Coffin04

Got under the car after class today, the linkage to the trani was all intact. Found something else to, i was able to freely shift gears by hand at the transmission. Think it's possible the clutch is frozen open? I noticed that after beating a bit on that clutch lever the clutch linkage pushes against that the shifter locked up a bit, but i was able to wiggle it loose and shift freely again.

i know, i've done it several times in the past week. what i'm saying is the gears don't seem to be engaging now. i can move the shifter freely into gear with out the clutch and it has no effect. I'm going back to where i left it to see if maybe some linkage broke lose or if giving the battery some juice will help. I'm hoping there's nothing wrong with the fluid drive. But i don't think that would effect the free movement of my shifter. I'm hoping it's linkage.

So here is what i need to know: What could be causing my shifter to move freely, and keep my engine from engaging with the transmission? I have a gyromatic in my '50 Coronet if that helps any. Here's the story if you want to know: I'm done. if i had the facilities, time, finance, and equipment to handle what this car is sending my way i would gladly take it on. Driving back from dropping my girlfriend off. Picked up a good charger because I've had to use the hills lately to push start the car and i figured that wasn't such a good thing to have to do continuously. So wanted to just charge the battery while i repaired the harness. Car died while at a light on a flat strip...the motor won't turn over. pushed it around an intersection where i've got some downhill action going on and try to push start. The car won't catch the gear. I can shift it. In fact i can shift without the clutch. so now i have a nearly dead battery with an engine that won't engage with the transmission. Could all the push starting caused this? right now in my mind that's more than likely. Now what exactly is broken or disconnected or whatever? i don't know. I do know that if it's an issue with the fluid drive, clutch, or transmission, then there's no way i'm getting it fixed in my current situation.

Thanks for the Info on that generator Joe. And thanks for the hint on the grounds...well everyone really! So i decided I'm just going to go ahead and replace the whole harness starting with the grounds then branching out from the generator. Also going to refurbish and replace what components i have to as i move along. Going to take the hard fix over the easy patch. Any of you have any experience with wiring? I know what gauges i need and about how much but i don't want some shoddy wiring that'll bug out on me. Any recommendations on a producer?

so far only the head lights have been giving me issues. but now I'm having occasional trouble turning the engine over. the starter just slowly losses power. Had to use one of California's great hills to push start it tonight. great experience. now i know how it's done. The battery is new so this is leading me to believe that the generator is also not doing its job or something else is hindering it from charging the battery. Going to replace all my grounds as a fix to the head lights and as preventative maintenance. then Go about replacing the harness itself i think. I put a thread in here a while back about the generator but i can't seem to find it. it was asking about rebuilding them. I couldn't remember what i need to replace in it, if anything, to refurbish it.

I've having some trouble recently with either the ampmeter or the generator. Not sure which yet. But many times the ampmeter shows i'm only drawing energy rather than charging. Can a faulty ground cause one of the many issues this could reppresent?

I'll give them grounds a look. It has more trouble starting cold than hot, that's for sure. The end all is eventually have the generator rebuilt and replace the harness completely.

So i know i definitely need to replace the whole harness because it's all original and decaying but i haven't had time and it's been holding up. But now that i'm able to drive my car again i've noticed a major problem with it. My head lights. I replaced them and they started off pretty bright but than after a few days of driving, only twice at night, one head light has already burnt out it's high beam. On low beams my passenger light is brighter than the driver light. but when i put on the high beams the driver light becomes as bright as the passenger light and the passenger light goes out. It's a trip to watch. I'm not sure what to think of my electrical. I know it's SNAFU for and oldy like this but still.

Alright, a bur and some end mills were sent to me. the stud chewed the end mils to pieces. The bur worked amazingly well the only problem is after hitting this busted end with grinders, burs, and bits. I think i removed most of the material that was actually bolt in the attempt to remove the extractors... how about that. in the end it was all one concaved shinny blob. So i gave up after developing major wrist and arm pain. The busted bolt is now welded in place. It's ugly but it works. On top of that i replaced my rear suspension. YAY.... now to replace the front suspension, get the brakes adjusted and relined, work on the cooling, fiddle with the carb some more to get it properly tuned, check the fuel system in and out, and the list goes on and on as always.

Unfortunately the stud is broken about an 1/8" in not out. And my vehicle is on military post but it's a rather unique one. It's strictly a training school and not a full on base. if i was on a base i would have brought the car to the shop faster than hell gets lawyers. i may be going with the bur for now. if i can just get a hole in there i should be good.if the bur fails then i'm stuck...

Rusty, is there a preferred shape for the bur for this application? Cylinder, pencil, ball, flame, etc... As much as i want to get a welder, my pockets aren't that deep with only a rocker and a chevron on my chest. E-3 pay ain't the greatest. was hoping to find a cheaper solution for this... But if you know of a welder for a good price and can work off a standard 120v socket. that would be great. My room's dad has a few of them supposedly, but either the welder would have to come down here or i'd have to find a way to get my car to him since his dad is about an hour's drive away. I can see about it. I have an idea using an angle plate but we'll see.

Think a diamond bur could make a good center hole for my bits to follow? I'm also looking at this: (Diamond coated core drill) Lastly, getting real tempted to just buy a mig and weld the old ball on there.... always wanted a welder . . . I'll give that heli-coil a whirl if it gets to that point. I'm also going to look into those end mills. Thanks for the advice. I know a heat/cold shrink will do the trick but i have no experience with that nor a torch. But i would like to hear more about how to do it. I just can't beleive that out of all the things that could give me trouble and cost me cash it ended up being a broken bolt . . . What about just JB Welding the old ball stud onto the old stud? Will that make a pretty good hold for a pivot point?

JIP, it's on the frame between the frame and the transmission, a few inches in front of the brake petal pivot.

so that grinder bit was able to widle down the extractors and so on but now the metal is smoothed out and none of my bits can get a god grip at the center. and the few that have eventually just polish off and spin freely. my ample supply of patience is beginning to run out. I also run into another problem. trying to keep that grinder centered was a pain in the @#$. are there any grinder bits with enough of a point that i might be able to grind out a small hole to start off my bits? Or maybe a bit that won't polish off? I feel like i'm searching for the holy grail of bits here. maybe i should just start her in 3rd and drive down to a machine shop and let them have a whack. How does the heli-coil work? am i just inserting "new" threads? How well does that hold?

So i changed my mind because i'm still determined to reuse the original hole. I'm using a grinding bit instead to flatten out then concave the end of the bot so i can get a bit well centered on it. These are the power tools at my disposal. I also have a Right angle drive because of the tight quarters. The space is so tight i can't get a hammer in to beat it and i don't have a torch. Shawn if you can tell me a bit more about that bit that would be great. All i have at the moment is a 12v drill and a 12v impact driver. Set of black oxide drill bits, a conical grinding stone, etc. can i do anything with what i got and a ton of patience?