LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
Laura sent me that with "I washed your car!". I think she could have scrubbed a little harder.Looks like you opted for the natural wash, leave it in the rain.
1966 Polara 500 The Black Car
- Thread starter LocuMob
- Start date
65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
She could have went out with bucket of suds, scrubbed it down and the rain would have rinsed it for her
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
Well, I took it to work today.
Realized I had the vacuum advance on the wrong port, switched that, couldn't get the car to idle, had to fidgit with the damn thing, not sure if something was binding, but it seems to be behaving better. Will have to tune it again in the morning, just got it decent before going to bed at noon.
The temp sending unit is bad, or the gauge is messed up. The car is clearly cold, and the gauge reads pegged when I bump the switch. Did that on my break, and confirmed the engine wasn't near the temp indicated. When I had my temp gun on it today while filling up the radiator, it only got to 200 at the thermostat, I installed a 180° piece, and coolant is flowing. I'll just try another sending unit, or get a mechanical gauge.
My oil pressure light also comes on now, which is wierd, because it's not connected, and hasn't been since I've had the car.
Realized I had the vacuum advance on the wrong port, switched that, couldn't get the car to idle, had to fidgit with the damn thing, not sure if something was binding, but it seems to be behaving better. Will have to tune it again in the morning, just got it decent before going to bed at noon.
The temp sending unit is bad, or the gauge is messed up. The car is clearly cold, and the gauge reads pegged when I bump the switch. Did that on my break, and confirmed the engine wasn't near the temp indicated. When I had my temp gun on it today while filling up the radiator, it only got to 200 at the thermostat, I installed a 180° piece, and coolant is flowing. I'll just try another sending unit, or get a mechanical gauge.
My oil pressure light also comes on now, which is wierd, because it's not connected, and hasn't been since I've had the car.
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LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
When I got home I replaced a piece of trim on the driver seat with a better one.
Cleaned out the crap you see above, put the rear seat cushion on properly, and got the seat belts ready for the kiddos.
Found the rear view mirror under the rear seat, wondering where it went. Put that on too.
Further tuning was to commence, but rain reared it's head. More parts to swap...
Cleaned out the crap you see above, put the rear seat cushion on properly, and got the seat belts ready for the kiddos.
Found the rear view mirror under the rear seat, wondering where it went. Put that on too.
Further tuning was to commence, but rain reared it's head. More parts to swap...
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
Speaking of rain, I'm glad I stole the passenger side wiper from the gray car, this is what my car looked like as I left for work.
Thought I had a picture showing the front better, oh well. We had a hail storm come through 10 minutes before I left. Good thing the old dog is made from real steel, not a scratch. The little bit of wind cleaned off most of it.
I have to get the blower motor to work, sucks having a foggy windshield.
Thought I had a picture showing the front better, oh well. We had a hail storm come through 10 minutes before I left. Good thing the old dog is made from real steel, not a scratch. The little bit of wind cleaned off most of it.
I have to get the blower motor to work, sucks having a foggy windshield.
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LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
Being a complete motorhead, I adjusted my wiper and verified the switch at the door works for the interior lighting.
Now I need to check bulbs, and more wires.
Now I need to check bulbs, and more wires.
The joy of debugging and driving an old new project... 
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
I need to put some air into the air shocks and see how they are. Full set of KYB's at the ready. I'm also pretty sure a front end kit will be ordered or sourced, it feels a little loose.The joy of debugging and driving an old new project...
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LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
[Yesterday] They don't take any air! Time to take them out.
6:30pm Got the passenger side swapped.
6:45pm "I don't remember the driver's side being this tight on the other car."
7:15 Car down on the ground, sits about the same, maybe a little taller in the rear. Time for a drive!
7:20 Clunking? Yep, every crack in the road. The shocks work, but the ride has gotten worse.
Well that confirmed my fear, the rear springs are shot. Air shocks gave that away, to me at least. I knew something wasn't right when I had to jack the rear end up to bolt the shock on. I'll take a look at the bushings, not that it matters.
Before
After
But I'm not surprised, just another chance for me to get to know the car better.
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
Just looking at the two pictures above, I love the look of tinted glass in a car, don't know why, but I do. My Dart and both Polaras have tinted glass, the 500 being a non A/C car.
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
The driver's seat is going quickly. Too many dry popcorn farts must have done it in.
Got that reaching under the seat to retrieve a screw I dropped. The seat back is no better.
It was already starting to rip a little each time I sat in it, then I turned around to put my beer in the back seat and rrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippp, a nice clean look at the foam! I'm debating weather to have these recovered or have my spare set done and swap them out. I could always drive around with red buckets for however long it takes.
Got that reaching under the seat to retrieve a screw I dropped. The seat back is no better.
It was already starting to rip a little each time I sat in it, then I turned around to put my beer in the back seat and rrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippp, a nice clean look at the foam! I'm debating weather to have these recovered or have my spare set done and swap them out. I could always drive around with red buckets for however long it takes.
65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
Swap them until you repair them, which is original the fronts or rear?
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
Shocks, the fronts might be? I took the car for a drive, using a GPS tachometer app, I think I might have a higher (?) gear ratio, maybe 3.23's instead of the 2.76's the car was born with. Now I'm not 100% sure the tach is right, but the car sounds like whatever the number is reading. I know the speedometer needs some work, it bounces around over 50, and under 20. Between there it's great! But I was running 2500 rpm at 70 mph, that's a lot closer to the gray cars 2800 rpm at 70 mph, and the 500 has an inch taller tire.
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
I'm stupid, the seats! Both are original, I think, the front may have been recovered. Haven't yet determined if there was some funky option for the seats to have that carpet like insert. I'll dig through what I have and can find, if I can't come up with anything conclusive, I'll go with a stock style cover.
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LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
Took the car down to the local airport and did a quick photoshoot. They had a few old planes there, so I took a couple shots with them. Nothing great, but thought I'd make the pilots happy by including them in some shots.
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
And just the car.
And that was that. I got my picture, said thank you to the pilots and headed home for date night with Laura. I'm going to go back and get some pictures in front of a windowless hanger.
And that was that. I got my picture, said thank you to the pilots and headed home for date night with Laura. I'm going to go back and get some pictures in front of a windowless hanger.
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LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
The view at the house today.
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65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
I am digging the wheels, there just raw aluminum right? No kind of finish on them?
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
Yeah, they were blasted when I got them. I cleaned them up, somewhat, could have been better, and sprayed some flat clear on them. A last ditch effort to find wheels on Craigslist before I sprung for brand new ones.
Rainy Day Auto
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Wow, I feel lazy after seeing this thread. Only thing i have done on my 66 polara is buy an electric ignition kit for it.
Have not installed it yet but having it sitting on a table in the box means something ..... right
I have to get used to these C bodies again, I have had a serious case of A- body fever since the time I bought the polara.
I am messing with a 71 scamp these days but I am here on FCBO now
Have not installed it yet but having it sitting on a table in the box means something ..... right
I have to get used to these C bodies again, I have had a serious case of A- body fever since the time I bought the polara.
I am messing with a 71 scamp these days
but I am here on FCBO nowSimilar threads
