Motor Musings

Life Experience | 14 June 2019 | Army Air Corps

[Army Air Corps]

Much time has passed since I last called FReeper motorheads together for a good garage chinwag.

Tonight's discussion: Your first motor vehicle project. When was the fist time that you got your hands dirty working on a car, truck, motorcycle, etc.?

[Impala64ssa]

When we lived in NY I would take off the Friday after Thanksgiving to prep the 64 for the winter, put in in the garage take out the battery put the car on jackstands, box of mothballs in the trunk and fuel stabilizer in the gas tank. It would sit until around mid March. Here in FL it’s pretty much the opposite, With almost daily thunderstorms I don’t drive it as much from now until around mid Sept. It still feels a little strange driving around Tampa in the middle of January with the top down, though.

[Windflier]

It was high school days, back in the early 70s.

I kept the ‘63 Corvair for a couple of years, then picked up a ‘66 Buick Wildcat to replace her.

My wrenching time immediately dropped to almost zero ;-)

[PUGACHEV]

My first major automobile project in 1969 was to replace the rod bearings on a ‘64 Triumph Spitfire. I had to separate the engine from the bell housing and remove it from the car using a pulley attached to a tree limb. Then I had to remove the crankshaft and send it off to be milled, then put undersized bearings in and replace the whole thing. I wound up doing that three times with a series of three Spitfires. They just weren’t meant for U.S. highways.

[PUGACHEV]

Lucas, the inventor of the short circuit and intermittent windshield wipers. Lucas, whose motto is “Get home before dark”.

[Equine1952]

I was puttering along in my 02 Dodge Ram and a neighbor who lives a mile or so north of me came tooling up behind. He has an orange 69 challenger. He followed me at about 40 mph for a couple seconds. Nothing was coming and we live in the country. I was thinking whether he was satisfied puttering along or going to let his dodge breath, he let it breath and I enjoyed it maybe as much as he did.

[Lean-Right]

My first at 14. A 1964 Ford Falcon
Ranchero 260 v-8. Bought it for
$50. Previous owner had somehow
dropped a small ball bearing in
the carb. It beat the heck out
of the #4 piston, and bent both
valves. Pulled the intake and
head on the bad piston side.
Pulled the pan and removed
the piston with the block
still in the car.
My current at 64. A 1940
Plymouth pickup. Custom
designed (by me w/cad) 1-1/2”
cromoly tube frame, 440 cid
bored .030, 727 torqueflite,
custom headers, 4-link rear,
custom A-arms w/R&P steering,
aluminum rad and electric fan.
Getting close to firing it up
to break in the cam and check
for leaks. Can’t wait to hear
how she sounds.

[Army Air Corps]

I gotta say, your current ride sounds sweet as all get out.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

When I was about 11 or 12 (1962), my Dad gave me the “Visible V8” model. I learned all about four stroke Otto cycle engines with that model. Shortly after building that, I completely disassembled our Briggs & Stratton 3-1/2 hp lawn mower engine. There wasn’t a screw or bolt fastener left undone. I cleaned everything up real good and used Gumout solvent to get varnish off the carb parts. Got it reassembled and it started on the first pull.

It was a lot harder in those days because manuals were scarce, there was no YouTube to watch how-to videos, and you didn’t take pictures on your phone as you disassembled things. You had to be well organized to store all the parts and have a good memory.

I went from there to oil changes, changing shocks, rebuilding Holley four barrel carbs, changing starters, replacing failed camshafts, and pulling heads for valve jobs. Then I started making some money and paid others to do all that work for me.

But those were fun days.

I asked my Dad once why he didn’t join me on that work. He said “I pay others to do that stuff”. He used his rare time off to play golf.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Buddy of mine’s Dad was a prof at Cornell University in Ithaca. He drove a Renault Dauphine around 1961 or so. That was one quirky guy driving a real quirky car! At that time, “foreign cars” in upstate New York were scarcer than hen’s teeth.

[Jack Hammer]

Fifty years ago, I did a tune up on my old station wagon. My first time. Unfortunately, I connected the wrong wires to the wrong spark plugs and the distributor objected VERY loudly. Never made that mistake again.

[Equine1952]

I was tuning my old 70 Chevy 4x4 truck. 350 v8 distributor middle back against the firewall. I had the engine running, warm, idling around 600rpm. Dewell looked good, timing was great. Locked down the distributor. Then reached down to pull the analyzer clip off #1 plug wire with the engine purring along. I was laying on the fender, I hit my head on the hood so hard I nearly knocked my self out. My wife came out after hearing the bang and cursing. She said “what happened?” I told her come here I’ll show you. She said no a slammed the door. Wish I could say this was my dumbest stunt, but alas it’s not.

[Lean-Right]

It’s taken a while, but persistence
will see it done. It’s been fun
seeing the progress step by step.

[upchuck]

In the summer of 1963 I bought a Volkswagen bus from the next door neighbor. I made a loud tapping noise when running. A friend, who knew a lot more than I did thought maybe it was a stuck valve lifter.

We parked the bus in the backyard on the patio and proceeded to remove the motor. Then we disassembled the motor. I had a very good book with excellent step-by-step directions for the disassembly. Sure enough, one of the valve lifters was stuck. Too much muck.

I bought a new lifter from a VW dealer. We installed it and began reassembly/reinstallation of the engine. The last thing we had to do was connect the spark plug wires. I used the distributor diagram from the book I mentioned above. We cranked the engine and it didn't start but gave noises like it was trying.

My knowledgeable friend stopped by and noticed the way the spark plug wires were connected. Turns out the diagram in the book was stylized and did not show the correct firing order. My friend rewired the spark plugs and the motor started and ran like a champ. And, the knocking noise was gone!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

A couple of friends and I spent three weekends pulling the cylinder head off a Jaguar 4.2 liter engine. The previous owner had allowed the car to overheat, blowing the head gasket.
A local machine shop milled the head and a nearby dealer supplied the gasket set.
The car ran fine for several years but the oil pressure slowly failed.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Nice van in the photo. My oldest brother had a 1967 with the sunroof and roof windows. I ran old VWs for almost 20 years, among them a 1968 van and a 1969 van.

Were you using John Muir’s manual? That book got me through a lot of procedures, including rebuilding the engine of my 1966 sedan.

Maybe when I retire I’ll get another VW to tinker with.

[Sasparilla]

...For me it was putting a set of headers on my 1969 Camaro. I was trying to get a little more power and sound out of my 327 engine. The problem was that it was in the winter time with temperatures in the low 20’s....

A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do

[Hot Tabasco]

In 1978 I purchased an MGB that was the biggest mistake in my life. Never once did I consider that I would have to drive it in the snowy winter here in Michigan. Among other problems, once the temps dropped to 17 degrees, it wouldn’t start.....

[Big Red Badger]

Renault Dauphine,
Rear engine is what jogged
My memory.
I still love VW Bugs!

[dhs12345]

Thanks!

[dhs12345]

Wow. What year Model A? What body style?