must be 25 PSI rated. The sheets at the local box store are only 15 PSI and will crush under concrete and car weights and render it useless. The 25 PSI foam sheets are available, just have to order it and do ship lap joints, not butt seams. Foamular 250 from Owens Corning is a reliable product. If your KY area presents both cooling and heating needs consider two medium size heat pumps in opposite corners of the building. Don't rely on one unit to do all the work. 3. Include side pass door (sort of obvious, but it wasn't mentioned). 4. Will you stick build the roof or use trusses? If truss, then use a design that permits some storage. This is now fairly common when ordering them. 5. Layout where things will go, like the compressor. I've always found the area just inside the garage door to be a good location. This helps when planning where certain electric need to be located. 6. Where is the work area (bench)? Include extra electric outlets at the bench area. Electric Subpanel should be adequate enough for compressor load and outlets and lights. Likely to be 30-40 amp capacity. 7. You could go crazy with insulating by using spray foam, but that gets pricey, but an option nonetheless. 8. Garage Journal is a good place for hobbyist folks to bounce ideas. Their Discussion Forum usually has good results: http://www.garagejournal.com/

CKowner and 31Caddy comments on their personal experiences seem to dictate the next step. Bite the bullet. Pull the head and yank the pistons and investigate why this is happening. I can see oil burning in the first 10 or so miles, but not after 50-60 miles. Something is wrong. Time to find out what before serious damage is done.

David aka trimacar, What is the purpose of the pockets around each spring?

Perhaps perform a compression test on all cylinders to baseline each cylinder. Maybe do a leak down test while you're at it? Is it possible a ring broke when rebuilt in 1980? This would confirm or identify a problem of the rebuild. What story do spark plug's color tell about each cyl firing? I don't regularly use MMO, but 1 in 5 sounds like a high concentration. 1 quart in 400 miles should show as an obvious leak if seals. Just my $.02.

Agree with cahartley, this doesn't sound like a leak and time to seek another solution. My suggestion is use Sea Foam cleaner & lubricant to free up stubborn rings: http://seafoamsales.com/ You can use Sea Foam in both the fuel and crankcase. Its one "snake oil" that has a proven track record. Available at most auto stores like Napa and even Walmart.

My suggestion is to make this column from scratch rather than trying to fool around with altering an existing part. The original worm portion may have to be pressed on to the steering shaft. This would be a machinist's challenge. Start the design with solving the steering shaft (tube) and the three concentric tubing pieces for the controls. In the ham radio world for those who want to make their own antennas, companies offer alum tubing that the OD fit inside the ID of the next size up. Between these two companies one should be able to solve this in either 6063 or other alum alloys: http://www.dxengineering.com/search/product-line/dx-engineering-aluminum-tubing?N=360162 http://www.speedymetals.com/s-193-round-tube.aspx I'd suggest using sealed bearings in the top and bottom of the column. Trans Bearing has been reliable in finding bearings and bushings of various sizes: http://www.transbearing.net/ The column's overall outer tube could be brass from Speedy Metals. Get thick wall tubing to machine the recess to fit the bearings: http://www.speedymetals.com/default.aspx

Consider using sign painters enamel such as 1 Shot: http://www.1shot.com/One-Shot/Products.aspx Sign painters enamel is formulated to flow out even and blend the brush marks. Takes a steady hand and consider starting with 2 fingers of your favorite scotch blend.

Suggest a rubberized coating. I have used this product from Eastwood: http://www.eastwood.com/paintable-rubberized-undercoat.html An alternative is the pick up truck bed liner coating. Eastwood offers several brands. POR offers a quart and gallon size bed liner coating: http://www.por15.com/POR-15-OEM-Bed-Liner-_p_105.html. A more economical way maybe to visit to the local bed liner spray shop and perhaps they'll sell you a pint from their barrel or have them spray it.

Some definitions are in order here: Generator- produces Direct Current (DC) to the electrical system and charges the battery. Sometimes there is a regulator to throtle the charge rate. The generator produces at mid to higher engine speeds Alternator - produces Alternating Current (AC) which is then converted to DC via a rectifier (an arrangement of diodes is common). All alternators require a regulator which can be internal or external to the unit. In some cases the rectifier is included (embedded) with the regulator. The advantage of using an alternator over the original generator is that the alternator will produce more power at the slower engine speed. The original poster (OP) mentions the bulb getting brighter when the engine speed is raised. Sounds like the bulb was being used as a crude regulator. Its a way to divide the 12 volt alternator voltage to approx 6 volts across the bulb, leaving 6 or so for the rest of the car. This is not a good practice. Since the car is set up for 6 volts, I recommend using the original 6 volt generator configuration. Brattons model A Ford supplier offers both a 6 volt generator and a 6 volt alternator. Using the alternator would provide the best power output while sacrificing original appearance. Nice if you plan to drive in a lot of parades when the engine speed is expected to be low or do a lot of touring and using lights at night. The answer will dictate do you want originality or are you going to drive a lot on tours and need the extra power. The OP just provided some clues. The CB radio is a 12 volt item. There are 6 volt to 12 volt inverters if its necessary to operate a 12 volt accessory. Vendors such as Brattons offer brighter bulbs in 6 volt as opposed to the 12 volt quartz (OP doesn't say which).

Wanted to share my latest project. Its a Gasboy pump which was marketed/sold for generic fuel dispensing. Thought the Diesel theme is something you don't see that often. It looks really nice at night with a 10 watt bulb

Restoration Specialties In Windber, PA offers some thin D profile rubber that might seal the trunk up enough. If your still concerned about leakage, I made up a cover using Stay Fast top material that is the same as the convert top, as David Coco advised in his response. It needs to be sewn/crafted tight to minimize flapping in the wind, which would affect (dull) the paint. Stainless steel snaps can be located on the edge of the trunk rack, two on each side, and perhaps two on the front. Its a PIA to remove, but the protection it provides is worth it. And matching the tire covers and top is a nice aesthetic. Note the use of French seams on the corners for added strength and the panels cut to size & shape for a tight fit..

I've also used Happich's simichrome polish. I like it over Wenol. http://www.simichrome-polish.com/

Powder coating perhaps??

Bob, Sounds like the needle movement twisted when the needle went to full. The gauge's needle should rest at EMPTY with no connections to it. Either replace it with a used gauge applicable for your Buick or send it to a gauge repair shop. I know Wolf is one vendor mentioned here in the Forum. More importantly is why the gauge went to full. Looks like the the sending unit has separate connections, one to ground and the other to the gauge. If you have access to a Volt Ohm Meter, use the resistance scale and measure the resistance as you manually move the float from one extreme to the other. Common problems are the metal arm that glides across the winding loses contact at certain spots or the winding itself broke (wore down). PM me if you need more help.

I believe the standard engine green applied to the twin six series all the way through their production. You may want to ask this question on the Packard forum (http://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/article/)

I believe a major difference between the Phaeton/Touring and a Speedster is the wheelbase. Phaetons are on a longer wheelbase whereas a Speedster is on a shorter wheelbase, much like a Roadster or Runabout. Also the Speedster would have the front and rear seat areas closer together and depending on the body builder, a body that is lower and narrower than normal. Given the difference in body contours, a special windshield would likely be fabricated. A Speedster may have a lowered chassis. A good example is the 1930 Packard 734 Speedster.