It Had Been Too Long

Even though the garage was at least ten degrees colder than the outside temperature yesterday, I didn’t hesitate to fire up the kerosene heaters to make it tolerable. After an hour or so, I ventured out to work on Scarlett. Mikhaila wasn’t feeling well, so I was on my own. That meant I pick tasks carefully – try to finish off jobs she’d find very uninteresting. I started by putting the drums back on all four corners – wheels and tires won’t be far behind. Next, I rummaged through my collection of fanbelt idler pulleys, selected the smoothest spinning (but not too freely) one and mounted it to the engine with a new fanbelt. I then hooked up the temporary input fuel line (the one with the rubber hose on the end to feed into a gas container) to the fuel pump. Once we get a new set of plug leads and bolt on an exhaust system, the engine will be ready to start. Speaking of exhaust system, I removed her muffler from the broken exhaust pipe, pulled a GUP pipe from the rafters, and then spent the next half-hour cleaning old exhaust packing off the two flanges. I still need to take the pipe to a muffler shop and have them expand the clamp depression out of it.

Other than hacking away at solidified exhaust donuts, the other time consuming project was attacking the whole brake routing thing. I measured all the fittings and discovered the parts Clark's had sent me were not going to work. The master cylinder has two different diameter holes for the front and rear circuits. The existing line that goes from the master cylinder to the T-block that feeds the front two wheels is smaller than its associated master cylinder holes, so I'll need a reducer for that one since the one Clark's sent is too small for the master cylinder. Then, the line that feeds the rear wheels is smaller than the coupling Clark's sent, so I'll need a new coupling as well as a reducer for the master cylinder. I wrote everything down and will spend some quality time at the local NAPA to get the parts needed.

Other than general straightening up, the only other task I undertook was installing a vertical magazine rack. It was very difficult finding an open spot on the wall, so I ended up rearranging my pegboard to make room. With it hanging, I filled each slot with manuals and catalogs. This freed up room on a shelf that I quickly filled some stuff that had been sitting on the floor.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Mikhaila and I had a great weekend working together in the garage. I’m trying to balance disassembly and cleaning projects with reassembly and coating ones to keep her enthusiastic. This last weekend she climbed under the car and wire brushed all the loose rust and gruck from the underside surfaces while I carefully inspected the brake lines for corrosion. Since this car spent such a long time in storage, the galvanized lines are in very good shape and don’t need replacing.


Next, we assembled the two front brake assemblies. The left side went well until we went to bolt on the drum. Once the nut was torqued the drum refused to turn. We concluded the outside ear of the new wheel cylinder is sticking out too far interfering with the drum. Sadly, this is a known possible issue, and we got bit by it. As others have done, I’ll grind down the ear until the drum spins freely.


Speaking of wheel cylinders, we next discovered the wheel cylinder I had in my stash of stuff was not for the right side as I’d originally written down. Therefore, we were dead in the water until I made the call to Clark’s … or were we? I’d saved the old cylinder, so I punched out the used-up innards and inspected the bore. It wasn’t too bad looking, so, after unscrewing the bleeder valve, Mikhaila and I honed out the inside until it was clean and smooth. I cleaned up the two pistons and then handed Mikhaila one of the 7/8ths rebuild kits from the storage box marked RJS. She stuffed the cylinder’s bore with spring, cups, and pistons generously coated with DOT 3 brake fluid. On went the end caps and we could continue putting the right front brakes back together. Since we’d re-used the original wheel cylinder, the drum spun freely once it was installed with freshly greased bearings. The last brake task we undertook was installing the new brake hose. While it easily screwed into the cylinder’s threaded hole, it took some finagling to get the brake line’s fitting screwed into the other end of the hose. It wasn’t until this morning I remembered I’d forgot to insert the new copper washer. Irr.

Our time in the garage ended when we almost completed the rebuilding of Scarlett's second carburetor (the other carb came off Glinda – more on that later).

By that time on Sunday evening it was getting cold and windy – perfect timing for me to leave the heated garage for the brisk driveway where Glinda waited to have a new fanbelt put on and the second modified carburetor reinstalled.

Regarding the fanbelt, I’d blogged back in mid-November how high-rpm escapades had caused Glinda’s fanbelt to come off. Since I wasn’t carrying a new belt at the time, I reinstalled the flipped one and crossed my fingers. Last Friday I had to come in to work, and I decided to drive Glinda forgetting – again – to put a spare belt in the trunk. Well, my lame-ness was rewarded as the wounded belt busted soon after I left my work’s parking lot. Not having a spare, I first tried to nurse the car home with occasional stops. Finally, engine clattering on a hill forced me to give up and call upon the lovely Loriann to come rescue me again. Even though she’d brought me a replacement belt, I’d decided I didn’t want to deal with disconnecting the line feeding the oil pressure gauge in the dim illumination of a streetlight, so we left the car parked in a church parking lot and I returned an hour or so later with the truck and tow-bar and drug Glinda home. In the comfort of my own driveway with plenty of light, I undid the oil line, installed a new Clark’s fanbelt, and reconnected the oil line in a matter of minutes.

Along with a carburetor rebuild kit, my last order from Clark’s Corvair Parts included four accelerator pump cups. I installed one of these on a GUP pump and tested it in the shelved modified carb base that wouldn’t work previously, and the new cup did the trick – nice squirts with each blip of the throttle shaft. I removed Glinda’s right carb assembly (it had the borrowed unmodified base), carefully separated the top from the base preserving the gasket, swapped on the newly tested pump, and mated the racing top (added vent tubes) with the racing base (relocated jets). The assembly was then installed onto the engine and a turn of the ignition key resulted in the wonderful rumble of the Corvair 110 pumping air through the Flowmaster. After both chokes had fully opened, I shut down the engine, disconnected the choke pull-off hoses from each carb, connected the ends of my clear tubing containing a few tablespoons of water to the aforementioned vacuum ports, and re-fired the engine. Minor tweaks of the throttle screws and the water stopped moving. I tightened the fancy linkage and the carbs were synched. After reconnecting the pull-off tubes, Glinda was ready for a test drive. There was still some stumbling around mid-throttle, but, finally, putting my right foot to the floor elicited a grin rather than a grimace.

She's now ready for some sprited commuting - just in time for snow to force me to permanently pull her off the salty roads.

It’s Getting Better, It’s Worse, It’s Mostly Better

As I walked out of work last evening, I was met with sleet, rain, and snow all lovingly mixed together by the hand of God. I knew this would happen - get Glinda back on the road just in time for the salt to be back on the road. Argh!

The mixed precipitation caused enough drivers to freak out that the commute to pick up Mikhaila from her job turned into a stop-and-go-fest. It did, however, give me ample opportunity to blow out the carburetors to, hopefully, de-chug the engine. A couple dozen full-throttle-up-to-4-grand-followed-by-an-immediate-release-of-the-gas-pedal and the engine had smoothed out significantly. Sadly, Glinda also rewarded those antics by throwing her fanbelt. With the red GEN/FAN light illuminated, I drove into the nearest parking lot and stopped under a light. While I had the requisite 9/16ths wrench and a rag in the glovebox, I did not have a flashlight, but a few minutes later, I had the apparently undamaged belt back in place and was heading on down the road again.

One of the frustrating issues I’d hoped would go away has been the inability to get the transmission to shift into first or second gear upon initial, cold start-up. My assumption had been that the stripped bolt and subsequent misalignment of the drivetrain had been causing the problem, but the issue still exists even after I heli-coiled the hole and the drivetrain is realigned to the shifter rod. Once the gear oil is warmed up, she goes into gear easily. I need to remember to leave the shifter in either 1st or reverse (depending on where I’m parked) each time she sits for any long period.

Mikhaila has a driving test coming up early next month, so I told her if she gets her license, I’d be will to let her drive Glinda to and from work and school. She’d need to keep working on Scarlett in earnest however, or I’d revoke that privilege immediately. Her eyes lit up until I reminded her that Glinda now had a manual transmission. While she’s not a willing self-shifter, she’s capable.

I Guess There Can Be Worse Phone Calls

It’s so sad that when my cellphone vibrates and the display says it’s Ariel calling, a deflating sense of dread immediately overcomes me. Nine times out of ten it’s not bad news, but ten percent of the time it’s, “my car’s crapped out again.” The call from her Friday morning was one of those one-out-of-tens that really ruins my day. “Daddy, my car won’t start. It’s making that noise like the last time you had to tow him home.” Irr. It appears the starter I rebuilt with an old Bendix drive now needs a new Bendix.

Since the truck is still not ready for towing duty, I got to spend my lunch hour going to Harbor Freight and finally buying the 7-into- four plug adapter so I can plug the towing lights into the Silverado’s outlet. I also bought a couple hitches, now with a 4” drop one with a monster 6” drop. Since I wanted the ball at the same level it was with the Suburban, I measured the height on the Suburban before it went away, but used my worklight as the unit of measure and I didn’t have it with me Friday, so I too the guess-work out if and just got the two Harbor Freight had available. I tried to do a side-by-side in Photoshop and it appears the HUGE wheel openings on the truck make it look much taller than it really is. In other words, I thought the 4” would be enough.

When I got home, I used my worklight and found that the hitch I’d been using on the Suburban is less than two inches taller on the truck than it was on the Suburban, so both hitches will go back. I was going to get A’s car that night, but the snow, non-working towing lights, and a great desire to get Lucy back on the road all prevented that from happening. I did get my car done, but I was in the garage until after 1 AM. I first filled all the seams with sealer, then installed the rear seat back, carpet, speakers, sill plates, rear seat bottom, seat belts (after drilling new holes in the patches for two of the belts), and, finally, the front seats. I installed the two lower engine shrouds so Lucy’s salon will have heat and a GUP speedometer cable I'd bought from the Corvair Ranch. The last thing I did was top off the transmission with 90 weight gear lube.

Saturday morning the lovely Loriann and I went to watch to see Mikhaila’s cheerleading team compete. On the way we stopped at Harbor Freight, and, after returning the hitches, I bought a connector for the towing lights and a heat gun to shrink tubing. When I finally got home Saturday, I rewired the lights and then Ariel, Victoria, and I headed out to drag Ringo home. Ariel got to Ringo first, so I asked her to see if he’d start. Sure enough, my powers are strong enough that just being within fifteen feet of the problem, I was able to magically fix the problem. A turn of the key and he started right up. She drove him home without issue. Then, yesterday afternoon, it started right up for me to drive into the garage.

I’m going to replace the Bendix drive (ordered today). While I wait for that part, there are a number of niggling problems with that car I want to address. First, I wanted to clean up the wiring job I did when converting Ringo to electricity maker to an alternator. A few cuts, some soldering and shrinking tube, four zipties, and that project was completed. Second, I wanted to fix the non-functioning gas gauge. To troubleshoot if the sender is the problem, I made a bunch of resistance measurements at the sender’s contacts while emptying the tank. While the first measurement (with the tank about half full) was 14 ohms (about halfway on the 0-30 ohm designed range), all the subsequent measurements made as the tank was being drained were 11 ohms. I’m hoping (praying) that I just stuck the float on wrong and it’s hitting the side of the tank preventing it from dropping all the way down. I’ll remove the sender the next time I get out to the garage and see what resistance measurement I get across the range of arm travel. A new sender is $55 plus shipping, so I’m not buying a replacement unless I truly need it. Finally, I want the engine to stop eating fanbelts. Before turning car back over to Ariel, I’m going to replace the pulley wheels with the smoothest looking ones I can find on my shelves. I think the pitting on one or more of the wheels is wearing out the belts much too quickly.

This morning I'd intended to drive Lucy to work, but I knew a stop at the gas station was an immediate priority. I didn't even get to pull away from the curb, since I couldn't get the engine to fire. I think (hope) her only issues is an empty gas tank.