Another One Before, Well, As The Snow Flies

[Newport 66]

I don't even think I touched it! I opened the cap to see how the level was, LOW! I heard dripping later, and looked down to see the above view. Laura asked me what I was going to do. "Grab a spare I have. Good thing for hoarding parts." She rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

Must be a phenomenon of some kind. Did a cam/timing gear upgrade in the '62 Polara, put it all together and the radiator was leaking. The worst part? Now so is the rear main. So it sets until next winter as I build a 413 for. The 383 is going to go in my grandsons truck.....

 

[LocuMob]

I got it together,and now I don't know if the thermostat is opening. Still have the same amount of coolant in the radiator, but it did seem to be moving around, got that slightly cloudy look after about ten minutes, but I haven't added any, and I only put two gallons in. FSM says it takes 16-17 quarts, and I'm only half way. I need to get tires in the morning, and I'll have my mechanic look at it, as it also needs some tweaking to the carb (still) and the timing. I tried for maximum vacuum, and had to turn the timing back to normal, as it was too far advanced and sounded like crap when I tried to accelerate. Should never have touched the timing, but I should be able to get it better than it is. Has a sweet spot I lost, and cannot find. It is being the most troublesome car to sort out that I have dealt with.

 

[HWYCRZR]

You would still have a bunch of coolant in the block even after removing the radiator. Removing the radiator hoses just basically drains it down from the heads. To get it all out you almost have to remove a soft plug. When I had to pull my head I only got about 2 gallons out of the radiator drain.

 

[HWYCRZR]

Same issue on mine when I timed by and tried to tune by vacuum.
Ran like crap at mid throttle. Set the timing at about 7-1/2 at 600 rpm (tight engine)with vacuum advance disconnected. Decent idle ( maybe a hair rich) good mid range and Hwy. No hesitation of I stomp on it at 55.
I found that on my worn out carb I had to have the mixture all the way to the stop (full rich). I had to play with the carb and idle quite a bit. Maybe play with it more when I get back. I should have over 700 miles on it by then.
Or I may play with it if I get board in Stillwater.

 

[LocuMob]

You would still have a bunch of coolant in the block even after removing the radiator. Removing the radiator hoses just basically drains it down from the heads. To get it all out you almost have to remove a soft plug. When I had to pull my head I only got about 2 gallons out of the radiator drain.

The coolant moving across the top of the radiator was good to see, guess I'm used to an empty block. And yeah, usually the water pump gets taken off, so that would explain the amount of coolant I put in. Oh well, I have two gallons mixed up if I need it.

I'm bringing a spare carb with me to the shop. If he can't get it dialed in, I'll swap them over. I can't run the vacuum advance, it runs like garbage. Only other points distributor I have is in the parts car, and it is rough. I've never worried about touching the timing, but this one makes me scratch my head. Everything inside checked out, so that's good. I'll know more in the morning.

 

[LocuMob]

Friday I brought the car to my mechanic, and got the timing sorted out, and got the primary side of the carburetor clean, and installed a new power valve, accelerator pump diaphragm and check valve, and some gaskets for the squirters. Secondaries aren't working properly and the carb will go back for a thorough soaking and further parts replacement. And it got new tires.

Those trim rings were fun to get on, two fought me, the other two fell on effortlessly. But they're on.

Looks so much better, I love raised white letter tires.

 

[LocuMob]

Saturday I tried to make it to the car show, but the car had other plans. It was popping and chugging along, but the gas gauge was dropping to quickly. It went from half (full, as I had just filled up before leaving) to quarter tank only 35-40 miles into my trip. I stopped at a gas station and saw fuel leaking out at a pretty fast rate from the sending unit. Replacement lock ring. So I turned back and headed home. I drove a little bit more to empty the tank some, so I logged 100 miles. I did make it to the car show later that day, and it all turned out fine.

 

[LocuMob]

Tonight, Sunday, I wanted to get a little more fuel out of the tank so I went to a friend's house about fifteen miles away. He and another friend wanted to check out the car, so we opened the hood. My friend pointed out my heater hoses were on the exhaust manifold. Good eye! Then he started looking at every wire and hose to make sure they weren't going to get caught on a sharp edge. In doing so, he moved the heater hoses more than I had before, and one started leaking at the nipple for the heater hose. Ok, no big deal as I was planning on replacing them. I looped a hose to both nipples on the water pump to make it home.

While I was showing him the car, I grabbed the air cleaner and set it on the carb. I didn't think it would fit, but it does, so I'll be getting a new element for it and putting it on.

 

[LocuMob]

After attempting to go to a car show, and finding out the new lock ring was doing what it does, leak, I grabbed an old one off my '66 Polara parts car, along with some goodies for my '66 Polara 500.

The new one isn't the same it has shorter flanges, it looks like the tabs are in the right place, but it's a little thinner and doesn't "bump" up enough. Don't use GLR03.

The old one came out after one (1) tap with a screwdriver, and then fingers were all I needed.
Installed the old one, hooked up my fuel line, ground strap, and the gauge wire.

Didn't line up the ring the best, so I put that on the list for the next day.

Another car jacked up in the driveway.

And for you @commando1 Stan, it only took two tries (each day) to make the car stable. (I did have the stepson pull the parts car out after I moved the rear end over five feet due to an uneven surface, so I'm not completely stupid, just partially.)

Car was giving me trouble when I went to leave from work this morning. Didn't crank, click or anything. Checked wires going to the trans, looked good. Checked voltage at the battery, (glad I had the multimeter in the car!), and finally cranked it at the starter relay. Key worked after that, but it was grumpy, and I had to two foot it for the first mile. Don't know what that was all about, but I got it home, and it seemed to start running better. Jacked it up, and went to better position the lock ring. Well, bonehead I am, I forgot I put some gas in it, and as soon as the ring got the slightest bit loose, out comes gas! Had decent clothes on, so I had to run and switch shirts, then find a rag to stop the flow coming down on me. Got it tightened up enough to stop the leak and let it evaporate before snugging it down good. I have to play with the camper the next few days, so the car is going back to the mechanic for the carb cleaning. I'll leave it there so he can tune it, and I won't have to shuffle any cars.

Getting there. Have to check my stash of front end parts, I might have a set of tie rods laying around, perfect for my "I'm broke, but want to still work on, and build my cars" position I'm currently in.

 

[Dsertdog]

Becoming "car poor" ? Heh heh....

 

[LocuMob]

Waiting for the carb gaskets to arrive, I got bored and took off the plastic back panel on the drivers bucket. What's this?

Score! Tape held up good, a little finessing and it was out.

But wait, it's not for my car.

It's for another Monaco 500, but with some more options, like power windows. And it's a later car, sequence-wise, and it's white. Still a cool little discovery, even if it's not the one I'm looking for. Passenger seat yielded nothing, I might take the rear seat back off if I get bored again.

 

[LocuMob]

So this car has been sitting in front of the garage, and I haven't done anything to it. I decided to swap carbs just to get it on the road. I had zero hope that it would work. The car had been smoking when running since the carb rebuild, and it wasn't anywhere near correct. Maybe my buddy was in a rush to get out of town, I don't think he'd do a half *** job on purpose, he's not that guy. Whatever, it doesn't matter to me, as I know he will go over that carb and make sure it's right in the end.

So I took the Holley off.

And put on an Edelbrock 1407 750 AFB I had picked up some years back. Had a good layer of carbon-ish black on it, and a little residue inside. Sprayed it with carb cleaner and wiped off the deposits as best I could. Simple as it gets. Put on a clear plastic filter and some new fuel hose, and slapped the linkage on.

Took it out after not really tuning it. Started right up, so I went out for a spin. After thinking I could kill all the mosquitoes in town, I pulled over and opened the hood. I had smoke coming out from under the hood, I figured it was coming from the breather (hose cut that should go to air cleaner). I shut the hood and turned for home. I said "screw it" and kept it heading out of town. It went well under part throttle, then stumbled a few times before cleaning out and hitting it hard. I left town 20 over, and hit a nice sweeping curve at 70, then kept into it for the next mile or so until I approached a sharp turn with a gravel approach on either entrance.

I turned around and headed back to town, I didn't know how much fuel I had left, and the car was getting a little hot, with the way it was set. Burnouts would have to wait, but I wanted to.

Got back home and hooked up the SunTune my dad had given me years ago, finally put it to use.

Tuned the carb and put on the factory dual snorkel air cleaner, with new Wix filter 42043, which Parts City (O'Reilly's independent, same part numbers) lists for a '68 Dart with a 383.

Took it to get some gas, and saw an older GM with fins, and decided to chase it, I got on it coming out if the roundabout and just put it into drive when I ducked into the turn lane for the gas station. Good thing I did, as there was a cop sitting there in the median of the divided highway! I may have gotten past a generous 10 over range they seem to allow, but it would have been fun. The idle might still be a little low, the damn thing is so quiet when it's coasting, it seems like it's shut off, but it doesn't. But it runs awesome! The smoke went away, and it likes to get up and move, I'm really liking that 4 under the AX code on the fender tag. It seriously is a different car than what it was before, and all from a carb swap. Scotty's a happy camper once again!

 

[LocuMob]

Pulled into the driveway last night I felt and heard a klunk in the front end. I had also experienced some slight steering differences earlier in the day. Time to install the tie rods I bought a month or two ago. They came in a Moog box, which I ordered. Even got a magnet. Took off the drivers side after wasting half of my available time. Pretty grimey.

Took a rusty blade I had and a wire brush to the sleeve.

Good enough for this guy. Slapped it back in, emptied all three grease guns I had (nice of me to leave them empty!) and realized I was late for work. I'll install the passenger side tomorrow.

 

[65sporty]

Are you going to send it out for a alignment or just use a measuring tape to get the toe in close?

 

[LocuMob]

Are you going to send it out for a alignment or just use a measuring tape to get the toe in close?

I'll get it aligned, I tried to put the new tie rods back to the same spot they were in, should be fairly close.

 

[LocuMob]

Got my idler arm and tie rods installed that with the help of the granddaughters, they asked a lot of questions about my tools and what all the parts were. (I'm still hoping I can get one to drive my Dart at a dragstrip when they are old enough.)

Back together.

Wiped off the excess grease, dropped it back down and check the tires, looks pretty close, I'll find out on Friday when I have it aligned before I set out for the Cars at the Lake (CATL) cruise over in Illinois/Wisconsin. Not bad for a first adventure with the car.

Tune and test on the carb in the morning, and a brief run around to see how it feels.

 

[LocuMob]

Just got back from a 20 mile cruise, it's freakin' awesome! Carb still needs an accelerator plunger to be proper, sticky when stomping it to the floor. But it runs fine, and steers better, something still wants to go right, but it's good enough for this guy, and I'll be in Illinois before dusk tomorrow. So pumped to be heading out on the open road again! See everyone this weekend!

 

[sixpkrt]

That's great news you've been working out the bugs to make the trip back to Illinois.
Give me a ring when you get in town.

 

[LocuMob]

That's great news you've been working out the bugs to make the trip back to Illinois.
Give me a ring when you get in town.

Will do.

 

[LocuMob]

Made it to Illinois, and then on to Milwaukee, back down to Illinois, and back to Minnesota without incident. I chronicled my journey with an untested, unproven car here:

My CATL Drive Experience

One of my favorite pictures of the trip. @sixpkrt was waiting for us here.

It was a great time, with the fine folks of the Illinois members and also some of our Wisconsin members. It was also nice to meet @ayilar since I missed him at the Volo event in June. It was great raking up over 1200 miles in every type of driving environment, and not having any issues. The car did what I asked of it, and seemed to love cruising around and having it's legs stretched.

The car did tell me some things as the miles piled up, though.

It will need wheel bearings, possibly at all four wheels, as there was a little noise coming from the rear, nothing terrible, very slight, but it was there.

It needs ball joints. The guy who did the alignment told me that when I picked it up. Luckily, it was a guy in at least his late 50's, so I had a very brief talk with him, and I knew it would be ok.

The steering gear is wonky, it pulls to the right when you let off the wheel. Not as bad as before the alignment, but it still pulls to the right. Undecided as to what will happen there, as it doesn't present an issue, unless you don't want to use the steering wheel.

Rear springs need to be checked, the back end is low, but it doesn't present any problems, so an inspection is all for now. I haven't noticed any rust or damage when under the back of the car.

Carb needs to be gone over again. A new accelerator pump plunger did nothing to get rid of the stumble on hard full throttle applications. As I said, I didn't clean it like a professional, just hit it with some carb cleaner real quick and wiped the dirty spots.

Transmission fluid level, it sometimes slipped going into third, but I didn't pay enough attention to the how, why, and when of it all.

Find out where all the fluid is coming from under the car. It is coated with oils of some kind, but there isn't any leaks up top I've found, so it's coming from the lower regions of the engine. At least the bottom of the car up front is getting plenty of rust prevention, just ask @71Polara383, as he saw it up close and personal.

Not too bad for a car that had maybe 200 miles of pure crappy running carburator and no real maintenance done to the car, I haven't even changed the oil yet! I did have to add a couple quarts for the 1200+ miles. @Xenon, what's that tell you? I have some fresh stuff ready to go in, just need to grab a filter tomorrow.

It was a great weekend, and a much needed excursion with my car, it was the first time I had a roadworthy car all year. Life got in the way much too often this year, but this made up for it. So one more show this weekend, and then it's time to take care of what I can before the snow flies. But things are looking up. Way up.