falconvan Posted August 16, 2011 Report Posted August 16, 2011 Just what I needed; another project. But for $400 bux I couldnt say no. No fancy plans for this one; just get it to run, drive, and stop safely and clean up the nasty interior so i can stand to sit in it. I'm going for the ultra cheepo cruiser. Has anyone had one of these steering boxes apart? This thing barely turns; i hope it can be dissassembled, lubricated, and saved. Quote
greg g Posted August 16, 2011 Report Posted August 16, 2011 before you tear the steering box apart, check the knuckle/kingpin area. Old greas can almost become solid, and become a problem. Some times a bit of heat is needed to free things up. if that works then some new grease intorduced into the area wil make a lot of difference. Looks pretty solid. good luck Quote
Niel Hoback Posted August 16, 2011 Report Posted August 16, 2011 I had a 55 Buick that would not steer no matter what I did, the wheel would not turn. Greg nailed it though, the king pins had frozen up. No problem with the box. Quote
yourpc48 Posted August 16, 2011 Report Posted August 16, 2011 Wow. That car looks really decent for the age. Yes the interior could use some help. Give the thing a good cleaning inside and out and your ready to roll. I spy the project car in the background too. This one will give you something to drive while you work on your other one. Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted August 16, 2011 Report Posted August 16, 2011 That car is identical to mine. Original color and all. Quote
Flatie46 Posted August 16, 2011 Report Posted August 16, 2011 Can't beat that price, good luck with it. Did they keep the bumpers? Quote
carls 49 Posted August 16, 2011 Report Posted August 16, 2011 congrats. there great drivers and lots of fun. Quote
falconvan Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Posted August 17, 2011 Yeah, no bumpers or radiator. I'll come up with something. I figured this was the easiest way to get at everything. You can pull the whole front clip by removing 8 bolts so it was a no brainer. Lots of cleanup needed but the good news is I put a wrench on the balancer and the motor turns freely. Quote
greg g Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 color says it might be a jasper rebuild on the engine. Check for a riveted tag near the distributor. Quote
falconvan Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Posted August 17, 2011 Its got one; that's a plus! Quote
greg g Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 It should tell you what machining was done during the rebuild. Quote
falconvan Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Posted August 17, 2011 It should tell you what machining was done during the rebuild. Cool, I need to look at that closer. Hopefully that means it has a better chance at running good. Now it needs to go back outside for some serious power washing and degreasing. I'd much rather take them apart while they're clean. Quote
BobT-47P15 Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) Looks like more fun......... One other possible on tight steering is that adjustment on top of the steering box. If they have that tightened too much, it makes the wheel hard to turn and doesn't do that much for any loose steering after a point. You may not want to go for new shiny parts on this car, but Tony Urwin on this forum has a pair of rechromed 49 bumpers he would sell. Just F Y I. Edited August 17, 2011 by BobT-47P15 Quote
P-12 Tommy Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 Well worth the 400 bucks! Good luck! Tom Quote
falconvan Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Posted August 17, 2011 Looks like more fun.........One other possible on tight steering is that adjustment on top of the steering box. If they have that tightened too much, it makes the wheel hard to turn and doesn't do that much for any loose steering after a point. You may not want to go for new shiny parts on this car, but Tony Urwin on this forum has a pair of rechromed 49 bumpers he would sell. Just F Y I. Thanks, Bob! Yeah, I think shiny and new wouldn't work on this. Thanks, though. Quote
Jerry Roberts Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 Yeah, no bumpers or radiator. I'll come up with something. I figured this was the easiest way to get at everything. You can pull the whole front clip by removing 8 bolts so it was a no brainer. Lots of cleanup needed but the good news is I put a wrench on the balancer and the motor turns freely. That is an interesting way to use a pipe wrench , sideways . I haven't seen that before . Quote
Don Coatney Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 No fancy plans for this one; just get it to run, drive, and stop safely and clean up the nasty interior so i can stand to sit in it. I'd much rather take them apart while they're clean. A word of caution. If your objective is to drive this car where do you draw your line in the sand, stop disassembly, and make it run and drive? It looks to me like you are starting a full disassembly. I would suggest you not disassemble any further but see if the engine will run. I have seen many projects such as yours where the objective was to make a driver but after disassembly the car sits in a big parts pile and then gets crushed after the owner looses interest. Quote
Don Coatney Posted August 17, 2011 Report Posted August 17, 2011 That is an interesting way to use a pipe wrench , sideways . I haven't seen that before . I have done that many times. Just dont use a cheater bar. Quote
falconvan Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Posted August 17, 2011 A word of caution. If your objective is to drive this car where do you draw your line in the sand, stop disassembly, and make it run and drive? It looks to me like you are starting a full disassembly. I would suggest you not disassemble any further but see if the engine will run. I have seen many projects such as yours where the objective was to make a driver but after disassembly the car sits in a big parts pile and then gets crushed after the owner looses interest. Thanks, Don. Good advice for sure. After seeing the condition of the brake lines and suspension i"ll probably take a lot of this apart,clean it up,lubricate it, and replace the lines. The wiring is pretty much junk, too. Im pretty good at finishing the projects I start but I'm counting on you guys to keep me motivated so it doesn't fall by the wayside. I'll give myself till the first of the year to have it on the road. Quote
falconvan Posted August 19, 2011 Author Report Posted August 19, 2011 After a thorough soaking with engine degreaser and some serious power washing things are looking pretty good. The suspension and steering are all solid with several newer looking parts, and all the grease fittings were in good shape and took grease. The frame is all solid except for the front cross member which had a ton of mud packed in it. The bottom and back of it are gone and will need some serious rebuilding. I've got some steel plate that I think will work good, the only downer is that the motor will have to come out and the suspension will have to come off to get at all the bad spots. Also ran a quick compression check and have 120-140psi across the board so that's a plus. Quote
falconvan Posted August 28, 2011 Author Report Posted August 28, 2011 I have to give Little Mo the big thumbs up for being a great guy. After I found out the motor in this was junk he stepped up and gave me and engine and trans. I went and picked it up today; one heck of a nice guy and I'm glad we met. OK, drive train is out and suspension is off so now I'm at a good starting point. First I have to do some serious rust repair on the crossmember; then I can start cleaning things up and reassembling. Quote
greg g Posted August 28, 2011 Report Posted August 28, 2011 how sis you go from 120 compresion to junk in one post???????????? Quote
falconvan Posted August 28, 2011 Author Report Posted August 28, 2011 (edited) how sis you go from 120 compresion to junk in one post???????????? Good compression on cranking; back two rods came apart about 30 seconds after it started. There's a week and a half in between those two posts. Edited August 28, 2011 by falconvan Quote
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