What did you do to your non-G body project today? [2021]
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Yokohama Geolandar
They aren't terrible and still have a lot of tread left but with a only legger pickup in winter they might as well be bald.
Plus the fact I now know they're nearly 12 years old.
Yesterday, but finally got the elderly neighbor’s old ‘57 Poncho finished reassembled and running. Just in time too, because it leaves on the transport truck at noon today.
It’s been a real headache, nothing like trying to reassemble a 50’s era car with zero information and Robertson wood screws because he took it all apart 20 years ago and lost all the original hardware. I troubleshot and repaired everything from heater cables to rehanging and aligning the driver’s door, to straightening rear bumper brackets with a 10lb sledgehammer and drilling and tapping holes in the floor for the front seat.
Diagnosed and fixed his no reverse light issue (cut wires under the back seat and a neutral safety switch out of alignment), to dome light working on 3 doors but not the 4th as well as no left turn signal at the rear (bad grounds).
It’s low on transmission fluid and the fuel pump is leaking gas like the Exxon Valdez, but it should still be enough to get it on the transport under it’s own power.
The trim inside 50’s era cars is REDONKULOUS, absolutely everything has some sort of trim on it. From windshield garnish mouldings to seat bases and everything in between. I’m pleased to report tho, that I got everything working, from all the gauges right down to the tiny individual lights in the dual ashtrays and gauges. Only thing I couldn’t figure out was the damn radio. Those things are a lot different than the ones we know now.
Here’s the heart of the beast, a mighty 246ci inline six with a Rochester one-barrel. Still runs like a top tho.
It’s been quite the undertaking to get it done in such a short time frame, I’m not sure I’m gonna miss it being around, but it’s certainly been an adventure.
It’s been a real headache, nothing like trying to reassemble a 50’s era car with zero information and Robertson wood screws because he took it all apart 20 years ago and lost all the original hardware. I troubleshot and repaired everything from heater cables to rehanging and aligning the driver’s door, to straightening rear bumper brackets with a 10lb sledgehammer and drilling and tapping holes in the floor for the front seat.
Diagnosed and fixed his no reverse light issue (cut wires under the back seat and a neutral safety switch out of alignment), to dome light working on 3 doors but not the 4th as well as no left turn signal at the rear (bad grounds).
It’s low on transmission fluid and the fuel pump is leaking gas like the Exxon Valdez, but it should still be enough to get it on the transport under it’s own power.
The trim inside 50’s era cars is REDONKULOUS, absolutely everything has some sort of trim on it. From windshield garnish mouldings to seat bases and everything in between. I’m pleased to report tho, that I got everything working, from all the gauges right down to the tiny individual lights in the dual ashtrays and gauges. Only thing I couldn’t figure out was the damn radio. Those things are a lot different than the ones we know now.
Here’s the heart of the beast, a mighty 246ci inline six with a Rochester one-barrel. Still runs like a top tho.
It’s been quite the undertaking to get it done in such a short time frame, I’m not sure I’m gonna miss it being around, but it’s certainly been an adventure.
That radio was probably the finest piece of AM radio oriented technology that GM-Delco could create at the time. Your problem is that AM radio is the floppy disk of its time. At the very least obsolescent, still in use somewhere, but mostly obsolete unless you are a purest restorer; and I think that most of them hide the mp3 player behind a kick panel in the trunk, gotta keep up appearances. Thing here is that there are actually sources who recreate moden audio technology to exactly resemble how it physically looked in the 50's So you get all that WiFi, Bluetooth, mpeg, mp3, i-pad, i-phone, WTF ever baubles and trinkets that you want in sound but it all sits there in the dash and looks like your Grandpa's old school techno-saur, complete to the 1/2 dozen channels of either Country and Western, (BLEAH!!!!) or ????
Of course the future of that radio gets to fall into the hands of next mechano-savant who gets to play with it, (Or you will hear a knock at the door some evening after supper and find a ro-ro sitting in the drive way, and your personal version of Christine has come back to haunt you because it wants its radio fixed, sitting on it) .
Either way, very nice job and I like that color. Four Door Hard Top??
Nick
Of course the future of that radio gets to fall into the hands of next mechano-savant who gets to play with it, (Or you will hear a knock at the door some evening after supper and find a ro-ro sitting in the drive way, and your personal version of Christine has come back to haunt you because it wants its radio fixed, sitting on it) .
Either way, very nice job and I like that color. Four Door Hard Top??
Nick
Cool project, and good of you to help the old man. I'd love to own that car. What a time capsule!
Free carboard from work...I prefer the double-wall stuff. When it gets soaked, replace with more of the same. We dispose of an obscene amount of cardboard daily....
Quoting myself here, because apparently the saga wasn’t finished yet. Got a panicked call from him at 9:30 this morning, the transport driver wasn’t going to take the car if it was leaking fuel. (Understandably so).
He had a fuel pump that he had bought at a swap meet several years ago that he wanted me to swap out at the last minute, oh and the transport was scheduled to arrive earlier than he was told. Hour and a half to get it changed out, alright let’s go.
Fuel pump was similar, but not identical. Return style, with 2 additional ports that weren’t needed. Plug those off with rubber vacuum caps and hose clamps, install the pump with longer bolts because it was thicker, prime the carb, hit the key and hope for the best. SUCCESS! Purrs like a kitten and no more leaking.
I got to pull it out of his garage and around the front of his house where we had the other car that was leaving waiting, the 1928 Essex. The Essex is another beast entirely, I didn’t have too much to do with it TBH. Gorgeous car tho, and by far my favourite of the 3.
Anyways, some pics of them getting ready to go and loaded up. I also got to drive the Pontiac up onto and into the transport which was pretty cool all in itself.
The neighbor now needs a couple days to get my spot in his garage cleaned up, then Olds Cool will be moved over to its new home for the winter.
Then it’s finally back onto The Juggernaut!!!
The radio probably needs new capacitors and solder joints repaired at the very least, but being it’s 50’s I’m gonna say its probably a vacuum tube that needs replacing.
There are some guys still around, (mostly retired) that deal with radio equipment that old. I actually know a guy out in Edmonton who ran a radio repair business out of his house for over 30+ years, that specializes in older equipment, if Rktpwrd is interested.
Thanks for the tip, but too late now unfortunately. It’s on it’s way to Ontario.
Apparently according to him, the radio worked when he removed it, however he failed to label anything when he took it apart. There were 4 spots for wires on the back, plus 2 long leads that I initially thought were speaker wires. 2 of the spots were available spades on what I assumed to be a coil, a lead for +12 volts, and one other I have absolutely no idea what it would be for.
The car side wasn’t any help either, we had 3 leftover wires all without power (switched or not), and nothing labeled or anything that would make any sense.
🤷🏼♂️
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