Jump to content

Project '55-63 Driver


Mudbone

Recommended Posts

I watched two of Mud's videos today. The king pin installation and the upper control arm installation.

I have done a lot of both of those jobs and he makes it look easy. I wish I had these videos available to me when I was first doing this work. 

Great work Ken.

Seriously.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, buick5563 said:

I watched two of Mud's videos today. The king pin installation and the upper control arm installation.

I have done a lot of both of those jobs and he makes it look easy. I wish I had these videos available to me when I was first doing this work. 

Great work Ken.

Seriously.

 

Video editing does help!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, avgwarhawk said:

 

 

Yes, it helps in removing the colorful 4 letter words, blood, sweat, tears, hanging ones head in disgust as a part is not cooperating/wrong and the throwing of tools.   Movie magic as it were. :) 

 

Actually I do my best to stay calm when I am working on the old Buicks. (Modern Iron is a different story) Most of the editing comes when I lose my train of thought and start rambling on with useless information.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found some 57 Chevy side mirrors that I bought years ago online. I am thinking about installing them on One Bid. They look closer to the Buick ones than what is on there now. Anybody want the ones I am taking off? I am not sure what they are from.

20170429_153412.jpg

20170429_153419.jpg

20170429_153450.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The tri five mirrors don't look too bad. My car came with non-factory mirrors and one was broke. The bolt hole pattern was the same as the tri five Chevy and they don't look out of place. Except mine are on the doors... I think it was like a going cheap thing back then? Buy the car without the mirrors then have the dealership install some off the shelf brand?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I finally found someone that was willing to do the wheel alignment for me. The first guy I met through the home Inspection business. He said I don’t work weekends and that I don’t spend much time on old cars as people only put a few hundred miles a year on them. In other words, “Set the toe and let her go!” Then I remembered a gentleman that had a small Ma & Pa shop in a small town about 20 minutes west of me. His family farmed and I worked on some of their farm equipment back in the late 80’s. I called him this morning and he said the guy that works on the older cars was not in today. I then asked him how old of cars has he worked on? He said once in a while they get an old chevelle or a camaro in the shop. I told him in that case it won’t matter because this thing has kingpins and adjustable upper outer control arm bushing. He said bring the specs with and we will see what they could do.   Of course he has the latest snap-on computer alignment system. At first they did not know how to program the computer as you have to tell it what you are working on. (It only goes back to 1995) They were trying to manually input all the specs from the service manual. Min-max caster and min-max camber and percent of toe-in. The owner and two other mechanics were trying to figure it out. Then I asked them if we could use any car as a base line and just go by the readings to adjust. They selected a 1995 Chevy caprice for base line. We then just adjusted until we were as close as we could get to the Buick specs. I was not able to get Positive camber but we got close. We could not get positive caster but got close. The toe-in was way off. He brought that back in. It was super windy today so it was difficult to tell how much better it is but it is much more controllable when you hit bumps and grooves in the pavement. The correct tires should help some when I get those on. They spent about 2 hours working on the car but he would not take any extra money for it. He said it was a good learning experience for the guys and a little history lesson combined.

20170506_150905.jpg

20170506_150910.jpg

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine it tough to find an alignment tech who understands cam-bolts, shims, sliding control arms and the like. Front wheel drive really is set the toe and let it go on a majority of them. Glad you found one willing to work on the Buick.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's my predicament currently. I cannot find a shop that will play with it the way I want them to, and my driveway is not leveled to attempt a home remedy (the street is also crowned and I don't think I'd have enough room). I finally talked Firestone into doing just the tie rods. After arguing with them for 15 minutes, it finally clicked that tie rod technology has not changed over the the years...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Beemon said:

That's my predicament currently. I cannot find a shop that will play with it the way I want them to, and my driveway is not leveled to attempt a home remedy (the street is also crowned and I don't think I'd have enough room). I finally talked Firestone into doing just the tie rods. After arguing with them for 15 minutes, it finally clicked that tie rod technology has not changed over the the years...

 

I worked a Sears automotive back in 1974-1976. We had a Bishman light align. It was top of the line back then. We still had the magnetic gauge that went on the hub for backup units. With the Bishman, I could have aligned my car in 30 minutes or less.

Bishman.jpg

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The temperature gauge is in the expected position for 180*.  At only 200* it is pegged out hot...and still pegged at much higher temps :) .  Don't know why reading with heat gun are low...should be 180* at thermostat housing unless there is a leak around the thermostat.  I have to drill a 1/8" hole in the thermostat flange to purge the air in system (maybe you were reading air?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, old-tank said:

The temperature gauge is in the expected position for 180*.  At only 200* it is pegged out hot...and still pegged at much higher temps :) .  Don't know why reading with heat gun are low...should be 180* at thermostat housing unless there is a leak around the thermostat.  I have to drill a 1/8" hole in the thermostat flange to purge the air in system (maybe you were reading air?)

 

Maybe my heat gun has gone bad. I have an electronic temp gauge. I will try and see how they compare. I had the heater on to be sure the coolant was flowing through them. I had hot air coming out both heaters. Each time I filled it and had the car running, I always got a big burp as it was warming up and then had to add an additional ¾ gallon. If the lines going to the heater core, trans cooler were not connected correctly would this cause a bypass around the thermostat?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, Mudbone said:

If the lines going to the heater core, trans cooler were not connected correctly would this cause a bypass around the thermostat?

Bypassed for awhile if the heater is on.  The nipple on the crossover manifold goes to the heaters and valve then to the bottom of the radiator...the other nipples on the timing cover go to the tranny cooler.

See the tips on heater hoses on my website.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, old-tank said:

Bypassed for awhile if the heater is on.  The nipple on the crossover manifold goes to the heaters and valve then to the bottom of the radiator...the other nipples on the timing cover go to the tranny cooler.

See the tips on heater hoses on my website.

 

I printed the hose routing. I will check and see if they are correct. Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎5‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 8:21 PM, Mudbone said:

 

I printed the hose routing. I will check and see if they are correct. Thanks!

 

I checked the routing, they are correct. Thanks, Willie. Went for a 60 mile round trip this morning to a car show. The temp gauge never was out of the upper normal range. (About 70*-75* outside temp) The car runs better every time I drive it. I think she is about ready to go to the nationals.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 4 months later...

Ok, I haven’t posted in a while but I have been driving One Bid. Last week we went on Autumn Drive. (Basically it is a fall festival where you drive and stop at numerous locations for food, farms, antiques, crafts flea markets, etc. I did the unthinkable; I got stuck and got the new white wall tires dirty!

 

 

 

Edited by Mudbone (see edit history)
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...