A little at a time

I played with the rear main seal a bit more and followed the instructions I had copied from a post on the ChevyTalk forums.  Earlier, I had said to use a .040" piece of tie wrap behind the seal halves but my memory was mistaken.  It is actually .050" for each tie wrap.  Additionally, 3/16" is removed from each seal half using a dremel or similar rotary grinder.  The steel back rib of the seal prevents using any kind of compression cutting tool.  The old seal I had removed was in like new condition so I opted to practice on that one rather than cut up a new seal and chance ruining it.  The ends of the tie wrap were removed using side cutters leaving only the ribbed part of the tie wrap.  I applied some light grease to both sides of the tie wrap and gradually pushed the seal and tie wrap into the seal groove in the block using a pair of pliers to push the pieces around the crankshaft a little at a time.  The other tie wrap was  placed in the rear main cap seal groove and the shortened seal was pushed into place.  A light coat of silicone was applied to the mating machined surfaces of the cap where it meets the block and the main bolts were torqued to 100 ft lbs.  I check for any crank binding as I torqed the bolts in 3 steps - 50/75/100 ft lbs.  After each step I check the rotating resistance of the short block with my torque wrench.  The entire rotating assembly (minus the camshaft) would begin turning at 26 ft lbs.  This remained unchanged as I completed the 3 steps. The seal contact surface appeared to be quite heavily flattened against the crank surface so I'm not too confident that this will last.  I'm afraid the seal may burn up due to excessive drag on the crank.  Time will tell.  I ordered some gaskets from More Power to complete the front plate and timing cover installation.  With those in hand, I can put the engine back together to await reinstallation. 
     My brother made it over on Monday and we discussed options to install the motor mounts.  The driver's side of the engine has a lot of "stuff" to contend with and we decided to wait until I could get the steering column installed in order to determine where the steering shaft would need to be routed.  We are also curious as too how much, if any, compression we can expect on the rubber donuts used with the motor mounts.  I called Chassis Engineering on Tuesday but they are closed all week for the holidays.  With only 1/4" of oil pan to crossmember clearance, we want to make sure the donuts don't compress and allow the pan to hit. 
     I called Lecarra today since my steering wheel is still on back order so I could find out how far above the steering column mount the wheel sits (how much heighth the wheel adds to the column length).  The wheel is nearly flat with only a 1" addition to the column length.  This allowed me to temporarily install the Ididit steering column.  Once the column is painted, it is going to look awesome!

The top piece is merely sitting on the column in this picture and not fully pulled down.  This allowed me to determine the approximate wheel installation position sitting in the driver's seat.  I then tried various positions with a wooden dowel inserted into the column to see how the geometry will look in the engine compartment and how much clearance I'll have for the motor mounts.

I talked with Dick at More Power about connection methods.  Got some reading and research to do.  Since I was working inside the car today, I decided to remove the dashboard material that was preventing the installation of the new gauge panel.  A few seconds with a high speed grinder and a carbide bit and all was good!

Here's a preview of how the new gauges will look.

And here's the dash with the speedo and gauges in place.

The old wiring hanging from under the dash is the bundle of wires that run thru the roof to the trunk area.   I wanted to wait to remove them until I could check as to where they go.  I set the battery on the floor and connected a ground strap to the floor.  Then I used a jumper wire to test each wire to determine which lights came on in the back.  The dome light isn't in this bundle and the left brake light wire was running under the carpet!  What a mess the wiring was.  Sure will be nice when the new Kwik Wire kit is installed and the elecrical gremlins are banished!  The engine gaskets are waiting for me to pick them up so tomorrow is a trip to More Power. 

Engine work

Yesterday afternoon was a good day to begin the disassembly of the engine in the 41 for inspection and to fix the rear main seal leak.  I wanted to first make sure the valve adjustment had remained unchanged since the 235 had been run on the dyno last spring.  I had made one check strictly by feel sometime in mid-summer and hadn't made any adjustments.  The area under the valve cover was nice and clean.

In the above pic, I've already loosened the rocker shaft bolts.  Initially, I checked all the valve lash just to see if the push rods would turn with my fingers when the lifter was on the heel of the cam lobe.  All of them were perfect.  This pic reveals some of the head and valve train mods that were done last year.  The seals are visible inside the springs.  The guide bosses were machined for these PC type seals.  The valve springs and retainers are from Comp Cams.  Under each rocker stand is a .100" steel shim and each exhaust valve tip appears to be black.  That black is actually a lash cap that has been shortened to fit the valve tip.  The lash caps are about .080" thick.  These changes correct the rocker arm geometry due to the machining that was done on the head.  .100" was milled off the head and the intake valves were sunk .100" for valve to piston clearance.  Without the shims and lash caps, the exhaust rocker adjusters would loose contact with the push rod cups and the rocker arm would actually begin pushing on the spring retainer - NOT good! 
     Once I was satisfied that the valve train was in good shape, the oil pan, timing gear cover, lifters, camshaft and front engine plate were removed.  All these parts had to come off in order to replace the front plate with the one that is currently attached to the other block sitting in the 41.  That plate has had the front motor mount flange removed for better rack and pinion clearance.  Next was removal of the rear main cap and cleaning of the seal surface.  This old crank had some pitting and discoloration on the seal surface from the old "rope" seal that had been originally installed.

I used some 320 grit wet/dry sandpaper with some water as lubricant to remove as much of the old seal residue as possible.  It's not perfect but hopefully, the clean surface will provide a decent enough seal for the new neoprene seal being installed.  The "after" pic is a little out of focus due to the glare/reflection off the crank.

I measured the diameter of the seal area and found it to be 3.875".  I took the old seal halves and put them together inside of a hose clamp and checked the seal surface diameter.  It was 3.885" without deflected the seal lip.  That means the seal lip was .010" BIGGER than the crankshaft surface!  Kinda hard to seal anything that way!

 One of the members of the Chevytalk.org forums had previously posted a way to use the lip seal type seal on 235's produced before mid-year 1955.  The method involves removing a small amount of each half of the seal and using a .040" piece of tie wrap behind each seal half to create the proper seal diameter and seal contact on the crankshaft.  I'll post his directions along with pics of my attempt at this seal mod in my next blog installation.

Progress report

Time to add another update and show some progress pics.  Much of what has been happening has been slow and tedious.  The firewall was cleared of unneeded items and the flanged hole where the steering column goes thru was notched and the flange was bend and hammered flat.  I then fit the Ididit swivel mount to the opening and drilled the holes for mounting the swivel mount.  The frame was given a good scrubbing with mineral spirits and a SS scrubbing pad to remove all the old dirt/grease/loose paint.  Then the entire area was wiped with lacquer thinner to remove any film left by the mineral spirits.  The firewall was lightly sanded and both frame horns and the firewall were primered.  This step revealed some paint runs under the primer in the original green paint.  Some additional sanding and more primer put the surface in order.  Some of the areas of the frame and CE crossmember would be difficult to access with a spray gun after the crossmember was in place so those areas were painted satin black from a can prior to doing the permanent install of the crossmember and radiator support.  The spare block along with the bellhousing and T5 trans were reinstalled and bolted in using the bellhousing and trans mounts.  This will allow the proper positioning of the CE motor mount kit and fabrication of mounts that attach to the engine.  Here's a pic of where things sit right now.

The "clean" steel plate on the front of the block is the spare front mount I had that was pictured in an earlier post.  The flanged part that provided mounting for the stock crossmember mount has been removed, thanks to Dick at More Power, to provide a slight bit of additional clearance on the new rack and pinion assembly.  The angle iron plates mounted to the side engine mount bosses are the pieces Dick fabricated to mount the 235 on the dyno at More Power.  I'm using them as templates to assist with the new mount fabrication. Here's a closer view of the plate on the front of the block.

Here's the new CE universal mount kit that bolts to the stock frame.

The bracket in the background is the part that slips over the frame and is bolted in place after drilling the frame.  I'm thinking mine may get welded rather than bolted.  The middle piece is the rectangular tubing that gets shortened to proper length and welded to the frame bracket.  The rubber and bolt components are then assembled thru the large hole in the tubing and the new engine mount will sit on top of the large rubber biscuit.  The lower mount shows the parts assembled.  And here's a picture of the mount positioned on the frame rail.

Since I was in a painting mood, all the CE primered components got a coat of satin black; upper and lower control arms, sway bar, springs and strut rods as well as the coil spring adjusters (not in pic)

I was unable to find one item last spring when installing the new drive line.  The dust covers that would attach to the bottom of the bell housing to protect the flywheel and clutch were a different size than the stock covers for the 216 bellhousing.  The truck housing I'm currently using is about an inch wider at the bottom.  After watching ebay for several months, I finally got lucky and found just what I was looking for from a seller in Colorado.  He confirmed the mounting dimensions and his "buy it now" price was reasonable so I got these two pieces.  Once the grease and grime were removed, I lightly sandblasted  them at More Power and straightened the slight bends in the flanges.  Here's the finished products.  These 50+ year old pieces look like brand new!

One other new item I failed to picture earlier is the new PowerGen alternator by Power Master.  This is a 75 watt, 12 volt, one wire alternator manufactured in a housing of the same dimensions and mounting as a stock 6 volt generator.  The regulator is inside too, just like the late model alternators. 

I bought this one from Jeg's and had to special order to get the 5/8 pulley.  The pulley change was no extra charge.  These units are not the cheapest way to go but if you want to retain the stock generator looks and use the existing mounting brackets, this is surely the simplest method.
     Hopefully, during the holiday week between Christmas and New Years, my brother can make it over to assist me in designing and fabricating the engine mounts.  And to all who take time to read this labor of love, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  May Santa fill your stockings with all the car toys you asked for and may the coming year provide sunny days for all your old car outings!

Drilling holes sucks!

 Got the passenger side crossmember holes drilled in the frame yesterday and finished the prelim mounting of the assembly.

Spent some time Saturday checking the assembly procedure and mounting of the master cylinder bracket and new master cylinder.  Looks like I have 4 more holes to drill.  Oh joy!  My brother stopped by today and we reviewed brake line routing and steering column mounting.  He has a couple of Anglia hot rods and is quite experienced with fabrication.  Here's the preliminary positioning of the master cylinder.





Prepping new IFS

Got the first stick-to-the-ground snowfall last nite and temps were below freezing all day.  Regardless, I fired up the garage heater and spent the afternoon working on the 41. Kinda comfy with the inside temp holding at 60º.   I had planned to finish cleaning the frame horns but I figured I might as well get the new crossmember and associated parts all installed and drill all the mounting holes.  No sense getting everything all painted and pretty and then scratch it all up by drilling and pounding parts in place.  Step one was to remove the brake and fuel lines from the car.  The were both still attached at the rear.  Then the new parts were bolted in again.

Since some of the drilling would have to be done from the bottom, I put the front end of the car up higher to allow access from underneath.  Here's a couple of pics from underneath showing all the holes that have to be drilled.

I was able to complete the drilling and assembly of the driver's side today.  Hopefully, the passenger side will be completed tomorrow.  Here's the driver's side with all the bolts installed. 

The new Dolphin gauges and mounting panels arrived yesterday and I was able to test fit them in the dash.  Seems the dash will need to be cut some to clear the end most gauges of the 4 in the panel.  Wasn't anticipating any cutting so I called Dolphin tech support for an answer.  First call, the tech said he would check with the machinist and asked me to call back today.  Did that and he still didn't have an answer.  He took my phone number an said he'd call me later with an answer.  Still haven't heard anything from him.  I'm considering returning the gauge panel and trying another vendor.

Change of direction

Been a while since I updated the blog and much has happened since the last post.  All the parts I ordered the Monday after Thanksgiving arrived two days later.  Step one was unpack everything and check that the orders were complete.

Next was test fitting the crossmember and the control arms on one side to check the wheelbase.  The radiator support is also installed but I discovered later that it is positioned wrong.  It will be back a bit.

The wheelbase checked out perfect so the next step was installing the engine with bell housing and see how the front mounts would line up. 

It became quickly apparent that different side engine mounts would need to be fabricated as the front mount sits directly over the rack and pinion.  I ordered the universal frame mounts from Chassis Engineering and found several examples/pictures of how other guys had fabricated the mount that bolts to the side of the block.   Before cleaning the frame rails for paint, I needed to remove the stock brake master cylinder from under the driver's floor area.  The clutch and brake pedals pivot off the stock master cylinder so I had also ordered a special bracket that will attach the stock pedals and allow using a new dual master cylinder designed for a Mustang.  Here's the stock configuration.  These pics will help me make sure everything is back together correctly later.

Dan came over last Sat afternoon and we spent the day checking the clearance of the oil pan to the frame with the transmission bolted to the bell housing.  Since the transmission crossmember previously fit tightly under the transmission mount with the engine in place, I wanted to make sure the oil pan would clear the frame with the transmission and crossmember in place.  The pan clears just fine and the timing cover/front mount clears the rack and pinion assembly.  Since the front mount isn't going to be used, I'm seriously considering removing the mount flange from the front plate.  I have an extra one I can modify with a cut off wheel.  After the engine/transmission were removed, we attempted to set the front end assembly back on the frame.  It was immediately apparent that the inner fenders are going to have to be cut in order to clear the top hats that bolt to the top of the Chassis Engineering crossmember.  Until now, I had been able to adhere to my goal of not cutting any part of the car. But there's no getting around this one without having custom inner fenders fabricated and that's not going to happen!  Once I accepted the fact that continuing with the idea of being able to return the car at some point to its restored state wasn't sensible, the conversation turned to other improvements that would require slight modification to the car.  The stock guages became a target for upgrade as well as the speedometer.  Matching the speedo driven gear to make the stock speedo accurate wasn't possible since the gears were no longer available.  So, yesterday I called Dolphin Gauges down in Florida and ordered their 5 gauge electronic package along with the 41 Chevy dash panel.  Everything will bolt in and provide new oil press, water temp, volts, and fuel gauges along with a programmable electronic speedo.  Pics to follow later this week.

     Last Friday, Dick, Dan and I had discussed the details of making a steering column to look like the original.  That too would be a tedious project and I had discovered the wiring in the old turn signal system was just as deteriorated as the rest of the 6 volt wires.  Abandoning the need to keep things looking original at all costs opened the door to consider a custom steering column and a new steering wheel.  A call to Ididit in Tecumseh, Mi., answered my questions on which parts to use and everying was ordered yesterday from Lane Automotive.  And....it was delivered via UPS today!  I ordered a tilt column which is ready for paint.  Lecarra makes a 2 spoke, old looking steering wheel with a chrome horn ring that comes ready for paint too.  I ordered those pieces yesterday. 

     Last Friday nite several of the Road Rodz club members met for some food and talk.  I mentioned my concern over how to replace the wiring that runs above the headliner in the 41 and Phil said he knew of a product to allow the wires to run across the floor and still be protected.  He emailed me the name on Saturday. It is called Gray Stuff from Ron Francis Wiring.  That got ordered yesterday along with the steering wheel from Summit Racing. 

     Yesterday, I also made a trip to the Napa paint store and had some satin black mixed up for the frame parts and some beige to match the old steering wheel and column.  At least I can keep things the same colors!  I finished the day yesterday by removing the rest of the dash parts that won't be used as well as the speedo cable.  The lower kick panels are removable and have plenty of room behind them for speaker installation.  Here's a couple pics of the interior all stripped out and the front of the car with very little left of the stock parts.

I had intended to ship the original radio out to California and have it retrofitted to maintain the front parts while integrating a new am/fm/mp3 input system.  However, with the new direction in mind, I decided to just purchase a retro style radio and speakers from Retro Sound USA.  Got those ordered today along with an adapter plate to allow proper fit in my dashboard. 

     I wire brushed the rust and scraped the crud off the frame yesterday.  Next step is washing it all down with mineral spirits followed by a wipe with lacquer thinner.  Some masking and protective covering on the car and I'll be ready for painting all the black parts.

     My wallet is a bit lighter since this project began but it'll all be worth it when the 41 is back on the show circuit next year.  The wife and I are really looking forward to being able to jump in the 41 any time we have a nice evening and go for a ride without fear of problems with the car.  The modernization direction is not only going to provide a more reliable vehicle but now I can sell off the original parts and recoup some funds. 



Spendin' money!

Yesterday was "Cyber Monday", the Monday after Thanksgiving when many of the online stores offer special prices.  No special prices were on my mind but I did spend a few bucks.  I called Chassis Engineering to confirm my order was boxed and ready to ship.  I had prearranged for billing and shipping any time after Nov 25.  They confirmed that all was ready so I told them to send the parts.  By day's end yesterday I had a UPS tracking number in my email showing delivery is scheduled for tomorrow.  Nice! 
     Next, it was a call to Kwik Wire.  Had a list of questions which were all answered, so I placed the order for a 14 circuit wiring kit along with a few accessories.  Powermaster was next on the list as they are the manufacturer of PowerGen Alternators.  The PowerGen unit is a one-wire, 75 amp alternator with internal voltage regulator in a case that looks exactly like the old GM generators.  I needed to discuss how to order one thru Jeg's with a 5/8" pulley instead of the 3/8" that comes standard.  The 6 volt generator that was on the 41 has the 5/8" pulley.  Got the part number for the pulley and called Jeg's.  Placed the order yesterday and the email acknowledgement shows shipping later this week.   That should take care of the electrical system conversion to 12 volt.  All I'll need to order to complete the electrical install is 12 volt light bulbs and a voltage reducer for the fuel gauge. 
     Summit Racing had the best price on a pair of American Racing/Ansen Sprint style slotted aluminum wheels.  Ordered a pair of 15 x 7, 5 lug, 4.75 bolt circle (Chevy pattern) wheels with 4" back spacing.  These should be a near perfect match to the 6 lug wheels on the rear of the 41.  The front tire size will be determined once the front end is back together so I can check tire clearance at the lower ride height.  I'd like to stay with the 215R70x15 tires that are currently on the car but I may have to put 205R70's on the front for clearance.  Summit had the wheels in stock and the email acknowledgement shows they shipped yesterday.  Looking like the wheels should be here tomorrow along with the front suspension pieces. 
     Last call of the day was to Dick at More Power to discuss a plan for the steering column.  I'm hoping we can duplicate the stock shaft and column/tube inside the car while shortening the assembly in the engine compartment.  The connection to the new rack & pinion steering from Chassis Engineering will require a couple of universal joints and an intermediate shaft to complete the new steering system.  Dick pointed me to the Borgeson.com site for a better understanding of the components needed for the steering and how it all goes together. 
     Dan is coming over tomorrow morning so we can move the old front crossmember/suspension out to my shed for storage.  Need to free up some space in the garage.  The fall weather has been very mild this year but it looks like snow is in the forecast.  I want to minimize the amount of time my PT Cruiser has to sit outside the garage so getting the front end back on the 41 or at least getting it rolling is a bit of a priority.  Stay tuned as the rebuild continues.

More stuff removed

Spent a couple hours in the garage this afternoon and removed the steering wheel/column/box as well as most of the wiring.  All the firewall wiring is off as well as everything under the dashboard.  Ran into something I wasn't prepared for however.  All the cars I've previously worked on had the wires leading to the rear of the car running in a channel along the driver's side of the floor.  A cover of some kind was then attached to conceal the wires.  The 41 surprised me as I found a group of wires going into the bulkhead next to the dashboard and running up the A pillar to the interior roof of the car.  Those wire then exit in the trunk right behind the seat on the driver's side.  At that point, they split and run to the lights on both sides and to the fuel gauge sending unit in the gas tank.  I don't know if/how those wires are attached in the roof.  I may have to remove the headliner to access any retention straps or clamps.  I sure hope not.  Here's a couple pics of the steering box/column/wheel removed.

I was also able to remove the radio, dimmer switch and turn signals.  The brake master cylinder and brake line to the rear is next along with the wiring to the master cylinder.  Then it's clean the dirt and grease from the frame horns and get a fresh coat of paint on them.  Wife and I are heading to Chicago for the next three days for a little Thanksgiving R&R.  I'll be back to work on Saturday. 

Time to get to work

As I indicated back in early October, the crossmember kit is on order with Chassis Engineering.  I spoke with them last week and everything is boxed and ready to ship after Nov 25th as I requested.  That should put parts here about Dec 1.  Now that my fall house projects are completed it's time to get to work on the '41 to make ready for the frame work.  This past Friday I picked up `15 - 1/2" flat washers from the local hardware to make removal of the hood springs possible.  I only worked on the car for a couple hours and had the springs off and the front bumper removed.

My friend Dan came over on Sat morning and helped remove the hood.  Next was getting the front end ready for removal.  Last year I removed and reinstalled the engine with the fenders and grille in place but this time all that sheet metal needed to be removed in order to access the frame.  This was the result at the end of Sat.  The lights are removed since they will be replaced with 12 volt bulbs.  It's possible to remove the front end with the radiator in place but I opted to remove the radiator due to the close proximity of the cooling fan and to enable access to the front of the engine to remove other parts.

Sunday afternoon, Dan came back and we simply lifted the front end off as one piece and placed it aside.  Next came removal of the driveshaft, transmission crossmember, transmission and engine. 

The engine was then placed in the cradle I built to enable access to the clutch and bell housing so they could be removed.  The engine can then be placed on the engine stand.  I'll need to replace the rear main seal to properly fix the leak.

Here's the view with the engine bay empty.

Amazingly, the bolts holding the front suspension/crossmember all came loose without any trouble.  Pretty cool since they've probably been there for 70 years!  We had to loosen the three large nuts on top of the shocks and pry up on the shocks a bit to allow access to the 4 bolts between the shocks and the outside of the frame rails.  The pitman arm was quite tight on the steering box so we opted to remove the two steering arms instead.  The steering box will be coming out with the steering column so it really doesn't matter which parts stay attached.  None will be reinstalled.  Here's the frame after the suspension/crossmember was removed.  And a shot of the pieces setting aside.

I had mentioned previously how badly deteriorated the wiring is and how the plan is to replace all the wiring with a fused wiring kit from Kwik Wire.  Worth another look at how bad the wires look.

The brake lines on the front had to be disconnected prior to removing the crossmember and I discovered another area that needed replacing.  Someone had spliced in a piece of brake line along the frame on the passenger side in the engine compartment.  Instead of using a properly flared piece of steel brake tubing or ss tubing, the splice was made using COPPER tubing  and a compression fitting!  That might be fine for low a pressure oiling system but surely NOT for a brake system.  I should be able to remove the steering column/box tomorrow as well as the radio and the under dash wiring.  Got some holiday traveling to do the end of this week so I should be back to work and back to posting more pics by the weekend.  Have a great Thanksgiving everyone - Go Lions!

Took the plunge

The changes for next year are underway.  I ordered the complete Chassis Engineering front crossmember and suspension kit for the 41.  The lead time is 6-8 weeks so I expect parts around the first of Dec.  In keeping with the idea to not weld or cut the 41, the CE kit is a bolt on item.  This should solve several problem areas for ride comfort and driveability.  No more knee action shocks, worn out steering box or 70 year old brakes.  The 41 will be converted to a Mustang II/Pinto disc brake system along with a new dual master cylinder, rack and pinion steering, adjustable height front end and standard tube shocks.  I'll have to change the front wheels to 5 lug version of the same ones I'm running now (available from Summit Racing) and front tires may need to be changed to a smaller diameter for fender clearance when I lower the front end.  My wife insists on keeping the interior looking original too so Dick at More Power has agreed to make a new steering column and shaft that will look just like the one currently in the car that is part of the steering box.
     Besides the front end, other plans include replacing the entire wiring system with a Kwik Wire kit, replacing the generator with a Powermaster one wire alternator that looks just like a generator and replace the battery, coil, and light bulbs for a full 12 volt conversion.  I located a radio repair shop in California that  converts the original radios to retain the stock face but install a modern, 12v am/fm internals along with a pig tail for connecting a mp3 player.  The heater fan motor wasn't working this year so converting to 12v will allow better options to finding a dual shaft motor to make the heater functional again. 
     The 3.36 geared center section will be going in the rear along with some changes to the lowering blocks.  I'm going to check the pinion angle closely and have Gary at Micro Belmont machine the needed angle into the lowering blocks.  The removal of some metal from the blocks along with eliminating the angled shims currently in the car should raise the rear about a 1/2".  The exhaust system has been too close to the rear end this year so I plan to have the guys at Lentz reroute the passenger side to keep the exhaust pipe away from the center of the rear end. 
     All this sounds like some ambitious plans and quite a bit of work but I have all winter to work on the car.  Right now I have a couple of house projects to finish and an engine to build for one of the Road Rodz member's daughter.  I brought the 1954 235 block and parts home from More Power on Monday and have that sitting in a cradle for use as a test fixture once the new crossmember is in place.  Front engine mounts will need to be fabricated as CE doesn't offer a mount kit for the original 6's - only for V8's and late model 6's.  Should be easier than working with the engine that is currently in the car.  That engine will spend the winter on the engine stand and a new rear main seal will be fitted to stop the leak!
     So, as I've said before, stay tuned folks.  Lotsa work and lotsa pics coming up!

Car show updates

Friday, Aug 26.  The Road Rodz car club held the 2nd annual car show the day before the 28th St Metro Cruise.  This was a fund raiser for the VanAndel Institute for cancer research.  We had a great show and raised over $2100 for VAI!  The event was held at Park Center Lanes in Wyoming.  Check out the pictures on the Road Rodz blog.  http://www.roadrodz.blogspot.com/

Sat, Aug 27.  Friday afternoon/evening was the kickoff for the 7th annual Metro Cruise.  15 miles of rolling car show along with many business venues parking lots filled with cars for viewing.  1/2 of the Road Rodz club reserved spots at the Rogers Plaza lot while the other 1/2 spent the day at a small show put on by West Michigan Transmission.  The 41 and I did the WMT show.  Again, check out the Road Rodz blog for pics as well as the official Metro Cruise web site.  http://www.28thstreetmetrocruise.com/

Sun, Sep 4.  8 of the Road Rodz members as well as my brother made the one hour drive north of Grand Rapids to 8th annual Canadian Lakes Car show.  The show was held at The Castle grounds and we all did quite well.  Club members captured 5 top 25 plaques, Best Engine trophy(Steve), Best Foreign car trophy (brother Ray's Anglia) and Norm's sedan was voted Best in Show.

On the way home, while cruising down the expressway at 60 mph, Cathie and I suddenly smelled rubber burning and the engine shut off!  I pulled to the shoulder of the road along with the rest of the club members and tried to find what caused the smell.  Nothing seemed amiss and when I spun the engine over, it started up again.  We managed to drive all the way home with no further rubber smell but the engine did cut out a couple times.  Just as we arrived in our neighborhood, the engine coughed again and we smelled the rubber burning momentarily.  Each time the engine quit, it came right back without having to use the starter.  During the ensuing week, I pulled the generator and regulator off the car and had them both tested.  No problems found.  I replaced the armature and field wires and called Pertronix to see if there was any possibility the ignition was causing the issue.  They said just what I expected - if it was electronics that failed it wouldn't come back.  It would stay dead.  Here's the wires that were running from the generator to the regulator.

Several other wires that were inside the same plastic cover as the generator wires looked similar when I was digging out these wires.  The 41 only has one fuse in the entire car and that's on the light switch.  I wasn't feeling real warm and fuzzy about running the car any longer with deteriorating wiring. 
    I also drained the gas tank and cleaned the carb and filter just to be sure the cutting off issue wasn't related to fuel.  I decided to give it one more weekend since 4 shows were scheduled for Sep 9-11 and a local pizza shop was holding their final show on Tues the 13th.  Got the car all cleaned and polished and headed out Fri afternoon for the first show 1/2 hour away in Holland.  I hadn't gone 2 miles when the engine cut out and I got the momentary rubber smell again!  I immediately turned around and headed home.  I had intended to replace the ancient wiring on the car during the coming winter so I made a decision to call the car show season complete.  The 41 is now in the garage awaiting the extensive list of modifications coming up between now and next spring. 
     Here's a partial list of things I'll be doing:
- Replace wiring
- Install Chassis Engineering bolt in cross member, rack & pinion steering, disc brakes, and adjustable coil springs and tubular shock absorbers.
- Fabricate new steering column and shaft to maintain stock interior while attaching to R&P steering
- Convert electrical system to 12 volt w/new alternator
- raise rear of car 1/2 - 3/4" by machining 2" drop spacers to correct pinion angle
- install 3:36 rear end
- send radio out for conversion to 12v am/fm w/mp3 input while keeping stock look
- replace rear leaf springs with custom made replacements that will better support the car

I have several other items on my "to do" list and hopefully, I'll be able to get them all done.  Stay tuned folks as I plan to chronicle the work with more pics and rambling commentary.  We've had a ball showing the car this year and it has attracted some great compliments and exciting conversations from folks who still appreciate old 6 cylinder powered cars.  I'm going to work real hard to retain the stock look while improving the suspension, steering and electrical system so we can enjoy the 41 even more next year.
     Thanks everyone for reading and following along this year.