11/13/03

CONDOR

Once Dreher corrected the firing order, the next problem was that the starter kept pulling into the flywheel. Very strange, the faster I revved the motor, the more it ground. The design of these starters is that it should throw it out, not pull it in. I tried the old starter, which ET3 thought was bad (it was not). It, too, ground on the flywheel. I called Hi Torque and Jack was stumped, notwithstanding a very kind and patient talk for a long time about the possibilities, checking clearances, etc. Roy Ransom and I were pondering whether the solenoid was defective, causing it to keep pushing on the solenoid. As we undid and redid the wiring to the solenoid, I noticed that the 210-amp alternator wires, which feed the entire positive side of the car's supply, were on the STARTER side of the solenoid!!! That immediately explained what was happening: the alternator is working (and obviously well), and was driving voltage into the solenoid making it engage, the faster it ran, the greater the push. DUH!!!!!!!! I don't know who did the miswiring, perhaps Randy or I or someone way back, but that was a HUGE win. Starts just fine. Now it appears to be running on seven cylinders. This MAY be an ignition wire problem, or perhaps some junk in the fuel lines has goofed the carburetor somehow. Randy is bringing over anew carburetor tomorrow just to test if the Jennings-dynoed carb on it may be plugged with line dirt or something. Once we do that, then we'll probably find it is an ignition problem, and move onto that with new plug wires, even though these are essentially new. I really just need two ends replaced on the distributor cap end to make them correct. Randy may also have some wires at home with the proper ends. He has thrown dumpsters full of new and near-new parts away in the last year. We might also have a spark plug with the electrode smashed down, shorting it out. Meanwhile, the Condor has run down the street!! In my typical luck, there were two cops in cars looking for someone in the neighborhood. Fortunately, they had no interest in me, notwithstanding I had tail lights out, one headlight not working, an exhaust leak, and (unbeknownst to them), the rear license missing (from the Gremlin impound, remember?), and essentially no brakes. The power booster is not functioning, and that means really almost no brakes. There is an accumulator pump which pressurizes an approximately grapefruit-sized ball to about 2000 psi, and that is the power to assist the braking. That pump is not working. ET3 had replaced the master cylinder and power assist unit a long time ago, had not bled the brakes, and I don't think had checked the pump function. But it needs a lot of stuff done yet. The hifi EQ in the headliner remains energized, even with the key off, so something is not quite right, and that may be what is draining down the battery. There are bulbs missing from the headlights, the tail lights are not working, no flasher, and the hifi unit in the truck with speakers and amps and crossovers needs to be reinstalled. On the good side the 4-fan arrangement is working wonderfully, the car starts instantly, and it appears to be quite powerful, notwithstanding the ratty tune up at the moment. The advance is 9 initial and 31 total, so that should be reasonable for now. We may bump it up a hair if the low octane (91) can allow it. For now we're looking at the more major stuff. The headers do clunk against the right frame rail, so something will need to be done there, and we have some exhaust leaks. As noted for the past 5 years in these updates, once the Bird is handled, that will be the car for everyday.

GRAND NATIONAL

The Buick is running well, and more of the Mickey Mouse stuff Buick Bill did with it is showing up. As per my usual, I am correcting all the little imperfections to make it sound, and reliable. I still do want to sell it, as I don't have the time or place or money to continue with three daily drivers. I am, of course, dumping more money into it than I should, but I just have this problem handing a car over to someone that is not near perfect. I want to treat someone the way I want to be treated, and give them a good product. I will cease the "perfecting" at this point, as the major threats to reliability are handled, the aesthetics are good now, and just about everything works.

MB

The Mercedes seems stable now, and someone commented how nice it seems to be riding and working. Good. I have it on ebay, and so far it does not appear that it will achieve its reserve. A few more days and we'll see. I rode in 4 other 500's for sale, and mine is better than two, and cheaper than the other two, both of which were slightly better overall, but WAY more expensive. This MB is really quite a deal at my asking price. A former client has learned of its availability, and may buy it.

DUALLY

The truck needs finishing (DUH!), and that is a major undertaking in itself. I need to get someone going on the mount fabrication, to allow for someone else to come in and start figuring out all the computer connections. The racecar needs only to get out to the track and see how the tune up is. I suspect we still have an intake gasket problem. As previously noted, I think we may have to weld up the ports a bit on the manifold or head to make the surface wide enough toseal.

11/17/03

MB

The two people who viewed the MB have split on it: one is not going to buy it (she needed a van for dogs and furniture), the other is thinking about it.

CONDOR

The Condor is no further, however the new carb from Summit/Barry Grant arrived tonight. I will endeavor to install it later tomorrow after some MAJOR hectic goings-on. It appears time for Rob Anderson to come down and sort out some electrical Gremlins.

11/25/03

DUALLY

John Santiago came over Sunday and we brainstormed on motor mounts. He eventually decided to use some front tabs on the block to attach, quite far forward. He is fabbing up the mounts at his home, and when he returns, we'll make the pads on the front crossmember and set the engine back in. We also found more broken parts. Joe Ziola will have a grand time tig-welding a lot of stuff on this motor. We had a TERRIBLE time getting the motor out, in contrast to the approximately five minutes it should have taken, The folds of metal where the firewall pieces are spot welded together at the factory caught on one of the left side head studs and locked the engine in at a bad angle. That was 30 minutes of prying, trying, crying, sweating, fretting, and fortunately no blood-letting. Gonna trim those tabs today!!!

CONDOR

The new Condor carb is still in the box, awaiting an hour of free time to install. I am going to take it to Jeff Price and let him address all the wiring/electrical anomalies, bake booster malfunction, etc. I just GOTTA get some movement on this thing. It's five years minus a month since it was running. YUK! Sounds like the funnycar.

GRAND NATIONAL

The Buick runs great, but I still have not taken it to anyone to drop the trans pan and check the valve body regarding no overdrive. Still looking for someone local I can trust. Mike Stewart at Mike's Transmission in Lancaster offered to peek at it progressively over a few weeks. I just can't get it out there right now, as the MB is in the shop.

MB

The Mercedes water pump has been replaced, and Aran is looking into what he thinks is a cam chain noise. The idlers and chain have been replaced, so he's not sure what is happening. Just sounds like a nosy lifter on startup to me. He says it was a pin that had worked its way partway out of a tensioner. He has corrected that, and is hoping that solves the issue.

MISC

The work truck needs a water pump, to be done this weekend. Per usual, I am closing in slowly on many fronts.

GRAND NATIONAL

At least the Buick is solid transportation, and QUICK! It appears I am going to have to sue the transportation company as no communications are returning from my inquiries about where the heck the check is for the damage.

11/26/03

GN

My business is not the only place of deception and unkept promises by subcontractors. I got an answer from the broker and the owner of the transport company. The actual drivers of the transport delivering and damaging my Buick were hired by a company

which in turn was contracted by a broker. Short story: Able Auto Brokers hired Schinke Auto Transport. In turn, Schinke Auto Transport got majorly screwed by Bob and Chris Rielly who were to buy one transporter truck from him and drive others as well. He got one of two transporters back (impounded in Texas with 6 cars on board), is tracking down a second rig somewhere in North Carolina , and is still missing a brand new Chevy S-10 pickup destined for a dealer. These two subs are obviously major slimes, and have damaged 3 other cars for the unsuspecting owner, Taz Schinke. Taz has promised to make it good to me, and is just attempting to get the slimes to own up and begin working off their debts and damages. He assures me he will pay regardless, and will not use his insurance. So, I am being patient.

CONDOR

Randy and I installed the new Demon carb on the Bird, but the fuel line is on the left side, so I went to Jim Orme today and for a mere $20 got 4 hose clamps, 2 short sections of hose, and two fittings (utterly incredible costs there, but hey, he's always got what we need). I'll be putting the fuel line on in a few minutes and giving it another shot. I will take the Bird to Jeff Price Friday morning and let him wade into the electrical malfunctions.

DUALLY

John Santiago has not finished the motor mounts (first stage) as yet. I also need to blow out a little more of the crossmember and start welding up the re-beefing there.

11/30/03

CONDOR

I did take the Bird over to Jeff. I had the weirdest sensation within a block of driving: I LOVE this car! I mean it is so weird. Every time I see one I gawk, even though I own one. I love the feeling of the car, the seat, the steering wheel, how it rides. The go power is prodigious, but not overwhelming as yet. It is not tuned to its fullest, and I babied it over there. Jeff will be correcting a lot of electrical goofiness, and hopefully the brake booster along with those corrections.

DUALLY

I spent the day today, after a 2.5 hour mountain bike ride, working solely on the dually. John Santiago came over and did his second phase of temping up some mounts. I would simply have welded some together and been done. He is taking his former NASA experience route, setting up for a milspec production run. This is really NOT what I wanted from him, but at least we are making progress, if at excessive expense and protracted time. It will certainly be beautiful stuff. Meanwhile, I just went ahead and boxed in the crossmember with 1/4" steel plate. I did the whole deal, per my discussion with Randy wherein I suggested adding some stiffener bars inside the crossmember. Did so, welded them beautifully, and welded the outside saddle plate mostly not so beautifully. I neglected to clean the slag off the main plate after torch cutting it, and that was a way big error. Got it all done, but it wasn't pretty in some areas. Other areas are the best welds I've ever done. Bottom line: it has to hold to do its job, and I think it will.

MB

The Mercedes is due back from the pro bono work by Aran. He has really been quite kind to me on that car. Someone is gong to get a hell of a deal. It's nearly ALL new!!

GN

The Buick is still not paid on the damage. I will press for payment this week. I am getting an additional EQ settlement check after 7 years, and that money will go ONLY to the cars. I have ordered two people to break my arms if I use a single penny for the business. I am REALLY exhausted, but at least some real progress has been achieved, with more to come this week.

12/2/03

A very sad day yesterday: Aron Laur, Randy's dad, died. Utterly wonderful man, incredibly talented and vivacious for 82 of his 86 years. His health just all went bad in the last 4 years. So sad for his wife and Randy and brother John. Many non-blood family were VERY attached to this fabulous man, and are crushed as well.

DUALLY

On the lighter side, I welded on the dually crossmember for about 4 hours, including cutting 1/4" plate for the saddle and stiffeners inside the crossmember. I forgot to wear a sweatshirt, and REALLY "sunburned" my upper arms!! Yeoww!! I made an error in not grinding off the torch slag on the main plate, so I did some "goober"welding. I had Jaye grind all of it flush, and it actually came out pretty nicely. I do have some spots that don't look strong, and I'll re-weld those. But overall that sucker should be REAL strong now. I am also going to weld some 2" angle to the OUTSIDE of the frame rails in the areas where I trimmed off the "C" channel on top on the INSIDE to make room for the engine. And, if clearance permits, I'll add some vertical ribs both inside and outside the frame rails. John Santiago is doing his milspec usual on the motor mounts (he used to do machining for NASA), and is frankly doing a WAY overkill. I'd just have cut up some plates, drilled them, tacked them, and finished them up right on the motor. He's approaching it like a production run of motor mounts. I do appreciate his innovative capabilities, I'm just more quick and dirty about some aspects of this project. My approach would also be about $400 cheaper. Whatever, it's getting done, and that's the important thing.

CONDOR

No word on the Tbird.

MB

The Mercedes is ready for pickup, and I'll just let it sit and enjoy driving the Buick.

GN

I will be calling Taz (the shipper) again today and asking him to come forth with the dough, as I want to get the bodywork done. I'm on hold right now with DMV regarding replacing my impounded and impossible to retrieve Tbird plate. The garage is unusually open, given the Bird is out, the dually is under the canopy, and the trailer is on the driveway, too. Still whittling away at getting rid of stuff.

1/5/04

GN

Taz has not returned calls regarding the damage check. Nor has Able Auto Towing Brokers. So it appears to be court time.

CONDOR

The Tbird is actually running now, albeit with two fluid leaks. The motor was delivered with some oil in the crate, from what I thought was just a tip/sill. It now appears the front seal is bad. The trans is leaking from some unknown and unseeable place, probably the speedo sensor area just above the trans mount, according to its builder, Gene Christensen(courtesy of his call from Texas ). The brand new Speed Demon carburetor front float got misadjusted by Price, was corrected here, new $100 MSD 8.5 mm wires installed, the timing bumped up, and the vacuum advance hose put to the right place. The car moves quite strongly now, although it just feels lazy at the bottom. It is more important now to cure the two oil leaks. It also needs a PCV valve to eliminate any breather blow-by fumes underhood. Once the fluid leaks are cured, it will be safe to drive up to Rob Anderson's to get the hifi back in. Then it's over to Miranda for an upholstery renew, then to Nick's. I should go to Nick's first, as it is usually wise to upholster after the paint.

DUALLY

The Duramax front mounts are mostly done, just needing to pull the motor to weld at some tough to reach areas. The trans mount needs to be fabricated. Then it's off to finding parts, welding cracked pieces, and figuring out how to wire this monster. Oh, and some brake line and fuel line changes, and the remake of the drag link.

Stay tuned.

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