'57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan

[Elliot949]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

That's great to hear, Duane. I struggled with the decision, but in the end, the need for good brakes outweighed the whole "How is it gonna look?" issue.

Speaking of looks, I revised the panels I made for the fenders. Originally, I was going to louver them, but my buddy Keith will be out of town when I'd planned to be there. He graciously offered to do them for me and drop them off where I could retrieve them, but meanwhile I had another idea.

I have a set of dimple dies I picked up off eBay that were just collecting dust. So I used the old panels as templates and cut out new ones, then pressed in a progressively larger set of dimples. After priming and painting them, I used a general purpose two part 3M adhesive to glue some stainless mesh behind them. Used the same mesh in the scoop, so now the outside air has a better route into and out of the engine bay. Hopefully it will reduce the underhood temps somewhat.

Those fillers with the dimple die look perfect Vic...

[knomadd]

Nice touch with the dimple dies and the mesh. I like the outcome.

[swamp rat]

Yea, i like the dimple dies as well!

[Low Elco]

Very nice! I like the mesh. Enjoyed seeing you and Kathy this weekend, a photog got a couple good shots here:

http://mingle.kansascity.com/photos/...ike-show-2015/

Enjoy!

[Vic1947]

We trekked over to Bonner Springs this morning for the 42nd Annual Show and Shine at the Ag Hall of Fame. I think they said they had 107 cars there in addition to the Genuine Chevy GMC Club members. They did a top 60, a top 10 and a Best of Show. We were pleased and honored to take home the BoS trophy. Ryan and Rachel (our twins from Houston) were very excited! As usual, we had a great time catching up with a lot of the truck guys we know from the Midwest Truck Nats and the forum. Summer has definitely arrived however, and we wuz sweatin' it out this afternoon when the heat index got above 110 degrees.

On the way home, Ryan and I turned up the AC to cool off. Engine temps did real good, but the alternator isn't keeping up. I guess with the dual radiator fans, the trans cooler fan, the AC fan, the blue Holley electric fuel pump and the miscellaneous amp draws, the little 10SI is struggling to put out enough juice. The voltage gauge showed around 11VDC with the AC on high. Temp gauge was hovering around 190 which is fine. But I guess I need to do some digging into the electrical system.

The transmission shift points have steadily improved since I put the other vacuum modulator in and machined a new connector rod. I started out with the preload on the spring set to 11.5# like the factory spec. Since then I've turned the adjustment screw in two turns at a time for a total of 8 turns currently. I can now feel the trans shift out of low around 10 mph and out of second around 35 mph. Much better, but the shifts still feel a little soft. I may still need to look into a shift kit. But at least it's getting better.

[Xeen]

Congratulations on the best of show win Vic!

[Elliot949]

That is a well deserved trophy...

[sduckworth13]

Very nice work Vic. Congratulations on the Best of Show award.

[swamp rat]

Awesome!

[flashed]

Congrats on the hardware ,more to come Im sure and well deserved.

[jlsanborn]

Congratulations Vic and Kathy!!! A well deserved award.

[Vic1947]

Thanks for all the nice words, everyone. Several folks at the show commented that you sure don't see many of these (57 Fords) around. Maybe the element of surprise worked in our favor.

This morning, I grabbed a shop towel to wipe up the usual motor oil leaks off the floor. Seems like they're getting worse after every long trip. All along, the leaks have appeared to come from two places: the rear main seal and around the oil filter. The rear main seal will have to wait until winter as the engine will have to come out for it to be replaced. The oil filter is another matter. I've been running a Fram HP-1 filter meant for racing engines, mainly because of the higher oil pressure output (75 psi) from the Melling pump. I've noticed a drip off the bottom edge of the filter and oil has been pooling in the area circled in the photo below. Tightening the filter an extra 1/4 turn had no effect.

After cleaning around the area good, I removed the Fram filter, inspected the sealing surface, installed a new Motorcraft filter in it's place and tightened it the recommended 3/4 turn. Fired the engine, brought it up to operating temperature and ran it up to 3000 rpm for a minute or two to simulate 65 mph out on the highway. After shutting it down, the oil had once again pooled on top of the corner of the block, but the groove around the filter was dry as a bone. So whatever is leaking must be from something else and not the filter gasket.

The pan gasket is a Milodon one piece unit installed without any RTV or other sealant. It has crush proof washers embedded into the rubber gasket material so you can't really over torque the pan bolts. However the gasket looks wet with oil all along the pan rail on the driver side. I'm running a windage tray, but the area where the leak seems the worst is right where the oil pump sits. It's possible the windage tray is shearing off the oil and flooding the gasket along the driver side rail. However, it's notched for the oil pump and doesn't extend that far forward. It's not a huge leak, but it's aggravating. If it's the pan gasket (which is my current theory) it will also have to wait until winter as there's no way to get the pan off with the engine in the bay.

[knomadd]

Just a guess, but have you looked at the fuel pump block off plate? Maybe stick a mirror in there and look underneath to see if you find your leak. I'm not certain, but it looks like a possibility based on the location of it and the circled area in your first pic. It might be that simple.

Congrats on the Best of Show! Well deserved.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by knomadd

Just a guess, but have you looked at the fuel pump block off plate? Maybe stick a mirror in there and look underneath to see if you find your leak. I'm not certain, but it looks like a possibility based on the location of it and the circled area in your first pic. It might be that simple.

Congrats on the Best of Show! Well deserved.

Thanks Duane, good suggestion. I think I'll replace the gasket just to be sure. It's a Fel-Pro with a little RTV smeared on both sides, but you never know. It could also be bleeding thru the threads of the bolt on the one side. I'm using it as a ground and it has a serrated washer. It's amazing how fluids with virtually zero pressure can leak past threads you'd swear are good and tight.

You can't see it very well in the photo, but there's also a 3/8 pipe plug in that same area that I'm pretty sure goes into the oil passage. I took it out this morning, cleaned the threads good, wrapped it with teflon tape and reinstalled it snugly. We'll see if any (or all) of these fixes make a difference. Since the oil is pooling on top of that corner, I'm less inclined to think the pan gasket has anything to do with it. But there's a lot of turbulence in the area and after a long trip, there will be tiny droplets of oil along the side of the pan clear back to the rack. The next day, the floor has several small spots of oil where it has collected above and formed drips.

Man, do I ever hate leaks! I try to achieve a balance between the need to seal up an engine and the possibility I may have to tear it down again in the future. I'm already thinking hydraulic roller cam this winter when I yank it to fix the rear main seal and swap in a lower psi oil pump. Kill all the birds with one stone.

[knomadd]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Man, do I ever hate leaks! I try to achieve a balance between the need to seal up an engine and the possibility I may have to tear it down again in the future. I'm already thinking hydraulic roller cam this winter when I yank it to fix the rear main seal and swap in a lower psi oil pump. Kill all the birds with one stone.

I like how you think. I've been thinking along the same lines for a few months now for my GTO. Two classics that constantly need (or I want) something aren't making that easy. My rear main is leaking, as is my oil pan. It runs great now, so I'm not inclined to pull it. But, I want a more aggressive cam and I'd like to go roller... but if I'm going to do it, I want aluminum heads.... I could keep going, but you get the idea.

The car looks great. I'm sure you'll get the leak fixed... one way or the other.

[Low Elco]

Wow, congrats!

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks Duane, good suggestion. I think I'll replace the gasket just to be sure. It's a Fel-Pro with a little RTV smeared on both sides, but you never know. It could also be bleeding thru the threads of the bolt on the one side. I'm using it as a ground and it has a serrated washer. It's amazing how fluids with virtually zero pressure can leak past threads you'd swear are good and tight.

You can't see it very well in the photo, but there's also a 3/8 pipe plug in that same area that I'm pretty sure goes into the oil passage. I took it out this morning, cleaned the threads good, wrapped it with teflon tape and reinstalled it snugly. We'll see if any (or all) of these fixes make a difference. Since the oil is pooling on top of that corner, I'm less inclined to think the pan gasket has anything to do with it. But there's a lot of turbulence in the area and after a long trip, there will be tiny droplets of oil along the side of the pan clear back to the rack. The next day, the floor has several small spots of oil where it has collected above and formed drips.

Man, do I ever hate leaks! I try to achieve a balance between the need to seal up an engine and the possibility I may have to tear it down again in the future. I'm already thinking hydraulic roller cam this winter when I yank it to fix the rear main seal and swap in a lower psi oil pump. Kill all the birds with one stone.

I know kinda silly idea but if you had a Go Pro video camara that you could mount to the body and point it on the area.....................

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

... if you had a Go Pro video camara that you could mount to the body and point it on the area...

Fortunately, no need to setup surveillance, Mike. Replacing the gasket (thanks, Duane!), sealing the bolt threads and the nearby pipe plug fixed the leak. Now all that's left are the two small leaks that I can't get at. Couple of half sheets of Pig Mat will handle them till winter.

As you can see from the photos, I have some other issues to deal with at the moment. Front end has been making some odd noises so I took the car to NKC Brake yesterday morning to have the front end realigned (which I hadn't done since replacing the rack and pinion.) They were unable to turn the wheels by hand on the turntable to do a caster sweep, so they sent me home to fix whatever was binding in the steering. Turns out both upper ball joints had rusted from sitting so long without grease. The lowers were in much better shape and a few pumps of green grease freed them up like new. The uppers, however, couldn't be saved. I ordered two new ones along with a set of upper control arm bushings. They, like the ball joints, were new many years ago, but have deteriorated while in storage. You can see how they have cracked and extruded around the sleeves. With everything apart, I'm greasing all the places I can think of that might be squeaking. Maybe it will help for at least a little while.

We went to one last cruise in last night before the big teardown. On the way, the voltmeter read around 11VDC while idling at the stoplights. The other day, I tightened the V-belt a little bit even though there was no sign it was slipping. Didn't help a bit. So this afternoon, I ordered a new alternator from Quality Power. They have one that puts out 120 amps at idle and 150 at cruise rpm. Should be more than enough for my needs. It looks sorta like a Japanese unit stuffed into a custom billet housing with the same mounting dimensions as a 10si. Hopefully it will put an end to my low voltage blues.

[Xeen]

As usual Vic you have everything under control.
#Winning!

[knomadd]

Glad at least one leak was a simple fix. Like Brian said, looks like you've got it all under control.

[Xeen]

Hey Vic it's been almost 3 weeks since your last update, I'm curious how the improvements are progressing.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Hey Vic it's been almost 3 weeks since your last update, I'm curious how the improvements are progressing.

Two steps forward, one back, Brian. Seems like I've had to send nearly everything back for one reason or another. The alternator arrived last week and the rear post would not clear the cylinder head, so I had to exchange it for a side post version. Luckily, the guy mentioned they could clock the side post where it would work best for me, so I sent them a diagram of what I needed and when it arrived today, it was spot on. Got it partially installed but still waiting on brackets to arrive from powder coating. It seems like serpentine belts are taking over and the selection of v-belts gets smaller all the time. I'm using 7/16" belts where 3/8" are the correct size. Causes the belt to ride higher in the groove which can lead to it slipping. But increasing the belt tension overloads the bearings. Summit has a selection of 3/8" belts, but I couldn't find a good quality one in the size I need. May have to settle for their generic brand.

The brake booster arrived from Hydratech and I had to send it back also. The pushrod that fits in the m/c piston cavity was .050" too long, so it preloaded the m/c when you bolted it up. The connecting rod that links the brake pedal to the rear of the booster was 1" too long. And the bolt pattern for the adapter plate that bolts the unit to the firewall was too wide by about .075". I could have fixed it in the mill, however it was held on by a special fastener shaped like a four leaf clover. After discussing it with them, I boxed it up and returned it, including pictures marked with the dimensions I needed. No telling when I'll get it back. It was over four weeks to get it in the first place, so it may take that long again for the repairs.

Meanwhile, I reconfigured the p/s pump can for two -6AN return fittings and capped off the original return tube. I'm also refinishing the valve covers. The stainless trim pieces kept moving around when the engine got hot, so I procured some tiny eyeglass screws to stop all that. Also, I wanted to switch sides to shorten up the PCV valve tubing which meant the designs/lettering were all backwards... resulting in a repaint. Last but not least, here's a shot of the newest addition to the family. Hemi Challenger with the R/T Shaker package. Getting it has helped take my mind off all the Ford screw ups.

[sduckworth13]

Wow! That is a nice car Vic!

[Vic1947]

Thx, Scott. If you ever doubted I was a car 'ho", this is proof positive. We are officially decked out with GM, FoMoCo, and Mopar hardware.

[sduckworth13]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thx, Scott. If you ever doubted I was a car 'ho", this is proof positive. We are officially decked out with GM, FoMoCo, and Mopar hardware.

Lol.