Racer-X-

I forgot to address this in my other post today. I brought one of the light assemblies home, and exchanged it with one I have here in a Miata. When installed in the headlight assembly (reflector, lens, bulb) is perfectly aimed and aligned (level), and precisely matches the performance of the older Cibie unit I have in the Miata. The issue isn't the new lamp assemblies.

@Andydodge, That's essentially what I have. There are 3 pieces in the setup, in addition to the bulb. I've been calling them the bucket (the part screwed to the car), the seat (the part the adjusters and spring hold in), and the trim ring (the piece that goes over the bulb/lens to hold it in). So the adjusters are at the bottom and the side of the bucket and seat? On mine, the adjusters are on the top and the side. Perhaps these things are installed upside down, and maybe flipping them over will line things up more properly. Or maybe that's an Australia thing that's "upside down" for you compared to us Yanks in the northern hemisphere. Thinking about it, mine can't be upside down, because then the optics would be upside down, and the cutoff pattern would be upside down (dark below the cutoff on low beam, instead of dark above the cutoff), and my pattern is almost right side up, just about 10° off level. Also, the trim ring holes aren't evenly spaced. It only fits one way. The sealed beam bulb (or the reflector/lens optics assembly if you use H4 lights) has some "tabs" on the back, and there are recesses in the "seat" piece that match those tabs. Those make it where the bulb/optics assembly only fits in one position. I can't rotate the lens/reflector in the seat, it won't move. It only fits in one position. The adjusters obviously limit the rotation of the seat within the bucket. And the bucket itself is keyed to the opening in the car. I didn't get over to work on Elvis yesterday. The owner rescheduled me for later this week. I think he's got the Flu or something (not Covid, he took an at-home test for that, and it was negative). So I don't have pix yet.

The spring is there. Well, I'm not sure it's the spring, but a spring is definitely there. And to be clear, the adjusters work. I can adjust on both axes. Of course, the up and down adjustment has slight left-right movement because of the tilt, and the left-right adjustment has a little up and down movement for the same reason. I'll try to get some pix later today and post them tonight or tomorrow morning. Looking at the thing, the riveted pieces in the bucket that are for the adjusters look like they should be straight up (for the top adjuster) and straight to the rights side of the car (for the side adjuster). On Elvis, on the right headlight, those appear to be twisted slightly from where they should be. And there are some of the mounting screws that look like they should be level, but they're off by a little bit (probably rotated a little over 10 degrees from level).

OK. We installed some new headlights in Elvis. Cibie/Valeo H4 units. My personal favorite headlights in the 7" round form factor. So, I get them installed in the buckets. The right side bucket, I replaced the drywall screws with what appear to be the correct adjusters. Everything fits together the way I expected. ... ... However, the thing is tilted a little more than 10 degrees. The horizontal cutoff is over 10 degrees down on the left side, and the right side that is supposed to kick up at 15° is kicked up a little over 25 degrees. So my first though was, I'll just take it apart and rotate the bucket where it mounts to the car. Except that is keyed and won't rotate more than a couple degrees. Actually everything between there and the optics/bulb is keyed. I had everything installed properly in the keyed openings, and the thing was still off over 10 degrees. How do I fix this? Do I have to start carving on the car? or on the bucket? Was it "normal" for the headlights on these vehicles to be off level by more than 10 degrees?

When/if you call Wilwood for a recommendation, they'll need some information including: Piston diameter and piston count of front calipers Piston diameter and piston count of rear calipers Overall pedal ratio (this includes both the pedal linkage itself and any lever or bellcrank between the pedal connection and the master cylinder piston) Total stroke of the master cylinder piston from top of pedal travel to bottom of pedal travel. If you have that information ready, they'll be able to help you out much more. As @Sniper pointed out, too big a master cylinder bore and the pedal gets too hard to push and you can't get full braking (lockup) with your leg strength. Too small of a master cylinder will result in running out of pedal travel before you get to full braking (lockup), although the pedal will be much easier to push.

I was going to suggest 1970 (ish) Corvette as a possible application with 4 wheel discs and manual brakes. The 1" bore master cylinder for manual brakes, and it may be enough for your setup, depending on the piston size of your calipers. The 1.25" bore version might be a better choice, but I'm less certain it will fit your bracketry. The Corvettes with manual brakes had the 1" bore master cylinder and single 1-7/8" front pistons and single 1-3/8" rear pistons. If you use that, you'll have to be selective with calipers, especially at the rear. That's likely your issue with that master cylinder and the Ford 8.8" rear axle. I think the Ford Explorer rear calipers are around 1-7/8" piston diameter (possibly 48mm, as I think they are Metric), and will be a little too large for the Corvette manual Master cylinder. The Crown Victoria rear calipers are even bigger, around 2". The smallest caliper you find for that axle is probably the 1994-2004 Rustang calipers. Those are 1.5" pistons, I think, and might work with the Corvette manual MC without running out of pedal travel on the rear circuit. Your front calipers with the Scarebird kit are about 2.5" pistons, and those are also a bit big for the Corvette manual MC. I'm not sure how they are for the other MC (supposed to be for disc/drum brakes). I'm not sure if the Corvette 1.25" master cylinder will fit that bracket you have, but if it does, that would be a better choice. That master cylinder in the Corvettes was used with 2 piston front on both ends of the car. Two 1" pistons in the rear caliper and two 2" pistons in the front caliper. You should have no problems with that and the GM front calipers and the 1994-2004 Rustang rear calipers. Also, be sure to include a 2PSI residual pressure valve in both the front and rear lines with that master cylinder. You'll definitely need that.

Actually, the buck converter is piling up votes here, and I don't think you've voted in the poll yet, just with a reply. Does anyone know the rated draw for the 6v wiper motor assembly? I was looking at 20A buck converters. I suspect that will be enough, but I'm not entirely sure. I'm also going to be checking parts yards while I'm out scavenging other parts for other projects, to see if there are any wiper systems that have the same center-center distance for the wiper pivot shafts. A transplant from something else (with a 12 volt motor) might also be a possibility. I'm not sure if we have the original wiper arms on Elvis. They look really spindly, weak and very shiny. Just like something a shop that's great at upholstery and paint would install. Just sayin'.

I was thinking that 20A might be enough. But I'm not so sure. All my modern cars use 20A or 25A fuses for the wiper motors, and that's for 12V motors. 6V motors tend to draw more current. I need to lube and clean up the wiper transmission linkages and pivots first. Then I might put a 6V light bulb (headlight bulb) in line with the motor and hook it up using the light bulb as a current limiter to see if the motor works and can operate from the lower current limit (that'll allow about 10A to flow). Does anyone know the proper fuse size for the wiper motors in these cars when they had electric windshield wipers?

Wow. I've never seen a rod failure like that on a 3.3 (or 3.8) Mopar V6. Usually it takes some serious lack of lubrication to get that kind of result. If you put it back together with a "new" (to you) engine, and you need a scan tool for that vehicle, I just picked up an extra genuine DRB-II that I'd let go of pretty cheap. If you need it, DM me.

Purist "all original restorers," I already know your opinions. The car arrived with a 12 Volt battery in the spare tire well in the trunk, and a non-Mopar engine (LS1) under the hood. It's a restomod. Nothing has been done to the wipers. There's an antique looking wiper motor up under the dash, and a switch up there as well that looks fairly original. I have no idea if any of it works. Elvis (the car) will be driven in the rain. So far, praying for sunshine and applying plenty of Rain-X to the windshield has worked. None of his events have had rain. But I'm living on borrowed time and that's not a long term strategy that's going to work. During the holiday break, there's plans to address this with a better solution. I see 3 basic options: Carry two small "extra" 6V AGM batteries in the battery box (I have room there for two small "game camera" type 6V AGM batteries) wired in series. Run the wipers off the one that's grounded at the negative terminal. This one has the advantage of being the simplest, but I'm carrying the weight of an extra 6V battery that isn't used, except to load the charging system to keep the other 6V battery charged. Also, I'm drawing alternator current to recharge one battery through the other battery, potentially overcharging the battery attached to the positive side and leading to short life for that battery. It just feels like something "Bubba" would do, and unprofessional. Obtain a 12V wiper motor that fits. Not sure if one is available. Or possibly send the existing 6V motor to and electrics shop to have it rebuilt/rewound for 12V. Install a Constant Voltage "Buck Converter" module adjusted for 6.5-7.5 V output constant voltage. These things are on Amazon, and one that can power 20A/300W is under $20. I'd need a box to put it in, but it's still a neat, clean solution I think. I'm just not sure what current the 6V wiper motor draws both for operation and at start up.

Actually, your pix were a big help. They confirm that 255/xxR15 tires fit and look decent back there. That's a helpful data point for me.

Punctuation is your friend. Or maybe more specific words. Symbols and decimal points matter. Are you saying it has a 10" (10 inch) ring gear? And you'd like to install a 3.55:1 or 3.73:1 gear set?

I'm old. My wrist cracks at about 16 ft. lb., my elbow pops at about 32 ft. lb. and my shoulder pops at around 120 ft. lb. So no need for a torque wrench, right? Seriously, I have a collection of torque wrenches. I wouldn't touch a modern car without them, even though with my years of experience, I can come very close just by feel. Wheel nuts are especially critical on modern cars (and likely on these cars with modern disc brakes on the front). Too much torque will contribute greatly to warped brake rotors.

Bump to this old thread. Does anyone have any new pix to add? I'm looking at wheels/tires for Elvis right now. We're leaning toward some kind of open 5 spoke pattern (Cragar S/S knockoffs with conventional conical lug nuts). If anyone is running anything like that, I'd love to see pix. I've convinced the owner that 1) some cooling air over the brakes, especially the front discs would be a good thing, and 2) People who invest that much money and time behind the wheels (I'm doing a custom front disc conversion with 302mm rotors) usually like to show off those nifty brakes. Right now we're looking at 15x6 for the front with 215/70R15 tires, and 15x7 at the rear with 255/60R15 tires. Those sizes will definitely be RWL tires, although I may do some wide whitewall treatment to the black side of the tire.

You are correct that the stock braking system won't do a gravity bleed. I keep forgetting that my experience with Elvis isn't anywhere close to a stock braking system. However, gravity bleed requires the reservoir to be above the wheel cylinders/calipers. If the reservoir is remotely mounted above the level of the bleed ports at the wheels, then a gravity bleed is possible, even with a master cylinder in the stock location. Still, for most of these cars, a gravity bleed is not easily done. Pressure bleeding might be an alernative to that, feeding pressurized fluid into the reservoir at the master cylinder. As for the disc vs. drums debate, I'm OK with drums all around for a stock(ish) setup that's mostly driven on city streets or country roads. Yes, they can fade some in hilly terrain, but if you're using the brakes to hold speed going down a hill, you need to learn how to downshift. Brakes are for slowing down. Never use the brakes to hold speed on a grade. If you plan to drive on interstate highways or in environments where you'll be exceeding 50-60mph in traffic, you probably need disc brakes at the front, with the complications that brings. Also, IMO, everybody who drives on public roads needs an upgrade to a dual circuit master cylinder, even if you're running the stock drums on all 4 corners. I wish there was a kit available to mount a dual circuit master cylinder in place of the stock one, along with handling the pedal pivot pin. Maybe one is available and I just haven't found it yet. Or maybe I need to fab up something for that which is better than "Bubba's" welded in solution.

That's correct for a stock steering column. The one I'm dealing with isn't stock. There's a lot of non-stock items on ours, and the column (along with basically everything in the interior of the car) is aftermarket "custom" stuff.

I'm not sure what I'll find. The column isn't original. It's a GM style tilt column with a GM pushrod type ignition switch near the bottom of the column. And a chrome cover on the column. It was installed with the custom interior by some shop in Miami. I'll figure out how to get the steering wheel centered eventually. I just don't want to touch it yet and end up with ignition switch problems or turn signal switch issues.

Yes, I'm sure. That was checked multiple times when the tie rods were disconnected. The wheel is off, but I put a piece of tape on the exact top. It turns 1-1/2 turns to the right, and the tape is dead center on the bottom when it hits the stop. To the left it turns 1-1/2 turns and again, the tape is dead center on the bottom. That measure was critical when I sourced a replacement that has been sent to an excellent rebuilder for them to go through. When I put it together, I set the toe with the tape straight up and the steering wheel off center. The tape is straight up so the thing is exactly centered between the stops. All that remains on that is to pull the steering wheel and reinstall it straight. I've been reluctant to do that for fear the column will fall apart, or I'll discover yet another nest of snakes that will consume more of my time. Every time I look at something new on this car, I find more issues that need to be resolved. I'm home recovering from a surgical procedure on my face (the second one in a week, this one to close up and finish after they removed a basal cell cancer from my cheek last week). So I won't be online much this weekend, and I won't be back to work on Elvis at least until Monday or Tuesday.

Bleeding again may help. When a car is a problem for me, I will often do a "gravity bleed" which can be done by a single person with a lot of time on their hands. Top up the reservoir, open the bleed screw on the furthest wheel cylinder (generally right rear), and just let the fluid drip through the hose until you see clear fluid with no air. Generally, I set a timer on my phone for 10 minutes and come back to it to check then. Repeat at the other wheel cylinders, and be sure to keep the master cylinder reservoir topped up. Also, did you replace the "residual pressure valve" when you "rebuilt" the system? Sometimes that's incorporated into a big block called a "combination valve" which also includes a proportioning valve for the rear circuit. If the system isn't holding some residual pressure, the springs will pull the brake shoes back, and you'll have a very long pedal and may not get full braking even at full stroke. Finally, did you turn your drums and use fresh new shoes, fresh out of the box? That usually results in poor performance. A lot of times, with front disc/rear drum setups, you don't notice how bad the rear brakes are when you do that. But with drums on all 4 corners, it becomes evident quickly. The shoes have to be "arced" to match the drums if the drums have been turned. The radius of the inside of the drum is measured, and the outer surface of the shoes are machined to match that radius. Without doing this, the new shoes will make contact with the larger radius at only one small patch instead of along the whole length. They'll eventually wear in and make full contact, but that can take a while. And they may glaze where they are making contact and that can cause more problems over time. If you can't find someone to arc the shoes, it's best to just always use new drums with new shoes, and then check that the new shoe makes full contact with the new drum. If the drum is too tight (too small a radius), the shoe will only contact at the end. If the drum is too loose (to large a radius), the shoe will only contact at one point, and you can "rock" it back and forth a little and the contact point will move as you rock the shoe, like a rocking chair. If you can deal with a little down time, I find the best results are to send the old shoes and drums to someone who can reline the shoes, machine the drums, and arc the shoes to match. Any place that relines shoes has to have the equipment to arc them properly. If they have your drums, they'll be able to make them match exactly. Or they can match the shoes exactly to new drums they ship you with the shoes.

The numbers are sometimes more specific than the names, sometimes less specific. To positively identify the car, the year and the name, or the model number designation and the name are needed, or sometimes all three designations. Some of the names carried forward to later platforms, and some were reused much later to mean entirely different kinds of cars. For example, the Coronet was discontinued as a full size car after 1959, but the name emerged again in 1965 for a mid sized car on a different platform, and continued until 1976 or so.

Welding is definitely required. Attention to detail is also definitely required. Our 1948 DeSoto already had the Cavalier rack installed. The rack used is a first generation J Body (and N Body and L Body) rack, with the center steering plate with the inner tie rods attached at the center of the rack. The years for the Cavalier are 1990 +/- a few years. For outer tie rods, we've switched over to the original size outer tie rod ends (for the DeSoto) with right hand threads, because the Cavalier inner tie rod ends have left hand threads. Also, we replaced the "couplers" that come with the more common "kit" because we had a failure with one of those couplers. The outer ends recommended by that kit are a little small for the steering arms and the fitment there is poor, or at least it was on ours. I posted more details, with pix of the new tie rod adjusters we had made by a very good machine shop on the other trhead here: . There's a gallery link there with lots of pix.

For a stock steering system, I'd go with the speedway stuff for sure. The issue is when you've fitted a rack and pinion unit. On these cars, it's apparently fairly common to use the rack from a Chevrolet Cavalier (also used on the other J Body variants, as well as L and N body cars). That particular steering rack has the inner tie rods attached to it in a way that they don't swivel, and for that particular rack, the outer end of the inner tie rod is female M18x1.5 left hand threads. So you need male M18x1.5 left hand threads on the inner end of your tie rod adjuster piece. The outer end has to mate with whatever outer tie rod end you use. You need a right hand threaded outer tie rod end, and the rh threaded stock ones are probably the best choice there, but they are 11/16-18 right hand threaded and male. Also, we've got a bind in our steering somewhere that's limiting steering when turning left. The rack has 3 full turns lock to lock with the tie rods disconnected, and it's pretty well centered on the car. With everything connected and ready to drive, you can turn the wheel 1½ turns to the right and make a reasonably sharp right turn. When you turn to the left, the wheel stops turning (binds) at just a little less than one full turn of the steering wheel, and the turning radius for left turns is much wider. I need to do more testing to figure out which side is binding (I suspect the one of the outer tie rod ends is binding), and I'm going to need to address that soon.

I put everything back together yesterday (finally) after getting some custom wheel spacers to replace the wheel shims Bubba installed on it with his "disc brake conversion." There's a thread about the hubs, bearings, lug studs, etc. here as well. My angles were pretty crazy at full droop (like when the car was on jack stands with the wheels off). Actually, it exceeded the limits there with the new (stock-ish replacement) tie rod ends. I couldn't connect the tie rods until I put the car on the ground. In "normal travel," it looked like the tie rod ends would be in their operating range, but I'm going to have to put a chain on it in place of the shock when I jack it up to take the wheels or do something else to limit droop travel. In the bump direction, our current setup looks good. It's the droop direction that pushes things to the limit (and a bit beyond). BTW, so far, no response at all from Fat Man Fabrications (I wasn't expecting anything there).

Just following up. I repacked the bearings yesterday. They were all Bower bearings, made in USA. The inner bearings were Bower 14125 and I don't remember the numbers on the outers. It was a mad thrash to finish everything yesterday, and I didn't have time to take pix, plus the battery in my phone died. The seals were leather. It looked like when Bubba did his "disc brake conversion," he repacked the outer bearing with pretty red grease. The inner bearing also had some pretty red grease smeared on it, but was packed with a mixture of black grease that looked fairly recent and some brown waxy grease that looked ancient. It took my slide hammer to get the inner seals loose. The wheel seals were almost as resistant to removal as Mercedes Benz W126 wheel seals. I used a six pack of brake cleaner getting all the old grease and gunk out of everything, then repacked with fresh Valvoline synthetic wheel bearing/chassis grease and put everything back together. I bolted on the new hub centric wheel spacers we had made over Bubba's hand drilled (off center) rotors, and the hubs went back on. Then Bubba's brakes were reinstalled. I had to remove the steering arm on the right side to get to the lower caliper slide pin. Grrrrrr, after I had those bolts installed, torqued down tight holding Bubba's poorly made caliper brackets in place with the correct hardware, I had to remove them and reinstall them. Long day yesterday. I also put the new steering stuff on (custom tie rod adjusters for the rack and pinion "conversion," along with new outer tie rod ends). I'll update that thread as well. There were some issues there that will still need to be addressed. He's a kind of shaky above 45mph right now, but that's probably the rotors off center and out of balance, and the tires are worn and likely not entirely round. Elvis will be going on the trailer to an event Saturday, and he won't be driven far (under 10 miles round trip), and likely not over 30-35mph at all. He's safer and a lot better put together now than he was for the last event he went to.