Gary_N
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Posts posted by Gary_N
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OK, as usual, nothing ever goes smoothly when replacing things, especially when you're near the end. In this case, it's Yoda's (my '50) rear axle bearings. They came out rather easily once I made a puller. But getting them in is like impossible.
The new bearings are from Japan; look very nice and measure exactly the same as the ones I took out, 70.64 mm. Of course I did use a Japanese Mic. Is that cheating?? Anyway......I've been pounding and pounding with no luck.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks and happy Labor Day!
Gary
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Storage is hard on the car. My '50 sat for a long time. I spent a small fortune on the gas tank; had to restore the carb; new fuel pump and lines. It was fun to do actually, but as Derek says, the fluids issue is a big one.
And by the way, I have had great luck with a new battery from Antique Auto Battery. I think that's the name. I did add a 6 Volt alternator which made an amazing difference. Lot's of cranking power now since there is so much more charge to the battery when running at low RPM. I also added a Pertonix ignition and an inline fuel filter after all was changed. I think it's also a good idea to change the battery cables, especially the ground.
I did find lots of rust in the brake system and I'm assuming a lot of that is from sitting.
Gary
Gry
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Well that makes me feel better. And yes, I've been following the manual. I was thinking that maybe I could heat and bend the bent eye back in shape, but, I'm not sure what affect that may have on the metal, if any. Guess I'll look around for another control arm to see how much they are.
Thanks for the replies.
Gary
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I've been rebuilding the front end of 'Yoda' and am now trying to install the lower control arm 'rod' (or pin or whatever you want to call it) that bolts the control arm to the frame and is the control arm pivot point. Anyway, once the rod is slipped into the ends of the control arm, there are two bushings that screw onto each end of the rod through the control Arm. Both the rod and bushings are new.
So on to the questions: The bushings are very tight, like VERY tight and I have to use a 1/2" air gun to screw them on and a lot of lube. I'm also not sure if I have them all the way on since the head of the bushing is not flat against the 'eye' of the control arm. I remember the old bushings were very, very tight when coming off as well. Is this normal?
After cleaning, blasting and painting the control Arms I found one was bent. The distance between the two ends where the 'rod' slips on is supposed to be around 11 1/4". One is 11" inches. Since I need a replacement for this arm, I was thinking that maybe I need to replace both of them. I've already spent way more that I wanted and would rather not buy two control arms if this tight bushing thing is normal.
Anyone have experience here?
Thanks!
Gary
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Willie, the bearings from Olcar are Japanese. I would think those would be good. There is another supplier (A & D Antique Auto Parts) that has American made bearings. A & D seals are Mexican and Olcar seals are American made. Also, their front wheel bearing are American Made. Jeff at Cars tells me his rear wheel bearings are Japanese as well. Again, I feel OK with Japanese stuff since I think their steel items are good. What do you think?
Gary
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Willie, do you have any suppliers in mind for the bearings? I'm looking around now.
Gary
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Willie, you are a knowledge powerhouse! My old bearings are not usable. I rented what seemed like a puller that would work and all it did was bend the inside of the bearings. So, I made my own puller. Ugly but it worked. I have bearings coming from CARS but I assume that's the dreaded Chinese stuff? I'll look around for bearings of your suggestion.
Should I use any type of lube on the seals or leave them dry?
Thanks!
Gary
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Robberbach, it helps. What about the inner seal?
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Hey Everyone:
I'm replacing rear seals and bearings on my '50. I have a question on the rear axle seals. The seals I bought from CARS don't look like the seals I pulled out....with great trouble I might add.
The center section of the seal has a 'rubber' ring, the seal itself that slides over the axle. The rubber seal is rounded almost like an 'L' so that on one side the rubber edge is smooth (curved edge) and the other side is flat or the edge of the 'rubber'. The inner seal was previously installed with the flat edge pointing out. For some reason that seems wrong to me. The old outer seal is one that I installed earlier and I could have put it in wrong...but in any event, I had it installed with the curved edge point out. I was thinking that it should be this way so that the axle has a smooth surface to rub against when being installed since it's a very very tight fit. I was thinking the inner should be the same?
Last year I replaced only the inner seal and it leaked more when I was done. This time I'm replacing both seals and the bearings. Also, the current leak seems to be seeping from the outside metal edge of the seal. I would think that since the seal is pressed in, it wouldn't seep? Bad seal maybe? Cheap Chinese stuff maybe?? Or, bad mechanic...probably.
Would appreciate any advice.
Thanks!
Gary
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Sometime in '65. I'm pretty sure is was a '65 Wildcat.
Gary
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OK Lamar, I see that....we'll just have to wait and see how it goes!
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I bought a new Master Cylinder from Cars for 'Yoda'. Seems to me this needs to be bench bled. I have seen various how to's on new MC bleeding. I was wondering if any of you have bench bled a late 40's early 50's MC and how you accomplished this.
Thanks!
Gary
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On my Corvette (race car) I use Synthetic Caliper grease to lube the inside of the sway bar bushings. I guess this might be OK? Seems like a better lube than brake fluid?
Gary
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I figured out what was making 'Yoda' creak when going over speed bumps. It was the sway bar. I'm rebuilding the front end and amidst all of the grunge and grease, there wasn't any kind of lube on the old sway bar bushings. I couldn't find anything in the manual about lubing the new bushings. So, should the new bushings be lubed?
Thanks!
Gary
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The driver's side was a bear, the passenger side was normal. The king pins came out with just a little tapping. The harder part was getting the grease plugs out of the top. Again, the driver's side was a real treat.
Gary
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Thanks for the replies. I finally got them out. I had to remove them on the bench with a BFH and thick punch. Driver's side took awhile. Passenger side was much easier. I was thinking I was doing something wrong since my rust bucket '48 De Soto pins were a breeze to remove.
Gary
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I finally got started on the suspension and brake kit from Cars. Yoda is really in need. I have a couple of questions for some of you guys that have already tackled this work. I'm sure Willy has done this a million times!
King Pin removal: Is there some trick to this other than banging the ba-jesus out of the locking pin? I assume the locking pin always removes front to rear or can the pin be installed either way? Since the pin is flush in the rear and not flush at the front, I'm thinking it's front to rear. The manual just says drive out the pin. This is only the second time I've removed King Pins. The 1st time was on my '48 De Soto and that was easy. Yoda is another story.
I also noticed that there is about a 1/4 inch of play when moving the steering lock to lock. I haven't read about the steering yet and I'm not sure what steering rebuild parts are available but I can't imagine there should be any play, correct?
Thanks!
Gary
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Thanks for the help!
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And also, I want to pull the engine out. The trans needs some work. It has a loud chatter in first gear.
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John I didn't check compression. My oil pressure gauge is alway reading high when cruising.
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At first I thought that if the compression one each cylinder was ok, I might just do the heads and clean the gunk out in the pan, which I'm sure is there. But that seems to be just putting off the inevitable.
The front and rear seals leak. The fronts are very bad. There's oil all over the place.
I'm fairly sure I have the insert bearing.
Can I have the block chemically dipped? Wouldn't that be a better clean out than hot tanking?
Gary
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Well, I think it's time to dig into Yoda's 248. I'm getting tired of the quart of oil on the floor clean up and I think he's getting a little smoky. He has just under 60,000 miles.
I've search around the forum looking for some helpful threads. Didn't find much so I thought I'd just ask.
Anyway, helpful advice will be appreciated.
Gary
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Check out this thread. There is a lot of info on working the STR8.
http://www.teambuick.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12146
Gary
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Lamar, I'd even come to Georgia for that!!!!
Gary
How the heck do you get the wheel bearings in??
in Buick - Post War
Posted
Willie, I should just PM you since you know all! And although Lamar has taken up the flag of enhancing my reputation as the "Bull", and although, yes, I like the BFH and my Plasma Torch, I was in fact trying to use some finesse with the bearing install, with the key word being trying.
I did manage to get the bearing wedged since my idea of light tapping is somewhat confused. I had one side in a 1/16th too far. So, with some "light" tapping on the other side I managed to get it lined up and it then slid into place with not much effort. Hopefully I didn't hurt anything since I don't want to pull it out. The other side, now that I'm more educated in these matters was a breeze!
By the way, the CAR bearings look very nice. I think I'm OK with Japanese bearings!
Gary