[dsb]

Brandon, the more I think about it, the more I think you should have a 49-52 chevy gasser hot wheels car. I would think it would be a hot seller. LOL!

 

[Tuske427]

OK, update on my car: I had a friend stop over to look at my engine to adjust the valves who knows a thing or two about Chevy engines. I removed the valve covers, he took a brief look and said I've got a problem. He was able to tell just by looking at it that my valvetrain was set up wrong. So I had too short of push rods on the intake valves, too short of rocker arm studs, and too small of the rocker arm retainer bolts. This happened last week. He determined the size I needed and came back today with the new parts and installed them for me and set the valve lash. then he advanced the timing a few degrees, and suggested I change my FITech throttle linkage to a 1:1 set up. I did that and it runs much better. No videos or pics worth showing at the moment, but I'll get some video soon. it now starts and idles and doesn't pop or backfire. It's also not blowing clouds of fuel out the exhaust, either. That's the good news. The bad news is my engine is leaking like a sieve. I'll have to check back into all that another day. ugh. I did put a few miles on the car this evening, which was fun. Still needs an alignment, too. but it's ok enough to drive around locally. I also need to seriously adjust my speedometer. it says I'm doing 100mph when I'm doing about 10 mph lol

As for my brakes- I replaced the master cylinder with one that has a larger bore (corvette- 1 1/8" bore) and relocated the push rod lower on the brake pedal for more leverage, and now the brakes work great, just like they should.

 

[1946Austin]

Moving the pushrod lower, or further away from the pivot point should give less leverage, not more. But if it's working, that's great.

 

[Tuske427]

Moving the pushrod lower, or further away from the pivot point should give less leverage, not more. But if it's working, that's great.

yeah, for the brakes, this is correct. my issue was I wasn't moving enough volume of brake fluid. At first my pedal would go straight to the floor with virtually no effort and the hydroboost unit would push back on my pedal and the car wouldn't even stop. so I first tried the larger bore master cylinder, which helped, but wasn't enough, as my pedal would still go down too far. but now, with the larger bore cylinder plus relocating the push rod down lower on the brake pedal (farther away from the pivot point) it now moves enough fluid to stop the car with relatively little pedal travel. the hydroboost unit itself provides more than enough assist so pedal effort isn't an issue at all.

I believe I misspoke above. I meant volume

 

[Tuske427]

more updates. Engine still isn't right so it's coming out to be rebuilt. professionally. good times

 

[mmhotrod]

Congrats Brendon. Real happy for you with a great accomplishment. You should be real proud.
sorry about your engine troubles. Did anyone check for intake leaks at the base just to make sure you have a good fit too?

 

[1946Austin]

Any ideas as to what's not right on the engine? Is compression good and equal on all cylinders? Sure hate to see it all come apart and rebuilt again!

 

[Tuske427]

Congrats Brendon. Real happy for you with a great accomplishment. You should be real proud.
sorry about your engine troubles. Did anyone check for intake leaks at the base just to make sure you have a good fit too?

Any ideas as to what's not right on the engine? Is compression good and equal on all cylinders? Sure hate to see it all come apart and rebuilt again!

Thanks, guys. It's not the end of the world to take it out and have it redone. At this point with all the issues I'm having I want it out and redone. I will have it run on a dyno, though, before it goes back in to ensure it's working and not leaking ha ha.

to recap- the valvetrain misassembly, clacking/ knocking, inside, the collapsed lifter, the head gasket leak/ coolant inside the engine and multiple oil leaks (some were valve covers, one was the distributor having a gap from the manifold- should have an adjustable sleeve but I don't)

 

[Tuske427]

small updates.

1- I removed the engine completely. My buddy tore it down and it was all bad inside, too. cam wasn't secured well, and main bearings were on their way out, too. so it was a good thing I pulled it. I'm looking at a total rebuild. Unfortunate, but it could have been worse, and I have experienced worse.

2- Today I rebuilt the kingpins on my front axle. It was something I should have done as I was building the car, but for some reason thought I didn't need to, until I started driving the car then I realized how worn out they really were. I'm glad I did it, too, as I noticed how bent up my Speedway steering arm was with less than ten miles of driving time. It's in need of repair and reinforcement. I pulled the arm and straightened it, and next weekend will fabricate and weld up some ribbing around it to strengthen it. Glad I caught this now and not the hard way. I'll also reinforce the other two arms for safe measure. I'd rather it be heavier and up to the task than light, weak and unsafe.

 

[1946Austin]

If you can remove the spacer on the steering arm/drag link, it will be less likely to bend the arm.

 

[Tuske427]

If you can remove the spacer on the steering arm/drag link, it will be less likely to bend the arm.

That's a very good point, thank you. Currently, if I just remove it then my steering arm will be that much more angled adding in some bump steer. Maybe it won't be that much? I'll have to investigate to see what I can do to minimize that offset. I was also thinking of welding material around the arm to make it more like an "I beam" shape for strength, too.

 

[1946Austin]

A small angle wont normally induce any recognizable bump steer. But your plan of making the steering arm more like an I beam might help. More like an angle iron beam would help more as it would allow the angle added to extend clear to the end if welded to the outside edge.
These arms seem to not be very hard. Maybe intentionally to avoid breaking from being brittle? But I've seen bent arms in several cars, and usually always when a tall spacer is used.

 

[Tuske427]

A small angle wont normally induce any recognizable bump steer. But your plan of making the steering arm more like an I beam might help. More like an angle iron beam would help more as it would allow the angle added to extend clear to the end if welded to the outside edge.
These arms seem to not be very hard. Maybe intentionally to avoid breaking from being brittle? But I've seen bent arms in several cars, and usually always when a tall spacer is used.

Noted on the smaller angle, and yeah, I was thinking about how I could go all the way around the arm to tie it all the way back to where it's mounted on the spindle, too to really help reinforce it and minimize the twisting. Perhaps a combination of the two modifications will do it.

 

[Road Angels]

I think I would toss it out and use this instead 1/2" thick, deep holes for the bolts Ford Lower Tie Rod Steering Arms, Plain, Tapered I have a set that I was going to use and moved to a different set up....the ones you have are for T- buckets and lighter cars like a Nova and are for use on the cross link with less load ..not really for the steering arm...I dont now what your spindle specs are so may not work for you they come in tappered style and threaded style

 

[1946Austin]

You could plate the edge with 1/4"-3/8" bar that could be 1" wide and hang below and above the arm, basically centered on the outside edge towards the tire. Probably better than just going up or down, and easier to weld on both edges. With 3/8" might have to heat to bend it into shape, but 1/4" could be cold bent to match the contours.

 

[Tuske427]

I think I would toss it out and use this instead 1/2" thick, deep holes for the bolts Ford Lower Tie Rod Steering Arms, Plain, Tapered I have a set that I was going to use and moved to a different set up....the ones you have are for T- buckets and lighter cars like a Nova and are for use on the cross link with less load ..not really for the steering arm...I dont now what your spindle specs are so may not work for you they come in tappered style and threaded style

the axle and spindle I have is from a 1957 chevy truck. Noted, and agreed, that the set up now is not up to the task . it bent up like this with less than 10 miles of driving. I do believe that by welding up a reinforcing edge around it, it'll turn the flat bar into an I beam which should greatly strengthen it. I have material and a welder, and am inclined to try this first. If this doesn't work I'll def be on the hunt for something else, much more like what your link takes me to.

 

[Tuske427]

You could plate the edge with 1/4"-3/8" bar that could be 1" wide and hang below and above the arm, basically centered on the outside edge towards the tire. Probably better than just going up or down, and easier to weld on both edges. With 3/8" might have to heat to bend it into shape, but 1/4" could be cold bent to match the contours.

yeah, I have some material laying around and am planning on doing this. I'll be getting my John Henry on by hammering the metal into shape, with heat, of course, to reduce the effort and stress on the metal itself

 

[Tuske427]

Alright... here's what I did this weekend, when I wasn't buying and reselling a car for generating revenue for my '55 engine rebuild.

1- straightened my steering arm as best I could
2- used some metal that I had in my pile of metal. it's hardware store special, but I hope it's strong enough. I added an "I beam" around most of it making sure I could tie into at least one of the mounting tabs. The caliper was in the way for the other side. and a couple of rubs- one on the top and one on the bottom.
3- removed weld around the bolt hole area to allow the nut and washers to sit flush. I used my mill. I also added a plug weld on the outside edge to help retain strength to the part.
4- painted it and reinstalled today. Of course, I really won't know if this works until the engine is in and I cna drive it again. and if it needs more repair I'll deal with it at that time.

 

[dsb]

Man, that looks stout as hell.

 

[sbauman2]

Looks like "John Henry" did a good job.