Jump to content

1954 century sedan. GA to NC


NC-car-guy

Recommended Posts

On 8/1/2017 at 5:41 PM, wndsofchng06 said:

Ha ha ha radio shack.... last one in NC shut down last year....   I miss them.  Anyhow, I'll try the nylon washer.  Good news is my radiator arrived.  Any tips for soldering on the new overflow tube???

IMG_0854.JPG

IMG_0855.JPG

IMG_0856.JPG

Hi Matt

              Use a lot of soldering paste to clean and "tin" the metal and put your original tube from the other radiator on by "sweat" soldering it. If you haven't done it B4 it might be best to take tube and radiator to rad repair shop to solder it on. That should be a ten minute job 4 them imho.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What type and size tubing are you using? If I recall, the tube radius doesn't tightly follow the contour of the radiator where it turns to go down the side of the radiator but rather stands off a bit. I can provide a picture of what I'm talkin about if needed. 

 

edit) nevermind, I see from reading above that you have the tube from another radiator so it should have that bend I am speaking of. Depending on how much of the original tube you can leave on  your new one will tell how well the old one will fit up to it. Hopefully an inch or so? 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, MrEarl said:

What type and size tubing are you using? If I recall, the tube radius doesn't tightly follow the contour of the radiator where it turns to go down the side of the radiator but rather stands off a bit. I can provide a picture of what I'm talkin about if needed. 

I'll copy my other radiator (the unrepairable leaker).  I'm not going all the way down though, just far enough to hide a rubber line to an expansion tank.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, wndsofchng06 said:

To catch the coolant.  I'm not a fan of dumping it right on the ground on hot days.

You won't have much to catch if you watch the fill level, have a good radiator cap (13# like the the AC cars) and good functioning radiator.:o

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, wndsofchng06 said:

To catch the coolant.  I'm not a fan of dumping it right on the ground on hot days.

 

 

What will happen  or maybe not depending on how full the radiator is...it will find it's happy spot and not overflow.  My 54 overflowed once after filling to the brim.  Once the excess fluid was belched out(happened when I stopped and shut it down)  it never did it again.  The fluid level found it's happy place.  Never belched again.      

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

 I9turned it on its side, heated it up and let solder flow in.  We'll  see.  Put the radiator in today,  didn't realize the 55 and 54 radiator were so different!  Anyhow,  also changed out the Ranco valve. 

20170818_174504.jpg

20170818_174515.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The guy I spoke with says he shows the same part for 1955 buick hood letters and monograms with rectangular pegs (the 54 hood letters mount different).   I have a few 55 hood letters and will verify.  If that's correct, CARS shows a listing for 55 hood letter clips. May still be hope...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, wndsofchng06 said:

Nah. Just cruise.... she's not really car show material,  headliner,  carpet,  door panels and dash all need redone for that

 

My car is definitely not car show material, but I still go. You'd be surprised, people enjoy talking about a project more than a show queen, from my own experience.

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

well she goes!  Accelerates good!   Brakes need more adjustment I think.  And something is not quite right under the hood.  While I was warming it up for our ride, it just stalled.  Didn't sputter or anything, just cut off. Started right back up. Once on the road she drove good but was stuttering as I took my foot off the gas pedal, so I brought it home for tonight.  

IMG_0942.JPG

IMG_0944.JPG

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check your choke, it might not be set up right and causing your bog. That's the only thing I can think of for stuttering at idle and off the gas pedal. How does timing look? Vacuum advance working correctly?

 

Also those black walls and po-caps really give the car character!

Edited by Beemon (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have no idea if the vac advance is working. No stutter at idle, she'll just stop. Stutters when I let off the pedal after acceleration. Havent looked at the choke either, wouldn't know what "right" was.... never messed with one of these.

Edited by wndsofchng06 (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, wndsofchng06 said:

I have no idea if the vac advance is working. No stutter at idle, she'll just stop. Stutters when I let off the pedal after acceleration. Havent looked at the choke either, wouldn't know what "right" was.... never messed with one of these.

 

Loosen the choke housing. At 75 degrees, rotate housing so choke just taps shut. If it's hotter, open it up when the engine is cold and vice versa for being colder (aka, put it a little past close). The choke spring may be worn after heat cycling 60 years so it could be sluggish to respond and you can buy new AFB chokes over the counter. For simplicity, I took an Edelbrock electric choke and used that. You have to flip the spring over to work, but I've had zero complaints. A lot of people don't like electric chokes, but the stove choke never worked right for me and the electric choke has always worked for me. Down in the South, I can see the choke setting not being so crucial, but up north where I drive my car year round, it can get pretty annoying when the choke never pulls off.

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...