Nicolas '59 Raven Black Tbird

[Nicolas]

Nick:
There is also cork/rubber type material that should go on top of the tank as a spacer pad between the tank and bottom of the trunk. My radiator shop had the material and gave me a couple of strips.
Nyles

Will do !!!!

[Nicolas]

I have some news !!!

I have made the first test drive and everything went fine. Brakes are ok, transmission is shifting, steering is correct... What a thrill ! My boys were jumping everywhere, they can't wait to hit the road with the Tbird !!!

So i took it out of the garage to clean it (both car and garage !).

I have fixed a few electrical issues such as a broken resistor. The previous owner wired a switch directly from the battery to the coil without any fuse and supplied 12V to the coil. Problem fixed and ignition back on the ignition switch !

I have a concern regarding the light switch. The red wire plugged into the light switch is over heating when I'm on high beam. The body of the light switch and the red wire are getting really hot. I assume I have a short somewhere. Could it be the light switch or I have a short somewhere in the wiring ? What do you think ? Should I change the light switch ?

Left to be done... Some body work, Watson scallops, some patching on passenger side floors, install the new brake cable (I was thinking about a Lokar cable, any experience there ?), 3 points belts at the back for my boys, carburetor fine tuning and I should be done for now!

Btw, I went for the Watson scallops because it's a 10 footer, I thought I would have fun. I will anyway get the body work done at some point and I really like the design of the scallops.

[jopizz]

I have a concern regarding the light switch. The red wire plugged into the light switch is over heating when I'm on high beam. The body of the light switch and the red wire are getting really hot. I assume I have a short somewhere. Could it be the light switch or I have a short somewhere in the wiring ? What do you think ? Should I change the light switch ?

I would check the high beam switch as well as the wiring socket that connects to it. That's an area that can get a lot of corrosion and cause problems.

John

[Nicolas]

I would check the high beam switch as well as the wiring socket that connects to it. That's an area that can get a lot of corrosion and cause problems.

John

I will start by checking there and you confirm my thoughts, thanks John.

Nicolas

[YellowRose]

Nicolas '59 Raven Black Tbird

Nicolas, congratulations on what all you have gotten done so far! It was probably a thrill to be able to drive her! She is looking great! I like the Watson treatment that you have given it. It sets off the Black paint well, IMHO.. You paid the money for her, so you gets to do with her what you want to. I see your boys are thrilled about it! I also see that John has given you some tips on what to check regarding that hot wire..

[simplyconnected]

I have a concern regarding the light switch. The red wire plugged into the light switch is over heating when I'm on high beam. The body of the light switch and the red wire are getting really hot. I assume I have a short somewhere. Could it be the light switch or I have a short somewhere in the wiring ?..

Ok, I'm going to assume you mean the high/low beam selector switch on the floor. Is that the switch that is getting hot? From the floor switch, your 1959 Tbird has a red/black wire that feeds a 12-amp circuit breaker first, then it feeds the LOW beams. I will also assume you have stock sealed beams that are not upgraded to higher power lamps. Sometimes the wire sizes are too small to trip the breaker so the wire gets hot.

Do not buy anything until you troubleshoot this problem. The whole system is 'plug-in' which makes this easy. I would start by unplugging the sealed beams, then test for heat. If the switch still gets hot, unplug the next bullet connector towards the firewall but let your other connections remain unplugged. Test for heat. If the heat went away, inspect your plugs and plug them in one at a time, checking for heat along the way.

If your schematic says a wire is red/black that can mean the wire is red with a black END, or it is red with a black trace.

green/black feeds your low beams.
red/black feeds your high beams.
red/yellow feeds the floor switch from the headlight switch.

Now that we've identified a couple switches, which one and which red wire is getting hot? - Dave

[Nicolas]

Now that we've identified a couple switches, which one and which red wire is getting hot? - Dave

Dave, thanks for taking the time to help me. I will investigate this week end and give you a full response.

Nicolas

[Nicolas]

Bad news.

After I started the car and drove for about 4 to 6 mn max, I realized it was overheating. I stopped it.

Now, it's running rough, like a tractor. I have smoke coming out the oil filler tube and the crankcase vent tube and more smoke comes out as I increase engine RPM. I'm guessing I have exhaust gas going into the engine block, meaning I have a loss of pressure. I will run a pressure test on each cylinder to check for leaks.

I was at first betting on a cylinder head gasket broken because of the overheating and rough idle but when I see exhaust gas coming out of the vents as I press the pedal, I'm afraid that the piston rings are now damaged and I need to rebuild the engine.

Btw, I did check for vacuum leaks, engine oil level, changed the thermostat, I have heat in the bottom of the radiator, my timing is correct and it did spur before overheating.

I've read that leaks could come from the carbon deposit in the cylinders and I should soak each cylinder for a week with transmission oil, that might solve the problem.

Let's also consider the fact that the car might have been sitting for quite a while.

Thanks for your help.

Nicolas

[Nicolas]

Another information.

Before the engine started to run rough, I have used a cleaning product to mix with the engine oil, ran the car for 8 minutes and drained the oil, changed the oil filter.

Today, I thought I had a little too much oil. I unscrewed the drain plug and realized the new oil was completely black. So I decided to drain it completely again and to fill up clean oil at the correct level. So it says the engine is really dirty. Oil turning black so quickly, could it be a sign of exhaust leak inside the block ?

[jopizz]

Is it white smoke you see, bluish smoke or black smoke. White smoke would indicate that you are getting water in your crankcase possibly from a head gasket leak. If it's bluish smoke then you have oil getting past the rings or down the valves stems. If it's black then your fuel/air mixture is off and you are burning too much fuel. I never like to use additives to clean old engines. All you are doing is thinning out your oil with something like Kerosine. You are better off dropping the pan and cleaning it by hand.

John

[Nicolas]

Is it white smoke you see, bluish smoke or black smoke. White smoke would indicate that you are getting water in your crankcase possibly from a head gasket leak. If it's bluish smoke then you have oil getting past the rings or down the valves stems. If it's black then your fuel/air mixture is off and you are burning too much fuel. I never like to use additives to clean old engines. All you are doing is thinning out your oil with something like Kerosine. You are better off dropping the pan and cleaning it by hand.

John

I would say it's more a white smoke. Which means a blown head gasket. I will have my experienced mechanic coming over this week. If it's only the head gasket, I'm happy !

[Nicolas]

I never like to use additives to clean old engines. All you are doing is thinning out your oil with something like Kerosine. You are better off dropping the pan and cleaning it by hand.

John

I kind of regret that action !!!

[simplyconnected]

When your car was built, 'detergent oil' was rarely used. The standard oil change included straight non-detergent oil that left huge chunks of dirt all over the inside of your engine.

The absolute worst thing you can do is to switch to detergent oil UNLESS you clean your engine by hand, as John mentioned.

Drop the oil pan and pull the valve covers. Clean and inspect your oil pickup screen and tube. We have had many screens filled with dirt which blocks oil flow. The consequence is an early engine overhaul.

Use an inexpensive mechanical gauge to report oil pressure. It should be mounted near your oil filter to verify you actually have oil pressure. That dash light turns off with minimal oil pressure.

Check your heat riser valve. Sometimes they get stuck in the closed position. It is mounted to the end of your exhaust manifold on the passenger side (RH side). (Yes, the driver's side is the left-hand side.)

After a good bottom-end cleaning, carefully inspect your oil pump using the procedure in your shop manual. Then replace all the bottom parts. Before you replace your valve covers, start the engine and watch oil flow on each rocker arm. If some are dry, remove and clean your rocker shafts and arms. There are two very small holes in each rocker arm. I use a drill bit in my hand to clear the holes. Make sure you don't leave bristles or pieces of rag inside your rocker shafts before re-assembly.

Take hundreds of pictures as you go. Take 'before', 'during' and 'after' photos. If you have questions about your engine, please ask. The shop manual is good but there are always 'gray' areas that need explanation.

I hope this helps. - Dave

[Nicolas]

I checked the compression. Here are the values in PSI.
105
145
90
135
85
85
105
105

So, I guess I have to search for :
Ignition
Fuel
Vacuum leakage

Here's the list of the things I've done.
New spark plugs and wires
Ignitor Petronix
New fuel filter
New carb Edelbrock
New coil
New resistor (voltages are correct)
New exhaust

Nicolas

[simplyconnected]

I checked the compression. Here are the values in PSI.
105
145
90
135
85
85
105
105
...

Let's examine these numbers. I assume they are in order of 'cylinder number' not 'firing order'.

If you want an engine to run smoothly, the compressions MUST be close to each other. I don't care of the numbers are all very high or very low (like a brass car).

Now let's put them in 'Firing Order' :
105...85...135..145..85..85..105..105..<-first cycle, then it continues...

105..85..135..145..85..85..105..105..105..85..135..145..85.. 85..105..105..105..85..135..145..85..85..105..105

See the trend? It goes high, low, high, low... There is a 20% difference between 85 and 105 then it zooms up to 135 and so on. This makes a smooth engine nearly impossible. All your compressions should be close to each other, again, whether they are all high or all low. This is the basis for smoothness.

I invited you to call but it hasn't happened, yet. - Dave