martybose

It is fairly standard to rebuilt the sending unit to eliminate those batteries; mine was done by Williamson several years ago. Marty

I'm currently running a Chrysler Marine 5K tach off of my HEI, and it works fine. I also have a Sun 5K tach with a separate control box that has been converted to 12V negative ground battery-less operation that I'm not using. I could take a picture of it, or even send it to you to look at if you like. Marty

It probably will need calibrating, and it is a pain. I took my gauge out of the car and tested it in a pan on the stove, and it was 20-30 degrees off compared to a couple of different thermometers. As I found out, you can't simply adjust it at one point and declare victory, as the response is definitely non-linear. Adjusting the needle involves a combination of length and angle of an internal link, and requires both time and patience. I eventually got mine to within a few degrees from 120 to 212, and declared victory at that point. Marty

I keep thinking that the clue is in the vacuum drop with the choke off, but I'm not sure what it means. I know on my Carter-Webers there is a detail about the throttle plate that says that there is only one way that it goes in due to the beveling on edges. If you install it the wrong way the sealing edge of the plate will be on the wrong side of a fuel passage and the fuel mixture will be off. I have no clue whether something like this issue exists on the OEM carb, just that the symptom sounds familiar. Marty

I had a 65 Mustang with the HP 271 horse 289. I was driving through town and stopped at a red light. I was idling with the car in gear and the clutch disengaged waiting for the light to change when one finger of the Long-style clutch snapped, sending me across the intersection with my foot still on the floor. Luckily there was no cross traffic right then, and the look on my face must have been priceless! Marty

If your engine is with a builder who has done Mopar flatheads before, why wouldn't he already know the proper torquing sequence? He should have had a manual; if he is using Furd flathead data then virtually everything will be torqued to the wrong spec. All Mopar flatheads have a water jacket in the head, so I'm guessing that you're really asking about the difference between a later head designed for an internal bypass, versus an earlier head designed for an external bypass. The later flathead engines have an extra passage at the front of the block that is fed by an extra passage in the head. These motors do not have a hose from the thermostat housing to the top fitting on the waterpump. There is a specific headgasket that has to be used on an internal bypass motor or you will have a nice water leak. You have to have the correct head, headgasket, block and waterpump for an internal bypass to work. If any of these parts are wrong, you either have a cooling system that doesn't circulate much until the thermostat opens, or you have one or more water leaks from several possible locations. Marty

Sounds like you need the manual shift bellhousing, along with a flywheel and pressure plate from same. You might also need some clutch linkage pieces as well. Marty

I bought a commercial power brake vacuum canister similar to Don's, and found a place at the lower right end of the firewall that is triangular shaped under the passenger footwell. There's a vertical body brace there, so I bolted the canister to the back side of the brace. There's a large hose to it from the intake manifold, and a small one that goes to the wiper motor. It works well, and is practically invisible. Marty

You're absolutely right; if the odometer is reading correctly, the gearing is correct. The speedo can be tricky; right now my odometer is correct, and the speedo is dead on at 70 MPH, but it reads about 6 MPH low at 30 MPH. I'll figure it out eventually. Marty

What, you don't want proof that she can polish stainless???? Marty

Really!! During one of my experiments I ran 4 degrees BTDC with no advance (either mechanical or vacuum) and it ran with low power and a lot of popping back through the exhaust system. Any chance you have a fast centrifugal advance that is playing into this? Mine doesn't start to advance until 1300 RPM, and I can drive up a long hill at 1000 RPM in high gear with no complaints. Marty

You could run more initial timing and everything would be fine if you ran manifold vacuum instead of ported vacuum. Sorry, couldn't resist! Marty, who runs 4 degrees and manifold vacuum ........

The way the ratios stack up in a 3 speed w/overdrive, there is actually pretty even spacing if you go 1-2-2OD-3-3OD, as 2OD fills in the big jump from 2nd to 3rd. Second overdrive is the best gear on my car for getting up a freeway onramp and getting up to speed quickly. As I am running smaller diameter rear tires than most, most of my around town driving is in 3rd with OD engaged; if I slow to go around a corner it automatically shifts out of OD and accelerates nicely. Marty

I'm not sure, but something in the back of my head is nagging me that you have to check both the steering arms and the steering box arm to make sure which way the tapered ball joints go in. I think I had to change how the steering arms were bent so that both of the tierods were straight when I did mine. Also, if you are running wider than stock tires, make sure you leave enough clearance between the tires and the tirerod ends; I found out the hard way when I went around the first corner and the tierod ends sliced through the most of the cords in the sidewalls of my brand new BFG T/A's! Marty

It's definitely strong enough. But if there is a torque setting for the original fine thread bolt, you would have to increase the torque by about 20% to get the same clamping force that the fine thread bolt produces. Marty

I guess I never got enough travel to worry about that, since my Fatman spindles have drum brakes on them, and the backing plates hit the lower A-arm first! I did have to heat and bend both steering arms down to make things connect correctly. Marty

Most of us who have retrofitted OD's into our cars have managed to do just fine without the kickdown switch; if you want to go back to direct drive just flip the switch off, lift your foot off of the gas for a second, and when you step on the gas again you will be out of overdrive. Marty

I've been through 3 major quakes in the 60 plus years I've lived in California, and other than some temporary inconvenience, was no worse for wear because of them. How many times has Florida been hit with hurricanes in the last 60 years? I'll take the "risk" of earthquakes myself! Marty

I always use the hardened parallel-ground washers that ARP supplies, with both the washer and the nut oiled. You really don't want to torque the nut down onto an aluminum surface, as they will usually gall. The studs are installed with sealer (Permatex Aviation Form-a-gasket is my preference) and just hand-tightened into the block; you want them bottomed out but not significantly tightened up. I always install the studs first, let them sit a while, then install the head gasket, the head, then the washers and nuts, oiled as mentioned. I'm a bit anal about torquing, but time is cheap. So I start at 30 lbs., then 45, 50, and finally 55. I keep going around at 55 until none move any more, then I fire up the engine and warm it up, then retorque again at 55, then go for a drive and retorque at 55. If none of them move at that point, then I'm done; if any of them moved, the next time I drive the car I'll retorque them again until none of them move when I retorque them. Needless to say, retorquing requires planning if you don't want to disassemble things every time; I use an AN fitting on the back of the head for the water connection so that I can move things enough to get to the right rear head stud, and an odd collection of sockets and crows feet to get under the linkage mount on my Edmunds manifold. YMMV. Marty

I prefer studs for the simple reason that if you manage to get them to seal (I've had great luck using Permatex aviation form-a-gasket, a vile looking brown liquid that works really well) you won't ever have a leaking problem again, because the sealed threads never have to be unscrewed again. I found some stainless studs that I have used for my waterpump (yeah, I'll have to pull the radiator the next time I need to change the waterpump), and even my valvecovers (because I was having a hard time getting the bolts to start into the backside of the lifter valley with my cast aluminum covers). I've been switching every bolt that goes into a water passage to studs whenever I can. The thermostat housing will be next, but it's sealed up now, so I'm not touching it for a while! Marty

there must be something in the water, because I wouldn't want to move to any of the top ten! Marty

Correct. The studs have coarse threads to go into the block but fine threads for the nut that is on top of the head. Marty

I just looked up the 303, and it is a 3/8" reach plug. If the threaded part of the body ends up flush with the combustion chamber surface, then it is the right plug. My Edmunds head had 1/8" of thread still showing with that style of plug, but switching to a 1/2" reach plug fixed that. Just make sure you use a metallic-type of antiseize compound on the threads and then torque it down to spec; overtightening it will pull the threads out of the head! Marty

When you reinstalled the head, did you torque it, then warm it up (or drive a short distance) and retorque it again? I had to torque mine twice after the initial installation before the gasket stopped compressing. The first time I took off the original head, there were 2 bolts that I could remove without needing a wrench because they were so loose. Marty

A question for the Edgy users; is the sparkplug 3/8" reach like the stock head, or is it 1/2" reach? I know my Edmunds head is 1/2", and I had to do some work to clean up the sparkplug threads because someone had run 3/8" plugs in my head before me. Marty