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I had to modify some machine screws to get the adapter and spacer bolted to the intake. Those two spacers actually bolt down first, then the carb is bolted to some studs in the top of the adapter.
Here are the screws I modified. These were 5/16-18 x 2 1/2" long screws.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
I had to shorten them to 2 1/4" long and turn the heads down to .500 from .580 so they would fit the counterbored holes in the top of the adapter.
This is how they sit in the adapter.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
These screws use the original carb bolt pattern to bolt the spacers to the intake. The carb then attaches with the studs you see in the pic.
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This is another issue I am seeing with the engine.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
This mess is cause by the battery. The corner of the battery tray sits right above the header pipes. Dripping water or battery acid has caused this.
Well I hope to have everything done but the fuel lines tomorrow. If I get all of my stuff Monday it should be fired up Monday night! With all of the stuff I have found with the carb I am expecting this thing to pull wheelies with a good one...
Mark
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Easy fix for battery acid drip......Stainless headers.:D:LOL::LOL::LOL: Actually I relocated my battery to right front corner
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Stainless headers or an Optima... No room in the front due to the A/C compressor.
She's back on the road! Got after it tonight (last night got to busy with my daughters car and some storms rolling through). Made up the two fuel lines, hooked them to the filter and carb, tightened everything up (double checked everything) hung the battery and fired her up!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
I have a couple of things to do yet. I will add an Adel clip to the corner of the battery box to keep the hose from rubbing. About where my finger is here.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Yup, looks a little neater then the as received photo...
Tonight.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
When I started the swap.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
She rolled over for about 10 seconds before coming to life, I didn't even touch the throttle! No leaks and it looks like I didn't mess up the plug wire order when I was changing those out! I will do some adjustment on the carb after I get some miles on it. The engine fires up and idles just fine with the out of the box settings on the carb.
I took about a 4 mile test drive and the throttle response is crisp and MUCH better then with the wasted QJ. I kinda wish that carb had been okay just to compare. I also got two thumbs up in that 4 mile drive...
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I guess I didn't understand, but the lawn mower comment has shown me the light!
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Took the car out Friday nite. And had to have it hauled home... Battery. Junk. Dead. Wouldn't take a jump or a boost.The thing is it has started easily with no hint of battery problems... Don't understand. Anyway, I called AAA and they came and got it. I sure have been liking that AAA service lately.
Saturday morning I called them again for a Battery Service. They came out, checked the battery (sure enough, bad cell(s)... putting out only 71 amps. Toast. The tech put in a new battery and the car fired right up. He did a systems diagnostic while the engine was running and found nothing wrong with the start, charge or grounding systems. We'll see how it goes.
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Yesterday I pulled the tail lights from the wagon to check the bulbs and replace the rubber body gasket. Opened up a can of worms on the "wiring job" when I pulled them out.
Badly twisted and taped connections, crimp-on connectors and cheap azz bulb sockets with broken prongs that hardly stayed in.
So, needless to say I am now on a mission to correct the wiring and make the tail lamps serviceable.
I'll get some pics today of the mess and what I am thinking of doing if the AAW parts aren't up to snuff.
If ANYONE has replaced the sockets with something sturdy please chime in. Looking for a long term fix for this issue.
Mark
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Here are some pics of the carnage.
One of the cheap bulb sockets. Note there are only two prongs left. There "were" six. One was gone when I removed the lens. I pulled the bulb to check it and broke three off trying to re-install it. The other broke off as I was trying to figure out how to get the socket to stay in the housing... Not gonna happen.
http://images42.fotki.com/v1630/phot.../photo1-vi.jpg
Some of the wiring... drivers side. Passenger side was identical. At least they were consistent.
http://images61.fotki.com/v666/photo.../photo1-vi.jpg
NOW! This is what I'm thinking. Late model bulb socket. Modify the '56 housing to accept the new style twist in.
http://images116.fotki.com/v107/phot.../photo3-vi.jpg
The sockets even have the correct color leads coming out of them. Yellow = left, Green = right, brown = tail lights and the black is ground for the socket.
http://images14.fotki.com/v218/photo.../photo3-vi.jpg
As installed.
http://images14.fotki.com/v384/photo.../photo2-vi.jpg
Made a rubbing of the housing the lights came from. Not a lot to remove here. A little work with a Dremel and a carbide and the new sockets will drop right in...
http://images15.fotki.com/v1624/phot.../photo2-vi.jpg
The new sockets lock on a plastic post when they are turned into position. I will replicate the post with a 6-32 screw. Drill and tap the housing for the screw and it will work great.
What do you all think? Do it?
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Decided to go ahead and jump into the mod. Took about a half hour to get things set up, make a "good" template and throw some Dykem on the housings.
Here is the good template. Made out of heavy card stock centered to the lens mounting holes and located with some aluminum rod in the bolt holes.
http://images41.fotki.com/v305/photo...5/photo-vi.jpg
http://images19.fotki.com/v677/photo.../photo1-vi.jpg
Used a Dremel with a fiber blade to block out the notches. Hogged out most of the material with a small carbide and then sweetened up the slots and oversized hole with a small grinding stone.
First test fit. The hole is still kinda rough.
http://images108.fotki.com/v1623/pho.../photo3-vi.jpg
After a little more fitting and a bit of a hair cut to get the tabs to slip over the shoulder of the new hole.
http://images14.fotki.com/v390/photo.../photo2-vi.jpg
The new socket in place.
http://images14.fotki.com/v384/photo.../photo2-vi.jpg
This went pretty quick, about two hours start to finish and now I have a sealed bulb socket. Hope you like it.
Mark
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Great job! A good fix for certain..
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A very nice touch now your good for another 60 years
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Friday afternoon I picked up the new tires and wheels. I pulled the trigger on these Monday morning. They were at the house Tuesday but there was no one around to sign for them. I got the rims from American Racing (Wheel Pros) Wednesday and all of the tires came in to Discount Friday. I dropped the rims at Discount Thursday afternoon and they had them ready to go when I stopped after work Friday.
http://images108.fotki.com/v1623/pho...8/photo-vi.jpg
http://images61.fotki.com/v665/photo...8/photo-vi.jpg
These should look pretty sweet holding up that old wagon.
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I've been working on the wiring the past couple days. OMG! What a MESS! It's just beyond me why/how people can butcher a wiring harness the way they do. Twisted (badly) connections, shoddy tape jobs, no heat shrink and wires looped and tangled all over the place. It just boggles the mind!
This is some of the stuff I pulled out of the car.
Tail light "wiring"...
http://images15.fotki.com/v1624/phot.../photo3-vi.jpg
Driver side headlight "wiring"... Note there is no headlight connector and the low beam wire is ripped out of the terminal. Let alone all of the taped joints are ripped apart in the fender.
http://images60.fotki.com/v370/photo...8/photo-vi.jpg
http://images14.fotki.com/v380/photo.../photo1-vi.jpg
http://images9.fotki.com/v250/photos.../photo1-vi.jpg
This is what I started with of course. Keep in mind the car did have brake lights and turn signals. One headlight worked (guess which one) and it had no park or tail lights. It still doesn't. I will hit the fuse block and dash harness tomorrow to figure that one out.
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Between yesterday and today I got the tail light and left headlight harnesses rebuilt, also rebuilt the tail light housings themselves with all new gaskets (there were none in the housings when I pulled them out...).
The drivers side as I was hooking everything up and running conduit.
http://images9.fotki.com/v120/photos.../photo2-vi.jpg
With the housing re-installed. The ground plug for the socket is to the right of the B/U socket.
http://images14.fotki.com/v1628/phot...6/photo-vi.jpg
The passenger side before re-installing the housing. The ground is plugged in and you can see the back-up light wire ready to plug into the wire from the housing.
http://images15.fotki.com/v1626/phot.../photo1-vi.jpg
This is the new tail light wiring from under the car. I still have brake and turn signals but no park or tail lights. I think this is much better.
http://images42.fotki.com/v1630/phot.../photo5-vi.jpg
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The old headlight "wiring"...
http://images14.fotki.com/v380/photo.../photo1-vi.jpg
Very professional looking work... :(
http://images60.fotki.com/v370/photo...8/photo-vi.jpg
These are the new headlight harnesses I got from C.A.R.S.
http://images19.fotki.com/v678/photo...8/photo-vi.jpg
Once I got these installed they actually plugged right into the American Autowire harness connectors that were buried in tape in that first photo. Once every thing was re-connected and all of the connections heat shrank, I covered it all with convolute and hung it in an Adel clamp from a hole in the fender. It's very solid in there now and out of the way.
I have two working headlights now and the high and low beams both work! I will rebuild the right headlight harness tomorrow and start tracking down the no see'um tail light issue...
Mark
http://images108.fotki.com/v1629/pho.../photo4-vi.jpg
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Remember that the stop lights go through the the turn signal circuit and you should have only 3 wires to the rear, four if you count the ground.
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Yup, three wires. Park lights, Turn Signal and Back-up. The car has a complete American Autowire harness so this re-wire has gone pretty smooth. I'm just fixing all of the hack work. I'll get under the dash tomorrow to chase the no Park Light issue. I am very afraid of what I will find under there... :(
Mark
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Park lights and license plate, 1 wire. Left stop/turn and right stop/turn, 2 wires. Back-up will come from either the shifter or transmission.
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Great choice on the wheels and tires, a classic look for the classic vehicle! Isn't it amazing how some folks can just butcher up a simple thing like a wire and connector?!?!?
Good Job on the fix!
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I had to replace the headlight switch on my 57 to get everything working. It had sat to long and got green :whacked::LOL::LOL:
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I didn't think I would have the car drivable this weekend but we just got back from a short trial run... We have park and tail lights, License lights, the head lights work, turn signals work and there are dash lights!
The parking lights. Just a test with no lenses.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
The tail and license lights.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Once I got all of the wiring straightened out I checked under the dash and found this in the fuse block.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
I replaced it with this...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Now I have these!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Sure was a good feeling when those lights popped on with the switch! The wiring under the dash is a bit messy but not to bad. I'll spend a bit of time cleaning it up and getting it routed better but it works so I'm not going to complain. :)
New lenses in the front. I went with amber.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Mark
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I also got the new shoes put on... The fronts fit great (235/45-17's)
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
The rears are pretty tite but they went on and there is about a 1/2" of clearance to the front of the wheel opening. Had no issues during the drive.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
A pic of the clearance (closeness?).
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
I'll have to do a bit of work but it's not an issue right now. The car is drivable and it can go out at night now.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Those 265/50-18's sure do fill up a fender well...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Don't look to shabby from the rear either.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Thanks for following.
Mark
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I wish my nomad looked that good.
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Love the vanity plate!
The car came out great! It's just "says" classic now.. :D
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Thanks a lot guys! That plate came off the '02 Collector Edition T/A I traded for the wagon! I wasn't going to use it but the better half said why not? It fits. They don't make wagons like that any more.... So, plate transfer was 15 bucks... Cheaper then a new one.
Right now I am chasing down switches to get the neutral safety and back up lamps working correctly. There is no back up switch on the shifter and the neutral safety switch (which doesn't work correctly) is down on the trans. I will put both switches on the shifter where they belong.
Just ordered a couple of micro switches and some replacement parts for the B&M Star Shifter that came in the car. Jegs has been getting a lot of my business in the last few weeks...
I pulled the cover off the shifter tonight to check for switches, there were non of course. As I'm taking it apart I see the boot is installed on the outside of the cover plate, the "shift indicator" is a red vacuum cap (the original indicator is gone) and most of the cover screws are stripped out and the console is broken.
I'll start cleaning everything up tomorrow and get the wiring ready so I can just plug in the switches when they get in.
Mark
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While I was waiting for the new switches from Jegs last week I crawled under the wagon to check the switches on the trans. I noticed one of the N/S wires was pretty loose in it's connector. I moved it a bit and it feel right out. I thought I had found the problem. I put it back in the terminal and re-crimped it so it is solid and tried the ignition. The car fired right up! I thought that's what the problem was, loose connection! The car started every time I tried it from then on out. I fired it up this morning, didn't let it warm up enough, went to back out of the shop and the engine died. Hit the key to restart and nothing!!! Dead, right back to it's old tricks.
Anyway, I pushed it outside so I could work on another project. I pushed it back in this afternoon with the intentions to replace the switches. Tried to start it and it's dead. I crawled under the dash and started moving wires so I can get to the N/S switch wires. After I had those isolated I hit the starter again just for grins and the damn thing fired right up... So, now I am chasing another loose connection up in the dash. Wish me luck. I find it tomorrow night or the whole switch gets re-wired...
Mark
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Aren't those occasional open circuits the biggest pain? Hope you find the gremlin lurking under your dash.
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Those intermittent connections are the worst! Hope it stays "broke" so you can find the real culprit!
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Getting under the dash this afternoon found this... This is the engine start connector. The red wire is 12V from the solenoid...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Of course I had to cut it apart... Notice the "quality" crimp job on the left side terminal. The male side looked pretty good but the left side was not up to the task. Lots of heat here. Can I stress to you guys enough to make sure your crimps are solid and tight?
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
I just ordered a selection of Packard 56 connectors from DelCity. I hope to have this fixed by Friday. Big cruise in Grand Blanc to kick off the Sloan show this weekend.
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Anything that takes that kind of draw I solder, and shrink tube
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That is one of the reasons I solder most everything and especially 14 gauge and higher.
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Yes, these will be crimped correctly AND soldered... I will work on rewiring the B/U and N/S switches tonight while I am waiting for the replacement parts to come in. I will run these micro switches thru relays I will put in the engine compartment. Keeps the high power from running thru the switch and simplifies wiring to the shifter.
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Worked on wiring on this car the whole week. Started out for the Sloan Show last Saturday and the car was doing great until we got on the expressway. About 10 miles into the drive the car just quits. Dead to the world , no electrical power at all. Fuel pump isn't even running. We have it roll backed home AGAIN...
Sunday I dig into it. Pulled the battery and tray, pulled the starter and all of the starter/charge wires. The only thing that would shut down the entire system is a very hot 12V lead from the battery terminal on the starter to the fuse box. There is a 10ga wire with a fusible link so I replaced that with an 8ga. wire/fusible link.
Some of the stuff I found while pulling the wiring out.
A). Melted convolute tubing around the battery leads from the starter to the dash harness. The wires were very tight to the back corner of the pass. side cyl hd... This looked like it was getting pretty warm that close to the exhaust port.
B). The charge wire from the alternator ran in front of the engine, under the alt brkt, and then up over the intake manifold. I had to pry the convolute tubing off the heat riser on the intake. It had melted in place...
C). I pulled the temp sensor wire and found an "insulating washer", a fiber washer... under the ring terminal to sensor joint... Why would you want to "insulate" this connection? Just asking...
D). There was no dedicated frame ground (common practice on the tri-fives).
E). The body ground was a butt spliced 12ga wire.
This is a list of the changes made during the week.
1). Added a 12v distribution block to the firewall.
2). The above 8ga. wire routed from the starter battery terminal to the new 12v tap.
3). Shortened the 10ga. feed wire to the fuse block and routed it to the new tap.
4). Re-wired the alternator from a 1-wire to a true 3-wire. Ran 8ga. wire to the new 12v tap and routed a new sensor wire to the same tap.
5). Routed the alternator wire down to the frame rail and back to the firewall rather then over the engine.
6). Rebuilt the ground leads. Drilled and tapped a 5/16-18 hole on the top of the frame rail and routed a 2ga grd lead from the water pump, a 1/0 cable from the battery and a 4ga lead from the body to this bolt on the rail.
7). Pulled the cluster and replaced a bad LED turn signal lamp.
7a). During the LED swap I get the turn signal indicators working but they are backwards... I find the signal wires are reversed in the dash connector. Swap those to the correct pins and the indicators work correctly now.
8). Unplug the NS and B/U lamp harness from the switch down at the trans. Install a pair of relays under the dash and wire in new switches on the shifter. I have some adjusting to do on the NS switch but the car now starts every time and we have B/U lamps!
That was my week, how was yours?
Mark
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Here a few pics of the work I did.
The new ground zero...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
New 2ga. cable to the front of the engine.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
New neg batt terminal and 1/0 grd cable. (I replaced the wing nut with a hex when the work was done.)
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
This was the body ground as I found it...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
This is the new 4ga body ground.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
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Sounds like you had a great week.:) Can't wait till I can get back to the important projects.;):):):)
Jack.
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The 12v distribution point on the firewall.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Building the new 8ga. lead down to the starter. I made this a bit longer then the original so I could route it away from the cylinder head and header pipe. I use copper butt splice connectors and solder the joints.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
Wrapped with self-fusing tape.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
And then heat shrink.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D550/ry%3D400/
