Projects Mish-Mash Nash -'52 Rambler Wagon

what ultra sonic unit did you purchase? Thinking I need one and looking around.

 

Yes, I've seen a few (two or three, I think) sources for new windshield glass for '50-'52s, but have not looked for the larger/taller '53+ windshields.

I would double check at ramblerrubber.com to see if the '58-'60 windshield gaskets they offer interchange with '53-'56 models, as the '50-'52 style is for the earlier shorter windshield without the notched lower corners.

It's a Creworks 22L unit. I was looking at the larger 30L unit, and can always upgrade to that in the future if need be. I added about 1/4 jug of Simple Green Pro HD Cleaner (purple in color) to the tank, then added two jugs of water, and that filled it high enough for the rocker related parts I'm cleaning.

I bought it on eBay as an Amazon return, but the seller tested it for power, so...so far so good. It powered up and I was able to set the temp and timer (I specifically went with the rotary knob model, rather than the digital display version), so the parts are cleaning now. I can see the cloudy patches, so it appears to be working as it should. I did some, but not a ton of research before buying, but there are not many currently available models in the consumer category with the rotary knobs, which I definitely wanted. This one got good reviews, and Creworks 'site lists all the pertinent info if you want to dig deeper.

 

20 minutes @140*F, and all parts are clean. I'm very impressed. This machine is not magic, just to be clear-- you should remove any heavy, thick grease, oil, etc. before you drop the parts in, but it does exactly what it's supposed to. Well worth the money IMHO.

 

That worked well. I must look into this unit further.
On another note, Rockers Unlimited may have new rocker arm shafts if needed and can reface the rocker arms if they are worn badly. I purchased new shafts for my Olds from them years ago.

 

WOW @In_The_Pink !
I continue to be very impressed with the attention to detail and the quality of this build, as seen by the clear and very sharp photographs that you are providing!
I put this build and its photographic documentation, on the same level as the build that was posted by @Drmalacarne
Guilherme Malacarne when he did that build in Brazil.
There is a complete thread about it here on the H.A.M.B.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks from Dennis.

 

Thanks for the tip. It appears they only have rocker assemblies for the Buick 215 (different than Olds 215), but I have at least one pair of shafts and set of rocker arms with very minimal wear-- definitely good enough to re-use.

Regarding the ultrasonic cleaner, one thing I don't love is the fact that the heater remains on after the timer turns off. I understand they are two separate functions, but maybe that is the advantage of the digital version-- everything shuts off when the timer turns off? Might be worth looking into.

 

Thanks. My seven year-old Google Pixel 2's camera still holds up fairly well for this sort of thing.

 

I figured replacing the old upper and lower Corvair control arm bushings would make a good winter project, and it needed to be done eventually, so, here we go. I started by cutting some 1.25" 90* angle channel to use as spacers inside the upper control arms, which prevent the legs(?) of the A-arms from being pressed toward each other during bushing removal, per a tip at the Corvair Center forum: https://corvaircenter.com/forum/ I also cut a short length of steel tube, split it in half, then used that as the spacer for the lower control arms, too. I have a 12-ton hydraulic press that did the job just fine, but I did clean and soak the steel bushing flanges a few times before pressing them out, just to give myself a good a chance of getting them out on the first try. Fortunately, the only damage during the entire process was a broken off bolt which holds the end cap washer to the cross shaft, so I drilled out the remaining bolt piece and cleaned/re-tapped the blind hole, and good as new.








Today I media blasted all four control arms to bare metal (yes, I protected the lower ball joints very well, and removed/unbolted the upper ball joints), so I will get them primed as soon as I can, then press in the new upper bushings I got from Clark's Corvair Parts and the pair of vintage Moog lower bushings I bought a few months ago. While I was ordering from Clark's, I bought some new lower control arm camber adjusting bolts and hardware, too, though the original ones I have are probably good enough to clean up and re-use-- I needed the special inner washers, so I figured I should just get the complete set now. The new pivot bolt and washers are slightly different than the original parts, but should function just the same:








I had to check to see if I had the correct speedo cable drive dust cap, and luckily, I do, though it's not the prettiest:



The backside of the LF spindle, with the hole through which the speedo cable passes visible at center-- the two smaller holes retain the cable bracket to the spindle:



While I had the front suspension parts out, I took a look at the brake parts, and they were a bit better than I remembered, especially the contact surface of the drums. Not sure I will retain the front drum brakes, but it's always an option, especially after new brake cylinders, hoses, and shoes.

 

My Model A with the Corvair front crossmember, suspension and brakes had 140k+ miles on it when I sold it. I never found the brakes to be less than needed.

 

Thanks @pprather . Mine was previously installed on a Model A...in IL. You don't know a Freddie from Quincy/Golden, IL, by chance, do you?

I don't plan to make multiple passes over the mountains, and no auto-crossing for this car, either, so I think four wheel drums would be sufficient, just not as good as discs up front.

 

The clamping power of drums is as great as most disc brake conversions.
The difference is in fade resistance. Drums will fade if subjected to multiple panic stops in a row or if driven through axle deep water.
Coming down from the mountains, I use a lower gear to contain vehicle speed without using excessive brake, regardless which kind of brakes are on the car.
Nice work on your build.

 

I started disassembling and cleaning the front brakes, hubs, backing plates, etc. yesterday, and there were no surprises. I filed off some sharp edges from past hammer blows and casting seams, scrubbed off all the caked on grease, and got one backing plate, spindle, and steering arm grease free, at least:



The brake cylinders were in great shape, with no rust inside, so they will be reused-- even the bleeder screws backed out easily. I ordered a bunch of small brake parts, shoes, hub seals and bearings, and a new dual reservoir GM four-wheel drum brake master cylinder, too.





Both drums have some very light rust in one area, so I will break out the fine emory cloth this weekend and see how they clean up. New drums are available if I need to go that route, but I'd prefer to use the drums I have.





I see an Evaporust or similar bath in the near future for most of these parts as I don't need them to be 100% bare metal, and I don't want to risk damaging the machined surfaces of the spindles.

 

Here are the post-Evapo-Rust bath results, though I did cheat/experiment a bit by using the ultrasonic cleaner's heater twice during the 18 hour soak. Overall, the E-R worked very well, and did exactly what it was supposed to-- remove rust, and only rust. You can see a few spots on the below parts which weren't as clean as they should have been (usually a bit of grease which I missed) or which had trapped air pockets, but I'm pleased with the results:









Note this product will not make any magic happen-- if there are pits beneath the visible rust, they will still be there after treatment, like so:

 

I gave both brake drums a room temperature Evapo-Rust bath, and both came out looking very nice. The minimal rust I felt on the friction surfaces was just that, very minimal. No need to have the drums turned-- a light sanding with fine emery cloth should suffice. I should be able to use the old, glazed brake shoes to get good contact with the drums while sanding, too.









I also made the decision to remove both lower ball joints, as I had no boots for either one, and generic boots I looked at weren't all that appealing, especially for a part/location which would easily get wet while driving. New ball joints are available for about $50 each, but I will see if I can find a set of NOS ball joints first. There were no issues with the ball joint sockets in either lower control arm, so I just need to clean that area up and they are ready for new ones.



I did manage to blow one ball joint apart while pressing it out, as the old socket I was using bottomed out on the top of the stud, so here's the exploded view of a vintage NAPA Corvair lower ball joint:

 

I spotted this Arvin Model 74-H heater at a local indoor swap meet last weekend, which I felt was a better option than the other smaller heaters I already had, so, I bought it. It has built in left and right defroster ducts and is more flat/horizontal in shape, which I think will work better space-wise.










Once home, I disassembled it to inspect everything, and found one of the inlet/outlet tubes was previously repaired, but needed a new repair. Not ideal, but not unexpected for something used and old. The core looks good overall, and the only leak I found was the cracked solder joint, so I melted out the soldered-on end cap and removed it, as the flange was mangled and torn, hence the leak:








I will get a new 12V fan motor to replace the 6V motor, which doesn't spin at all. Not sure if the illuminated red plastic knob at the front can be saved, but it does rotate, and the bulb socket behind it wasn't corroded. This should keep me busy until it warms up enough to head back out into the garage.

 

Way to go. I love refurbishing old accessories back to like or better than new.

 

Technical - What are you working on? | Page 160 | The H.A.M.B.
wow, another 215 collector appears down at post #4773. You fellas have the market cornered

 

A functional heater in a Wisconsin car really helps extend the driving season. It took me entirely too long to realize that.

 

Same. I'd rather reuse something old that exists than buy something new, even if it costs a bit more to do so...which it usually does.

Agreed. That darn humidity doesn't help, either, but heated seats should.

 

I would think a good heater would almost be mandatory in Wisconsin.

 

Heated steering wheel, too??? .
Because you can! & you'll like it...

I think that little heater will look very nice, work well, too. Interestingly enough, even in the late 50's/early 60's. cars didn't always have heaters - even in the Great Frozen Nort... Definitely a WTF were they thinking(?), but at least they suffered for it... .
Marcus...

 

I think it's a good idea, and it's always nice to have the option of warming things up, even if it's only 15-20 degrees. It's helps when the glass is frosty or foggy, too.

I drove at OT Jeep with a heated steering wheel a few days ago, and it was very nice, but I want to use a vintage steering wheel, so not in the cards for this project. Though when it's 25*F and with 15 mph NW wind like right now, it does tempt you.

 

My OT daily driver has heated seats and I must admit on a cold morning they are kinda nice!

 

Wait, wait; what??? You're *not* going to be doing a "how-to-fab" feature, on an elec-trick-ical wheel that is visually un-noticable to the post-nazis & wuffoos??? Awh, come-on, man... . & here I was, envisioning a two-tone, 1/2 clear plastic w/floating heavy-Roth-metalflake over a chromed steel inner ring. ;( . .

Marcus...

 

Yes, @sidevalve8ba , and they are hidden for the most part, too, save for the switches, which helps keep the vintage look.

Ha, I'm not a metalflake fan, but I do like a thicker steering wheel rim, so I may have to try my hand at modifying a vintage wheel in the future. Lots of work for sure, but I think the ends result would be worth it.

I ordered a McLeod 215 flywheel through Jeg's on March 1st, and it arrived this Friday, so naturally I wasted no time test fitting it. Everything fits together, there's just enough flywheel-to-bellhousing clearance, and the starter appear to be in perfect alignment with the ring gear, too, though I have yet to apply power to the starter itself and check the pinion gear engagement.

No complaints about the flywheel at all, it's a very nice piece. There are three pre-drilled pressure plate/clutch housing bolt patterns, so I ordered a 10.5" diameter clutch and matching diaphragm style pressure plate and will see how that fits when it arrives this coming Friday:






Bolted up to the crank flange:




Ring gear-t0-bellhousing clearance is tight, maybe 1/16" or less, but there's still room to adjust and align the bellhousing as needed:






Starter pinion gear alignment looks good:






I'm glad I didn't make a front shield for the bellhousing already, as it looks like I'll need to add a clearance bulge for the flared out flywheel center section:

 

I've had the link for this Speedway cloth wrapped wiring harness saved for at least a year, and Saturday I noticed it was steeply discounted, so I did not hesitate. It arrived today, and after a quick look over, appears to be just what I wanted for the most part. I will make some changes and toss out the cheap crimp on terminals provided, but for a basic wiring harness with a (mostly) vintage (maybe retro is a better description?) look, I'm pleased:







The hot pink and lime green wires don't pass the eye test for anything truly vintage, but they might be hidden on the interior side?:



The more organic colors would be fine in an engine compartment, I think:




Link to harness I purchased: https://www.speedwaymotors.com/12-C...ess-Cloth-Covered-Automotive-Wire,451218.html

 

A replacement 12V fan motor for the Arvin heater arrived a few days ago, and after a few modifications, a test fit revealed no issues. I now have both low and high speeds with no need for a separate resistor, which should work just fine. I still need to repair the heater core end cap, clean up the housing, figure out the switch...









I also ordered a new McLeod clutch set Thursday, which arrived today, and with the test fit complete, I am moving on to figuring out which clutch fork I need to order:





I also picked up a new T5 countershaft, as the old one is, um, not good:

 

That's a cool lookin heater.

 

Thanks-- I thought the same.

I purchased a few more needed items recently, starting with a Motive Gear 3.55 ring and pinion gear set for the 8" Ford rear...:



...bearings, shims, blocking rings, and small parts for the T5 from Allstate Gear...:









...a NOS AC Delco PCV valve I discovered under a shelf at work, and some matching PCV grommets from ebay which are surprisingly nice:



The only bummer was looking at the differential related parts again and noticing the pinion yoke is scored/grooved in two places, so I either I try a repair sleeve or buy a new yoke instead:



I won't start rebuilding the T5 until I know for sure I'm done using the empty case and tail housing for mock up purposes, but I have 95% of what I need to rebuild it on hand- seems like a good winter of '25/'26 project.