Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 You were LOTS of help Tom! I did rebuild the transmission this year. Another job I did not think I could do. Turned out " a piece a cake". The back bearing was rough. It is holding up ok. I really don't beat on it too much. The place I enjoy and appreciate the engine is on the road. Hills? Where? Need to pass? Go for it! Not quite C note on the dash acceleration , just a solid pull. And it doesn't seem to quit. Bet you have a lot of stories. Too bad we are so far apart. Drinking coffee and talking Buick Straight Eight would be FUN. Thanks for the back pats. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) Well , folks, time for another update and a "tell all " I believe after Oklahoma City I mentioned, somewhere, that George would overheat if the AC was used while towing the teardrop. Ok with either or, just not both at the same time. So I just did not use AC while towing. Well, last summer, while doing neither and enjoying No Texas scenery on a 100+ day and not paying attention , he overheated. Way over. I let it cool down , added water and it did it again. Watching this time, so not excessive. Kept this up and made home . I knew , from the OKC trip, as noted, the radiator was marginal. SO, I bought back one I had sold to Pete. A Roadmaster one. Installed same. Boy, is it close. Fan about 1/2 in from radiator and 1/2 inch from pulleys. Temp now holds 180, even with the 195 stat. All good! NOPE, another gremlin reared it's ugly head. A noise. Kept getting louder with time. Pulled the head and found score marks in 1 & 4. Or rather deposit marks. The overheating back in summer had done some damage that was not going away. Two of my "gold plated " pistons had swelled enough to mar the cylinders and stick the rings. This was in Jan, I think. Tear down AGAIN! Did not pull the engine . Time lag on replacement pistons was three months! Finally got it all back together last week and all is well, I hope. I have driven about 150 miles so far. New rings. Rod bearings replaced just because. The cylinders were not marred. Just looked that way. All the aluminum cleaned off . Lightly honed to "bust the glaze" as Dad said. So onward and forward. Or something like that. Ben Edited June 2, 2021 by Ben Bruce aka First Born (see edit history) 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 I was asked for pictures of the AC installation, and cannot find them. I thought I had posted some, but guess not. So here goes. This one shows' the Sanden mounted on the original generator bracket. Mounted on the compressor is the bracket to which the alternator is mounted. The inner pulley groove aligns with the crank pulley. The outer groove drives the alternator. Ben 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 (edited) This poor thread! I have let it languish almost three years. Really have not done much , though. About this time last year [2023], I started an installation of a junk yard cruise control. Pulled from a mid '90s Caprice. The same system was used on a lot of GM models. While working on it , an electrical problem cropped up. I am running a '90s GM EFI . When switched on one hears the fuel pump building pressure until it shuts off. Well, it came about if any light was turned on before starting the engine, the rascal CYCLED AGAIN. I searched . Searched for a week or so, off and on. The car ran ok, it seemed. So off to Spokane. The searching for the electrical gremlin stalled the cruise control project. I did have to replace the fuel pump twice. What is going on? After the trip, which I enjoyed immensely, I found the electrical gremlin problem. IT WAS ME. The positive battery cable, which I had "made" back in 2010, was corroded under the shrink wrap at the battery post. I KNOW to check cables. The EFI ECM requires 12V. Not 11.8V . I guess that when the lights were turned on, the corrosion would limit the current available to the ECM momentarily, causing it to cycle off and back on. New cable fixed the problem. It was probably doing the cycling while running as well. The pump problem was probably caused by low voltage. I think! After getting that straightened out the cruise control project was a piece of cake to complete. I have made a couple of regional trips and it works well. Today, another "problem" was done away with. Vacuum wipers never were any good. So a Newport electric conversion! No more stopping due to rain. That's all , folks. Ben Edited February 14 by Ben Bruce aka First Born (see edit history) 5 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 12 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said: This poor thread! I have let it languish almost three years. Really have not done much , though. About this time last year [2023], I started an installation of a junk yard cruise control. Pulled from a mid '90s Caprice. The same system was used on a lot of GM models. While working on it , an electrical problem cropped up. I am running a '90s GM EFI . When switched on one hears the fuel pump building pressure until it shuts off. Well, it came about if any light was turned on before starting the engine, the rascal CYCLED AGAIN. I searched . Searched for a week or so, off and on. The car ran ok, it seemed. So off to Spokane. The searching for the electrical gremlin stalled the cruise control project. I did have to replace the fuel pump twice. What is going on? After the trip, which I enjoyed immensely, I found the electrical gremlin problem. IT WAS ME. The positive battery cable, which I had "made" back in 2010, was corroded under the shrink wrap at the battery post. I KNOW to check cables. The EFI ECM requires 12V. Not 11.8V . I guess that when the lights were turned on, the corrosion would limit the current available to the ECM momentarily, causing it to cycle off and back on. New cable fixed the problem. It was probably doing the cycling while running as well. The pump problem was probably caused by low voltage. I think! After getting that straightened out the cruise control project was a piece of cake to complete. I have made a couple of regional trips and it works well. Today, another "problem" was done away with. Vacuum wipers never were any good. So a Newport electric conversion! No more stopping due to rain. That's all , folks. Ben Interesting. Since I have the same EFI as you, that means I too can get cruise control? How are you doing that without a speed sensor? What type of switches did you use and where did you mount them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 (edited) Matt, a few years ago I bought a GPS speed box that drove the original mechanical speedometer. This unit also has an output for cruise control. There is probably a less expensive way to go. Willie [ Old tank ] Pittman has an after market cruise control on his '55. The switch came from the internet! Mounted atop the clamp on signal light switch. Real redneck! Ben Edited February 23 by Ben Bruce aka First Born (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 2 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said: Matt, a few years ago I bought a GPS speed box that drove the original mechanical speedometer. Oh cool. Pretty accurate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 (edited) 4 hours ago, NC-car-guy said: Oh cool. Pretty accurate? Yes. On some, and mine is one, the speed has to be adjusted. This throws off the odometer. I learned to live with that. I went to it as the speedometer was way off after switching from the original 4.1 to the 3.36rear gears. Then during the return from Spokane the mechanical speedometer started jumping around so bad I disconnected the drive cable and now depend on the GPS speedometer I have had since 2011. Ben Edited February 14 by Ben Bruce aka First Born (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buicknutty Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Ben, great to see this thread updated! I had a discussion with a couple of other car guys last week and was reminded of you and your car when we were discussing modifying original engines for a bit more performance. Nice to see you and the car again! Keith 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 34 minutes ago, Buicknutty said: Ben, great to see this thread updated! I had a discussion with a couple of other car guys last week and was reminded of you and your car when we were discussing modifying original engines for a bit more performance. Nice to see you and the car again! Keith Thank you, Keith, As I said somewhere in the past, the extra performance is not tremendous, just significant. The trip to Spokane encompassed all types of terrain. Only a couple of times was 2nd gear needed for a hill. And this with the 3.36 gears and pulling the 1200# tear drop. AND just shy of 18 mpg round trip. I am happy. Ben 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buicknutty Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 4 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said: Thank you, Keith, As I said somewhere in the past, the extra performance is not tremendous, just significant. The trip to Spokane encompassed all types of terrain. Only a couple of times was 2nd gear needed for a hill. And this with the 3.36 gears and pulling the 1200# tear drop. AND just shy of 18 mpg round trip. I am happy. Ben That sounds great Ben, good mileage too along with a few creature comforts! Win, win, win! I am led into temptation by someone who has offered me a rust free (they claim) '49 56S for a couple of thou, but it is a project. Which once again got me thinking about upgrading the engine somewhat, akin to what you did to yours. I'm running 3.4's in my '41 Roadmaster and it drives and pulls great, it has only slightly higher compression than stock and could likely turn a bit taller yet without strain. Keith 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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