Glass body? grounding issues--------
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Glass body? grounding issues--------
Multiple grounding points to the steel chassis are always a good idea. I forget how many I have, but it's more than two or three.
seems like the interminten inops are door mounted, fender mounted-------
Maybe the interior guy left some wires undone or pinched some? Good luck with it. At least you have it back. I don't blame you at all for waiting on the installment. He's probably lucky he's getting paid the rest at all IMO.
That's why I have 2 Ron Francis grounding kits going into the 34. One for the front and one for the back. You can never have too many or too good of a ground. Paint is your enemy, clean metal, and star washers are your friend. I know the drill but I'm not sure the original builder did. I did notice the wiring under the dash was a mess and had planned on tidying it up a bit but was hoping to do it over the winter not so soon. My last rod had a dash fire causing a complete rewire so this has me a little concerned. Not freaked out mind you just concerned. That car was a nightmare. Every single wire on that car was red. Like he picked up a big spool at a yard sale and said "This will work".
Oh-no fenders????????? probably no tail lights??????? Nobody behind you is looking for no dam tail lights-----------------
Your rite-----they aren't working, maybe as part of the new eco green climate change thing-they only work at night?????????
I was looking under the computer desk for the 39 tail lights for Robins 34 and they weren't working either--------------------
Looking at your pics have accelerated a few things on Robins 33/34-----I'm working on alt and ac brackets to low mount on LT1/4 type engine( opti spark and cam driven water pump) Down beside crank but not lower than crank C/L to clear steering components, etc.
And exhaust------
reading about your car is like drinking one of them $5 energy drinks before I go near her car-----
Hope my brand of humor doesn't ruffle any loose feathers!!!!!!
The other day when we went out for breakfast the 32 started to overheat (parked running at the auto parts store) but was fine while running down the road. Got it home and parked it and had to go to work. Been working like crazy and haven't had time to look at it till today. I got to thinking I have never heard the electric fan kick on every time we drove it. So I pop the hood and the fan shroud is missing a screw at the bottom and the top is broken (all on the passenger side). The shroud had come away from the radiator and was dangling dangerously close to the end of the water pump pulley. I did some checking and found the temp switch and relay were all working fine. I found a blue wire dangling as well. I did a little investigating and found out it was a "Cooling Components" fan (another high end part on this car $300 plus $85 for a relay kit and temp switch). Someone spent a small fortune building this car back in the day. I digress: I found a wiring diagram and the blue wire is a ground. Who makes a ground wire blue? Anyway it's all back together and working perfectly. We cleaned it all up and took it to it's maiden car show and we had a great time seeing some old car buddies and it was well received. We got it home and shut it off and the fan turns on. I was amazed that I could feel the air standing behind the car (yes some 12 feet away from the fan) and not just a little bit...a lot! On the plus side the car actually heated the garage up in just a couple minutes before the fan shut off. It was kinda chilly here today. We are enjoying the crap out of it and drive it as often as we can.
Glad to hear you all are enjoying the coupe!
Nice fix! Enjoy!
I couldn't sleep last night so I crawled under the car to see what the situation is with the rear suspension. The rear bottoms out pretty bad on anything that slightly looks like a bump in the road. Everyone has been telling me "That's the way they ride". So I'm under there and the coilovers have around 3" of travel. I'm thinking that's not enough. I brought the spanners up about a 1/2" to tighten the springs. While I was under there I noticed a knob at the top of the shock. Kool they are adjustable! I went 5 clicks clockwise and let the car down and went to bed. Four hours later I'm up again and we just got back from a 4-5 mile run and WOW what a difference! Bottomed out once on a huge bump (as I would expect) but the rest was near perfect. Maybe bring the spanner up another 1/4" and call it done. Mamma was very happy. HAPPY WIFE= HAPPY LIFE!
I'm not sure that I'm too wild about the fans running with the car off, but keep a good battery in it and it shouldn't be an issue.
Jim, very nice! Were you out of breath after a run that far? I know I would be. :LOL: I hope you get some great cruising weekend this memorial weekend!
Well I don't have any instructions and there is only one valve on each coilover (top). Care to elaborate a bit? While kneeling at the back of the car I pushed on the rear spreader bar and the car bounced almost 2 times. I know it isn't rally suppose to "Bounce" at all but rather just come back up to ride height. Now if I push down on it it does just that; comes back up to ride height. If I'm incorrect please chime in I appreciate all the input I can get. I'm off to bed. Gotta get up early and take the driver side wheel assembly off and tighten the steering arm. It has a very slight jiggle to it. I'll be sure to clean the threads and use loctite.
Coilovers------do you know what brand/model???
Basics with no directions-------- you first need to verify where the adjustment is-------------my rule of thumb--turn the adjuster counterclock wise counting the clicks til it stops full left-----(write it down, keep records of your settings) now turn it to the full clockwise direction counting the clicks-write it down--------go for ride to detetermine if this is FULL TIGHT or full LOOSE?? Turn half way to mid point------go for ride-(same road path) beter or worst?? write it down------now go another half way ( 1/4 ) either way--------better or worst?????? go to the other 1/4 point and better or worst?// write down the adjustments and thoughts about the ride in a little book? as over the years you WILL refer back to where your at------when you get what you think is most comfortable/performance best handling you have your ideal set poit-------now change your vehicle load-full tank, people(Or sandbsga wt) luggage) and go for ride---does it need more?/ adjust toward stiff side and/or then loosen up for light wt local trips------
Your spring adjustments need to be where the shock is mid travel point at your load-if you need to tighten your springs to get that you need higher rate or possibly some of the variable rate springs---
Initial coil over set up is a bitch but when you get the rite spring rate and shock valving set for the vehicle they are sweet-- I went threw about 30 springs before I got my Monza Pro Stock at its best--
And if you want to talk dirt cars or Indy cars-bring a case-6 pack won't work
That's the point I was trying to make, Jerry. There are two different adjustments.
(1) Shock length at ride height: Just compressing or loosing the spring with the adjuster collar can cause a lot of problems. To adjust coil-overs, you need to know total travel. Measure the eye-to-eye length with the car elevated and the rear axle hanging on the shocks. Then you need to know the full collapsed length of the shocks, which is a little harder to determine if you don't have the spec sheet. The sure-fire method is to take one shock off, remove the spring and fully compress it. The ride height of the car should be near the midpoint of shock travel - give or take a bit.
(2) Ride stiffness: That's what the adjuster knob is for. Your description covers it perfectly.
Another angle-and it really is an angle-------corner loading-it is so common that the opposite corner loading effects the loading of the coil over-when u are looking at 500# per inch springs------eack turn oreven partial turn of the adjuster will tremendously effect the load---
really need level and 4 scales to set up static spring loads-----
While out at the car show the other day Amber noticed the tire on the driver side rear was wobbling a bit. Hmmm sure enough she was right. So is it the wheel or the axle? Jacked her up today and swapped wheels side to side and sure enough same side still wobbles. Must be the axle. Now I'm no expert but I wouldn't think that my 2300 pound hot rod could bend a 31 spline ford 9" axle without doing some serious damage to the rim. Used rear? Was it always like that? I'm not getting any vibration out of it so I'm gonna let it be for now. Maybe replace the axle over the winter. On a side note I couldn't take it any more. While the wife wasn't looking I backed it out of the garage and up the driveway I went only to meet her at the top of the driveway (arms folded) "Get out of my car!" Yeah okay! Looked both ways and hit the vertical pedal on the right and I was off like a prom dress!! I took it around the block and was back in front of my house and came to a dead stop. She wanted me to pull it in the yard but instead I just stomped on it. She squatted and the front end got a little light and I was off like a shot again. Woooo that was fun!! I handed her the keys and said "It needs more caster" and just walked away whistling. :)
oops trying to upload video
rule of thumb-----------check wheel wobble on the front hubs, they should turn straight----check runout with dial indicator or steady hand held marking pin-----
Also, you can try rotating wheel 2 holes to see better or worse( after all its visual)
If you are looking at the whole picture it can be tire related , not wheel
Ok it doesn't seem possible to me that it can take almost an entire day (almost 12 hours) to swap out a pair of headlights but that's what it took me. I changed them to stock 32 Ford headlights with halogen conversions from Bob Drake. The first time I put them on they just didn't look right. I couldn't get them to point down. I just stood there and scratched my head for a second and then shook my head in disbelief.:confused: The previous owner had the stands on the wrong side. That wouldn't be too bad if he didn't have it nutted with locknuts (Inside a boxed frame). Gearwrench 1 click at a time 4 bolts off and the same going back on 4 bolts 1 click at a time. I'm very pleased with the results but it was hell getting there. With the help of my daughter and my better half we also changed the orientation of the interior door handles (that was also fun) and I changed the spring loaded hood latches to stainless ones. I was going to change the location of the horns while I was in that area but I can already see that too is going to be a nightmare. I found the horn relay just behind the grille and it appears the previous owner snapped a 1/4-20 tap off and just left it there holding the tab of the relay. So I just bent the horn brackets down at a right angle to tuck them into the frame more making them a little less noticeable. The nerf bars and spreader bar caps will have to wait for another day.
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...4c&oe=57CBB90C
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...6f&oe=57C9ECD2
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...01&oe=57D98182
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...f5&oe=57D965AE
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...ea&oe=57D61942
I believe those turn signals are a Harley part, have not seen that trim piece on the lens before, interesting...
Pretty common going back thru a car that someone else built and correct mistakes or crapy installs. That's ok, if the parts used are serviceable, and are in need of some tweaking.
With the frame on jack-stands and the rear just hanging length eye to eye is 13.5" under it's own weight without anyone in the car 1/2 tank of gas it's at 11.5" eye to eye. They look like aldan shocks but I don't see any name on them. Looks like just the one adjustment knob at the top. There is a set screw at the bottom but I think that may be a fill port not an adjustment. Thoughts??
http://images46.fotki.com/v1637/phot...MAG2581-vi.jpg
http://images61.fotki.com/v1635/phot...MAG2583-vi.jpg
http://images61.fotki.com/v1635/phot...MAG2584-vi.jpg
They look like Aldans on a Pete and Jakes setup, but without a part number, it's hard to say. BTW, P&J 'Viper' shocks are Aldans, and I have them on my '34.
I'm only generalizing here, but a 13.5" shock would normally have somewhere near a 4" full stroke. That would put you generally in mid stroke, which isn't a bad place to be - assuming your spring rates are correct.
The only real way to get the 'perfect' setup is to know all the specs, and make the measurements. However, if you're happy with the ride now, the best guess is that you're close.
Have you had the shocks off so as to look for a part number / manufacture ID?
and I'm kinda surprised there haven't been any comments on my better or worst way of finding the ideal setting-------
or for checking wheel wobble run out by mounting on the front hub??????
Jerry, I thought you summed it up very well, and referred to your post once or twice.
Yep Jack, I appreciate that you do---just at times get ruffled about what seems to be total disregard for common basics being applied to basic vehicle physics---
But looking at the number of posts being made on the site-seems like not many even getting on the net???
When was last time you were down home???
If it was tire related wouldn't it do it if I switched the tires side to side? Both right and left tire wobbled when put on the driver side but did not wobble on the passenger side. Kinda rules out the tire and rim. I just have to find the time to indicate the hub but I'm pretty sure it's the flange that is bent.