After the... interesting drive home we knew a tune-up was in order. The carb had been worked on previously and it was still having some flooding issues. The ignition also felt weak under load so something wasn't right there either.
We fired up the engine and kicked the throttle a couple of times to look for any issues. After shutting down the car, the gas kept pouring in. Alan popped the top off and I kicked on the fuel pump to watch it bubble over. Alan quickly made the adjustment to the float level and brought it down to a reasonable level. Who needs a float scale when you have an Alan?
The car was fired up again and no more leaks! Now without that extra gas flooding in, goosing the throttle caused a bit of stumbling. Next stop, the accelerator pump. Well, we messed around with the different linkage positions with varying success. It's better then it was but there may be a slight leak that's bleeding off some pressure. We'll rebuild one of our junkyard finds later on and see how it runs.
Now with the fuel sorted out, it was time to take a look at the ignition. With the good old points under the cap, it was the first place we took a look. Sure enough, it was the pits! There was no saving these guys so we grabbed a set out of a rebuilt distributor sitting on the shelf. After a little adjusting and a quick check in the book, we had the dwell setup by feel. We'll throw a meter on it later to check it. You can't adjust these on the fly so we'll have to do some finessing. The right way to go would be to put an ignitor in there and forget about points all together.
One more time of lighting the engine and it was sounding smooth! The idle was reasonable and working the throttle didn't make the engine cough and sputter. Alan suggested that I take it for a quick drive so I put it in gear and headed down the street. This would be the true test. The car pulled smooth when I gave it the gas and no hiccups!
Down the street I went very happily. After taking a turn, I was reminded that there was a differential and transmission still in the back. Kids playing in the street went running the adults outside looked concerned as if this jalopy had just side-swiped their car. I slowed down taking the turns after that and that made the ride much quieter.
I pulled back into the driveway and shut it down. If it had driven home running like that, I would have been very happy and felt much safer. That will do it for today. Making it a decent running car is a pretty big step.
The weather was threatening again so we put the car cover back on and added some bracing in the back to keep water from pooling up on the cover. Next step is to take the spacers out from under the drivers-side bucket seat and give me an extra three inches of space in there. It's been hard to get out there in the rain. The garage needs to be cleaned out of goodwill items and car parts need to go on a shelf so we can pull it into bay-3. That will give us better working conditions and we can start on some of the rust repair.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A rainy day
The other weekend Alan and I were hanging out and the weather outside wasn't so fair. We both had the same thought earlier that day... let's go to the junkyard! I hadn't been there in some time and I always enjoyed walking around looking at what's there and the various stages of destruction the cars were subject to. Carbs seemed a pretty popular items. Many a manifold was stripped of its precious hat. It's hard to find one that hasn't been molested on an old vehicle these days. I'm sure when people see a cherry one sitting there, they can't help but upgrade their existing unit with it's bent linkage and stripped fuel inlet fittings. The jets also seem to get chewed up, especially when someone uses the wrong size screwdriver to try to remove them.
The skies were threatening that afternoon with a light rain in the morning and more promised later that afternoon so we move quickly. The carb on the Ranchero had been gone through many a times and at some point had been painted red. It had flooded after we got it home so it need some work as well. The weight for the accelerator pump was missing so that may have been a contributor. We went looking through the big Ford trucks and vans for a suitable replacement if available. There quiet a few empty manifolds and TBI units hanging around but not many 2100 units. We ran across one that had been torn apart and laid there in ruins. The venturis were still in place so I pulled the screw out to show Alan what the weight looked like. "Why don't you put it in your pocket" asked Alan. Now, Alan is about my Dads age but he's by no means a senior citizen yet. Well, maybe to Denny's he is. He's certainly not old enough yet to walk away with things without paying for them. How would they ring that up anyways? There's no list for carb parts, just the whole unit. We continued on looking for a complete unit. There was an old truck that had a complete unit sitting on it with an electric choke. Not sure if that was the best we could do, we continued on looking. Down past the vans and midsize cars we searched for suitable vehicles. The clouds in the sky ahead were looking very ominous indeed. "I'd say we got about 10 minutes before that hits us" said Alan. It was more like 8.
After looking for other cars with no luck, we headed back to the only complete carb we could find. How much did they want for it anyways? I wasn't sure but then it started raining pretty good by the time we found the truck again. "Should we get it" he asked. "I say we check the price, look at the rain and decide if it's worth it. " I replied. So we hot-footed it to the cover of the price list and looked it up. $35 bucks vs. a downpour of rain... Let's get out of here! So we left empty handed. I won't mention what was in a pocket.
We decided to head down to another wrecking yard to see what they had. A short drive brought us to another place with a wide selection of parts. We headed inside clear of the rain to talk to our friendly yard-master. "We're looking for a Motorcraft 2100." we proclaimed. "Well, I'm not sure but there's a pickup bed in the back full of carbs you can look through" he replied. His response told me it would be like choosing between the last two fat kids in a pickup football game. You didn't want to pick either of them but if you wanted one, it was yours for the taking.
After carefully avoiding the mud puddles in the back, we came across exactly what he described. There on the ground was the bed of a pickup and it was full of carburetors. We started digging through and I immediately picked up one of the beauties we were looking for. It was in one piece and still had the ID tag on it. There were many Holleys there but most of all were Quadrajets by the butt-load. Put them up there with the 57 Chevy guys and opinions. We dug out a couple of Holleys and other 2100 and headed inside to find out what they wanted for them. One of the other guys working there went in the back to look for some more. He came out with a couple more Holleys and 2100 units. Some looked pretty tore up and abused. We declined those and he went back to dig around some more. He then comes back with a pretty cherry looking Holley unit. All the linkage moved smooth and it had the original finish on it. It would be hard to image the thing was ever on an engine to begin with as it was a generic unit replacement unit and not a factory issue piece. The other Holley was a rougher unit but it had the secondary metering block on it so there were some good parts if we wanted to grab the fuel transfer tube and secondary metering block out of it.
There we were with four units lined up on the counter and we were waiting for the boss man to come back and give us a price. After about five minutes he showed up and we asked for a price. There was some confusion as to what Alan heard what the guy said which lead Alan to offer not the $40 each the guy said but $40 for the two of them. I think that offended the guy because he laughed and said no as he went to tend to something else. "Alan, he said $40 each" I said. "Oh, I thought he he said $45 for the two of them" he said in amazement. He quickly apologized and expressed his deep regret to the man if he had offended him. "How about I give you $100 for all four of these" Alan offered. How could that be less offensive then $20 each I thought? Well, I guess bumping the offer up $5 each was good enough because he agreed and we walked out of there with one practically new Holley 600 with vacuum secondaries and another one complete with a secondary metering block. The other two were the 2100's we found. One looked pretty good and the other was more for parts then anything else. We quickly loaded up in the truck and took off before they guy could change his mind.
A quick stop to our local parts house was the last stop before we headed home. We wanted to get a rebuild kit for the unit and some cleaner. Well, their computer system was down and they couldn't look up the cross reference for the carb. We would have to wait for the kit but we still picked up a gallon of carb cleaner and spray. When we got up to the counter and the computer beeped as the gallon of cleaner was scanned. They needed a manager approval to sell it to us. I guess too many kids were huffing the stuff? The manager came over and pushed a couple of keys. "That will be $7.95" the clerk stated. Now I swear I saw everything on the computer screen including the cleaner but that price wasn't right. "Are you sure you rang everything up?" asked Alan. I quickly replied that it was all there and we paid our money. As we walked out to the truck, I reminded Alan that when prices are in our favor, we shouldn't speak up. We got in the truck and he proclaimed "I'm not the one going to hell so it's alright with me!" Well that was something I wasn't expecting but I quickly replied "God wants us to have that gallon of carburetor cleaner Alan. It's His will that it didn't ring up correctly."
All in all, it was a bank robbers day on parts and we headed back to his house with our ill-gotten gains. Well, not really ill but it felt like a steal! Things just happen to work out. And yes, I do feel a little bad for taking advantage of other people's mistakes but I make up for it in other ways.
The skies were threatening that afternoon with a light rain in the morning and more promised later that afternoon so we move quickly. The carb on the Ranchero had been gone through many a times and at some point had been painted red. It had flooded after we got it home so it need some work as well. The weight for the accelerator pump was missing so that may have been a contributor. We went looking through the big Ford trucks and vans for a suitable replacement if available. There quiet a few empty manifolds and TBI units hanging around but not many 2100 units. We ran across one that had been torn apart and laid there in ruins. The venturis were still in place so I pulled the screw out to show Alan what the weight looked like. "Why don't you put it in your pocket" asked Alan. Now, Alan is about my Dads age but he's by no means a senior citizen yet. Well, maybe to Denny's he is. He's certainly not old enough yet to walk away with things without paying for them. How would they ring that up anyways? There's no list for carb parts, just the whole unit. We continued on looking for a complete unit. There was an old truck that had a complete unit sitting on it with an electric choke. Not sure if that was the best we could do, we continued on looking. Down past the vans and midsize cars we searched for suitable vehicles. The clouds in the sky ahead were looking very ominous indeed. "I'd say we got about 10 minutes before that hits us" said Alan. It was more like 8.
After looking for other cars with no luck, we headed back to the only complete carb we could find. How much did they want for it anyways? I wasn't sure but then it started raining pretty good by the time we found the truck again. "Should we get it" he asked. "I say we check the price, look at the rain and decide if it's worth it. " I replied. So we hot-footed it to the cover of the price list and looked it up. $35 bucks vs. a downpour of rain... Let's get out of here! So we left empty handed. I won't mention what was in a pocket.
We decided to head down to another wrecking yard to see what they had. A short drive brought us to another place with a wide selection of parts. We headed inside clear of the rain to talk to our friendly yard-master. "We're looking for a Motorcraft 2100." we proclaimed. "Well, I'm not sure but there's a pickup bed in the back full of carbs you can look through" he replied. His response told me it would be like choosing between the last two fat kids in a pickup football game. You didn't want to pick either of them but if you wanted one, it was yours for the taking.
After carefully avoiding the mud puddles in the back, we came across exactly what he described. There on the ground was the bed of a pickup and it was full of carburetors. We started digging through and I immediately picked up one of the beauties we were looking for. It was in one piece and still had the ID tag on it. There were many Holleys there but most of all were Quadrajets by the butt-load. Put them up there with the 57 Chevy guys and opinions. We dug out a couple of Holleys and other 2100 and headed inside to find out what they wanted for them. One of the other guys working there went in the back to look for some more. He came out with a couple more Holleys and 2100 units. Some looked pretty tore up and abused. We declined those and he went back to dig around some more. He then comes back with a pretty cherry looking Holley unit. All the linkage moved smooth and it had the original finish on it. It would be hard to image the thing was ever on an engine to begin with as it was a generic unit replacement unit and not a factory issue piece. The other Holley was a rougher unit but it had the secondary metering block on it so there were some good parts if we wanted to grab the fuel transfer tube and secondary metering block out of it.
There we were with four units lined up on the counter and we were waiting for the boss man to come back and give us a price. After about five minutes he showed up and we asked for a price. There was some confusion as to what Alan heard what the guy said which lead Alan to offer not the $40 each the guy said but $40 for the two of them. I think that offended the guy because he laughed and said no as he went to tend to something else. "Alan, he said $40 each" I said. "Oh, I thought he he said $45 for the two of them" he said in amazement. He quickly apologized and expressed his deep regret to the man if he had offended him. "How about I give you $100 for all four of these" Alan offered. How could that be less offensive then $20 each I thought? Well, I guess bumping the offer up $5 each was good enough because he agreed and we walked out of there with one practically new Holley 600 with vacuum secondaries and another one complete with a secondary metering block. The other two were the 2100's we found. One looked pretty good and the other was more for parts then anything else. We quickly loaded up in the truck and took off before they guy could change his mind.
A quick stop to our local parts house was the last stop before we headed home. We wanted to get a rebuild kit for the unit and some cleaner. Well, their computer system was down and they couldn't look up the cross reference for the carb. We would have to wait for the kit but we still picked up a gallon of carb cleaner and spray. When we got up to the counter and the computer beeped as the gallon of cleaner was scanned. They needed a manager approval to sell it to us. I guess too many kids were huffing the stuff? The manager came over and pushed a couple of keys. "That will be $7.95" the clerk stated. Now I swear I saw everything on the computer screen including the cleaner but that price wasn't right. "Are you sure you rang everything up?" asked Alan. I quickly replied that it was all there and we paid our money. As we walked out to the truck, I reminded Alan that when prices are in our favor, we shouldn't speak up. We got in the truck and he proclaimed "I'm not the one going to hell so it's alright with me!" Well that was something I wasn't expecting but I quickly replied "God wants us to have that gallon of carburetor cleaner Alan. It's His will that it didn't ring up correctly."
All in all, it was a bank robbers day on parts and we headed back to his house with our ill-gotten gains. Well, not really ill but it felt like a steal! Things just happen to work out. And yes, I do feel a little bad for taking advantage of other people's mistakes but I make up for it in other ways.
The drive home
With our new purchase and a lot of ambition, we set off for our journey home. I climb in the drivers seat and close the door. After looking around foolishly, I ask the guy "Seatbelt?" The reply was a "Uh, there's only one on the passengers side." Well what can you do? "How about gas?" I asked. "Well, there's about 10 bucks worth." OK so I've got no seatbelt and no idea how much gas was really left after their jaunt down the freeway. Sometimes you just have to go for it!
I put it in gear and pulled away. It seemed to run fine as we chugged down the road. The brakes are drum so the pedal was a little soft. I better keep a safe distance in front of me. About 5 blocks down the road, the car starts bucking and sputtering. It was running just fine. What happened? We pulled over and popped the hood. It seemed to be idling fine. I pulled the small choking air cleaner off to look for flooding. "Seems to be running better" proclaims Alan. With that, I threw it in the bed and closed the hood. It just needs to make the drive home.
So with that, I put it back in gear and drove off. It runs fine with light throttle and low RPMs. I think I've got this figured out. With a steady foot and keeping the gears moving, the car was making it down the road just fine. As long as I didn't have to goose the throttle, everything would be fine.
Coming up to an intersection, I wasn't sure which way to go so I got in the turn lane. Alan pulls next to me in a big Dodge truck (thanks for the loan Guy) and points straight ahead. Without power windows and having a nice wide cab, I couldn't roll down the window and talk to him. Hand gestures would have to do. I give him the OK signal and he stares at me as he waits for me to go. Alan, I can't see through the truck and I'm crossing a major street. Beep beep goes the car behind me. GO ALAN... I CAN'T SEE THROUGH THE TRUCK! He points forward again showing me the right direction. I give him the hand over the eyebrow, looking out over the horizon gesture as I attempt to see through the truck. Beep beep goes the car behind me. GO AROUND! Alan points forward again and I started gesturing frantically like Yosemite Sam. I think that did it because Alan proceeded across the intersection and I could now see the traffic in both directions.
As we drove around back roads and by the airport, I was trying to figure out where this would take us. Then we get to River Road which is like a small 2 lane highway-like road that typically has a lot of traffic. Oh crap! Will I be able to make it across this road without getting killed. Alan quickly throttles across and heads off. Lucky for me, there was an unusual break in traffic for both directions. I give it some gas and immediately start bucking into the middle of the road as cars are heading me way. Hiccups and backfires spew from the car like bad words out of a sailors mouth. One lane cleared and one more to go. I felt like top fuel dragster without the speed. I was pedaling the car just to keep the engine running. Luckily, I was rolling again and gaining speed. That was a close one!
A few minutes later, I was pulling into my driveway and shutting her down. We made it! Alan and I pop the hood and start inspecting our score. It had a nice set of finned Thunderbird valve covers on the engine and a bunch of parts that we couldn't identify in the bed. I think they just threw in all the parts they wanted to get rid of. Oh well, for the price, I will haul away some junk too.
Another 57 Ranchero for sale
After not having much luck with the first Ranchero, we kept looking for another. It just looked like the right kind of car and there didn't seem to be a lot of them around. If we were looking for a 57 Chevy, this would be easy. Just like opinions, everyone has one.
A couple of weeks later, I stumbled across another 57 Ranchero listed on Craigslist. This one looked a lot better then the first one. It was listed at $2500 and it had a running engine and transmission in it. I eagerly sent an email to the posting and awaited a response. A few days pass with no response and then a couple of weeks go by with nothing. I guess it was too good to be true.
Just when I started moving on, I see the posting appear again! I quickly email again and received a response the next day. It was a running car that was currently registered and driven on the street. For $1000 more then the rusted body we looked at (with no title, engine, and transmission) we were looking at something we could drive home.
The next day, we went and took a look at the car. It had some rust in the rockers and quarter panels but nothing to shy away from. The bench seat had been replaced by some buckets seats and some modifications had been made such as power assist steering and staggered shocks. It needed some attention but the color was pretty consistent and it started right up.
We made an offer of $2000 based on condition and the work needed. Everything negotiable right? They needed to think it over and see if anyone else was interested. We left with high hopes and thought about the things we would do to the car. Dreams of cruising to Foster's Freeze could soon be a reality!
That night, a call came in agreeing to our price. Sweet lady liberty! The next day we went over with cash in had to make the deal. The guy threw in some of the "original" parts from the car like a differential and transmission. There were also a bunch of other parts as well in a box. Alan points out "That's not a 9" ford." Original indeed...
The guy was working on the carb when we got there. They had "driven" it down the freeway a few days ago and it ran fine. There was a little problem with the carb flooding so he wanted to make it right before we took it away. We took a quick drive down to the parts store to pickup a power valve and it was soon running again.
The deal was done and we prepared to roll out and head home. Alan suggests that we take the back way to my house and avoid the freeway. I wanted to make a straight shot of it but pulling off on a side street sounds better the pulling over on the freeway. Let's roll!
Friday, February 27, 2009
ANOTHER set of heads
We haven't been having much luck in the casting department. After two sets, we've only found mediocre castings and we really want something where the cores are not molested in some way. Obviously new seats would be needed for just about anything and valve guides too. What we don't want are cracks, bunged holes, or anything that's already been "customized".
I went back to where we picked up the second set of castings and bought the last set the guy had for sale. Looking at these in the sunlight showed a better casting without any funny business going on. There was a bit of rust but it didn't look too bad. We'll give them a go and see how they turn out.
I went back to where we picked up the second set of castings and bought the last set the guy had for sale. Looking at these in the sunlight showed a better casting without any funny business going on. There was a bit of rust but it didn't look too bad. We'll give them a go and see how they turn out.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
A home for the engine?
A week or two later, Alan sent me a posting from Craigslist. It was a 1957 Ford Ranchero and it looked rough! The Ranchero would be period correct for the engine. You could actually order any Ford engine for your Ranchero in 1957 which would include the 312. This could be too good to be true! I contacted the owner and setup a tentative meeting for the weekend.
Another listing on Craigslist for a Y-Block engine and transmission appeared shortly after with the promise of better castings and extra parts. Armed with my casting identification chart found on one of the in depth Y-Block sites (www.ford-y-block.com) we setup an appointment to take a look at the engine. It was at a storage site in town which looked more like a campsite for old cars and questionable folks. The engine turned out to be something like a 54 with a heavy duty truck transmission. Disappointing indeed...
On the way to Alan's storage place to do some sorting of parts, we got a call from the Ranchero guy about six minutes after we passed the location where the car was. A quick turn around and we were on our way!
I had never seen a 57 Ranchero before so when I saw the posting, I started looking online for other cars. A fair number were pretty stock which while interesting, wasn't very alluring to me. One rendition did catch my attention. The side trim was removed and everything was smoothed over. The real kicker was the bumper and front trim was not chrome and stainless but instead painted the new body color and had scallops painted down the front half. It was a good looking car and my interest was peaked.
Well the Ranchero was interesting but very rough. No engine or transmission and it looked as if the body had been stripped and sanded at one time. The car resembled more of a patchwork quilt then a real car but it still looked cool and had potential. A further inspection revealed rust, rust, and more rust. While the usual places were bad like rockers and floor pans, the A-pillars were also heavily rusted. The quarter panels would need work along with the hood, fenders, and rear sections. This was a parts car, not a rebuildable car. My stubbornness was telling me to take the chance but Alan was saying "Don't get involved." In talking with the owner, we talked about our ambitions and experience with cars and he shared opened up to us knowing that we weren't just some yahoos looking at his car. He was part of a Ford club and had some pretty nice cars of his own that were meticulously restored and others ready for love and attention. He was a nice guy to talk to and if we really wanted a project, he had a good one. 1500 was probably a decent price to pay for all the parts that would be usable but we weren't ready to part out a car.
So that day was a bust. No engine and no car. My search for a 57 Ranchero would continue. While not necessarily the car we wanted, it was interesting. My initial thoughts were to drop it in a T-Bucket or something open fender. Most of those cars have a Chevy 350 installed and having a 312 would make it stand out.
Casting call
The first set of heads off of eBay came in and were so-s0. One of the rocker bosses was either already damaged or got dinged up in shipping. A cleanup at the shop and the we find out the ports and some valve seats were pretty pitted. What does Alan think of a mediocre casting? Well, he doesn't like it too much. The hunt for another set of heads begins!
I began searching on Craigslist and just happen to come across a guy selling some of his surplus Y-Block parts locally. We went over at night and picked up a three speed and chose between two sets of ECZ-G heads he had. One set was loaded with valves and springs and the other was bare. I opted for the full heads thinking that they would probably be less likely to be abused if they were still together. The other heads were pretty rusted on the surface so I didn't want anything to do with them.
After a little bargaining, we were on our way back to the shop with more parts. A quick inspection the next day in the light revealed a couple of stuck valves, some pitted bowls, and one rocker mount boss that had been warbled out and a heli-coil inserted. DRAT!
We dropped them off back at the shop to be tanked and inspected. The results weren't much better then the first set. There was a broken valve stem still in the head and there was some pitting. Another set of questionable castings. Either of the sets could be salvaged with a lot of work but we don't want to mess with molested castings. The search would continue.
I began searching on Craigslist and just happen to come across a guy selling some of his surplus Y-Block parts locally. We went over at night and picked up a three speed and chose between two sets of ECZ-G heads he had. One set was loaded with valves and springs and the other was bare. I opted for the full heads thinking that they would probably be less likely to be abused if they were still together. The other heads were pretty rusted on the surface so I didn't want anything to do with them.
After a little bargaining, we were on our way back to the shop with more parts. A quick inspection the next day in the light revealed a couple of stuck valves, some pitted bowls, and one rocker mount boss that had been warbled out and a heli-coil inserted. DRAT!
We dropped them off back at the shop to be tanked and inspected. The results weren't much better then the first set. There was a broken valve stem still in the head and there was some pitting. Another set of questionable castings. Either of the sets could be salvaged with a lot of work but we don't want to mess with molested castings. The search would continue.
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