Tag Archives: Muscle Cars

From a Reader – Household items to fix Cars.

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Tim,

Here’s my story of using household items to fix cars.  Kinda like a turkey baster tool.  Ha Ha.

Finally solved the fuel boil over problem on the 82 Cougar wagon with an inline six and 1 bbl carb.

I live and drive mostly above 2,000 feet and with the fuel blending today the fuel in the carb bowl will boil over and come out the fuel vent in the carb throat, pooling in the intake manifold causing a flooded condition resulting in hard starting when the engine is hot with the huge plume of black smoke when it did start. I’ve tried all manner of fixes that included: lowering the float, retarding the timing, advancing the timing and investigating whether the manifold, catalytic converter or the exhaust was restricted in some way. I built a heat shield out of aluminum and tried that. Some people had suggested using a thicker carb base gasket or even doubling the gasket which would have required longer mounting studs for the carb. Since it hasn’t been a daily driver in the summer due to a broken a/c I’ve put off the fix. I tried to find a phenolic material to make a carb base spacer for the carb that would insulate it from the heat with no luck.

Finally my wife went to Wal-Mart and bought a plastic cutting board for me on my request. It’s made from a hard polyethylene material that’s just over 7/16″ thick. So, I did the obvious scientific test on the material. I got the car to operating temperature and held the cutting board to the exhaust manifold and it did not melt. So I cut the board, drilled the carb bore hole with a 1 and 7/8″ hole saw, drilled the stud holes, made a thin gasket for both sides of the material and sealed it with red high temp permatex gasket maker and installed my new base plate. To test I drove the car in 108 degree heat to full operating temperature for 10 miles with the now fixed a/c blowing hard and the boil over problem is gone. There is no longer any fuel smell or hard starting when hot due to fuel in the intake manifold. Finally after almost 8 years this annoying problem is fixed. I don’t know why this material insulates so well over the factory thick gasket but it does.
The material doesn’t seem to be affected by fuel either.

I’m sure others have been baffled by this problem since most fuels today contain ethanol and other materials that lower the boiling temperature of gasoline.  Altitude certainly plays a part as my car never did this at sea level even in 100 degree weather.

Steve Sears
Ridgecrest, Ca.

Auto Factoids for the Week of 7/4/2010

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Here ya go, enjoy. 

7/6/1946…..U.S. began producing car again after World War II.  It is a bit misleading but some cars companies did continue to produce cars.  At the very onset of the war (1942 thereabout), some of the first effort were to build the cars without all the chrome, painting the trim instead, the first “blacked out” (they were actually called “blackout specials or models” ) which became popular with the grilles in muscle cars later on.  Washington dictated that stainless-steel and chrome would not be allowed on cars except on of bumpers, bumper guards, and windshield wipers. 

1942 Chevy Front.

 

1942 Chevy Backside

 

I think it looks great!!! 

7/8/1909  The first Hudson was built. 

Hudson Roadster from 1909

 

Thanks for reading 

Tim

1970 Mustang – Replacing my Pillar Post Moldings Part III

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Caulk another tasks down on the restoration of the Mustang. 

I finished up the pillar post molding last night.  Here is the before: 

Pretty?

 

Now these were not as labor intensive as the dash-pad but here were some issues. 

We’ll walk through them. 

The removing the dash-pad was chronicled in my earlier post and that was pretty quick now that I’ve done it twice. 

Once the dash-pad was removed there is an additional piece that needs to be removed, or at least a couple of screw removed on each side. That is the top molding: 

Top Molding

 

 In the picture above I’m pointing to one of the screws in the top molding that runs the length of the windshield.  That screw  is actually through the pillar molding which is partially behind it.  The top molding has 5 screws, two on each end and on my coupe the fifth is in the center and holds the plastic snap for the ends of the sun visors.  That screw does not have to be removed there is plenty of play after the removal of the four other screws, to safely (without forcing anything) remove and install the new moldings. 

The next step is removing the two additional screws that hold the pillar molding to the pillar. 

Screw Marked Remove

 

and this one: 

Second screw to remove.

 

It’s tough see there but here is a good clear picture…that old mold was so deteriorated it actually fell apart. 

Lower molding screw.

 

When I said it fell apart……. 

Yup. It was in bad shape.

 

The other side came/fell off the same way, in pieces, nothing left to do but snap the other pieces on and…eeerrrrkkkk(insert braking sound)…”Yeah..anybody know if you can insert sound in there a WordPress blog??” ….cricket..cricket…cricket……huuummm where’s my…oh I have no staff…well, only when my son visits (he does some on my graphic design..more on my new logo search later..maybe you all can vote on one??) back to my eeerrkkk…we need to discuss quality of workmanship for reproduction parts.  That won’t be a long discussion..”sucks”…there ya go, end of discussion. 

But really I know that they try, and I am grateful for something that looks almost as good, especially for a rare car like mine (…meaning not very sought after..at least not yet…therefore the profit in making any unique parts is next to nothing.) 

One of the first things about this particular molding is that is about 1/2 the thickness of the original and made of light plastic.  This worked out because the holes are not exactly lined up and there was a larger problem. 

Offset isn't correct.

 

As you can see the molding on the right (the original) where the screw driver blade is located, is recessed about 1/2 an inch, if not a little more.  On the left (new molding) there is almost only about 1/4 of an inch..maybe a bit less.  If the material for the new molding was as rigid as the original there would be no flex in the material and the lack of offset for tab on the new molding would not have allowed the use of the original screw, it would have been too short. Additionally, screw holes A and B  in the picture below were not aligned properly and would not have enough ”give” but allow installation, if it was stiff as the original. 

Improperly aligned.

 

 Was this engineering genius or happy mistake? 

Generally, the fit was close, not contours car show inspect-able close, but close enough for the local guys.  But if you can find parts made from “original tooling” (we talked about that when I was install the dash-pad for the first time) buy those, if your Average Budget can handle it.  These molding just aren’t available in any other tooling. 

With the holes in the wrong place it took some pressure and jostling to get them into place.  One tip I can pass on is do not tighten the screws until you have them all started.   I had to leave the top two screws out far enough to allow movement to get the bottom screw in. 

Keep the screw loose to maneuver the piece around.

 

 In the end the result were pretty good. You be the judge. 

Left side

 

Left side bottom (and my vette in the background)

 

Right side (and my neighbor's truck...like you need to know that!!)

 

Left Side bottom

 

Over all it took about 3 hours with interruptions with phone calls and neighbors stopping to chat.  It’s like Soaring over on www.MustangV8.com forum said..”Those are the kinds of tinkering jobs I like.  You get satisfaction you can actually see.”  (BTW – I like that forum, the Classic Mustang section is great.) 

Thanks for reading. 

Tim 

Vette troubles Overheading Do’s and Don’ts Part III

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The news is all good.

WOT (decided to give her a name) is back in the driveway.  Compression and heads all checked out.  3 cheers for American  Iron!!!!

(OK..WOT is funny because it’s a crossfire with least HP in the C4 Generation.)

Took it for a spin after picking it up and everything seems to be fine.

New hoses, new thermostat, new coolant..yeah…all of the old stuff is back in town, new transmission fluid (maybe over kill but there is the a school of thought that a major overheating event can cause a failure…safe..not sorry) and oil change (I’m not sure what happens to engine oil at 300 degrees – but safe…not sorry).

Thanks for reading

Tim

1970 Mustang – Replacing my Pillar Post Moldings Part II

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I’ve the pillar post moldings painted and ready to installed. 

Just treated with the painting prep spray and wiped down.

 

First coat of paint.

 

I put on 3 coats of paint. 

With the final coat.

 

Now I have to remove the dash pad (again) and install.  That will be later this week, my Corvette is still in shop and the Mustang is my back up car. 

Thanks for reading more to come. 

Tim

The Art of Racing In the Rain

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Ok.  I’m no Oprah but I just finished a book that race car people will love.  If  you love dogs, auto racing and a good story you are going to love reading  “The Art of Racing in the Rain”  By Garth Stein.

Go get it.  (no I don’t get paid for this…I just like it.)

Thanks for reading.

Tim

New addition to the C4

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It’s been a few days since I posted last, every once in a while life gets a little busy, business travel and a vacation.

However, this blog might have been idle but I wasn’t.

For as long as I’ve owned my vette, I’ve dragged around the original Bose stereo.  Yup, 1980’s technology, with a cassette  and AM and FM radio.  (You kids won’t remmmbbberr….hang on while I put my teeth back in…there…better…remember these and I use to walk to school when I was a kid, up hill both ways and snow up to here!!!!) It sounded really bad.  The cones were mostly dried out from the AZ heat and I think I’ve spent enough on original used speaker and amps (each speaker had its own amp) to buy four stereos with big amps and have the vette vibrate down the street without starting it.  I just didn’t want to get read of the thing….because it was original equipment.

Well, I finally broke down and replaced it.  HOWEVER, not with just a cd player and radio.  Nope.  I wanted something a little more fitting for the car. 

The 1984 C4, as more Corvette peeps know, was the most technologically, advanced car at the time.  It was the first car with computer controlled fuel injection, electronic shifting, and a dash-board with digital and graphic displays….and you can switch it from English to Metric.  So I wanted a stereo, befitting the other technology, but…..say it with me….Average Guy with and Average Budget!!!!!

So I couldn’t go to crazy.  What I did find was an all digital Pioneer Media Center.  No CD.  USB connection for IPODs or just a thump drive.  HD Radio that finds adds all the radio stations and …..wait for it…..drum roll………blue tooth phone connections.  KOOL or what…my wifes’ 08 Lexus has got nothing on my 84 Vette now…..ok..well she does have air-conditioned seats and navigation (…but my phone has that)  and the rear camera and a back seat (over rated!!!) and moon room (but my roof comes off!!)…away there’s more.

I did not want any thing to happen to the original speaker covers nor did I want any new holes, I wanted great sound and an original look.  So I added Alpine SPS 699’s in the rear, 260 watts and 85 RM and Alpine SPS 400 for the door speakers, 140 watts peak and 45 RM.  She sounds great.

 The original Bose system is safe,  all packed and stored.

Thanks for reading.  Drop me a note.

Tim

Steve Sears 1992 Ford Ranger XLT and Paint

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Steve Sears is one of the readers of this blog and owner of a 1982 Mercury Cougar Station Wagon (again..I love this car). 

But that’s not all, Steve does a lot of his own work, including this unique paint job on his 1992 Ranger. 

Here is his recent project. 

The before: 

1992 Ford Ranger XLT

 

Tim, 

  

I completed my project last week and thought you’d like to see it.  I painted my Ranger with a roller.  I only did six coats of each color, usually 8 – 10 coats are required.  I like to call the color Haze gray underway and white.  I spent 26 years in the Navy so I thought the gray was appropriate for me. Ha Ha.  It’s painted with rustoleum mixed with mineral spirits in a 1:1 ratio thus the many coats required.  The body prep is the same as any other type paint job except that a primer is not used over the whole truck.  I only spot primed the bare metal and over the bondo used to fix parking lot dings.  It took a full 8 days to complete the project including the paint on the topper.  I have to wait a few weeks before buffing out for a full gloss.  For that I’ll just remove the mirrors and the bug shield on the front.  The process is well documented on the web over the last 10 years or so so I won’t repeat the process.   

  

I thought your readers would be interested. Finally I have the truck looking like new again.  It’s a 1992 Ranger XLT that I had bought new on April 24, 1992.  It has the 2.3 liter four and a five speed tranny.  The picture labeled 019.JPG is the before shot is attached.  

And the after photos: 

After Pic 1

  

After Pic 2

  

After Pic 3

Thanks very much for sharing it Steve.  (A roller?  Wow!!!!)  

  Drop me your comments!!!! 

Thanks for reading 

Tim 

Auto Factoids for Week of 5/23/2010

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Few major milestones this week. 

Brooklyn bridge opened for traffic on 5/24 1883 and the Golden opened 5/27 in 1937. 

Race car driver Mauri Rose was born 5/26/1906 currently in the racing hall of fame, placed second in the 1927 Indy 500.  Actually won the Indy in 1941, but that was a tough victory, spanning two Maserati-powered Elgin Piston Pin Specials cars, after the first one had mechanical issues.  He tossed a fit and the car owners pulled one of the other drivers on the time from the race and give Rose that car. 

The Pin 

Elgin Pin

 

What powered that thing? 

Power Plant

 

The first Kaiser-Frazer was produced 5/28/1946 – cars weren’t sold until 1947. 

1947 Willow Run Plant

Mustang Hose Woes

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I was about to start the pillar moldings mini project when I ran into a couple mechanical issues.

About a week ago the Mustang began squealing when pushed to high revs.  That normally indicates one of several problems.

1. It could be a water pump

2.  It could be the power steering pump

3.  It could be a pulley

4. It could be a bolt that was holding the alternator bracket to the engine worked itself out and was in contact with the fan belt.

5. It could be a combination of the any of these.

Now the Mustang did, every once in a while, drip some fluid from the power steering control value but it wasn’t a huge deal.

Well, Saturday I went to start her and the battery was dead.  It’s over 3 years old and I had left the lights on the day before and had to have it jump started.  So off to the auto parts store I went and pick up a new 3 year battery and stuck it. When I started the engine up, it made the squeal and I decided I needed to fix this, before the pillar molding.

So with a neighbor revving the engine I noticed the bolt protruding from the water pump/block ( it passes through left side water pump housing in to the block).  With the revs the fan belt would flex and briefly hit the bolt.   This bolt was “custom” made when we were fitting everything up to reman’ed long block and was about 7 or 8 inches long.

It took a bit to get that back in place, had to loosen up the alternator’s other two supports and toss a little loctite on the threads and she was good to go…..almost…..

Yeah….option #5 above was the correct answer BTW.

Started it up and there was still a squeal – not the same squeal but clearly an ‘accompaning’ squeal.  Shortly after that a power steering hose let go and well liquid does what gravity  make it do and I spent the afternoon cleaning the driveway.  So there went my allotted time for Saturday.   So replacing both hoses seem the best way to go and they’ll  be in today.  Right now it’s at the shop down the street, I had no time to undertake this task at the moment, will be traveling the next couple weeks.

One of my travels takes me to the National Corvette Museum.  I’ll spend an entire day there which include the assembly plant tour.

Thanks for reading.

Tim