More heating issues! Worked on that for a couple of hours until I got it running again. Worse than a hot rod......no spark again but it turned out to be just a simple fix. Adjusted the igniter fingers and cleaned the new nozzle. Back in business. Good thing because it is 17 degrees with a breeze today. Finally got the hardware for the clutch and buttoned that up, reinstalled the bell and the lower part of the bell. I had made a bracket a long time ago to hold the clutch slave so I dug that out and did a test fit. Looks like it will work and give me adequate adjustment. Pulled it all apart and added some color to it. Will install it after lunch. Parts are being painted today so I will have some more things to work with tomorrow.
Finished up the slave and bolted it all on. One more thing in the done category. Modified the road draft tube to convert to a PCV with a plate threaded for a barb fitting. I will use 3/8 hose and try to hide the valve somewhere on it's route to the manifold. Then I bolted up the '37 Buick tranny and shoved it all in the corner for another day..... I am off to my painter's. He sprayed my small pieces and just chopped his Model a 4 inches. Gotta go take a look at that.
Picked up the small painted parts yesterday morning. Now have the u bolts for the rear so I moved things around a bit to facilitate the rear end installation. Used the engine hoist to be my helper. Sure saves the 'ol back from complaining. Then the job of adding the rest of the support arms. Took a bit of time getting everything bolted in again for the final fit. Then lots of checking to ensure the rear is square with the frame and finally tightened up the hardware. Bolted in the tranny crossmember and had enough time left to install the front shocks. should have some more parts coming in today. Might be able to get the rear back together or the spindles. We will see what comes.
Indeed Smitty. Parcel arrived this am from Sacramento Ford so I was able to get the spindles back on. This is what I had been waiting on Since I have split the bones the wheels will hit even with the new stops in. I am certain that this a common issue. Appears that I will have to extend the stop. Assembly was pretty straight forward and the spindles are now tight and turn smoothly. Unpacked the Buick backplates and installed them with new grade 8 hardware. Pulled the new 2 1/2 inch brakes out with the new hardware kits And installed. This ought to provide ample braking power Next up will be the hubs and finishing the front suspension. Waiting on those real axle seals still. Hope they can get in here this week. Anxious to get the wheels back on so I can get to work on installing the Olds.
Nice buick brake pix, keep 'em coming... Buddy is putting Buick 45s on my Sportster, adaptor / spacers are a bear to find / afford... spring will tell the story...
51 that slave is from a early 60 Chev truck. The ones that had the joined Master cyl's up on the firewall like this:
That is what I thought you meant but I cannot picture that in my head yet. Are there pics on line? Has to be very involved engineering.
This morning had to run for some parts and on return grabbed that 9 inch and bolted it back in. Still no axle seals but USPS says they are due in this PM. I did clean out the rear housing real well with a can of Gunk. Much cleaner now. Lot of crud in there since '57! Found the rear tag in one of the many bags of parts. It is stamped as a 2.91. I did the math earlier in the week and figured it as a 2.90. Either way it will make a good road gear for a time. I had a note in my build book that I had done the math a long time ago and it appeared that a 3.20 would work better for performance but still allow for some economy. The latter I suspect should not be in the "Hot Rod mentality". Moved on before lunch to put one of the Buick front hubs on so I could do the final measurements. I wanted to ensure that the 2 1/2 inch brakes are making a full contact with the drum brake surface. From the face of the 45 fin drum on the hub side it measures 3 1/4 inches to the outside edge of the brake lining insert. Put a straight edge across the hub face and measure to the inside edge of the new shoe and we come up a bit short by 3/16 inch. Therefore I will have to pull the inside hub adapters off and have them shortened by 3/16 for the correct fitment. The adapters originally came from Sanfordandson but I believe that they were used with Ford backing plates. Either way minor issue. I will send them up to my machinist buddie who has a shop at his house. Pic of the 58 Buick hub More to come............
I try to do a little each day depending on parts delivery. For the last few days I have been trying to come up with hub seals for the Buick hubs which it turns out are '61 units. They require a larger seal but the issue is finding one with the right OD for the hub and the correct ID that fits the inside spindle adapter. After a lot of hit and miss I have zero'd in on one that has the OD but will need a small amount of lathe work to reduce the adapter by a 1/16 of an inch. Now waiting (again) for parts and the machinist. Hope to get that done tomorrow then I can get the wheels on and drop the chassis on the floor so I can install the motor. Been playing around with adding a pcv valve to the draft tube. Normally not a big deal but I am anal about hoses scattered all over the engine. Also have a tight space issue to the firewall which would require moving the engine to replace the valve if it were installed behind the engine. I made up a blank off plate, drilled and tapped it for 1/4 inch pipe. Installed a right angle fitting 1/4 to 3/8 inverted flare, then bent up a 3/8 tube that goes up and under the intake where it will interface with my fabbed up 1 inch tower that sneaks up thru the intake riser hole. Put a pcv grommet in the end with a right angle pvc that needs a short 1 1/2 piece of 3/8 hose to attach to the barb fitting in the intake. Moved the vacuum hose to the other side and it will also hide under the intake popping up just enough to connect with a small 3/16 tube from the center port on the intake. Pics are coming..................
As I’ve said much to often in the past; slow progress is better than no progress. It definitely takes time to make mis matched parts (Buick brakes on Ford spindles) work correctly. Glad to see you’re still at it Walt. Looking forward to pics of your PCV arrangement. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Needs some paint, I know. And a sneak peek at the tower And finished up the rear brakes. Got everything back together and put some oil in the rear. Put the tires on and dropped it down on the floor finally. Getting there, slowly.
After three attempts at finding hub seals I finally found one that would work with a little resizing of the spindle adapters. Chucked them up in the lathe and turned them down until they fit the seal and then put them together for the last time. Mounted up the wheels and dropped the frame down on the dolly's. Now it is time for the engine to drop in. Well almost! Turns out the tranny mount I had made now won't fit! I had originally fabbed that up for the '37 Buick tranny but switched to another '37 unit when I had pulled the engine out a few months ago. Turns out the tail stock were stamped xxxxxxxxx-1 and xxxxxx-2. Must be a physical changed was made as the mount will not bolt up. It is off by a 1/2 inch. Since I had a mount already for the first unit which is my spare I figured I may as well make a new one for this tranny. Minor set back. Took a while since I had no 3/16 plate so I ran up to my friend's shop and used his stock and plasma cutter. Then weld and paint, takes longer than one can imagine Yesterday everything was dry so I threw the mount on the tranny and finally lifted the Olds back into place, Today I am going to spray a bit of VHT ceramic on the exhaust pipes so I can install them tomorrow and at that point I will have to start working on the body again which is at my friend's shop. Tons of body work needed so I don't think it is going to go fast as it is my least favorite thing to do!
Miserably cold today but I did pull the exhaust out of storage. Cleaned the pipes up with a degreaser and then sat them in the furnace hot air duct which worked quite well to heat them up. Sprayed them with Rustoleum high heat paint which I have never used before so we will see how that goes. Had to move the battery cable as it was too close to the pipe. Will be back at it today to finish the rest then I will post some pics. Sent from my LML212VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Had to tap one of the bolts for slave to hold the clamp for the cable. Can't say I am happy with it but it works Finished the exhaust, one more thing off the list. Now I have to work on the driveshaft... Sent from my LML212VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Buicks in the 60s had aluminum drums in the front, cast drums in the rear. They came in 45 and 90 fin versions, the 90 fins came on Rivieras and Electras Awesome stopping power, many guys used them on early Fords, that's why you can't find any today.
Got side tracked a little and decided to finish the e brake. I added some spacers on the front to move the handle out for better alignment with the threaded rod that actuated the cables and welded some nuts on the rear for the bolts that hold the handle. Much easier now to service this in the future. Sent from my LML212VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Ran it thru the blaster, and shot some black on it. Put it all back together and attached it to the tranny. Added a piece of all thread for adjustment. Looks like it will work. Sent from my LML212VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Now I will work on the drive shaft which I have been avoiding. I had shortened it a while back and now need to put it back in so I can set up the dial indicator to see how far off it may be. More on this later. Heater has stop working again so I have to change hats for a bit. Sent from my LML212VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Been working on a bunch of small things lately. Wasn't happy with the battery connection so I made up a right angle attachment to allow the cable to connect straight on instead of at that awkward angle. Looks better now. Then I cleaned up the intake and set it in place. It has been machined in it's previous life and presented a bit of a challenge to get it to seal. Used rtv on both sides of the gasket and will let it set for a while to ensure it is secure. Had a leak before so I am hoping this has fixed that issue. Finally put the finishing touches on the PCV arrangement. Came out alright and at least keeps that ugly hose off the top of the intake. Built a new generator mount. That fought me for a while. The intake bosses are a different height??? So I had to space the front part of the mount higher to get everything to line up. Found that my new digital level was a great asset for determining all the angles. Today I have been messing around with a set of 33 commercial head lights that I wanted to use but they do not fit the stands from Socal. Must be missing an adapter or something. Gotta look into that further. More later. Sent from my LML212VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The Jalopy Journal
