1951 76R Roadmaster project

[Smartin]

You are a very patient man

[Buicknutty]

Looks like good progress is being made!

Keith

[Eric W]

Patient - well, we'd all like to have the car running & driving for the price, right.  But then we wouldn't like the price...  So it's been more work than I thought, but at least this electrical stuff isn't all that expensive.  Yes, it adds up, but a lot of "entertainment" value for the money...

 

Started on the center splice.  Got 5 wires done on the forward end of the splice.  Have about 3 more on the front end, but 2 of them split off - dome light, I think.  I need to figure those out.

 

It's probably been covered elsewhere, but I should post the trick to soldering that I got from an aircraft electrical book:

 

Trim insulation on one wire about 3/8".  Twist the strands tight.

Trim insulation on the other wire (the new one, if one is new) about 1".

Peel off 3-4 strands of the 1" length.  Twist the rest tight.

Trim the twisted part to about 3/8" length.

Now you have 3 long strands hanging out from the tight twisted group.

Lay the new wire next to the old wire, in line, so the 2 bare twisted ends are next to each other.

Wrap the 1" length around both, securing them mechanically, so you don't have to hold them.

Then put the solder on.

 

This works well for 16 gauge or smaller.  For larger, make all those lengths a little longer.

 

Also works well for making a solder joint where 1 wire branches off into two. 

[JohnD1956]

Nice tip on soldering. What about doing a butt joint between the two?

[Eric W]

Here's a photo, if this is what you mean by butt joint.  This is typical of what I'm doing in this section.  Each solder joint is covered with heat shrink tubing.  I have these joints staggered along the 7 or so wires in the bundle, so when I put an over-wrap back on, the bundle will be more or less the original size.  Need to maintain that because the spliced bundle fits under a cover plate on the floor.

[JohnD1956]

Thanks.  I wasn't picturing that alignment at all, but now it makes perfect sense.

[buick5563]

The stagger is indeed a key to a neat installation. Good job Eric.

[Buicknutty]

Nice procedure for the repair.

Keith

[Eric W]

Last night, completed the forward end of the splices and got it wrapped.  The pair of white wires off to the right side of the car are for the RH dome light.

 

The other pics are the back end of the splices and getting that wrapped up.

 

What you don't see is anything from the couple of hours of cleaning out the channel that the wires sit in.  The hose with a rag taped to it was the start.  I fished that thing through each side of the channel about 10 times, vacuuming what came out each time.  Then one time, I moved the vac to the other side of the car and accidentally put the hose on the blower instead of vac end.  But that gave me an idea - as a last step, I put the vac nozzle in the center hole of the channel and blew it out to each side.

 

Snaked the wire bundle into the channel, then completed the splices for the back end.  Before installing the over-wrap, I checked, and all lights work.  Don't have a working brake light switch or reverse light switch yet, but at least when these are installed, the wires from fuse panel to the lights out back are all good.

[buick man]

Great splice technique.  Might add if doing a lot of wiring connections at one time, one can quickly set up and run a melted solder pot dipping bath.  Just dip the splices into the premelted solder then quickly roll them out to get your nice even coverage after of course first preheating the splice with your solder gun. 

[Eric W]

Thanks! To finish off the brake light switch, reverse light switch, and horn connections went quickly after the adventure into the middle of the harness.  Got the rebuilt starter reinstalled.  Plan to get back to working on engine start, because with the wiring in place, hopefully engine start won't require much more in the way of parts cost.  Once it starts/runs, will probably move onto the brake system - since I may be able to get functional brakes for less than the cost of a radiator recore.  I expect the radiator will need to be recored, but just dropping off the radiator & writing a check is less "quality time" for me than getting a brake system going...

[Eric W]

Well shoot - that was almost too easy.  Had first engine start last night, after what was reported to me as around 30 years since last run.

 

Actually started it 3x.

 

A couple of days ago, when I put the rebuilt starter in, I was disappointed that the starter would make about half a turn of the crank and bog down.

 I could turn it by hand by the nut on the front pulley, so it wasn't jammed or anything.

 

I pulled the plugs out.  MUCH easier to turn.  So it's getting bogged down on compression.  I took that as a good sign - that it's got at least some compression.

 

So I pulled it through by hand a few revolutions.  Then sprayed some PB blaster into each cylinder.  Let that sit about 6 hours, then turned it 180, and sprayed some more in.  Let that sit overnight, and turned it some more by hand.  Couldn't tell if it was getting easier or not.

 

Over the next few days, I'd hit the starter for a couple of revolutions to see if that would loosen it up any more.

 

Then last night, I put the plugs in & wires on.  I put the terminals on the starter wires at the carb & made the carb electrical connections.

I bumped the starter using the carb switch - yes, carb switch works.

 

So I added fuel to the float bowl through a short length of fuel hose with a tiny funnel in it.  Pumped the throttle a couple of times with the ignition switch off (so I could see the accel pump moving fuel in).  Sprayed some starting fluid in there.

 

Ignition on, hit the starter, and it started right up!  Burned the fuel out of the manifold and stopped.

 

So I did all that again.  Quickly burned the fuel out of the manifold and stopped.

 

3rd time, I had a little squirt bottle of gas ready, so I nursed it along dripping fuel directly into the carb.  I opened the throttle up some - accel pump worked, and the engine sped up and maintained until the fuel in the float bowl burned out.

 

This was a better series of starts than I had with the 263 / 41D, so I think this one is going to run ok when I get fuel delivery straightened out.

 

Oh, and it sounds awesome with the main exhaust tube unbolted from the manifold - even unbolted it blew a bunch of junk out of the tail pipe...

 

I'll see if I can get some video, then I need to put the battery back in the other car for the weekly cruise night...

[pacerman]

The first noise from a dormant engine is always a Kodak moment in my garage. Congratulations and I am adding my complements on your wiring techniques. I have learned things from this thread. Joe

[Buicknutty]

Congrats! Its' always a great event to start up an engine that has sat idle so many years.

Keith

[Eric W]

Getting video out there was harder than starting the engine!

Had to download new video editing software because the other one's free trial had expired. Then had to figure out how to use the new software.

Then, I couldn't remember my youtube account password.  The online questions also proved to be impossible, so I needed to receive a text message with an access code.

I have text turned off on my phone.  To turn it back on, I needed into the account manager app.  That app then demanded an update.  But there wasn't enough internal memory.

So I had to fight my way back through how to move files from internal memory to the onboard micro SD card.

That done, back to the app store.  Update the app.  Then re-discover how to turn on text messaging.

Got that.  Back to youtube, it sent me the text, reset the password, uploaded the video.  All of the above only took about 5 hours...

So anyway here's 2 minutes of fun.  Don't turn the volume up too much - engine noise is much louder than me filling the float bowl with fuel...

Oh, and the run time is one float bowl's worth of fuel.  That's it.

http://youtu.be/MuuzdJ47Ozo

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Sounds smooth, Eric. Way to go!

 

  Ben

[dei]

Way to go Eric!

There is nothing like the unmistakable sound of a Buick straight eight! :-)

I like the way your are going about with the cars. Should be fun when you get her on the road again.

[JohnD1956]

Purrfect!!! 

[old-tank]

Couldn't see you smile at the end, but we know it was there.

[Eric W]

Thanks guys!  Ok, onto brakes.  Got the fronts stripped down.  Found the outer washer missing on one side.  Anyone have an extra?  2 1/16" od x .84" id x .12 thick, with the little tab on the inside (see last picture).  Inside of the backing plates cleaned up pretty good with just a little wire brushing.  As on the 41D, I plan to get new wheel cylinders & hoses.  Need to get another pair of jack stands to do the rear.

[old-tank]

Eric, I have your washer.  I can put it in an envelope and send today if your Tucson address is the same.

Willie

[Eric W]

Yes, same address.  Thanks Willie!

[Eric W]

Rear wheels.  Went quickly enough the left I didn't get a before photo.  It was gummed up with cobwebs like on the right one.  Right side - before & almost after.  Need to put the upper springs back on that one.  I got these done with new wheel cylinders because the FLAPS had them on the shelf.  Had to go to the place that has access to more obscure stuff to get the fronts (on backorder).  Those 1 1/8" fronts - aren't available everywhere, but they are available.

[Eric W]

Received the washer - thanks again, Willie!  Found a little time each day after work this week to clean some more on these brake parts.  Got the rears put back together.  Front wheel cylinders on order.  Will swap out the hose for the rears + pull the master cylinder...

[Eric W]

Got the master cylinder out.  Scored the new replacement on ebay - those aren't always on there, but whoever is selling these will put a few on buy-it-now for 24 hours every once in a while for about $45 less than Cars, Inc's catalog price.

 

With the master, you have to salvage the studs out of the old one, clean them up and transfer them over to the new one (or source new mounting studs).  I did this fairly easily on the 41D.  These required a couple of days soak in blaster and some torch heating of the nut.  I clamp them in the bench vise using aluminum soft jaws so the threads on the master cylinder side don't get chewed up.

 

Got the hose to the rears replaced.  Still need to hammer the retaining clip in a little more, but I was tired of working overhead on the creeper by the time I got to that point!  Though this hose remove/replace went a lot easier than on the 41D.  If you check my thread for that car, I sheared the brake line & had to make a new one.

[Eric W]

Front brake cylinders came in.  So on with those.  The rear brake pad on each side is pretty thin in the middle, but I'll drive it around a little as-is and plan on new brake shoes...

[JohnD1956]

Those adjusters are pretty far out.  I'd be inclined to save a future wheel pull and just do the shoes now.

[GARY F]

are you installing new lines also?

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Those adjusters are pretty far out.  I'd be inclined to save a future wheel pull and just do the shoes now.

 

 Me too.

  Ben

[Eric W]

Thanks for the input.  Checked the local store - brake shoes are lower cost than I thought, so I'll just get those in there.

 

Not doing the hard lines, but did change the hoses.

 

Master cylinder installed.

[old-tank]

Eric, you are going to accuse me of helping you spend money, but don't use over the counter brake shoes.  The lining material is too hard and will  be harder to stop the car.  Best to take your old shoes to a local brake/clutch rebuilder and specify soft or more aggressive linings.  Take the drums in too and they can match the shoes to the drum.

Willie

[Eric W]

At least I saw your advice before buying anything.  With that, I'll probably button it up as-is, since what I think I need at this point is brakes enough to drive it around the block to check the condition of the transmission, etc.

 

If something big is wrong with the transmission, I'll have another path to go down for a while before really needing brakes.

[Eric W]

All of the fender ports were missing when I got it.  I picked up a few at fairly low cost from ebay just to fill the holes.  When it comes time to make things really nice, these are available in reproduction.  At Springfield, I picked up another one - that had the backing plate and fasteners.  So that gave me a pattern for the others.  Figured out these are held in place with 10-24 screws.  I made up some backing plates and re-populated the left side.  Need 3 more for the right side.

[Eric W]

Repacked the front wheel bearings, rolled the front brake adjusters in a little, and reinstalled the front drums.  Now need to round up a helper to bleed the brakes.  Made up a little wooden bench for where the front seat goes (still no appropriate front seat - I need to call back the guy I spoke with a while ago and see if he still has that '52 2-door seat and see if I can motivate him to ship it to me...).  I was a little surprised at how low the bench really is - I know these seat springs have a good bit of give to them, but the little plywood seat ended up feeling right at only about 5" above the floor - floor does dip down about another 1 1/2" near the door where the seat attach points are.

 

Installed new hoses to/from the trans cooler.  Capped off the center small outlet from the water pump (same as on the 41D) to bypass any of the heater lines, which is absolutely necessary in this car because neither the under seat nor defroster heater cores are with the car.  With the coolant portion at least hosed-up, I filled the radiator with coolant.  Brought the battery over from the 41D (still haven't bought a battery for this car yet), and started it up with fuel hand-filled into the float bowl (so it's not going to run for very long).  Shifted through the gears, and it appears the transmission is working, at least with it on jack stands, so that's a BIG plus.  The freeze plugs that I replaced along the side of the engine are all slightly weepy.  So that's a bummer.  Will get to do those over again.  Pull the carb, pull the manifolds, etc. - could probably do the front and rear plugs with the manifolds in place, but the center plug really needs the manifolds out of the way. 

[old-tank]

You can bleed without help.  Open the bleeder, five slow pumps of the brake pedal, close bleeder, refill master cylinder and move on to the next one.  I use a variation of the concept using a 60cc (2 ounce) syringe suspended with the tip down.

[Eric W]

Here's a little video clip of checking the transmission.

 

http://youtu.be/ygli1VxiTUw

[JohnD1956]

Nice!!!  Although I'm surprised you shifted from a rolling drive to reverse and vice versus.  I bet that puts a strain on that reverse strut.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Here's a little video clip of checking the transmission.

 

http://youtu.be/ygli1VxiTUw

 

 

  Eric, that is great. Looking forward to seeing it completed and driven.

 

  Ben

[Eric W]

Been a while, with visitors from out of town, then being sent out for work.  Got the brakes bled last weekend.  My daughter was on the pedal, and it went much more quickly than I remember for the 41D.  I pulled out the parts being stored in the trunk and on the roof.  Next step - set up a temporary fuel supply and see if it can move...  At least pull it out of the garage to sweep out underneath...  I'll swap the wheels/tires over from the 41D since I had the dead junkyard tires removed from the rims to be used on this car.

[Eric W]

Been a couple of weeks, but my kids had a week off school, so we went out of town for that. Big thing is, I think the seat will happen. A comedy of errors - he lost my info, I misplaced his - I found his info again, and I called and left a message a couple of days ago. He said he deleted my message and lost where he wrote down my number, but hit redial on his phone & got me today. So I got his email address, and he said if I don't get an email from him with some photos to call again in a few days.  He had hot-rodded a '52 56R and pulled the stock seat for a later-model one. He also let me know about some other parts left over from that project, so there might be something else I could use...