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glad to hear the truck is running good. Nice going on the badges.
Pictures of my art work on the truck should be along very soon. I'm waiting for the boys to come this weekend. They wanted to see it in person before I put it on the net. They are coming in for our Grand daughter's christening
My group, "The Florida Antique Bucket Brigade" asked me to attend The Florida State Firematics competition 2 weekends ago. The boys and I brought up the truck for a few hours although they got bored pretty quickly. We are still driving it most weekends. We didn't make any 4th of July parades. To be honest I am over the parade events. Its been so hot here lately and its just not that much fun anymore. There is only one more that I want to do and that's the St Patrick's day parade in March.
A little update on the Buick. The engine was at the rebuilders for 5 months and then it took my friend 2 months to find the time to get it back in the car. He also repainted my slightly dented trunk hood and quarter panel end piece. The motor is strong but I am having the same problems that I had before. It wants to die when put in gear and the vacuum drops. The engine rebuilder thinks it may be a combination of 3 things. Need to upgrade the ignition, carb work and the torque converter may be locked up. I had the engine on a dyno at the rebuilders. 400 hp 540 torque good strong numbers. I'm disappointed but it will work out. Here are some pics of the event and a video my son shot. Notice the big tires on the back. My boys talked me into it. I'm glad I did I think it looks good and it needed a change. I've had the same set up for 19 years. I plan on having the same photographer who shot the truck also do the car and maybe submit the pics to a couple of car magazines. I got lucky with the fire truck so maybe too with the car! I hope everyone is well!
The Buick is looking good. Bummer about the dying though. I take it you have gone through the basics of tuning?
Check the condition of all vacuum lines (also check that the diaphragm in the brake booster isn't torn and leaking)
Check that ignition is in good condition (no engine miss, etc)
Check that the mechanical advance weights in the distributor aren't froze
Set the base timing at specs (and check that the mechanical advance works, also check that vacuum advance diaphragm isn't leaking)
Now you can start adjusting carb. Sometimes its a delicate dance between getting the idle speed and the idle mixture set. You don't want to make the mistake of having the idle speed screw turned in so far that the butterflies are up past the idle circuits.
I take it you're running the stock Qadrajet? I'd run the idle mixture screws all the way in then turn them out approx. 2 turns. Then fiddle with the idle to get it in the 800 - 900rpm range. Then start tweaking on the idle mixture screws....running them in a bit at a time. Run them in until it starts to run ragged then back out a bit. Again, you might have to dance back and forth between the idle mixture and idle speed.
Once its idling nice it should drop more than a 200 to 300 rpm when you put it in gear.
Of course, like you said, if the torque converter was locking up it will kill it.
The Buick is looking good. Bummer about the dying though. I take it you have gone through the basics of tuning?
Check the condition of all vacuum lines (also check that the diaphragm in the brake booster isn't torn and leaking)
Check that ignition is in good condition (no engine miss, etc)
Check that the mechanical advance weights in the distributor aren't froze
Set the base timing at specs (and check that the mechanical advance works, also check that vacuum advance diaphragm isn't leaking)
Now you can start adjusting carb. Sometimes its a delicate dance between getting the idle speed and the idle mixture set. You don't want to make the mistake of having the idle speed screw turned in so far that the butterflies are up past the idle circuits.
I take it you're running the stock Qadrajet? I'd run the idle mixture screws all the way in then turn them out approx. 2 turns. Then fiddle with the idle to get it in the 800 - 900rpm range. Then start tweaking on the idle mixture screws....running them in a bit at a time. Run them in until it starts to run ragged then back out a bit. Again, you might have to dance back and forth between the idle mixture and idle speed.
Once its idling nice it should drop more than a 200 to 300 rpm when you put it in gear.
Of course, like you said, if the torque converter was locking up it will kill it.
Good luck
Bobby
Thanks for the info. All of that has been done. The carb and booster were rebuilt and are not leaking. New springs in distributor. The car has good vacumme 17" but put it in gear and it drops a lot. The carbs idle circuits probably need to be adjusted. The engine rebuilder said the carb did good on the Dyno and didn't bog down. It was restored by a Rochester specialist. The car idles fine and I think if it had an vacumme leak it wouldn't. I think the converter is the main problem. I'm going to call the Buick club with all my specs and see what converted they recommend. Going to order Petronics for it just like I did for the fire truck. Thanks!
Hello guys! I hope everyone is well. I haven't posted much lately but I do check in on the site from time to time. I finally found the correct radio for the truck. The one currently in it dates from the 70's. I now have a 50's vintage one that I showed to a Patrolman and he said it looked familiar.
I do need some help from facebook users. In my past posts I mentioned a big parade in Delray Beach Florida in March of 2017. I have been wanting to make this parade for a few years now. Unfortunately, there may not be room for my truck. The organizers have stated there is too many fire trucks in the parade (can u believe that!). I have been told to post pictures on their facebook page to generate interest in the rig and maybe sway the decision to have it in the event. I hope everyone can post a comment! I appreciate everyone's help. Here is the link to their site: https://www.facebook.com/stpatrickparade/
I'd love to help you but I'm one of those grouchy coots that refuses the Facebook thing.
For what its worth, the parade organizers would be out of their minds to not include your truck. Did you explain that it wasn't necessarily a fire truck, its a Fire Patrol truck. They probably don't realize the distinction.
I'd love to help you but I'm one of those grouchy coots that refuses the Facebook thing.
For what its worth, the parade organizers would be out of their minds to not include your truck. Did you explain that it wasn't necessarily a fire truck, its a Fire Patrol truck. They probably don't realize the distinction.
Good luck with it
Bobby
Thanks Bobby ... I'm not a Facebook guy either! When I mentioned to one of the organizers that I had a unique rig, he said everyone says the same thing.
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