Worden18

Great book. I talked to Don on the phone in 2005 regarding a truck. I didn't know he passed away. ?

Aug. 17: I have an Empi carb, linkage, and air cleaner coming from Langdon's. Hoping to have good results so I can get it back on the road. Anyone else running a 32/36 carb?

Love the car, congrats!

Yep, take the trailer Keith!!

If you decide to sell the 53 and aquire the 35 I support you Keith. ?

Never owned one, never seen one in person. Always liked the look of them...so mysterious and art deco. I'm spending your money. Go for it. You can always resell it. Wish I had the opportunity!

Aug. 6: Okay fellas, question/tutorial time. My manual doesn't cover this stuff. I'm sure someone has gone over it here on the forums, I'll be damned if I can find it. Rear drum: I removed the snap ring which was where the red line is pointing at. After that I'm lost. The front drums have the oil seal that can be pulled out easily enough to access the inner bearing and race. The rear drum has a lip over the top (the red line runs across it); I'm just not even sure what I'm looking at, or how to access that inner bearing now. It's gotta be simple I know, but half the time I'm a damn fool and need help ?

Aug. 5: Talk about a mountain of crud.... Not sure when the last time anyone had these assemblies apart, but if I had to guess it's been decades. I'll work on disassembling the wheel cylinders and brake shoes soon. ?

Everything looks to be in good shape. Just dirty....

August 5: My son and I took apart the floating axle assemblies on both sides tonight. I watched a YouTube video, took notes, and laid everything out in order that it will be reassembled. Although it seems pretty straightforward now that I took it all apart, I'm the type of person that needs notes and pictures. Thank goodness for the home-made axle nut socket I found under the seat; without it I would've been up a creek. The drums are dirty, etc., but there is no ridge on the lip. So that's a plus. There's a ton of cleanup to do, but we'll have fun with that as well. It was a beautiful 65 degrees, no bugs, and we listened to Sammy Hagar's VOA album from 1984. Talk about good times!

Aug. 3: A couple more pics for you guys. The spare tire is still mounted under there. Frame is really clean, especially for being 72 years old. It originally came from North Dakota, in case anyone hasn't read some of my previous posts. I'm going to keep plugging away at the maintenance. I'm slow but I'll get there.

August 3: Thanks to some PM help from a couple of the forum members I realize the rear axle drain plug is the center bolt on the bottom rear of the pumpkin. Fill plug is on the passenger side. Not a hell of a lot of 90w came out fellas. I know it's supposed to be filled to the bottom of the fill plug, which I'm sure would correlate to the manual's lubrication chart stating the capacity is 5.5 pints (2.75 qts). I don't think 3/4 of a quart came out. When I'm done with the rear brakes, it'll get fresh gear lube.

I often question some of the things that were possibly common practice in days gone by. Like what you just mentioned concerning thermostats, or my old man telling me my grandfather would build a small fire under the oil pan of their car in the winter to warm up the oil....not sure to this day if he was full of sh#@ or not. I know my grandmother wasn't joking when she told me her alcoholic father would drop them off at church on Sundays (in the 1920s) and then go to the bar. Then he wouldn't pick them up, they'd walk home. Not everything that was done in the old days was right, that's for damn sure. I'd never remove the thermostat from my 51 in any weather.

Awesome car! Welcome ?

July 20: I took the driver's side front brake drum to work so I could measure it with the boss's 12" caliper. They are pretty close to 11"... depending on placement of the caliper over some surface rust. And there is no lip on the end, which is good. I'm thinking its never been turned, unless it started its life .050-.060 undersize, which I don't know if that's how they came from the factory. Thoughts? Also, I'm sure I could get it to clean up nicely with a .010 or less skim cut.

Thanks for the responses fellas. Makes sense. Looks like I'm the fool concerning the wheel cylinder pins ha ha. Hey, look what I found amongst my truck stuff. Looks like a home made jobbie for the rear axle. I'll test it out soon enough.

Question #3: The brake drum itself; is that a seal in the back side? Can I remove it? What's behind it?

Question #2: I took off the rubber caps from the wheel cylinder. There are no pins! LOL But why the rectangular slot? I believe my Meadowbrook caps have round slots...not sure I've ever seen ones like this. I wonder if replacement wheel cylinder kits have round slots and pins? What kind are on your trucks? I wonder if the PO had any idea that the brakes wouldn't function without the pins??

Question: The backing plate...is that center piece riveted on? Should I just clean it up and leave it be?

July 19: It's actually pleasant and breezy in my garage, and I'm enjoying the "surf music" compilation on YouTube as I work on the 48. I got the driver's front apart. Took me long enough, but it was fun. Here's where I started: Pic 2: untouched for who knows how long. Pic 1: using the tool a friend gave me to remove the return spring.

The ticking is likely the mechanical lifters. Totally normal. Sometimes mine clack rather loudly....just keep on rollin'! IMO your idle should be at 650-700 with a reduction to 450 if you have/utilize fluid drive at a stop light

Okay, will do. Thanks

Thanks man ?

July 12: My son and I finally got the driver's rear wheel off. One stud is broken off. I imagine that is going to give me trouble to remove at some point. The drum says Budd on it (with some numbers) and also, on the shaft part a "D" is stamped. My shop manual says "remove wheel, remove brake drum" and then it gives a little bit more specific instructions on how to remove the shoes, etc. Well I'm lost now! How the heck do I remove the brake drum? And what is the square hole on the face of the drum? What is the extra hole between the nuts on the end of the axle? I suppose I'll have to remove those outer bolts on the end of the axle... I can see that much. But what's behind that I should be prepared for? Gonna really need you guys' help on this. Thanks ?

I owned a '56 C-3 about 25 years ago. It was as slow as a turtle. You're not gonna go anywhere fast with the original running gear. But maybe get one of the three to go fast for starters and see how it goes ?