Aaron65
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Posts posted by Aaron65
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Took the Firebird for a nice rural drive; the trees are already coming along.
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That DID happen to me once. I bought my '53 Buick in 2005, when I was 28 years old. When I was in my early 30s, an older gentleman asked me if I was the original owner. I very rarely am left without a snappy comeback, but I didn't know what to say. The only other time I was that flabbergasted by a question or comment in public was when an older lady looked at me on a Sunday morning in a grocery store parking lot and said, "You look like I feel!" Well OK then.
Nothing like keeping a fella down to earth! -
Hey all,
I'd like to have the vacuum motors on my '65 Dart rebuilt; they work, but they no longer hold a vacuum when I use my vacuum pump, so they're likely on their way out. The heater's important, because the Dart is my cold, dry weather old car, and nobody likes vacuum leaks anyway. Anyone know of a reliable rebuilder with a reasonably quick turnaround time? Thanks!
Aaron -
4 hours ago, old-tank said:
I found wires inside and outside the distributor HERE. You have to search or call.
Thanks! I'll give them a call...
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5 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:
Aaron, the flexible wire used inside the distributor is available. I can't remember where, but have seen it recently. Perhaps one of the wiring harness companies?
I went to electronic ignition and have not looked back. The pertronix is a good, inexpensive and reliable system. It CAN be a problem for six volt systems if the voltage is not up to snuff. As can other things.
Ben
I've switched to electronic in 5 out of the 7 as well...new points just seemed to be a crap shoot. The only thing keeping me from making the switch (ha!) on the '53 is the generator; I've read that electronic modules don't like the inconsistent voltage. I forget...did you convert to 12 V?
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EDIT:
First, thanks Robin. I did a ton of investigation over the last day or two after work, and I may have crossed wires in my head. Either way, I figured it out. My newer wire from the points to the coil broke at the connector. When the vacuum advance moved the points plate, it broke the connection momentarily.
New questions:
1. Modern wire insulation seems less flexible than the original, and I think that caused the wire to bend at the connection rather than bending the wire. I made my new wire a little longer to offer more flex. Is there an alternative with more flexible insulation? I used 16 gauge wire.2. My ground connector question still stands. I'd like to fix that at some point soon.
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I'm chasing an intermittent cutout problem on my '53 Special. When I push down on the accelerator for normal acceleration, it will feel like all power is cut, but it only lasts a second. It pulls fine at full throttle and has plenty of fuel from the accelerator pump. In case you're curious, here's what I've checked:
1. Fuel pressure at highway speed is 2-4 psi, depending on whether the needle is off the seat or not. This pressure is after the inline filter. The gauge is unaffected when the car cuts out. It pulls fine at full throttle.
2. I've tried three different condensers and two sets of points. The nut that holds that strap to the points was slightly loose after I swapped condensers the first time, and the problem got way worse.
3. I replaced the point wire to the coil (inside and outside the distributor) several years ago.
4. Ignition on, engine off, points closed=6.3V at the + side of the coil. Same at the - side.
5. 3.9-4.0V at the coil with the engine running.
6. Fuel runs out the sight plug just a little with the engine running.
The ground wire from the points plate to the distributor body is original. It's not great, but it has continuity. The connector that screws to the distributor body is special so the distributor cap fits on. Has anyone tried any tricks to make a new wire without this connector? I can't think of anything...do any of the suppliers sell it?
If you can chime in here or have any ideas that I might be missing, feel free to add that too.
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You're exactly right, Lebowski. Since the model year was extended, they needed more letters. My April 1965 built car has "R" on the VIN tag, so this car was apparently scheduled for May 14, 1965.
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I was just down there in my (shame) Buick.
To add to what Glenn said, you can "adopt" a car at the R.E. Olds Museum quite reasonably.
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I just looked through my service manual - it looks like an inline filter was all the V8 cars had (at least the four-barrel cars), in case anyone runs into the same question someday and finds this in a search. I think it might be time to change the inline filter, regardless of how clean it seems.
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I just had the AFB apart on my '65 Skylark. It hasn't been that long since I've had it apart (maybe 4-5 years), but the bowls were dirtier than I like to see. I run an inline filter that seems clean, but I long ago removed the filter that's located in the fuel inlet. Does anyone know what Carter used as a filter in '65? I seem to remember that mine had a paper filter, but I'm not sure if it was original. My Corvair uses sintered bronze filters, but that has Rochesters on it. Thanks for any ideas.
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I love the rooflines on '64 Ford and Mercury 4-door hardtops. You could hardly go wrong with that one...a beauty!
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I drained the converter and cleaned the pan today. There was many, many years of gross stuff in there. I'll try to pull some of the old fluid out of the drain pan and put a drop on the manifold, but it might be too mixed in with whatever was in the drain pan by now.
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Excuse me for the hypothetical situation, and I apologize if I've brought it up before (I'm having a deja vu moment), but I'm pondering trans cooler alternatives for my Dynaflow.
A little backstory about why: I've been a bit of a bad car parent, but the '53 has been super reliable for years (I've had it for 15 years now). Before I took a 200 mile drive last week, I checked the transmission fluid for the first time in a while, and it was low (it drips) but it was also very gray and dirty. So I made a note to change it today. I've never had the pan off this thing, but I did have the converter apart 13 years ago when the engine was out, so that was the only service I've done to the fluid. I don't think the pan's been off in 50 years, so you can imagine the sludge in the bottom. There was also some flakes of bushing material, etc., but no big chunks of anything...probably signs of a very old 121,000 mile transmission. Anyway, the fluid was so gray that I started to think of the cooler. I didn't smell any antifreeze in the transmission fluid (at least it still smelled like transmission fluid, even if it didn't look like it), but it's something to think about.Anyway, if it ends up that the cooler's swapping fluid (I've also never noticed any evidence of that in the antifreeze), has anyone tried any other options, like a cooler in front of the radiator? No big hurry here, I'm just thinking out loud, which is why I'm afraid I sound like a weirdo when I post.
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My wife and I took the old '53 up the sunrise side of Michigan for a nice 200 mile jaunt yesterday. She didn't miss a beat, ran cool, and pulled down around 15 mpg or so. Not bad!
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It looks like you have enough taper that a machine shop would probably recommend boring it, but they'll probably go out to .030 over rather than .010, just to make sure it's cleaned up AND because that seems to be the most common replacement piston size. Most of the manuals I've read have recommended no more than .005" of taper, but I'd guess that was pushing it. You'd still have to hone it for the rings to seat, and even then those new rings would be getting a workout as they expand and contract to fit the bore taper. It would be a short term fix for sure, but if you don't put on too many miles, it might get you by for a while. I've certainly done things the "wrong way" to save a few dollars (temporarily) and just to see if it could be done, but I'm a weird guy.
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I've noticed the same thing around here since April. I don't have anything older than 1953, but I've been out driving my stuff a lot, and I haven't noticed my usual ration of other old cars on the road. My theory is that a good portion of people who own old cars only get them out if there's somewhere to show them off; since there aren't any shows this year, many people haven't bothered.
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I'm learning about these cars once removed with my '63 Thunderbird, and mine's only a hardtop! They're really cool, but way more complicated than most old cars, and they're pretty frustrating to work on...I can't even imagine how much more complexity and frustration a Continental convertible would bring to the party. Anyone see that episode of Jay Leno's Garage where he introduced a guy who travels around the country fixing the windows and tops on Continentals? Any time there's a guy who can make a living doing that, you know you're in for trouble.
But this isn't a hobby that makes sense to a lot of people...do as I say, right?
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No problem...I don't remember pulling any steering linkages on mine, so you may want to try removing the pan without disconnecting the steering first. If it doesn't work out, you can always disconnect some stuff then. Good luck!
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Dropping the pan in a straight 8 Buick isn't bad because the engineers thought of the mechanics having to work on them. Your car should have four holes drilled in the front crossmember so you can easily remove the front four oil pan bolts. Other than that, you may have to turn the crankshaft so the counterweights don't get in the way of the front of the pan as you slide it out. It's been a while since I removed the pan from my '53 Special in the car, but I had to do something to the oil pump, and I believe I finished the job in an hour or two. Make sure you have a manual on hand for torque specs and things like that. Good luck - let us know what you find!
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Looks like a '63 to me.
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I don't think you could do much better than that!
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3 hours ago, Pfeil said:
That's sponsored by Ames Performance Engineering. So it's used junkyard parts, unless someone has some NOS stuff he's SOL.
Yeah, but their forums are populated by people who own and like Pontiacs, so he might find that some of those people have NOS parts. How could it possibly hurt to broaden one's search?
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For Sale: 1967 Cadillac Eldorado - North Hollywood, CA - Not Mine - 10/13 Ad Deleted
in "Not Mine" Automobiles For Sale
Posted
Anyone notice that the left front fender says "Eldoardo?" Either way, nice car in a nice color.