'57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan

[flashed]

I have been with you all the way with this build and you are so close to perfect ,its one of my favorites here .

[Xeen]

I can just imagine the string of profanity that you were spewing when the new pump was leaking. I'm glad to hear it stopped leaking, lets hope it stays that way.
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?

[jlsanborn]

Awesome update Vic!!! Hat's off man, your down to mouse nuts. Can't wait to see it outside. Next time Yeller is on your street, whap a photo for us will ya?

[swamp rat]

Not sure what all is left but you have been kicking butt and taking no prisoners!

[Elliot949]

great work Vic... Glad to see it finally coming together after all these years... W@hen is the Power Tour?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by flashed

I have been with you all the way with this build and you are so close to perfect, its one of my favorites here .

Thanks very much!

Originally Posted by Xeen

I can just imagine the string of profanity that you were spewing when the new pump was leaking. I'm glad to hear it stopped leaking, lets hope it stays that way.

It appears, Brian, that the leak is temperature related. It wants to leak a small amount out of the weep hole in the casting below the shaft when the engine is cold and first starts. Once it warms up, it doesn't seem to leak anymore until the next cold start. It's a very tiny amount, but sprays droplets on the underside of the engine until it quits. Profanity doesn't begin to describe it.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Awesome update Vic!!! Hat's off man, your down to mouse nuts. Can't wait to see it outside. Next time Yeller is on your street, whap a photo for us will ya?

Thanks, John. Had it out today but it was cloudy and took no pictures. I'll try to remember to shoot Old Yeller next time he's here. Below are a couple from the car show last Feb.

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Not sure what all is left but you have been kicking butt and taking no prisoners!

Thanks, Mike. Still have to get the offsite services done, then install the hood, grille and weatherstripping. The big thing is going back and retightening all the suspension and drivetrain components, brake and fuel fittings and in general anything that could vibrate loose. Don't want to be Found On Road Dead.

Originally Posted by Elliot949

great work Vic... Glad to see it finally coming together after all these years... W@hen is the Power Tour?

Thanks, Dan. We leave for Power Tour on June 5th. Shakedown run to Sedalia (100 miles each way) on May 30th.

Meanwhile, we made the first highway test today. Kathy followed in the mighty Volt and I made a lap that included about a mile at highway speed. The brakes could stand to be bedded in some more, but they were working fairly well by the time we got home. Kathy was clocking me on the highway and the speedo looks like it's right on. It ran smooth as silk and handled great. Not sure if the alignment can make it much better. I did bottom out on the bump stops at one spot in the road, but not bad. Felt very good all in all.

The aforementioned water leak is still an issue, but a minor one. The fitting leak on the rack and pinion is more troubling. I think I found a source today for the hydraulic transfer lines. Ordered a pair, but they won't be here until later next week. Meanwhile, I popped for a bottle of Lucas PS stop leak and put it in. It's really meant to stop worn seals from leaking which isn't my problem but it was worth a try. Stuff looks like red STP. Said it may take a couple of days for the leaks to quit, but I'm not holding my breath. If the lines are anywhere close to being the correct ones, they'll take care if the problem. I have a friend who lives a few blocks from me that has a four post lift at his house. When the parts arrive, I plan to go over there and hoist it up in the air where I have room to work on it. Laying under it on the floor is a PITA for an old man like me.

[swamp rat]

Down to the wire!!!!

[Xeen]

Vic have you considered calling the manufacturer and telling them what's going on with the pump, this is the second pump in a row with similar failure.
I know you are frustrated and you have every right to be, is there another brand of pump you can try?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Vic have you considered calling the manufacturer and telling them what's going on with the pump, this is the second pump in a row with similar failure.
I know you are frustrated and you have every right to be, is there another brand of pump you can try?

I think when you call customer service these days, there's typically an overworked, underpaid employee on the other end of the phone who's forced to listen to nothing but complaints and problems all day. I doubt very many customer reported issues bubble up to engineering and/or manufacturing. Add in the China factor and you have a supply chain very resistant to change. Edelbrock makes an aluminum pump that looks very nice but is even more expensive than the Holley. Of course, if the cheap one fails and you can't return it due to the modifications, you've wasted your money. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that the leak goes away after enough heat/cool cycles. It's not something I have to address immediately. Later this summer if the problem persists, I'll look into the Edelbrock or send the original to the rebuilder I found in Ohio.

[jlsanborn]

So awesome you've got it together and are shaking it out Vic. Looking forward to a photo shoot of this thing. Thanks for the Yeller fix too They sure did a fantastic job on the LS swap.

[Xeen]

It's interesting that you thought of Edelbrock that's the first place I looked for the part when I saw that the second pump was leaking.
Lets hope that the Holley pump seals but if not Edelbrock is made in the USA and they stand behind their product, as irritating as it is the third time is a charm right?
An interesting quote I saw here on the board "you can save yourself right into the poor house" seems fitting in this case.

[Vic1947]

Weather permitting, the '57 will be out for some service work tomorrow. It gets the a/c charged up, front end aligned and a safety inspection so I can license it. There's a fairly low chance of rain tomorrow, so we'll be on the way as soon as the roads are dry.

I wasn't happy with the way the shifter was working, so I pulled the top off the console and oiled the mechanism and then crawled under the car and readjusted the linkage. Seems better now. I also fabricated the filler panels for the fenders and installed them temporarily. They will get paint to match the inner fenders. My #1 helper, Kathy, helped me roll an offset bead into the panels to give them some character. Also tabbed up the radiator for the cover but I need to go pick up some .080" material tomorrow before I can finish it.

If you look closely, you can see one of the side mirrors I installed. They're for a mid 60's Mustang and required some modifications to the pads to work, but they turned out great. I agonized for a long time over whether to mount them on the doors or fenders. OEM was on the fender, but you see about an even split between them looking at owner photos. In the end, they functioned best on the fenders and the appearance is satisfactory.

[sduckworth13]

That filler plate looks cool, you never cease to amaze me. Nice work Vic.

[jlsanborn]

No joke! "Kathy and I just whipped up some filler panels." Outstanding Vic! Have you bought us that GoPro yet?

[swamp rat]

I agree with the above comments, i'd be working on the fit for a couple days and you whip them out in a couple hours.. :p

[Low Elco]

Thanks for the Yeller pics, I need to get some updatin' done.

Everything looks terrific. Great that it's on the highway! I can't wait to see it. So excited for you and Kathy.

[Low Elco]

Also, if you get in a jam, I think Eric can make those bubble flares. He's got a ridiculous flaring tool, and makes the flange flares for the GM fuel lines in house. Let me know if you need anything.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Also, if you get in a jam, I think Eric can make those bubble flares. He's got a ridiculous flaring tool, and makes the flange flares for the GM fuel lines in house. Let me know if you need anything.

Thanks, Chip. As soon as the lines arrive, I'll know if they'll work or if it's just another feeble attempt to smother a fire with money.

The car has tabs on it now. The girl at the DMV was very understanding about the whole storage/inoperability/out of state/property tax timeline thing. Either that or she gave up and issued the tag to get rid of me. Regardless, I'm legal.

The a/c charged up, pressures are correct and the lines to the evaporator are ice cold, but no cold air is coming out of the vents. The Vintage Air tech is saying it sounds like the radiator hose lines may be plumbed incorrectly and heat is flowing thru the system and canceling out the cold. Not sure I'm on board with that, but I plan to investigate more thoroughly tomorrow when the engine is cold and I can drain the coolant if needed. As Brian predicted, the airflow thru the condenser is too low at idle without a shroud. John suggested that if I have room for a pusher fan, that would probably take care of the problem. That's my Google task for this evening.

They found a leaking seal on the driver side front disc caliper. Called around and couldn't get parts so they gave me a heads up. Parts are ordered and will be here tomorrow afternoon.

Those dang short upper control arm bolts bit me on the butt again. They needed to put more shim on the driver side where I moved the short bolts and were not able to do so because they were running out of threads. Fortunately, the replacement bolts arrived today and I'll replace them tomorrow when I remove the caliper.

Oh, and one last thing I'll need to fix... one of the windshield wiper cables must have come off the tracks. Wiper motor works great but the wipers go nowhere now. All that cable contraption is as far up under the dash as you can get. It's possible the only way to fix them is to pull the dash back out. I may just take along a bottle of Rain-X and pull over if we run thru very much wet weather.

More later. We're not at the end but you can see it from here.

[jlsanborn]

You and Kathy need to whip out a shroud Vic. Good ol' clutch fan? No need for AC in the PNW in my book but I know what you folks deal with. No help on that topic. Still need some full body shots and that video man!

[swamp rat]

Per the dash.... Yea rain-X works great!

I may have missed it Vic but the trim pieces on the back window? done?

[Xeen]

Hmm yeah Vic now that you mention it, my 300zx had a auxiliary pusher fan for the condenser that would kick on if it was over a certain temperature, what that temperature is exactly I have no idea but I always noticed it was on when it was hot outside and I was sitting in traffic but I don't think your current problem is that it's getting too hot considering the ambient air isn't over 80 degrees.
As far as the unit not blowing cold air, I'm wondering if the duct doors aren't moving inside the unit itself to change to blow cold air and they are stuck in the heater position at all times.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

You and Kathy need to whip out a shroud Vic. Good ol' clutch fan? No need for AC in the PNW in my book but I know what you folks deal with. No help on that topic. Still need some full body shots and that video man!

I'm leaning more and more towards a pusher fan, John. I know it's the lazy way out, but the time crunch is upon me. I could probably live without a/c but it's real nice to have at times. I figure by the time we get to the Gulf Coast on Power Tour, a/c will be a lifesaver. I'll get you those photos and a full throttle video ASAP. Still need to get the hood and grille installed and tidy up a few loose ends.

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Per the dash.... Yea rain-X works great!
I may have missed it Vic but the trim pieces on the back window? done?

I'm hoping the wiper problem is a sheared pin or loose set screw, but if not... Rain-X is definitely in my future. The trim pieces arrived from the guy down in Texas and were exactly what I needed. Added bonus was the good condition. A few minutes with Tripoli and rouge on the buffing wheels and they sparkled like new. All installed and looking great.

Originally Posted by Xeen

Hmm yeah Vic now that you mention it, my 300zx had a auxiliary pusher fan for the condenser that would kick on if it was over a certain temperature, what that temperature is exactly I have no idea but I always noticed it was on when it was hot outside and I was sitting in traffic but I don't think your current problem is that it's getting too hot considering the ambient air isn't over 80 degrees.
As far as the unit not blowing cold air, I'm wondering if the duct doors aren't moving inside the unit itself to change to blow cold air and they are stuck in the heater position at all times.

The pusher fan needs to be connected to two parallel triggers. One comes from the trinary switch on the drier and kicks on the fan when it sees too much high side pressure. The other trigger is based on engine temperature which comes from a static or adjustable sender. The guys at the shop said with the engine running at idle, there wasn't enough flow thru the condenser to hold a shop towel against it. So a pusher fan should take care of that.

The Vintage Air tech didn't suggest a problem with a diverter. Not sure if it's even set up like that. There is no "heat versus cold" control that switches between the two. Basically, you can have the heat and the cold on at the same time. Kind of goofy, but maybe that's what they had to do to reduce the size of the evaporator package. Need to refer to the manual and retrace my steps on the installation.

[Vic1947]

Today was a pretty good day. The a/c problem appears to be solved. After several discussions with Vintage Air TS, I discovered the plug that goes in the heater control valve servo was just barely in the socket. As I was taking some voltage measurements, it fell completely out. Plugged it in firmly and the system now seems to function correctly. Cold air!! Ordered a pair of 11" 1100 cfm pusher fans today to install in front of the condenser. Hopefully that will make the a/c system even happier.

The wiper problem turned out to be the coupler that connects the wiper motor to the rest of the system. It has a countersunk machine screw that holds it to a shaft and it had worked loose. A drop of red Loctite and a hit from the Makita impact should hold it. I don't plan to spend hours driving in the rain anyway.

There were some tiny oil droplets around the breather on the valve cover. As a precaution, I made a stack of donut shaped wafers out of Pig Mat and sandwiched them between the breather and the valve cover. Not very pretty, but I should be able to tell how much it wants to spit out after we get back from Sedalia on Saturday. If it pukes very much, I may have to break down and install a PCV valve.

Kathy made a trip to the parts store and picked up the brake caliper for me. It's installed, but still needs to be bled. The correct oil pressure sender arrived and I swapped it out. Gauge now reads right on the money. Pulled the spark plugs to get a read on them after yesterday's road trip. They looked perfect - nice and white and dry. Looks like the carb jetting is just right. I readjusted the throttle cable the other day so the blades would open completely. The carpet and mat had reduced the travel quite a bit. Should be burnout ready now.

Got the radiator top cover formed up. Still need to weld and file the corners, then it should be ready to go to paint with the fender panels. I also installed the new, longer upper control arm bolts on the driver side and shimmed them per the alignment shop instructions. I'm inclined to see if I can squeeze a little more caster out of the setup and maybe another 1/16" of toe-in. It seemed a little lazy coming home yesterday. I hope to have the hood on and adjusted tomorrow as well as the grille. Next two days are supposed to be rainy, so puttering around in the workshop will be just right.

[sduckworth13]

Thats great to hear that you got the A/C figured out. You usually are pretty meticulious so it really isn't a surprise that it was a minor problem, but glad you have cold air so you can cruise in style now.

[Elliot949]

Glad to here it is all coming together...