Projects New Project: 1953 Oldsmobile

Well, looks like I'm stuck with the dented radiator. I checked the guy's feedback. He sells so many that get delivered fine, that he doesn't waste his time on returns. The negative feedback is a drop in the bucket.

Judging from the feedback, the best I can hope for it ebay to force the return, but then I get stuck paying to ship it back. I'd just be out another $40 in shipping.


Sucks, but it will still work. Just irritating. I’ll give it a few more days, but I’ve missed 3 shows now. I’m getting impatient.

 

Just get yourself a fin brush, straighten those out to the best of your ability, and paint it radiator black. It'll be fine. When I had my radiator made by Superior Radiator in Michigan, they told me that there is no difference in performance by leaving it raw aluminum versus painting it black. Its much less offensive looking black and I've honestly been astonished how cool mine runs. Those bent fins will look much less obvious if you paint it.

 

Sometimes you have to suck it up and move on. As long as it works and doesn't look that bad. I agree that the black paint will hide the major sins.

 

So guess what!?

A new radiator showed up today! Looks great. Got it installed and seems to cool fine. Because it’s not the same exact one I had before, it sits a little closer to the fan, but no objections from me.

Also, I flushed the systems and switched back to classic green coolant. That’s what champions website recommended.






As you can see, I added a pusher electric fan. Seems to work great but…

My alternator hates it. In fact, I think I burned up my alt on my test drive tonight. It’s just a 90 amp, but between the fan, fuel pump, and headlights, I think I pushed it too far. Smells funny too.

Already checked the fan direction. It’s good. So I may just put a kill switch on the fan for night driving and see how that goes.

 

Good that you have a new radiator. Did you look into the anode to prevent electrolosis? I assume the fan is connected to the battery via a relay.?? Most likely you will need a 100+ alternator, 130 would be good.

 

My electric fan comes on at 190 and off when it cools down, it draws 21 amps and I have a 63 amp alternator. I really need to go close to 100 amps soon.

 

I only briefly looked into the anode, but will look into it again. I’m not sure the best place to add it. May have to be off the radiator cap or something.

Yeah, the fan is on a relay and thermal switch. I just got back from taking my dogs to the park. It’s definitely the combination of lights and fan that my alternator hated. I just won’t be able to run both at night. I’ll add a kill switch for now, but look into getting a higher amp alternator. I need one anyway. I know it’s OT, but I’ve always been into big stereos.

 

I drilled a hole in the anode and used stainless steel wire, I stuck the anode in the top radiator tank through the top hose bung. I then ran the wire outside of the top tank inlet and stuck the hose over the wire and clamped the hose. Hope that made sense.

 

Most anodes replace the drain petcock at the bottom of the radiator. I bought mine from Summit, a Be Cool item. Replacement anodes (a common boat part) on eBay. I pulled my OG one after 4 years and it was perfect.

 

Got Pistons and Paint coming up in Denton. If you can’t tell from photos, the paint on my car faded to flat years ago. Crappy paint job.

Think I’d have any luck with boiled linseed oil? Been thinking about trying it.

 

Noooooooooooooooo.

 

Oh, ok. Why not? I usually hear great things about it.

 

Buff it and wax it, linseed oil will just make a mess of it and make it harder to re paint when you want to.

 

I’ve never actually buffed a car before. Guess it’s time to give it a shot.

 

You will be amazed what a little rubbing compound and wax will do to bring back old paint.

 

Well… meh.

I really suck at buffing. Took several attempts to get it not to leave streaks and it’s still not perfect. Can you tell what part I did? [emoji28]



It’s raining today and P&P is in the morning, so I won’t be able to do the whole car in time. I’ve been doing this by hand; I need to getting a buffer and pads and try again later. For now, I’ll just have a different color trunk.

 

Harbor freight has a variable speed buffer for around 80 dollars with 7 inch pads. I have one and buffed my 31 using a compound from Advanced Auto that was recommended by a leading body shop here in town. Started with fresh clear with a medium sponge pad, finished with the same compound and a fine sponge pad. I was very pleased with how it turned out being the first car I have ever had the guts to buff. Got to b careful around the edges so as not to burn thru and never buff to the edge but away from it.
I would think you could use a fine pad and be amazed at the difference. The compound instructions state to use 1000 rpm for the first cut (new paint) and 600 rpm for the final cut. Just go slow, follow the directions and you should be good.

 

You did manage to get some life out of the trunk! Looking good.

 

Looking good!

I've skimmed over the last few pages, so I'll just whine about the alternator



To help keep the alternator undercooked there are a few things you may want to look into.

The main BAT cable does not need to go through the firewall. You want it as short as possible.
Have that go directly to the battery (+) terminal. DC has a faster voltage drop over short distances. Eyeballing it that BAT wire is ~'8 long. No need for that.

Having the 'Sense' wire long and going to where the main bus is located is fine, this will tell the alternator if it needs to kick up the charging output to keep the system, as a whole, up to snuff.

With such a long BAT cable there is the added unnecessary voltage drop added to the system.
At idle or cruise during the day it may not seem it's taxing the alternator, which is compensating, however this can already be pushing the alternator towards its max charge limit.
When the loads pile on(cumulatively) at night with lights, tunes, accessories turned on the alternator is now at max output.

Alternators are not designed to be at max output for long term.
To be safe an alternator that is about 150% max output than what your current system already needs will be what you want.
100A alternator with 90A system draw is just going to discharge the battery and then tax the alternator.
Alternators are not designed to power the electrical system directly.
Alternators are to recharge the battery.
Battery powers the electrical system.

Think of your toilet.
Battery is the upper tank.
Bowl is the system demands.
Fill valve is the alternator.

When its time to flush, tank is full and, for most of the time, flushing the toilet will do its job. Since no other loads the light trickle of the fill valve is fine for normal operation.
However, after a night of Taco Bell, you may need to flush a few times to clear the load.
If you just stand there holding the valve open your only going to have a small trickle of water come out of the valve and drain into the bowl, which will do no useful work.

Same thing when using an undersized alternator. Initially it may be fine but the larger load will demand more work than the alternator can supply. It will just trickle and eventually drain the battery.

Heat is also a problem.
If the new rad and WP has fixed the cooling issues then it may not be too bad but you will still want the alternator to stay as cool as possible.
When it comes to wire, the hotter it becomes the more resistance it will have(another reason to keep it short as possible). This includes the windings(wire) inside the alternator. If it becomes overheated a 90A alternator will perform as a 60A while still trying to maintain system voltage. Not good.
The back of the alternator is where the air intake is, the fan is an exhaust.
If the air at the back of the alternator is excessively hot(chrome valve covers reflect heat) you may want to look into adding some ducting(5" dryer hose) to the back of the alternator to pull fresh outside air in.

Your alternator, I am not even sure what model it is supposed to be.
Front looks like 10Si but the rear has 12SI cooling vents.
There was a 17si used in ~'85/'86 before the switch to CS130.
Stock replacements are
17Si 108A (only output AFAIK) good for ~70A draw
12Si 94A (highest output) Good for ~60A draw
10Si 63A (highest output) good for ~40A draw

(To feed a 90A draw you would use a 140A alternator.)

If you get some variant of these alternators, without a dyno sheet, you are at the mercy of the manufacture/re manufacture of what you may get.
I would trust AC Delco/Remy for rebuilds/new stock output units.
If you need more power but a stock look then Powermaster is probably your alternative, otherwise going to a CS130/140 unit may be your next move.

[/whinge]

 

I’ll check out the buffer. I got a better look at it in the sun yesterday. Trunk does look better than the rest of the car, so I really need to keep going on it.

 

So, oddly enough, I haven’t had any issues with charging since that one time. I’ll look into changing the length of the power cable though. Your estimate sounds about right. I ran it that way to clean up the engine bay and keep it away from heat.

 

Great day at Pistons and Paint yesterday! Afraid I didn’t take any pictures though. I always get caught up in the atmosphere.

Gas mileage blows though. Took 6 gas stations to get there and back. Averaged about 9.5 mpg. Can’t wait to get that 200r4 in there.



Other than gas, the car ran great! Not a single issue.

I’m probably going to sell the OT car I bought about a year ago and use some of the money to get the trans rebuild and do a few other things. Turns out I’m just not a Vette guy.

Got an engine question for you guys though. Rebuild or regasket? It’s a 1968 455. From what I’ve read, it’s supposed to be pretty ballsy, but isn’t really anymore. But it runs so well (other than oil leaks) that I hate to borrow trouble by having it rebuilt then dealing with new issues.

 

Last I knew those BB Olds 455's were darn expensive to rebuild. 10 years ago, a buddy did his and back then it was well over 5 grand for all new pistons and the extras. I would get a price first to see what kinda budget you would be looking at.

 

Looks great!did you solve the alternator problem by upgrading it?

 

~3900lb(empty) brick with a 400+ ci engine without direct drive or OD, and more than likely you got on it a few times. That's about right. Should be able to get 11mpg fairly easily, but if you're pushing 2500rpm+ on the highway a large engine will just consume fuel. That 4R will help out, not just on highway but acceleration with 2.74:1 1st gear over the 400s 2.48:1. Less load on the engine = less fuel consumption. Win, win.

Get back to basics.
Put a vac gage on and note any abnormal fluctuations.
Do a compression check, verify psi is acceptable and there are no variances.
Check plugs for mixture and wear.
Manifold was off, verify the bolts haven't backed out.
Or, if you've been driving a plastic fantastic, you may have been spoiled by Vette power to weight ratio.

Too bad we're so far away, would love to see Baloo in person.

BTW, if the rear wheel BP is 5x5, and the front end is a Nova clip, 76-79 Sevilles are X body and use a 5x5 wheel BP.

 

Any 455 Olds or Buick I knew was a strong runner. Maybe a compression check would reveal something? You could pick up another used engine and rebuild it at your leisure. The OD will help for sure. My Ford is good for around 9 or 10 without OD.

 

Just seen your car on youtube at pistons & paint.

 

Hoooo boy. Okay. Lots of little updates, and definitely need some opinions.

First off, sold the Corvette a couple months ago. I have the money to get some pretty major stuff done that I've been wanting to do.

Current plan:
1) engine regasket (still need to check compression)
2) 2204r rebuild
3) air ride
4) maybe AC

Not looking for opinions on bags (though I know you have them), but will my thread get canned if I post about them? I know it's been a debate of tradition since the dawn of the HAMB.

Gonna cheat with an OT picture and use Baloo. While selling the vette I realized I needed a motorcycle in my life




Ok, now I need some help on this next part. I blew my differential yoke apart this morning. Since I'm going to bag the car, in your opinion, should I replace the yoke or swap the whole rear end? Sadly, they cost about the same. The only yoke I can find that matches is on ebay for about $200. I could do a junk yard rear end for roughly the same amount. Advantage to just getting the yoke is having the car running in time for LSRU. That's a pretty big selling point for me.

Can you tell from these pictures if this ebay yoke matches?
Mine (before blowing it apart today):


ebay:


The guy says its for 47-55 Oldsmobile and Pontiac. I'm going to send him measurements from mine to check a little more before making the purchase. Unless any of you have one available for me to buy.....

 

Id do a whole rear , kinda surprised that rear holds w the 455. I may have a yoke or could pull the one off my '50 if its the same.

 

Oh yea, give me a good side shot of that bad boy so I can see what skirts look like