Worden18

Keith, go by odometer mileage for your fuel consumption and not by the fuel guage if there's even a slim chance it might be off. Every time I fill up I log the odometer and gallons pumped on the "notes" in my phone. My guage is unreliable. At least you'll know just how much gas you have to the nearest gallon or two, depending on how consistent of mpg your car gets. Also, in my experience, the fuel pumps can work fine, and then just stop working. That one I had on last year was brand new, worked fine, then all of a sudden didn't work at all, etc. Ended up putting another brand new pump on after going through hell trying to diagnose it. Electric fuel pump might not be a bad idea.

May 12: We were antiquing at “Goldrush Days” in Rochester MN and my wife spotted this 1924 DB. Appeared to be very original, but did have disc brakes on the front and I could see a spin-on filter through the hood slats; so I think the original 4 cyl was not powering it. The truck had a very distinct smell....

Don't worry, we'll take them for a ride tonight, or later tomorrow for sure!

Hi Bill, I haven't tried that at all. I feared flooding it. But I guess if I don't pump it.... I usually just leave the accelerator alone when starting. I will definitely try this and let you know how it works. Thanks for the tip!

Sorry you broke down. At least you’re not getting snowed or rained on, and help is on the way. Let us know the diagnosis. ?

Agreed. I will probably change it out when I do a tuneup in the near future. Its been on there for almost 7,000 miles now and no problems. With the new heat shield it should be protected a little better as well.

Friday, May 11: A final black and white photo. At home unloading groceries and plants.

Here's a cross section view of that heat shield.

Here's the heat shield I finally got around to installing, if you want to even call it an install LOL. Its just a leftover piece of pre-formed aluminum from work that just so happened to fit perfectly in there without me having to modify it at all if you can believe it. It actually fits fairly tight, too. The only thing I did to it was put that aluminum block on top that has a recess underneath for the distributor vacuum advance line. I drilled some holes through and put a nut and bolt in each one to keep the heat shield in place just in case it might decide to work its way out from vibration, etc. It will stay attached to that hard line now, so I won't have to worry about it flying out and hitting the fan or something. Seems to work so far. I think it is helping with the fuel percolation, but I have other issues that are contributing to hard starting after letting the car sit for 5-10 minutes, like my crappy carb and my timing is off as well. The car seems to start a bit better now, though. Before the heat shield it would crank and crank and crank before starting again after that 5-10 "fuel burnoff" period.

Friday May 11: After the plant sale we stopped at the grocery in a neighboring town for a few things. Some little kids that got out of that gray van on the end were pointing at the Meadowbrook and saying "Mommy, look!" over and over again. At least they noticed!

Friday May 11: On to the plant sale at the community center....

The Captain and Coke I had with my grilled chicken salad was delightful ?

Friday, May 11: You can tell by our attire how cold it is here in MN today. 40s and rainy. Cranked up the heater in the Meadowbrook and drove into town to JT's Bar and Grill for supper. A friend snapped this photo for us.

Before my engine rebuild I had 2 cylinders that had a compression of 5, one had 10, one 15, one 35, and one at 60. It was so bad that we checked them 3 times with 2 different guages. Got the same readings every time. Drove the car that WHOLE SUMMER and put over 3,000 miles on it; never broke down or had a major issue. I was putting a quart of oil in every 125 miles though. Turned out that 5 of the 6 piston's top compression rings just fell apart when we disassembled the engine. So I look at your compression readings and automatically think "that's not too bad" LOL Oh, plus I was getting over 20mpg with no compression. Now I get between 15 and 17. ?

Keith, I pumped the pedal and my friend cracked the lines. The driver’s front was the only one that needed quite a bit of pumping.

May 10: Final stop at the library. Now headed home. Beautiful sunny 65 degree day! Lots of smiles and people pointing at the Meadowbrook. ?

May 10: at the school. Car ran good today...

May 10: So right after work I drove to my friend’s shop and we get it up on the hoist. We were able to bleed the brakes correctly (it needed that) and then I adjusted the brakes a bit on all 4 wheels. I also snugged up a number of bolts and wiped off some excess oil drips. We ate lunch and then parted ways. Stopped at the school on the way home to pick up the kids. They were excited to see the Meadowbrook. 110 miles logged today!

May 9th continued: So my kids and I pull up to the gas pump at 8:30pm. After I finish at the pump a guy pulls up in his car and asks, "What year is it?" I tell him its a 51. He tells me he has a 49 Wayfarer (2 door of course) that his grandfather gave to him back in the mid-60s. He drove it until he went to Vietnam in 1970, and then his dad drove it for a couple of years. His dad stopped driving it before he got back from Vietnam because something was wrong with the engine; he thought maybe a rod knock. So the car is still sitting in his garage after all this time, not having run since the early 70s. At this point he didn't think it would ever run again, but he will never part with it because his grandfather gave it to him. He told me back in the 60s there was a sledding hill in the winter that was right next to a steep and kinda scary road. His siblings and their friends would sled down the hill, he would wait for them at the bottom with the Wayfarer, then hook up the sled with a rope to the car's rear bumper and pull them back up the road so they wouldn't have to walk back up! He said with the Fluid Drive in 3rd gear he could crawl up that slippery road. A friend of his had a truck with studded tires (legal back then...at least around here), and HE couldn't make it up that hill! Imagine that! We talked for probably 15 minutes. I told him some of the history of the Meadowbrook, and he enjoyed hearing it and had some questions. I could see by the look in his eye that he wished his old Wayfarer was running again. He's from a neighboring town, and I told him that if he sees me out and about and doesn't mind showing me his 49 that I'd be happy to look at it and reminisce with him. It was fun talking to someone who appreciated my car. ?

Glad you enjoy my posts. I just like to have fun, and I enjoy talking to people. People always have interesting stories they like to share, mostly sparked when they see my car and just have to inquire about it. I have a little story that I will share now...

May 9, 2018: Got the Meadowbrook back on the road. The brakes work pretty good, but I’m not a great expert on the bleeding process. After work tomorrow morning I’m heading to a friend’s to put the car up on his hoist. We’ll get the brakes bled properly then. Here’s a shot while it was warming up. Felt spectacular to be behind the wheel again. My kids rode into town with me to get gas. Can’t wait to drive to work tomorrow morning!