Car is back together but still won’t start!

[perrymedik]

A shop vac.  That was the trick to it.

 

I jacked up the front of the car as high as my floor jack would go and after blowing the compressor through the outlet port on the tank and draining it all out via the drain plug, I took a cloth on the end of a wire and made my best attempt to bring all the sediment towards the center of the tank.  Then I let it air out until everything was dry.

 

Once it was I took a small tube and taped it to the shop vac and then taped a coat hanger to the end of it so that I could direct the tube to everywhere and it sucked up all the sediment like a charm.  I used an inspection mirror to get as good a look around as I could and was pleased with the results.

 

Buttoned everything back up, filled the tank, hit the starter and she sprung to life.  I let her warm up to temp and took her out for a 5 mile jaunt with all the electronics running at full tilt and same speed as last night to recreate the scenario.  Not even a hiccup. 

When I drove to NAPA today (just shy of a mile from my house) the car died as I was turning in. 

 

So this was a big improvement.  I'll take it on a longer stretch on Monday, see what else goes wrong.  Gotta expect things to keep popping up for a while.  It hadn't run in over 6 years and sat in a barn for years before I got it.

[_shel_ny]

Removing the tank straps is done by securely holding the threaded end piece that is riveted to the end of the strap.

 

The nut under the mat in the trunk is actually a coupling. The threaded end of the strap goes into it.

 

The nut(coupling) floats in the hole in the trunk.

 

If the strap is not held, turning the nut will result in twisting the end off the strap.

 

On one car I cut the straps, and had them welded back together. Sorry, no pic. I deleted it a few months back when I removed 4-5K pics from my computer.

Edited January 18, 2015 by shel_ny

[_shel_ny]

Something I would do if the problem recurs soon is to take a look in the carb to see if anything else has wandered in there to be intermittently blocking the flow of fuel.

[soth122003]

That's what got me about 3-4 weeks ago. I had pulled the filter at the tank because it looked like it was full of Mississippi mud. I was going to replace it the next day, but forgot. Then when I changed my manifolds about a month later, It took almost 3 weeks for parts and time to get the number 6 aft stud removed. (had to step drill it up to the threads then tap it). Anywho, when I put the filter back on between the pump and the carb, it was leaking like a sieve, so I left it off for getting the car back to running condition. At that point some of the gas I put in was bad, it probably ate some of the crap off the tank walls and sent it through the system with no fuel filter and it really did a number on the carb.  

 

Since then I reinstalled a filter at the tank and rebuilt the one at the carb. The engine ran good but had a stutter every few minutes. Nothing regular, just a slight miss every now and then. Had the car up to 65mph on the road and under acceleration it was fine, but a maintained speed I would feel the miss or spit or stumble every minute or so. So now the carb is apart on the bench and there is a fine sediment in the float bowl. So it is going to soak tomorrow in a carb cleaner bath and then get blown out with a lot of air and we will see where that leaves me with the motor running smooth or not. Before I changed the manifolds it was purring like a kitten.

 

I put the vacuum tester on it today and was reading 19 with a drop to 18 when the stutter occurred. The timing was dead on the zero mark and using the timing light I checked all the plug wires to make sure they were firing and firing evenly by counting the pulses to a beat, 1234, 1234 1234 and they were solid.

 

So let that be a lesson boys and girls, NEVER EVER RUN THE ENGINE WITH OUT HAVING AT LEAST ONE FUEL FILTER INSTALLED.

 

And Perry, that sediment looked like fine silt, so some of that stuff may have made it to the carb, so it wouldn't hurt to check.

 

Joe

[linus6948]

It can be amazing how much crud can accumulate in a carb.

 

 

 

 

 

[perrymedik]

Shel_ny: I could see what you were talking about, I just didn't have enough clearance to get up to that and secure it from underneath so that I could remove the nut from the top.

 

I can certainly give the Carb an eyeball.  Though I did put in an inline filter after clogging my accelerator pump jet right off the bat.  I also like Don Coatney's idea of installing a second in line filter between the fuel pump and the carb.

 

But today is going to be a rainy day and my wife is gone all day for Duty, so its the me and the little man (7 month old) show today.

Maybe the sun will smile on me tomorrow and I can take it out again and see what it does.  I need to put seat belts in it so that my wife can ride along with me and the baby can be securely strapped in the back seat.  I've put almost 100 miles on the car so far and she hasn't been in it for a single one of them.

[_shel_ny]

In addition to the plastic inline filter in the line from the tank I used a screw in filter at the inlet to the fuel pump. I replaced the flex line from the frame to pump with a piece of ethanol friendly hose.

 

NAPA # provided by another forum member many years back.

[greg g]

You can secure the tank straps using needle nosed vice grips to clam the strap and use the tank as the stop to keep the strap from twisting. Of course success depends on how rusty your straps are, make sure you try to get some penetrating oil up into the threaded portion of the strap.  use a heat gun to heat the top of the bolt in the trunk, then spray the penetrant on the strap side.  The liquid should wick up toward the heat and you might get enough up into the threaded portion to help.

 

[perrymedik]

Greg g: I tried with he pair of needle nose vice grips but just couldn't get them up there in that space quite well enough to hold.

However I love your idea of using the heat gun to wick the penetrating fluid upwards! I am going to use that down the road for sure!!  Thanks for that!!

[Plymouthy Adams]

less damage is usually done by just cutting the threaded portion off the strap and remove the nuts from the top with cut threaded section intact...and drop the straps...proper heat cycles cherry red and using wax as a lube only will allow easy removal of the threaded section from the nut.  Weld this back to the straps when you are ready to mount the tank again...this is quite easy and when done proper cannot really be detected...mangling of the straps and such will be the end result most likely with any other attempt to remove the straps...have done multiple sets in this fashion.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Plymouthy Adams

[_shel_ny]

In addition to the plastic inline filter in the line from the tank I used a screw in filter at the inlet to the fuel pump. I replaced the flex line from the frame to pump with a piece of ethanol friendly hose.

 

NAPA # provided by another forum member many years back.

 

I see the price of the screw in filter has jumped about 40% from when I purchased them (were under $3). Substitute Similar filters are available at a more reasonable cost.

Edited January 18, 2015 by shel_ny

[perrymedik]

Plymouth Adams:  Wish I had a welder and knew how to use it!  It's one of those skills I'd really like to learn.

 

Shel_ny: The in-line filter I have now is glass.  I had read somewhere on here (Tech Tips page I think) that advised against the plastic ones.  The one in your picture looked pretty small, and without a sight glass how would you know if it was clogged, other then taking it apart?

[perrymedik]

So the plan for tomorrow is the take a look at the steering system and determine if tightening up the play in the steering will be an easy fix, or a costly and time intensive one.  I have read the entire section in the Service Manual and feel ready to give it a go.

 

But before I start I was wondering if anyone can tell me what this wire is that goes into the bottom of the steering box.  I can't find anything about it in the Steering section, and it doesn't show up in my wiring diagram either.  It's more of a curiosity question, as I doubt it has anything to do with the play in the wheel, and it doesn't seem to be causing any problems that I am aware of.  

 

Before anyone asks, no, I don't have power steering, turn signals, or a back up light.  And yes, the insulation is cracked and I will address that.

 

 

 

 

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!  I know there's a test drive in the works at some point.  Oh, and if I do get the test drive in, I'll have broken the 100 mile mark! WOO HOO!

 

Thanks!

 

Cory

[Young Ed]

Cory do you have a horn

[Dave72dt]

Horn, goes up through the coluum

[perrymedik]

Young Ed: Yes.  And it is very loud.  And now I feel kind of dumb - but more informed! LOL!

 

Thanks guys!

[Dave72dt]

Don't feel too bad. That question has been asked before.

[Jim Saraceno]

Oops. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but my posts are showing up on the wrong threads and I can't figure out how to delete them.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Jim Saraceno

[deathbound]

Ooops! I'm not sure how that got posted on this thread. Yes, it was about using a valve spring compressor. Sorry!

Your previous post fits this thread....earlier on page 3, there was a valve spring compressor used.

Edited January 19, 2015 by deathbound

[perrymedik]

Oh, there were many used. 

[_shel_ny]

Plymouth Adams:  Wish I had a welder and knew how to use it!  It's one of those skills I'd really like to learn.

 

Shel_ny: The in-line filter I have now is glass.  I had read somewhere on here (Tech Tips page I think) that advised against the plastic ones.  The one in your picture looked pretty small, and without a sight glass how would you know if it was clogged, other then taking it apart?

Yes plastic, but they are not a problem located away from the engine.

 

Small one. No need to sight it. Just replace it annually. Cut it open at that time if curios about what got past the other in line filter.

[perrymedik]

Shel_ny: Thanks for the info.  I'll look into getting one of those.

 

UPDATE: Looked into the steering issue today and ran through the steps in the Service Manual.  It would seem that when I took the front driver side wheel off to lube the bearings, that when I re-installed the castle nut on the axle I was too cautious on how tight I put it on.  The Manual said to check the wheel by pulling in and out on it.  The passenger side didn't move, but the driver side did.  Not excessively, but enough to warrant tightening the nut a bit further.

 

With that done I took the car on a roll around the neighborhood and everything felt fine, but the problem wasn't that noticeable before until I got around the 40-45 MPH range.  So I found a spot where I could do that and it felt significantly better.  Then I took it to the Hwy and got up to 55-60 and the steering felt solid.  Problem solved!!

 

This does bring me to my next question though.  What is a reasonable speed for this car?  It is only a 3 speed and doesn't have overdrive.  The Speedo goes up to 100 (LOL!) but I don't anticipate ever coming close to that.

 

I don't want to blow out my transmission or cause damage to the engine by having the RPMs too high.  I don't know what my RPMs are as there is no tach, but you could hear it running!!  It sounds fine, and the distance at the 55-60 MPH range was less then 2 miles, but still I'd like to know what the safe range would be.  I know people drove these cars cross country back in the day, but I don't think the speed limits were as high as they are today.  

 

Any input would be appreciated!!

 

Put 34 miles on it today both City and Hwy so as for now I will assume that the fuel tank issue is taken care of.

 

Gonna take a look at some other minor issues today (dim bulb in the Fuel Gage ring, radio, horn wire, check transmission fluid level, etc).  I may even get around to doing the Frame Lube Service as described in my manual as well, time and motivation permitting.

 

It's all coming together.  Pretty soon you may hear me begin to muse about Paint and Upholstery work! 

 

Last major issue is that I want to replace the passenger rear Hub/Drum assembly since the rivets were drilled out, and two of the lug nuts (side by side to make it worse) were stripped and my attempt to tap and die them resulted in nice clean threads that are now a bit loose and have that feel of "If you tighten me any further I will strip out."  I would really rather not loose a wheel at speed.

 

More to follow! The journey continues!

Cory

[Ulu]

You can put heli-coils in the hub. I've fixed a couple this way & it's easy enough.

[DonaldSmith]

These engines sound like they are straining at 65 mph, but they can go on at that speed all day.  I've wandered along at 60 and soon found myself doing 70.  As you get used to the engine noise, you can go faster. 

 

For your hub, you might look into a Helicoil repair to the threads.  The hole is drilled oversize, tapped oversize, and a threaded insert is ... inserted. The insert is a spring coil with a diamond profile that fills the oversize thread and presents a new thread in the hole.  The insert is pulled in, which reduces its diameter slightly. Then it returns to original size and stays in place.  There is a tang at the end of the coil that is used to pull the coil in,  Afterwards the tang is broken off. 

 

The special Helicoil drill and tap are and expensive investment, but may be worth the cost.  The kit usually includes several coils.  Extra coils, if you need them, are relatively in expensive,   Extra coils, even if you don't need them... well, what does it matter if you don't need them?

[Young Ed]

You could also have that drum converted to studs.