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Fordguy1964

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2015
Messages
3,911
Location
Houston County, Alabama
Home from work. Got the gas tank installed and plumbed. Pressurized the cooling system and couldn't make it above 5PSI. I pumped and it immediately dropped back to 5. I looked all over the place and couldn't figure out what was going on. My mind immediately went to the thought that the head gaskets were leaking into the cylinders. I hooked up the battery and with lots of light i spun the engine over looking for a mist coming out of the spark plug holes. NOTHING! So I figured I would lift it up and look for a bad weeping freeze plug. As soon as the car started raising water started pouring out of the interior of the car! Bad heater core. So I went back over to the shelf and pulled out one of my spare heater boxes. I hooked up the lines before installing just to make sure that the core on this one was good. It was. Finished installing the heater box and decided I would take a look at the top end of the engine. This is the first time I looked. Honestly I couldn't be happier. This car has had to have oil changes at least every 3000 miles. Not bad for a car that had been parked for 35 years.
32104.jpg
Still no luck finding a steering box! Getting close to the Nationals and I haven't even started this thing yet! Waiting on parts that should be here tomorrow. I'm thinking just to be safe I might pull the intake and make sure no critters have made a nest in the intake. Then I have to pull the drivers door apart and fix the drivers door window that won't work. Luckily I have 5 extra hardtop doors. 2 drivers side and 3 passenger side. I will also have to pull the rear interior panels and lube up the rear windows so they operate easier.

The wait for parts is driving me nuts. I still haven't even broke open the drums to see brake condition. I'm waiting for my new line kit to get here. I don't trust these rusty lines to hold up. New lines, hard and soft on the way. New wheel cylinders are also on the way.

I have to pull out the distributor and test it on my Sun distributor machine. I've done single points on it. Just never done dual points before. My understanding is that you isolate and do one set at a time. Oh well. I will burn that bridge when I get there!
 

DGersic

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Messages
6,237
Location
DeKalb, IL
Well, there's your solution! Just keep a prybar handy! Better than a kill switch!

Seriously, with the wire path you describe and the battery and starter being so close together, I'd add a simple relay between the battery and the starter to keep that wire as short as possible. Already having a wire from the key/fuseblock makes it easy enough.

Another thing that never hurts is a ground strap directly from one of the starter mounting bolts to the frame of the rig. Aluminum/magnesium isn't the world's best conductor.

The battery itself is in the trunk.

With the ignition on, a pry bar fits between the battery lug and the start (S) lug

IMG_5816.jpeg

while being long enough to keep away from the hot exhaust pipe running past there.

This isn’t a unique problem. There’s a common hack fix adding a Ford starter relay, and wiring it between Batt and S. I don’t yet want to do that.
 

DGersic

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Messages
6,237
Location
DeKalb, IL
Since you used a harness made by others, it's possible that your starter wire is copper plated instead of actual copper. Those are really prone to oxidizing off the plating and becoming resistive under continued high heat/load conditions. Adding a heat shield and a length of woven heat tube, like they use on oxygen sensors, over the harness, should defend it from future damage.

There‘s no room for an actual heat shield. I can barely fit the wiring harness around the back side of the distributor. I did reinstall the heat shielding sleeve stuff, though I don’t know if that works or is more hype than fact.
 

DGersic

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Messages
6,237
Location
DeKalb, IL
Reworked the wiring harness with a 10ga wire to replacer the 12ga purple one. Has to get red, unfortunately, so I’ll need to label it to avoid future confusion.

IMG_9354.jpeg

Reinstalled the protective sleeving, and got everything back together where it goes, all fasteners tight again, and some basic cleanup.

Garage maintenance, I removed the old radio that has never worked well. Touched up some wall paint behind where it was.

Sold my old table saw. Also sold the M12 Fuel 18ga brad gun I bought a couple of weeks ago,
 

Outlawmws

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 9, 2011
Messages
39,019
Location
The Badlands
There’s a common hack fix adding a Ford starter relay, and wiring it between Batt and S. I don’t yet want to do that.

You don't need the massive Ford starter solenoid for this; you have one sitting on top of the GM starter.

The type that is used for lights is more than adequate for energizing the GM solenoid on the starter. all you are trying to do is reduce current through the starter switch under the key.
 

welder4956

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Messages
3,046
Location
Birmingham, AL USA
The battery itself is in the trunk.

With the ignition on, a pry bar fits between the battery lug and the start (S) lug

IMG_5816.jpeg

while being long enough to keep away from the hot exhaust pipe running past there.

This isn’t a unique problem. There’s a common hack fix adding a Ford starter relay, and wiring it between Batt and S. I don’t yet want to do that.
This explains an issue with a relatives 77 Corvette that I encountered last year. I may help him connect a relay to it next time we're at his house. I guess the feed wire comes from the Batt terminal on the starter to the relay then S terminal and the trigger is from the ignition switch to the relay then to ground?
 

DGersic

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Messages
6,237
Location
DeKalb, IL
This explains an issue with a relatives 77 Corvette that I encountered last year. I may help him connect a relay to it next time we're at his house. I guess the feed wire comes from the Batt terminal on the starter to the relay then S terminal and the trigger is from the ignition switch to the relay then to ground?

I believe Painless basically copies the old GM wiring scheme. There’s really only one way to do this, given the pieces to be connected. They definitely on purpose copy the wire colour codes.

As supplied, the Painless harness start circuit looks like:

IMG_5817.jpeg

Your Corvette should be very similar.

The idea is that the old wiring, switch contacts, connector contacts, have all degraded somewhat with age and heat cycles. Pulling ~15 amps through all of this old stuff is unreliable. The wire gauge was barely adequate when brand new, the connectors, at best, were just good enough. So now, many years later, the circuit can no longer deliver what it could when new, and starting is now unreliable. Or maybe doesn’t work at all after being unreliable for some time.

You can go through the circuit, replacing switches, replacing connector contacts, run new wire. That’s a lot of work. Or, you can reduce the load on the old circuit by adding a relay to create new circuit. With new terminals, heavy gauge wire, located close to the load, now your old circuit just has to enable the relay. Like:

IMG_5818.jpeg

It’s relatively quick and easy, and generally should work pretty well with a minimum of hassle. The Ford starter relay is the traditional addition, though any relay capable of handling a ~15a load with nice big beefy terminals for some 10ga or even 8ga wire will do the job. Mount it “near“ the starter, and use short lengths of heavy gauge wire to connect it to Batt and S and away you go.
 

Wrench97

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 23, 2018
Messages
11,976
Location
Southeastern Pa
I believe Painless basically copies the old GM wiring scheme. There’s really only one way to do this, given the pieces to be connected. They definitely on purpose copy the wire colour codes.

As supplied, the Painless harness start circuit looks like:

IMG_5817.jpeg

Your Corvette should be very similar.

The idea is that the old wiring, switch contacts, connector contacts, have all degraded somewhat with age and heat cycles. Pulling ~15 amps through all of this old stuff is unreliable. The wire gauge was barely adequate when brand new, the connectors, at best, were just good enough. So now, many years later, the circuit can no longer deliver what it could when new, and starting is now unreliable. Or maybe doesn’t work at all after being unreliable for some time.

You can go through the circuit, replacing switches, replacing connector contacts, run new wire. That’s a lot of work. Or, you can reduce the load on the old circuit by adding a relay to create new circuit. With new terminals, heavy gauge wire, located close to the load, now your old circuit just has to enable the relay. Like:

IMG_5818.jpeg

It’s relatively quick and easy, and generally should work pretty well with a minimum of hassle. The Ford starter relay is the traditional addition, though any relay capable of handling a ~15a load with nice big beefy terminals for some 10ga or even 8ga wire will do the job. Mount it “near“ the starter, and use short lengths of heavy gauge wire to connect it to Batt and S and away you go.
Don't forget to add a Fuse or CB between the relay and the battery.
 
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DGersic

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Messages
6,237
Location
DeKalb, IL
Started diagnosing my A/C not blowing cold air. Found one of the fittings wasn’t tight. It’s an O ring seal, so tight shouldn’t matter, but I tightened it anyway.

Got ~10 psi low, ~100 psi high with 64*F at the blower, 70*F ambient.

Added some R134a. Low won’t go over 20 psi. High went up to 150 psi. Got down to 38*F at the blower output. Compressor is making sounds like it’s grinding rocks. High went to 400 psi.

I think that’s bad. Likely compressor failed and now the expansion valve is plugged. Shut it down.

Hung up my shelf and stuck the new Bluetooth speaker on it.

IMG_9356.jpeg

Cleaned, inventoried, organized, and flung. Going through Dad’s A/C stuff. Some I’m keeping, some is going away.
 

Fordguy1964

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2015
Messages
3,911
Location
Houston County, Alabama
Spent 4 hours fighting to get the distributor out of this 289.
32354.jpg
With how much this thing is worth, I couldn't just go all brute strength on it. I sprayed, heated, and lightly tapped then sprayed again. Nothing seemed to work. I really wanted to smack it with a BFH but cooler heads prevailed. I walked away from it for a bit and then came up with a new plan. I heated with a propane torch and then used the straw on the can of brake clean to spray the joint and I really hosed it down. It was like it was never stuck. It almost fell out.
32355.jpg
After that I got the intake off and checked for rodents nests. There were none. Heads looked good, valley looked good. I'm beginning to believe the story the guy told about this being a 54k mile car. Too clean not to be.
The brake line kit came in the mail today so I started removing the old lines. They are all loose now and I'm ready to start installing the new ones when the rest of my brake line kit and wheel cylinders show up tomorrow.

On the way home from work tomorrow I get the new intake gasket, thermostat and gasket and then the carb kit. My copper oil pressure gauge line kit won't be here until the 6th!! That is what is holding me up from starting it. Soon though!
 

rharman

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
8,683
Location
SoCal
Not much in the garage today...

I was watching Eric O on S M Auto do some wiring repair today and noticed he was using what looked like a DIY soldering aid using it to do a **** solder joint on some broken wiring... I thought, hey that's good, I would try and make one too...

I seem to recall that these Pinces Crocodile clips were a very popular item used for another purpose back in the 60's...

Spare alligator clips in my junk drawer...
IMG_5546 2.jpg

"U" Bent a copper roofing nail...
IMG_5548.jpg

And a bit of soldering... And voila, "Helping Fingers"
I know you can buy these on the Jungle site, but what's the fun in that?
IMG_5549 2.jpg

Nice job!

I've been wanting one of these. Nice magnet swivels and base.

Some ideas for your Rev 2 version.

I think @zmotorsports showed this tool a long time ago.

1779309470481.jpeg
1779309555356.jpeg

This has been the Standard for wire holding for decades for Electronic techs. This one was made by Xacto, Others make them too:

wire holding.jpg

I have had one like shown in @Outlawmws' post forever. A while back, I bought these pliers from Amazon. Haven't used them yet but they look promising. I believe @Bob Heine also bought some and had a good experience with them.

1779419622862.png
 

M.Brane

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Feb 11, 2024
Messages
1,693
Location
1 hr N/W of LA LA Land
Spent 4 hours fighting to get the distributor out of this 289.
32354.jpg
With how much this thing is worth, I couldn't just go all brute strength on it. I sprayed, heated, and lightly tapped then sprayed again. Nothing seemed to work. I really wanted to smack it with a BFH but cooler heads prevailed. I walked away from it for a bit and then came up with a new plan. I heated with a propane torch and then used the straw on the can of brake clean to spray the joint and I really hosed it down. It was like it was never stuck. It almost fell out.
32355.jpg
After that I got the intake off and checked for rodents nests. There were none. Heads looked good, valley looked good. I'm beginning to believe the story the guy told about this being a 54k mile car. Too clean not to be.
The brake line kit came in the mail today so I started removing the old lines. They are all loose now and I'm ready to start installing the new ones when the rest of my brake line kit and wheel cylinders show up tomorrow.

On the way home from work tomorrow I get the new intake gasket, thermostat and gasket and then the carb kit. My copper oil pressure gauge line kit won't be here until the 6th!! That is what is holding me up from starting it. Soon though!
Next time you run into something like that try 50/50 ATF/acetone. That, and a little heat hasn't failed me yet.
 

Beerhippie

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2023
Messages
9,490
Location
Far NE Oregon
32355.jpg
Glad to see that's the green can--non-chlorinated. The chlorinated stuff... you might not be writing about it. Chlorinated Brakleen + Heat = Phosgene gas. Inhalation of phosgene gas--even a little--means death or a lung transplant. More likely, death.
 

M.Brane

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Feb 11, 2024
Messages
1,693
Location
1 hr N/W of LA LA Land
Removed the jointer and planer blades from my Hitachi PR12A. I have never sharpened them. I've had the planer since 1989. Planer blades were still sharp in some places. I almost sliced my finger open. The jointer blades were dull.
Almost only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and atomic bombs.
 

jeristair

New member
Joined
Jul 9, 2020
Messages
3
Location
New Zealand
Glad to see that's the green can--non-chlorinated. The chlorinated stuff... you might not be writing about it. Chlorinated Brakleen + Heat = Phosgene gas. Inhalation of phosgene gas--even a little--means death or a lung transplant. More likely, death.
I've always known about this and taught it to quite a few people older than me, but I just looked up what temperature it happens from, and it's much lower than I expected. From a CRC Brakleen safety data sheet, it can happen as low as 150°C (302°F). The rest of Google reckons around 300°C (572°F). It is more likely to happen with direct flame or UV exposure.
 

ObnoxiousFumes

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2023
Messages
1,467
Location
Southwest Sask
I GOT AWAY WITH IT!

I laid down three gallons of weed poison this Am and early afternoon--and IT NEVER RAINED!

Then tried to fix a bent and torn fork on one of the owners' skid steer...

55283731480_b4032d735a_o.jpg

55283554709_a5a6c8d502_o.jpg

and failed. I tried to use the tilt to bend that gap closed--I cut out all the cracks--with the plan of cutting more, then bending more. It just lifts the front end of the skid steer off the ground.

My 140 amp Miller MIG is a little small for that, anyway.

Looking back at these pics, I can see where I needed to cut some more to be able to close that... then cut some more... then it would be my fault when it broke again. Owner is taking it to the local heavy equipment shop--a much better idea.
That has got to be a home built rig, I’ve never seen a set of pallet forks that weren’t one solid piece and bent 90° at the heels. Health and Safety won’t even let you waterjet (cold) a hole in the end of the fork let alone weld along the length of them and at the heel. No wonder they broke.
I would guess the equipment shop won’t touch them with a ten foot pole for liability reasons.
 

Beerhippie

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2023
Messages
9,490
Location
Far NE Oregon
That has got to be a home built rig, I’ve never seen a set of pallet forks that weren’t one solid piece and bent 90° at the heels. Health and Safety won’t even let you waterjet (cold) a hole in the end of the fork let alone weld along the length of them and at the heel. No wonder they broke.
I would guess the equipment shop won’t touch them with a ten foot pole for liability reasons.
The owner was given the skid steer. Go figure.
 

bugnut

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Jul 14, 2012
Messages
3,798
Location
Central Ohio
Spent some time designing a box for the fridge door, would like to keep my produce on the door and contained. While that was printing, started to trouble shoot the yellow beetle not starting. Battery date 7/21, first suspect, tested okay. Onto output of generator, noted way out of spec, battery not getting 12 volt input. Stopped there as the voltage regulator is new within the last 2 years, less than 1000 miles. Thinking now what I really want to do.
 

gearhead1960

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Mar 21, 2019
Messages
1,769
Location
Manassas, VA, a small blot in history
Printed label using my Brother Bluetooth cube printer (PT-P710BT). Love this thing....you create the labels from a phone app and it prints out....I'm sure there are other ones out there, but this one has been a workhorse.
IMG_3760r.jpg
I have started labeling anything that needs a reminder for changing, like vacuum bags....
IMG_3761r.jpg
or furnace filters....
IMG_3762r.jpg
Trying to keep up with these dates is for the birds....
 

kaymccampbell

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
29,295
Location
Upstate New York
That has got to be a home built rig, I’ve never seen a set of pallet forks that weren’t one solid piece and bent 90° at the heels. Health and Safety won’t even let you waterjet (cold) a hole in the end of the fork let alone weld along the length of them and at the heel. No wonder they broke.
I would guess the equipment shop won’t touch them with a ten foot pole for liability reasons.
Maybe not. That laminated type of pallet fork-ish thing was one of the manufactured options for my Dingo. I went for the classic adjustable L-forks. Quite a bit heavier, but made me happy as I wanted that adjustability to manage different width loads..
 

rd65

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 29, 2017
Messages
2,676
Location
Granite Falls, WA
Spent 4 hours fighting to get the distributor out of this 289.
32354.jpg
With how much this thing is worth, I couldn't just go all brute strength on it. I sprayed, heated, and lightly tapped then sprayed again. Nothing seemed to work. I really wanted to smack it with a BFH but cooler heads prevailed. I walked away from it for a bit and then came up with a new plan. I heated with a propane torch and then used the straw on the can of brake clean to spray the joint and I really hosed it down. It was like it was never stuck. It almost fell out.
32355.jpg
After that I got the intake off and checked for rodents nests. There were none. Heads looked good, valley looked good. I'm beginning to believe the story the guy told about this being a 54k mile car. Too clean not to be.
The brake line kit came in the mail today so I started removing the old lines. They are all loose now and I'm ready to start installing the new ones when the rest of my brake line kit and wheel cylinders show up tomorrow.

On the way home from work tomorrow I get the new intake gasket, thermostat and gasket and then the carb kit. My copper oil pressure gauge line kit won't be here until the 6th!! That is what is holding me up from starting it. Soon though!
Off subject, but how do you like the CRC Brakecleaner? I just started using it at work, seems ok, but prefer the CarQuest that I cant get here any longer. I tried a can of NAPA Macs, nasty, nasty stuff. Made my hands sting through nitrile gloves.
 

Beerhippie

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2023
Messages
9,490
Location
Far NE Oregon
Printed label using my Brother Bluetooth cube printer (PT-P710BT). Love this thing....you create the labels from a phone app and it prints out....I'm sure there are other ones out there, but this one has been a workhorse.
IMG_3760r.jpg
I have started labeling anything that needs a reminder for changing, like vacuum bags....
IMG_3761r.jpg
or furnace filters....
IMG_3762r.jpg
Trying to keep up with these dates is for the birds....
Looms a little neater than my "scrawled with a Sharpie" labels.
 
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