Last Indian

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

Pack it with Vaseline? Really? Where should it be packed to be most effective - the engine or Joe? 

Does Vaseline contain ZDDP for the "break in" period? Asking for a friend!

I believe it goes in the rear oil hole. 🫣 ZDDP? Yes it does have Zippity  Doo Dah Performance. Which last through the “break in”! 

Welcome ! Nice Judge! There’s a guy on here who’s a little frosty, but he has the Jury! 

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

Here are the photos that Indyman Joe sent me to post in this thread.

Joe reports that there is no oil going to the cam thrust plate.

He said he is getting a degree wheel and he hopes to have it done shortly.

He also said if you look at one picture, you can see the feed hole. If you look in the other picture, you can see how it was when he took it off - 180 degrees off!

Oil!! Who needs stinking oil?! JustA throw some Vaseline on it! 🥴

1 hour ago, JUSTA6 said:

Let's JUSTA say it wasn't this guy...............

Oh he’s got a connection, but not to Waterford, the other part!

47 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

Oh my God - that reminds me...I locked myself out of my pickup a few weeks ago. There I was, in the rain with an appointment looming. With a piece of packing strap I got it, but it took 30 minutes of manipulation and swearing. There is now a spare key hidden under the car. Now where are my pants?

But, under which car? 

9 hours ago, Fitzy said:

To Gary: because there is no need to 'connect' engine bay to interior (the factory do it obviously for ease of manufacture) I plan to run complete wires through, thereby negating any possible issues completely.

That sounds like a good choice! You probably have thought of this already, but if not, wire. What ever gage you buy & that will most likely be more than one. Consider silicone coated or PVC coated wire because of it’s flexibility. They also make multi wire jacketed wire in PVC, which is flexible & would actually help you to reduce wire runs to the same area. 

On 2/15/2024 at 1:56 AM, Fitzy said:

Yeah, whatever. Come on over. Once the beers come out, we'll just sit around poking fun at the car.

So today I thought I'd at least start it up because I haven't done anything since changing the leads. Took it around the block and it was faultless. Plenty of power, no carry on. I then whipped out the multimeter and checked a few things. Power to coil with ignition 'on' but engine not running is only 5V!!! It should be 12. With engine running it's 7.7V, which is about right due to resistance wire feeding the points. Battery voltage with engine off is 12.4. Engine running: 12.3. Yes, I know that's not enough. Tested fuse box with key to acc: 12.2. With switch 'on:' only 11.7.

So i'm now thinking there's an issue with the voltage coming out of the ignition switch which shits me because I've checked coil voltage in the past and it was 12V, so something has mysteriously changed. Also an obvious voltage drop between ignition 'on' and 'acc' position.

Whilst I was under the hood getting cranky, I pulled the 2 firewall plugs that feed through it into the footwell. What a mess! 60 years of crap and rust in there. The pics are the 'before' shots. If you're thinking "why doesn't he get rid of the surface rust on the booster & master cylinder," it's because the master will one day be changed to dual circuit and whilst the booster is out, I can clean it up and paint it then. Whilst they were apart, I checked for voltage going in and it was 11.46. I checked for resistance between outer terminals and inner ones - zero. Checked for resistance across all battery terminals and their various connections, the isolaters and all the earth straps and the main earth lead - all zero Ohms.

So...I THINK I'm going to run fresh decent gauge wires from the correct terminals on the back of the ignition switch. The car's original resistance wire seems to be working okay but I wonder if a fresh 12V to the coil via a ballast resistor might be the better way to go?

Of course if I had a Corolla, I could just jump in and go somewhere. 😁

Thanks to Kiwi and Gary for their help and words of inspiration. I shall sally forth and see what happens.

That reminds me: those useless Blue Streak leads are never going back on, so if someone wants them, let me know. You can have them for nothing - about what they're worth. I am NOT adjusting the reg. I'll take the car to a sparky and they can test the alternator and fiddle with the reg if they feel the need. I'm likely to make the car burst into flames if I touch either.

I forgot to mention: as car was idling I turned on headlights, then indicators then brake lights. The voltmeter swung abruptly into 10V territory each time I activated something. What's going on there?

And Kiwi suggested checking alternator output. I don't know how. There's a substantial wire coming out of the back and a smaller 2 prong connector which I assume goes to the idiot light and something else. How do I check output? 

That’s it Peter! You put your pissed off hat on & show those little electrons who there messing with! Its a lot of work & detail, but oh so worth it. Are you leaving those bulkheads & just going to go from the interior side of the car? If you are, clean those male bulkheads/terminals up with some fine soft steel wool. Then spray them with some LPS 1 & let them sit for a day or two. Then wash them down with some alcohol, not beer, but isopropyl! And let dry. The female side is a little more difficult. Get some 280 grit wet & dry carborundum paper & cut & fold it so it will go in to the female terminal with minimal effort. Then slide it in & out. This will help clear out corrosion & debris. Then once again spray with LPS1 & let sit, then the alcohol thing again. 
When you put them back together use petroleum jelly liberally on the terminals. This material is not a dielectric, but does help those type of terminals connect & it also prevents corrosion. 

13 hours ago, Fitzy said:

I hope you guys are happy - look what you made me do.

I was never happy with the electrics in that car. By my own admission, I rushed through it and simply plugged everything back in after I had refurbed the interior so it's my fault that it's come to this. The pics are embarrassing but let this be a warning to new players: do it once and do it right.

I saw an excellent YT clip on rewiring your car and whilst I mightn't go the whole hog, I will at the very least clean up the mess under the dash and add a bunch of relays AND a new firewall connection to negate those crappy 60 year old items.

As per the YT suggestion, I made a list of what needs power and divided it between front of firewall, cabin and anything beyond the back seat. Once you make a list, it's surprising how sparse it is. My car is without aircon, power windows & seats and I will simply bypass the heater, cigarette lighter and any other useless items to keep it as simple as possible.

I looked at regulator adjustment and there's a single spring loaded little screw in there. At the appropriate time, I will test alternator output and see what the reg is doing. This is a chance to get the fuel gauge calibrated correcly too and I can clean the faces of the speedo and instruments a lot better than I did the first time. I might even hook up the Frosty Memorial Tacho whilst I'm under the dash grunting & sweating.

Yes, I'm having a beer. Why? It's hot, sticky and the mossies & bugs have decided that my face is a good place to hover close to whilst my three arms are busy trying to get something apart that was assembled when the Ark set sail.

I genuinely appreciate everyone's input and you can be assured I am taking everything you say on board.

2 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Love it! Too late to turn back now. Like being in a leaky rowboat where you can see the shore but the fish are still biting. Just a couple more fish and we'll get back to shore...maybe. Or, just sink and swim back with your life intact and your boat gone. Deep thoughts.

Thanks TwoLane. Everyone is trying to buoy my spirits and encourage me to keep going. I shall put in as much effort as I can, as I also want to keep the car but selling it would be the easy cowardly horrendously expensive way out.

Stay tuned for how my life is unravelling.

Peter, I’m telling you you are close, at least with the issues you are currently dealing with. Two lane is saying what I have been indicating. You need a solid 13.5 to 15 volts out of the alternator. The car runs off the alternator not the battery, keep that in mind. From the 13.5 to 15 volts coming out of the alternator it all starts to drop from there because of resistance. 
Those plugs that you show are really going to knock the crap out of voltage. So it’s good that you can now clean them up & that will help reduce resistance, but as soon as you can see about getting the voltage adjusted & I personally would say if & when it’s adjusted push it towards the 14.5 or 15 volt side.

Well if you decide to try to see if you can adjust the voltage regulator. And you can, use your meter at the battery & see if you can get 14 or 15 volts. If that happens see what you get at the fuse box. If that goes to 12 or over, put your blue streak wires back on & see what that nets.

2 hours ago, TotallyHoadley said:

Thanks for all the help. Here's a picture of the transmission dipstick. What's the diagnosis?

Agree with Joe hard to tell, but does look red. Do me a favor, take the dipstick with the trans fluid on it & wipe it on a white paper towel. Than take a picture & show me that. Also check the fluid again. Engine warm, drive the car around the block a couple times. Engine running pull the dipstick out wipe it off. Put it all the way back in then pull it back out & note where the solid fluid line is on the stick & let us know. In general from the quick view it looks ok & the level looks adequate, but let’s make sure before you make your next move.

Kiwi, Peter, my reply on both subjects, voltage & spark plug wires I will render, but a few questions. 

Peter have you taken a voltage readings at the + & - post of the battery while running? Is that were you took your reading with your volt meter or did you take it at a different connection point? Do you have an adjustable regulator? If so did you try to adjust it? Do you have a remote starter, the kind you can connect at the battery & starter then press the button to start? If so have you tried to start the car that way, which will eliminate all other car circuitry & if the car fires right up you’ll know that the slow crank issue is not with the engine (I.e. fuel, ignition, time or battery cables. And then it does lie in the car circuitry somewhere. In my opinion I would forget about all the braided ground straps, in fact I would get rid of them unless you plan on returning the car to a concourse condition. Then instead I would replace those grounds with a single 1/0 welding cable that goes to the frame & then a second leg from there to the engine. Welding cable will have the lowest loss of any cable, is the most flexible electrical wire you will find, it’s very fine strand copper wire & has as good of conductivity there is for the money. I suspect the problem lies in the car resistance circuitry since you say the battery stay charged at 12.7 volts that can’t happen unless the alternator/generator is producing at least 13 volts.

Spark plug wires. Now there’s a quagmire! How long have you had the Blue Streaks, as in, i.e. miles, ballpark? My guess of that there is something going to ground. It may be the wires themselves or the resistance is so high, because 41,000 (41.4K) is approaching the max of 50k which is a racing application. That it’s causing something upstream to go to ground as resistance changes. Depending on the entire system, filament or fiber stranded wires, like blue streak, can be a problem small breaks in the fibers increase resistance. These type of wires are more typical for high energy systems, excuse me as I don’t remember what you run for a ignition system, but if it’s closer to a standard System than a ultra high energy system, than those wire will tend to cause problems if there is the smallest hiccup. Old carbon filled wires or copper strand wires are more suited for old style systems, because of their low resistance. I think you are seeing a ohms drop when you add the sparks plug to the wires because they are in the open atmosphere not in the head under compression. So they become a better conductor of continuity for the energy flow through the fiber cord.

My two cents.

Voted! Unlike JustA mine said #1, ! Hey that hurts, stop hitting, it was JustA joke.

3 hours ago, mark laville said:

Hello everyone, Have you heard of the problem with vintage Barbie dolls that get sticky

I have the same problem with the steering wheel of my 170 Grand Prix I have casually tried some fairly

benign  products with no real cure. My car has been in the garage  for about fifteen and I think that is time

to bring it back out into the sunshine. I really enjoy talking to all of you and sharing our cars

Thanks All     Mark

All plastics are made from crude oil, which are refined into polymers for use in plastics. Old plastics are not as well engineered as they are today. Any, but especially those older plastics age & this is what occurs. What you are feeling are polymers. 
To fix this get a micro fiber cloth & isopropyl alcohol, make sure to use gloves. Use the isopropyl sparingly, I.E. don’t soak the cloth. Rub the wheel all over till the sticky is gone. When done use a good, like Meguiar’s, interior shine product.

You might have to do this more than once depending on how badly the polymers are separating from the substructure. It’s important to keep plastics well replenish with high quality silicone products like a Meguiar’s.

7 hours ago, Frosty said:

Great advice as always Last Indian. I appreciate it.

Frosty, look at this word doc. This shows how the center hub can be moved back, it also shows how the wheel is backwards as I said & why it would appear larger. It also shows that I used a SS wheel adaptor I made to move the front wheels out an additional 3/4 “. Which I could have put more backspace in & not used the adaptors.

Finally settled on a final design. Really impossible for me to capture what it looks like in a darkened room with the camera I have. The LEDs just overpower the light sensor & kind of wash out the color.

On 1/30/2024 at 7:00 PM, reveredGTO said:

Thanks for the tips.  The engine was rebuilt a few years ago so there is a possibility the nuts will unthread.  I plan on carefully cutting the old system out.  I'll be sure to get replacement studs.  Luckily the car will be on a lift so working with the studs will be easier than lying on my back.

I think everyone has covered the needs of getting the studs out quite well. I would just add that you might consider using 316 stainless steel studs, nuts & lock washers. 316 stainless will never be a problem to get out ever again. This is what I always run on my exhaust or high heat source application, even my cats. 
Whether you chose to do so or not I would advise retapping the holes out to clean out any debris. If you chose to use the 316 you may have to make your own studs from longer bolts, studs are not necessarily that available. You can also use 304 stainless, but 316 is far superior for corrosion & heat oxidation.