April 12, 2008
Drag racing last week I tore up my fan belts and ignition wires. Today I replaced some of the wires. The wire from the resister to ignition and the wire from the ignition to the starter were toast. To get to the wires I had to take the ignition core out.
In the process of custom bending the steering pump I must have put a hole in it because it now leaking fluid real bad.
When under the car I notice that I have lost a lower A-frame bushing and bolt.
Needless to say I didn't get finished today.
April 19, 2008
I worked on the Hell Bitch today for a couple hours. Good news it seems that the power steering pump is OK. The big bolt that the pressure line attaches came loose causing the leak. I had the same problem 6 or 7 years ago.
I worked on the missing lower A-frame bolt. I found a bolt and washer before I called it quits.
April 29, 2008
Worked a couple of hours today. I got the replacement bushing in the lower right A-frame. I had to do some custom bending, punch out the old metal frame of the bushing out. I was afraid I was going to have to take the whole A-frame of but with a little finageling I got the bushing in place. I also found another bolt loose.
May 16, 2008
Worked on the Hell Bitch for 3 hours piddling on the burned up ignition wires and getting the power steering pump ready for another. Polished my new valve covers. To make the PVC grommet fit I had to drill the hole from 3/4 to 1"
June 8, 2008
DACC Summer Cruise - to Thurber, TX for lunch at the Smokestack Restaurant, Thurber, TX About 10 cars made the 2 hour drive. My 57 is still sick I drove my Chrysler 300.
June 17, 2008
I have been back sliding on my journal. It is really hot not in Texas. The heat makes it really hard to get motivated to work on my car.
I have been having a problem finding a new steering pump. I tried to fix the old one but did not. I wasted several hours on that fools errand.
I got a new clutch fan and put it on. I purchased a 1964 Chevy truck C-10 with a 327ci steering pump. It had the keyed pulley instead of the press on type. Luckily I had bought a new pulley that came with a conversion kit.
I made some shims for the crank pulley. It was 3/16 of an inch off.
June 30, 2009
"My Summer Vacation"
PHOTOS OF Petersen Car Museum 08 link
I have not worked on the Hell Bitch as much as I would like to have in the past weeks. I have plenty of excuses. Last week�s excuse was a Vacation to Los Angeles, Ca to visit Family and Friends.
To satisfy my Auto Hobby, I went to visit the Petersen Auto Museum located at: 6060 Wilshire Blvd. (at Fairfax,) Los Angeles, CA 90036. Here is a link to their web page.
http://www.petersen.org/.
What can a person say about one of the best museums in the world? I only wish there had been more cars and a few Tri-Fives on display however; my complaints are unfair to the museum. Every display had an enhancing diorama for the auto in display. All in all the Petersen was a very enjoyable museum. I highly recommend it for a visit.
I had a serendipity car moment my last night in LA. I was able to view a personal car collection. Since I had been in LA my friend David had increased his collection from 3 cars to 33 cars. After dinner together, David gave me a personal tour of his toys. I did not have my camera and therefore will have to remember the cars the old fashion way, in my brain. Most notable of David�s beautiful classic cars were 2 police cruisers and the Sargent's station wagon used in the �Adam 12� TV series 1968-1975; a motor cycle used by Eric Estrada in �CHiPs� TV series 1977-1983; as well as several vintage police vehicles of different styles. David is a big police supporter and has several honorary police commissions hence, he or others, most notably Kent McCord, star of �Adam 12� drive the cars in many parades and police functions.
Another car of interest to me was a 59 Ford driven by Tex Watson and Squeaky Frome, among others to commit numerous murders, most notably, the Sharon Tate and the La Bianca murders.
David explained, "This car was used because it was the only dependable running car at the Span Ranch, and this car was owned by a Span Ranch worker, who let them use his car."
David also has the only prototype produced Dale Auto, designed by Dale Clift. David explained, "There were also two mock-ups(shells basically), and one of those is the one at the Petersen museum, but mine is the ONLY prototype (running car). The Dale was a prototype three-wheeled two-seater automobile announced in 1974. The prototype was built by Dale Clift. The project was marketed by Mrs. Liz Carmichael a transsexual, born Jerry Dean Michael, as a 70 mpg car during the Arab oil embargo. Both Dale Clift and the investors of the Dale were scammed in a fraud scheme put in place by Michael. Of further note, David told me, Michael..."was caught as a result of Robert Stack's T.V. series, "Unsolved Mysteries", which did a show on the car."
For more info see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_(automobile)
Photos from the Dale links.
All of David's vehicles are wonderfully filled with documentation and memorabilia, many autographed, about the vehicle and or its history.
The private tour was the highlight of my trip.
July 7, 2008
I worked 2 hours tonight. Finished up the alternator. The belts look better aligned than before. I put on my new valve covers. I didn't like the the wing nut quick release bolts that I used to use. I will replace them and then post photos.
July 8, 2008
We had an unexpected rain tonight. The rain brought the tempt. down to 90 degrees.
Worked for a hour or so mostly installing the new valve cover bolts.
New valve covers and clutch fan.
July 12, 2008
As Built Schematic
I hate electrical problems maybe more than fan belts. I have had electrical problems for years with the Hell Bitch. The wires from the resistor to the ignition switch and others have burnt up 7 times in the last 8 years. I inherited how she was wired up. On page 30, I addressed how I spent several hours working and researching the problems to no avail. I completely started from scratch this time taking 8 hours to research, plan and fix all the problems. My over the hump moment was when I finally found on line how to wire up a 3-wire alternator, after an upgrade from a generator. The old generator had a 2 wires and an external voltage regulator. I did away with the Bosh relay that had been installed. I guess that was place there to replace the voltage regulator?
I had a 7 Amp draw when completed. I found that the short was in the heater fan motor. I disconnected it and all is well. I got her running but forgot to secure the front headlights and turn indicators wires and the fan tore up the wires. In addition, I had the ignition switch connected backwards making the solenoid hang up. It�s always something, for me anyway.
July 12, 2008
I started on what I thought would be a 20 minute job that ended taking 4 hours.
I started by checking he headlights. I had wound the wires around the fan on an engine test a few days ago requiring a fix of a couple of wire breaks. However, fix did not solve the problem. I found another break and fixed it but still a no go. I found the lights only worked with the switch turned to the on position. I switched a couple of wires on the ignition switch. Now, the dash lights did not light up. I switched the gray wire from the top left connector on the fuse block to an empty plug on the power bar. I will need to fix the fuse plate since it is still messed up.
I fixed the headlights and taillights. Put the ignition back in the dash. And, the radio works. What else do you need?
July 14, 2008
To keep the dash lights to not turn on with the key I placed the gray wire back in its place. I found the old peg did not work was because of the burnt fuse.
July 19, 2008
My first outing after my last repair I went to a car show at Norma's in Carrollton. Nice show and I had dinner.
Of course the Hell Bitch acted up. Dead battery. Had to get jumped. One on the guys that helped had a great quote, "If it has tires or tits its gonna give you trouble."
Recommendation for stripping the Hell Bitch is to use 6" 3M purple Strip-It discs on a Makita GV 5000 disc sander. Buy 5 disks to strip the body at a cost of $12 per disc.
Degrease the car; block sand; a scotchbrite soap and water bath; urethane primer
Paint: single stage poly urethane...Deltron 2000 or Global lines from PPG.
