Update On The Restoration Work On My '59 "Yellow Rose"

[YellowRose]

Thanks, Bart, for providing information on the CVR unit on my '59. It appears that the CVR in it went south, sometime prior to me buying it, but it did not take out the gauges. Putting a new CVR unit in brought the fuel and temperature gauges to life it looks like. We tested them with 6V and they indicated movement. At first we were getting 12V into the CVR and 12V out as we tested it without the gauges hooked up. Then Bart reminded us that you have to have the CVR unit grounded. As soon as we did that, we got 12V in and 6V out to the gauges. It actually fluctuates between 6V and 8V, but we were told that was normal.

When the CVR unit that was in there went out, the previous owner(s) apparently bypassed it, put in a mechanical fuel and temperature gauge instead of replacing the CVR. We fixed all that, disconnecting those gauges and hooking the CVR to the original gauges again. We think the fuel sending unit in the gas tank might be out though. That is something we will have to look into. Also, there is no temperature sensor or sending unit on the engine block, and no wiring to the temperature gauge. It looks like someone took it off. We will put one on, and wire it up to the gauge this coming weekend. Hopefully, that will take care of that problem.

The clock does not work, and that is not related to any CVR problem that I know of. We will want to get into that area as soon as we can and see why it is not working. If necessary, I will have it rebuilt or replaced.

Slowly, but surely, we are fixing things that have gone out on this Bird. If anyone has any comments as to what to look for working in these areas, please let me know.

If anyone has extra rear semi-circular extension pieces that go around the left and right tail lights, please let me know. I thought I had a set of them locked up, but lost out on those today. I just got the bars that go across the top of the tail lights. So I need the rest of the set so I can complete the rear part of the external dress up kit. I am working on getting the headlight covers. I have the other components. I know I can get them from the dealers, but they are costly.

In a week or two, or so, I hope to have this Bird out driving. The brakes have been fixed, the detent and shifting problems have been fixed. I am glad to get rid of the generator and get a good alternator in place of it. It seems to be working fine.

Anything you can suggest in trouble shooting this Bird is appreciated. There is a great wealth of knowledge here. Thanks, Guys! Ray ~ Yellow Rose

[Guest]

Fuel sending unit

Ray the fuel sending unit in the gas tank is notorious for having ground probs.Remove the ground wire and sand the area down as well as the wire and try it again.

[YellowRose]

Update On The Restoration Work On My '59 "Yellow Rose"

Good Morning, George!

Thank you very much for that information. We will do that and see if that fixes the problem. It beats taking the gas tank off and replacing the unit! I hope that works and will let ya'll know when we get to that. By the way, I like what you did with your dash pad with the additional instruments! Really cool, but my Bird has an AC unit in it and I need that area for the AC vent. It gets hot in Texas! Best Regards, Ray ~ Yellow Rose

[JohnG]

If you have to work on the gas tank sending unit, good news, it is right on top with very easy access. Look under the mat in front of the spare tire well (as you view from the rear of the car with the trunk open). It is held in by a ring that you rotate. As George said, step #1 is clean all grounds and look for physical damage.

When I got my 58, most electrical gauge failures were due to lack of proper ground as a result of rust, paint and crap.

The clock can often be revitalized with care and patience. See earlier posts. If not, it is cheaper to buy another than to have it rebuilt.

In general, the gauges require patience and attention to details such as grounds and good connections. The good side is there is little expense.

john
58 Hardtop

[YellowRose]

Update On The Restoration Work On My '59 "Yellow Rose"

Hi John,

Thank you for that information about accessing the gas sending unit. We will clean the ground connections. It might be something as simple as that. If not, I will get a new sending unit. Thanks also for the information regarding the clock. I really would like to have it working again. I want all the gauges working, for that matter. I want to get rid of that after market set that was installed hanging from the bottom of the dashboard. I really appreciate all the advice from ya'll who have been down this path before. Great help! Best Regards, Ray ~ Yellow Rose

[JohnG]

You can find out alot about the sending unit if you have a multimeter. Basically you want to see if the thin wire that wraps around it is broken.

Sending units can be rebuilt if they are not horribly corroded. If you look in Hemmings, there are several shops nationally who do this kind of thing. Bob's Speedometer in Minnesota comes to mind. You may have some calibrating to do when you get it working.

I have (somewhere) a thorough article on clocks that came out of some car restoration magazine. I can dig it up and email it to you as an attachment if you like. As I said earlier, there are some posts on this Forum way back where several of us had good luck getting a clock going (cleaning, lube and so on). They do, however, wear out in some cases as you have brass fittings and bushings that got no lube for 40+ years after they left some factory. There are also electrical contacts that may need cleaning. I think I bought 2 or 3 on Ebay for $10 or less and made one good one. Getting a nice face also helps as does fresh plexiglass.

John

[YellowRose]

Update On The Restoration Work On My '59 "Yellow Rose"

Hi John,

Yup, I have a multimeter and can check that wiring. Thanks for the additional information regarding rebuilding them. I do have a Hemmings book. I am going to see if I can find that technical information regarding calibrating it and print it out. I will probably need it.

Thanks for the info on clocks. I have been sitting here for quite some time reading all the posts about them. It sounds like once you do get one working it does not often last that long. I might just invest in a quartz one and be done with it. I see you can get them from Birds Nest and probably a few other places. You can email that information if you find it, to rayclark07@gmail.com

It appears that my clock has been changed out already, I think. My other gauges and speedometer has a gold colored center and black "crosses" with white indicators. My clock has a silver center with with black "crosses" and orange hands. So it looks to me like someone already changed this clock out at least once. Otherwise, I would think the center section would be gold to match the other two instrument faces.

Thanks again for all the help, guys! Much appreciated. Best Regards, Ray

[JohnG]

I will go on a hunt for the clock article... several possible computers might have it.

There is an article Alexander did on calibration of gauges that is on this site under Technical material. It is for the gauges themselves. I also had to fool with the aftermarket sending unit for the gas tank that I bought. Mainly I wanted it to read Empty when it was near Empty and not mislead me (and leave me walking). Not exactly precision instruments!!

I had a quartz job done on my clock. Cost a bunch ($150) but runs perfectly and looks great as well. I have gotten an oldie to run well also. When you get them going you need to let them run for several days on the workbench to decide how accurate they are (and adjust accordingly). A couple of minutes a day of error doesnt sound like much until you realize that's 15 minutes a week.

There are some articles (posts) on this Forum as well about calibrating your temp gauge. That one needs to be taken seriously, given the possibility of old cars overheating. The goal here is to match up the needle position on the gauge with a real temperature reading. I did it with a thermometer while other guys did it with those fancy infra-red detectors. Remember that if the sending unit is not working right, it will probably read too low, causing you to mistreat your motor.

John

[YellowRose]

Hi John,

Thanks for looking for the clock article. I read and printed out the information by Alexander on adjusting both gauges. Like you, I would rather have my fuel gauge reading Empty when it is close to it. I certainly understand the necessity of having the temperature gauge reading very accurately! Once we get these gauges working fully after hooking up the new temp. sensor unit to the block and wiring it in, and checking the grounding on the fuel sensor, we will look at making those tests.

Bart just told me that the fact that my clock center has a silver color instead of a gold center, may not mean anything. He said every picture he has seen of a Tbird clock for our Birds has had a silver center. I thought they would match the color of the other gauges. Then again, maybe my other gauges centers have changed color!

Once again, thanks for all the help, John and others. Best Regards, Ray

[YellowRose]

Update On The Restoration Work On My '59 "Yellow Rose"

I pulled my clock on my '59 Bird. The fuse looks good and the lights both work. I took it into the house to work on it. I shook the clock to see if it would start on its own. Nope! I see that someone else has been into this clock before, from the looks of it. The sections that clamp the back to the clock case have been all scratched up by someone else prying the crimping loose to get the clock off. I see that there is no gasket on this clock either. I printed out the gasket that Alexander gave us.

I blew out the clock area, and sprayed it with WD-40. I shook it again to see if it would start. Nope! So I pushed that little spring loaded flipper in it and it started ticking! For about 6-7 seconds! Then it stopped. I started it many times trying to keep it going. Sometimes it would run for 20-30 seconds and stop. Other times, 6-7 seconds. I gather this thing needs a good clock repairman. That surely is not me! Any suggestions? I dont know of anything else to do and I am not about to take that clock apart! Ray

[YellowRose]

Update On The Restoration Work On My '59 "Yellow Rose"

Here is an update of what was accomplished on my '59 Tbird yesterday. First of all, I decided to end the clock problem by ordering a quartzed clock. It will be here in a few weeks.

The alternator belt was adjusted to take out the squealing. The fuel sending unit was checked for proper grounding and that was good. The unit was pulled and checked out with a meter. It has bad spots on the rheostat. Hooked to a meter, you can see it drop off to zero at various places throughout its swing. We tried to adjust it, but it did not make any difference. It still did the same thing. It is not the official '59 Tbird unit, but an after market one. I ordered the right one for this Bird. It will be in before the weekend so we can replace it. We need to get a temperature sensor still and install it. I want to get rid of those cheap looking after market sensors that are in there.

We went through a check of all the lighting, turn signals, brake lights, etc. that will have to pass state inspection. We found the license plate lights were out. The lamp covers that clips to the bumpers were rusted. So we put new ones in. Another problem fixed.

We took off the top rear extension bars, put on the new ones to see if they fit well, and they do. The headlight covers and side rear extensions have not come in yet. We did the same thing with the hood scoop and the new one fits well. I took the center section out and cleaned it really well. It is nice and shiny again.

That is about the extent of the work we got done. I spent the next several hours pin striping the "sails" and the tips of the spears. It was tedious work, but it was nice outside. It really makes the car look nicer now that all those grooved sections are black again. That was a lot of cutting and taping of 32 2" pieces, but it is worth it.

Next weekend we will put in the new fuel sending unit and check out the gauges. It looks like they are working. Then we need to get that temperature sending unit installed. Then it will be time to calibrate the gauges to make sure they are indicating correctly.

Ray
'59 "Yellow Rose"

[YellowRose]

Update On The Restoration Work On My '59 "Yellow Rose"

I am getting a few steps further down the road on the restoration of my '59 Bird. Last Saturday it passed state inspection. On Tuesday, I finally got it registered. I will have "Yel Rse" as my personalized plates when I get them in a couple of weeks. It is to bad they only allow you to have six letters, as I would have loved to have "Yel Rose" instead.

I decided to replace my gas tank because some previous owner butchered the hole for the fuel sending unit in mine. They cut off the locking mechanism, made the hole wider and drilled the tank with five holes to make an after market universal sending unit work. I could not find the same unit they used which had gone bad. So I decided to go original and bought a new tank off of eBay that you see advertised all the time for our 58-60 Birds. To make a long story shorter, the only one they had in stock was damaged and they could not ship it. So my need for a new tank is on back order...

So instead of installing a gas tank today, we took off the after market fuel pump we had put on, and put back on the original one for this car with the vacuum section to see if it still works. It does. So now I have that added vacuum boost for the windshield wipers that provides. We also made some adjustments to stop a gas leak from that pump that was stinking up the garage. That seems to have worked and I can relax regarding that. My hot water heater also lives in my garage and it is not enclosed.

We found we are going to have to work on the horn solenoid because it is only working off the left side of the horn ring. We are also going to have to work on the high beam foot pedal because it is not working most of the time. I sat there the other night and "exercised" or "exorsized" it by pushing on it several dozen times, per Bart's suggestion.

We did get the clock back in place and it works and looks great! Thanks to Bird Nest for a great restoration and quartz job on it! We still have to work on the radio, install a missing speaker, and find out why the drivers power seat does not work.

Yesterday, I cleaned my Bird's tail between and around the brake lights. I got all the dirt and gunk off it and polished the chrome. It is time consuming work, but worth it to see the chrome shine and the black painted areas stand out better. Some areas of chrome are not the best and some areas of the black paint are worn off. But I bought the black striping kit from John of Thunderbird Ranch and am going to stripe those areas to make them stand out again. Just as I did the sails, and spears. They came out looking good.

We still have to install the temperature sending unit. Apparently the one we have needs an adapter to get it put on. Today I received the two headlight cover screws I ordered, so I put the right side cover back on, after cleaning the screws up. So, we are getting there. At least it can be driven legally now when I want to. One of these weeks I will be ready to drive it around with more confidence and it will look better than it does now. I am going to take all my parts for the engine and exterior dress up kits to the chromer and get them done. I got a great price of about $300 for those pieces! Great, compared to some of the other prices I got. I got a good look at the work they do, and they do great work!

I took some pictures of the installation of the alternator and the modifications made to the L bracket that I will post later, on a new thread. Maybe they will help someone who wants to make the conversion from generator to alternator on their Bird.

Onward and upward!

Ray
'59 "Yellow Rose" VTCI #11178

[Dan Leavens]

Ray I have followed your posts on the restoration of your 59 and it's amazing the amount you have accomplished so far. It is also great, to hear, from your text, the passion you have to bring it back to it's original splendour. Believe me, you will watch with pride when all the heads turn and the other " collectors " stop by, at the S&S to see it. Keep the posts coming and let us see a picture when done.

Dano Calgary,Alberta Canada

[YellowRose]

Update On The Restoration Work On My '59 "Yellow Rose"

Hi Dano!

Thank you very much for the nice comments. It is difficult getting things done on the car because I am mechanically and health challenged! More mechanically than health though now! I have to rely on my good friend Rich to do the mechanical stuff. He is only available once a week. There are things I can do, like cleanup and detail work, arranging for parts purchases and shipping, chroming arrangements. Stuff like that. I has been interesting, and exciting to see this Bird looking and acting better and better. I am learning from Rich also as he works on the Bird. We found out today that the solid state ignition I have is a Petronix Igniter II, which is good.

You can see pictures of what the Bird looks like now by going here.

http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh281/YellowBirdOfTexas/

If that link does not work because it has been truncated, go to www.photobucket.com and change the www to s259. The words after /albums/ are hh281/YellowBirdOfTexas/ It looks like it is being truncated when I post this.

By clicking on each picture you can read the comments at the bottom. I added the pictures of the generator L bracket that Rich modified to accept a modern 70Amp alternator. There is information at the bottom of each picture about how he did it to make it work. Besides clicking on each picture to ready the comments you can also click on the first picture of the car which says Slideshow. Then it will run in slideshow fashion, but you wont be able to read the bottom comments on each picture, if it has any.

Thanks again for your comments, and your support and that of other fellow Squarebird lovers!

Ray
'59 "Yellow Rose" VTCI #11178

[Dan Leavens]

Ray went on to your photobucket link and the pictures look great. Keep up the great work and update the link.

Dano Calgary,Alberta Canada