the connector that bolts to the axle i think should be held on by the vent tube/bolt. then it comes off after that, be careful about that vent tube bolt, they break too easy being hollow and all. i was trying to think about that part where the hose bolts to the mainline at the bracket if that is what you were talkingf about? i think that should all be a part of the hose if i remember right, though i am not sure. or if it all bolted onto a male/male connector threaded into the bracket. i have to replace all the lines on mine b/c they were clogged with what looked like bad cholesterol....lol...after 30 or so years of sitting, thats what i got, dont be suprised if you find a few clogs.
i want to cruise out there to french lake if nothing else but to drool...lol i might get up early some weds on my day off and make a morning of it. i plan on going to the fair grounds swap meet this sunday may 2, though i really dont need any more toys yet....lol i found just what i was looking for last time, got a rightfront fender for like $40 and a valance for $10. need to go n see if there are any running boards out there.
otherwise it sounds like a plan man, we should try a plan time we could cruise out there or b/s about trucks n stuff.

 

Yeah, that's the piece. I don't know if I should try taking it off seeing things are really frozen underneath there. I think I'm going to dream up a way to clean it out leaving it on the axle.

Wednesday mornings work out good for me to make a trip to French Lake, in fact, those are perfect times. I would need to be back home around 1-2 PM.

I didn't know about the swap meet this Sunday, doubt if I'll be able to make it. I could use a front grill for my '60. Do they have a lot of older parts?

 

swap meets are like large garage sales, never know what you r going to find or for how much. i would think just some brake cleaner would clean the junction out leaving no residue.
i got up early today n decided it was a nice enough day to take a drive, so on the spur of the moment decided to cruise out to annandale. i drooled, i saw, i mostly cried. everytime i saw a 57 chevy, or a 66 gran prix, or a 49 ford 2dr, or a cherry 70's ford or a 55 ford victoria. so many rareties i never could have saw it all. i do want to get back out there though. you know how most yards are full of junk(imagine junk in a junkyard) or molested shells. there was a lot of good stuff left in the yard yet from dashes to chrome to body panels. i bought a electric wiper motor for the 55 and a full set of door handles and crank handles for like $60. that was 30$ cheaper than the going rate on ebay. there was a few nice pieces of chrome left for 57 chevies that suprised meas well as rare glass that was nice yet. didnt see any 60 f series stuff, but there was no way i could have saw it all. i asked them about the front end parts and they wanted like $200 for a frame clip, not to mention i would have to haul it back, cant do that in the wifes car. i figure after i got the crossmember it really wasnt worth it. i am going to look into the 80's mopar front clip now. probaly find that one closer and 200$ would be about it. still have the aerostar front option, thats cheap but tricky. i cruised right through buffalo on the way there, i waved as i drove through....lol. i want to check out that auto museum on 94, never knew we had one of them around.

 

The auto museum in Rogers? Yeah, I haven't been there either.

It looks like I'm going to have to invest in some new wrenches, something I hadn't budgeted for. I bought the ones I have about ten years ago at one of those traveling tool shows, the ones where everybody gets a flier in their mailbox with incredibly low prices, one day only sale, rent out the local American Legion, and then disappear for another ten years until everybody forgets what junk it was. The set I bought (3/8" to 1 1/4") was made in China and appeared to be high quality steel, but the tolerances are way off. I didn't know how bad until I used the 3/8" to try to remove the brake lines. It just rounded off the nuts. I had noticed some of the more popular sizes, like the 9/16" went on a nut hard, so that I had to go on top of the nut and then down onto it -- a major pain in the neck but still usable. Anyways I had to look through my toolbox to find an old 3/8" SK which worked fine. I'll have to start looking for a Craftsman sale.

 

sounds kinda like the set of wrenches i got at milaca unclaimed freight, and a set like they still carry at harbor freight, the only thing they r good for is throwing in the trunk for a unsuspected usage. i was using one of them china jobs and broke it in half and another cracked the claw in half. i always use a vise grip on the rusted nuts, no matter how round or anything it gets the job done. the mechanic at work liked some of the quality of harbor freight on central south of 694. but what errks me is that for what seems like but a few dollars more you get craftsman and a guarantee. i like getting the stupid stuff you always seem to misplace at them places like extensions screwdrivers ratchets and knuckle joints. i like the engine hoist i got at tools and more, its a red cherry picker that is a 2 ton, i had a cleveland and a c4 on the end of it half extended, raised to the ceiling and it didnt buck. them ones at northern or such that are grey/black with the extendable legs are the biggest waste of money, my buddy bent his up with nothing but a 350 chev on it. i got lots of use out of mine already. wish i could have found a carolina 4 ton like a guy i knew had, it was very nice, but sams club quit carring them,. i am not too crazy about the quality of the cheap craftsman ratchets, they skip and the plastic levers break. gotta get a s-k, or a snap-on or get the primo craftsman ones.

 

That's what I've been hearing about Craftsman ratchets too. It really surprises me. Those would have been fighting words not too long ago, but I guess everything changes. Sears better be real careful about this. If they ruin the Craftsman name by cheapening it, they destroyed everything. I've got my Sears hand tools catalog here, maybe I'll order a set of those 22k gold-plated sockets to hang on the wall. HAHA.

 

i got one of them gold plated anniversary ratchets for like 15$ on clearance..... on the wall it is...lol. it dont suprise me that they are pinching pennies and quality. a lot of companies are doing it and consumers know it. i notice it in my sales at work. cant even make a decent product anymore and its the guys fault they cant sell anything.....lol. once the line is redrawn, wheres it stop?
i am kinda bum, i was bidding on a 71 torino on ebay and threw my hat in last min.. wasnt worth more than $700 though i coulda turned around and sold it for 1200$ easy. well thats a few more dollars to finish ol bessie the way i see it. though who bought it will part it out b/c they look like a torino parts dealer... its hard to bid on something you never looked at or heard run. i had a 351w that would stumble and for the life of me i couldnt figure out why. had 3 carbs on it 2 holleys and a carter afb, all new, swapped the cam twice, changed intakes, lifters twice 2 dist and installed msd. compression was fine heads were gt40 and like only 80 thousand on em. was the darnest thing, just got possessed. took the pan off it had shavings coming from the oil pump clogging everything up so it needed to be overhauled again and the lifters werent pumping up. not the first time i got cheap oil pumps. like the fifth actually. its probaly whats wrong with the 93 loosing pressure when at full temp,.

 

Deals on eBay are few and far between. I got snookered once, sent a check to the party and they vanished. It was around $40-$50 if I remember right. eBay has insurance for fraud of that nature but filling out the paperwork wasn't fun. It would be a bit tougher making a claim on a vehicle I bet. Those Torinos were neat cars. I've been thinking about a Mustang, late '60's vintage to fix up a little. Maybe after Doug is done, if he gets done, haha. There was a beauty of a '60 Ford pickup on eBay, almost completely original, less than 40,000 miles. Today was the last day, the bids were over $6,000.

Not much going on this weekend. It's too chilly to go out on the lake, tomorrow's even chillier. My wife and I just went to town to rent a movie so I guess we'll make some popcorn and settle in. Talk to you later.

 

there were a few deals at the swap meet, there was a, wanna say, 60 stepside that was pretty cherry, and a 53 f100 that was ok out there. a few nice older ones, i wanted to take the 57chev home for 8900, but the wife just rubbed her belly....lol. was kinda disapointed, lots of chev parts, few finds, way more people than last year, everything decent was gone by 9am. did get a few japanese ratchets though, seem to be ok quality for cheap. i saw a car on ebay that is exactly what i want but it is all the way on the south of florida...lol. a 55 ford 2door , flat black, wide whites, and that old school, rat rod look to the core. probaly not going up to frenck lk this weds/tomorrow, feel like putzin in the garage. might just rent a sandblaster for the boxsides, except for the mess. i need to dig up a donor car. wife wants a ride as bad as i do.

 

I get a kick out of all the cherry vehicles our southern neighbors have. There's usually a picture of this original equipment vehicle that looks marvelous and the quote says, "Found this in a farmer's field. No rust". Here in Minnesota we usually see a picture of two buckets of rusted together bolts and nuts and the caption says, "1979 Ford pickup, near mint, hurry, won't last long". At least they're right that it won't last long. haha

Have you ever read the article in the tech forum about building your own sandblaster?

 

well you know what they say, "one mans junk is another mans treasure"...lol. i see too many of them all orig cherry vehicles that get scooped up for nuthin....usually right after you walk up to the estate sale...lol. i got real lucky with mine, i only had a few spots to weld and a few dents, the rest was of the body was done with a electric sander, i had a real clean start.
i wanted to avoid blasting it my self b/c i think i would be finding sand for the next 30 years everytime the rafters shook....lol.. i got er taken care of though. i used some old stripper(chemical...lol) that actually works to get most of the paint off, then i used a wire cup brush on my grinder on the rest, got done just in time for the brush to be on its last leg. i prepped it with acid then used a rust converter to prep it. i should be able to etching prime and prime it satin black tomorrow. probaly have the box on by this weekend. it aint no purty job, just want it in primer so i can be closer to driving it, figure i will filler prime it and work on spots here n there on the weekends after its running.

 

Wow, you're coming along really good. You'll be cruising in no time. I'm going to have to get busy again on Doug. This weekend should be a good time.

What kind of gas are you going to use? Does regular unleaded harm them in any way with the blended-in ethanol, or do you have to use the expensive oxygenated stuff?

 

there is a station selling the non-oxygenated premium gas 3 blocks away so it is quite convenient, they carry it for the off road and streetrods and small engines. i like running it, but have never had any problems in running the regular old everyday oxygenated stuff in my 70's trucks, i know people who have had problems, a guy i knew had to replace his fuel pump and the needle seats and accelerator pump in his holley on his 57 ford fairlane, the corn and stuff eats em up and all the old seals cant handle it. a lot of his cruising crew said the same thing about their mercs and stuff and almost always put a stop at one of the few gas stations selling it on the cruise. i think the holiday station a 1/2 mile away still sells the 110 octane leaded. suppose out in buffalo the options are limited.
i get a concentrated jug of that lead substitute ,(adding 2-4 oz a time), at walmart for like $12 and it lasts forever, that old y-block's valves on yours probaly would appreciate it.

 

I haven't checked around lately to see who sells non-ethanol gas for the older vehicles but I'm sure someone close by does. I'll have to check around because once I get the brakes done I intend to take it for a spin just to keep him limbered up.

I was listening to Paul Brand on KSTP one day talking about lead substitutes, this was probably 7-8 years ago. He was of the opinion that it wasn't really necessary on older motors because they would have a natural build up of lead in the chamber to keep them safe. It seems like good advice. I remember my dad having a fit about switching to no-lead. He's a farmer up north and has several old tractors which he was sure would be ruined once lead was removed. He bought lead substitute for some time afterward - seemed like it was more expensive back then - and finally gave up. He's run no-lead now with no problems being attributable to absence of lead in the gas.

 

you are right about it being more of a myth about having to run the lead n such, i ran it in my 79 though,. but most of motors are pretty carboned up after a few thousand miles to be sufficient enough. do you know what was the original theory behind running the lead besides lubing the valves? if i was to guess why they did it, it was to cool the ignition temp for emissions which became unecessary after the egr theory. i hear so many myths i can only do what i know most the time or shoot for it through trial n error or talk to the people who have done it already good or bad...lol.. , especially when you r talking about piecing together trucks or racing...lol.
i need to get out n put the box together, but i have to lower the fuel cell down b/c it interferes with the brace. i just dont know what to do about the front suspension yet. i want the disc brakes and a decent ride and p/s, possibly a bit lower, tossing all the options around and get stuck on one, then change my mind. might even keep the straight axle and put on discs and lowering mono leafs, and a toyota or gm power steering gear and sway bar. still a long way from cruising, need to do the seals in the rear axle, and get a drive shaft, i can live with the stock gear in the rear w/o posi for now, might even just run the motor as it is and rebuild it in a winter. i got to hotwire it yet too. still just garage cruising for now, though cleaning the dust out from under it, and seeing it sit on the alloy rims and the stance, gave me some renewed motivation.