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

[tarps3]

Hey Ray,

Gas tank shipped out this morning.
I'll send you the tracking info in an email.
As for the instrument panels...
The panels themselves can be repainted with "argent silver" from Eastwood. Just tape off the bright chrome perimeter...and the entire rest of the interior...and respray them. Remove the glove box door and do that separately out of the car.
Remove all the instruments you can as well as the steering wheel.
Tape time: about 5 hours for me.
Spray time: a little over an hour counting dry time between coats.

Technically, those panels should not be shiny chrome although a lot of people elect to polish them up that way.

[YellowRose]

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

Good Morning, Casey!

Thanks for the info on the gas tank! I will look for the tracking info. As for cleaning my instrument panel and glove box door, thank you for that information also! That is a time consuming project! Mine actually look pretty good to me. I think I will just, for the time being, clean them a bit and see what that does for them. I will tuck that information away for later on, if I really want to get into it big time!

Ray

[Guest]

Ray did you notice that your left inside tail light is mounted up side down?

[Guest]

Ray sorry I should have said car looks great first.I am a bit of a compulsive/obessive so little things like that catch my eye.

[YellowRose]

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

Hi George!

Thank you for the compliment. Not only was the left inside taillight upside down, so was the right one! I noticed that and when I finished striping the rear end, I put them both back on the same way the other two were. With the propeller at the 12 o'clock position! I hope someone doesn't tell me that it is supposed to be at the 6 o'clock position! lol...

Ray

[frank58]

I hope someone doesn't tell me that it is supposed to be at the 6 o'clock position! lol...

Ray

Lol....As soon as I read that last line I had to go look that up...... 12 o'clock is correct. Really looking good Ray, your making big strides.

Frank

[YellowRose]

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

Hi Frank!

Thanks for checking and letting me know I guessed right and put them all back on the right way! I figured surely the correct way would be to have one of the propellers at the 12 o'clock position. Come to think of it, I could have checked that myself since I have the VTCI OFS on a CD. Didnt think to check! Thanks!

Ray

[YellowRose]

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

It took Rich about two hours to fix the alternator belt squeal problem this morning. That was a job that he thought was only going to take about 30 minutes. That put him way behind in things he and I wanted to get done. He put the revamped L bracket and the alternator on, only to find that the built up bracket he modified was still in the way of adjusting the alternator. So he took it off.

He tried the new bracket without all the buildup to see if a smaller belt would fit. He went to O’Reilly’s and found a slightly shorter belt, came back, was able to get it on, and adjust it and still have some future room for adjustment. So the new belt worked and took out all of the squeal! One major problem finally fixed, I think! He put the AC belt back on and we turned on the AC to check it out. It works and cools like a champ! That was certainly good news! No AC problems! I don’t know about the heater yet, though. I will have to try that later on.

The next problem to fix was the temperature sending unit. With the new unit in place, we were not getting any good readings. So he tinkered with that a bit, and decided that we might not have the right unit. I am going to order the one that the car is supposed to have from one of the Thunderbird parts houses. At least we will know that we have the right sending unit when it comes in and he can try again. He might find that there is a wiring problem. We have found enough of those on this car! So he left the temperature sending unit in, but not indicating. Which means that I have no way of knowing what the temperature of the engine is for now because the aftermarket unit is no longer installed. I probably will not drive it much anyway, just to be safe.

Then he worked on finding the problem with the foot dimmer switch for the headlights. He found that the dimmer switch was good, but there was a wire that had been cut and was shorting out! He took his cutters, cut that wire, put both ends of it through a wire connector, crimped it and the headlights work great on high or low beam now. Another problem solved!

We did not get to the horn or the power seat. The right of the horn ring does not activate the horn. The left side does. But we did go over the printout I got off of Squarebirds on tracing out the line to the power steering. He did that quickly, and we figure that the relay block and circuit breaker the power seat and the power windows tie into are probably good, because the power windows work. Just the power seat does not. So, that tells us that the lead coming out of the relay and circuit breaker is either bad, disconnected at the seat end, or that there is a bad seat motor or motor switch. It could be something as simple as someone taking off the lead to the motor, or a bad fuse, or a shorted lead like there was on the dimmer switch. Any thoughts on trouble shooting the power seat would be appreciated!

Ray

[Guest]

Don't you remember how mad you got when the wife forgot to put the seat back were she found it, years ago? check those wires. We were one step ahead in that area. But 3 back every were else.

[Petrolhead]

Hi Ray

I'm sorry, I don't have eny experience on the squarebirds, but when my '62 arrived down here in New Zealand the power seat wasn't working. I assumed it was a burnt out motor, and was dreading the cost of getting one sent down here. So I pulled the motor, hooked the wires up to a battery and it worked great. After doing the usual checks I found the problem was just a very dirty power seat switch. Gave it a good clean, sprayed electrical contact cleaner in the switch and it was all go.
Good luck with yours, and I'd like to say I am enjoying your progress reports - keep up the good work.

[YellowRose]

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

Hi PetrolHead & Tbird8!

Thanks for the suggestion about spraying the switch. I will try that. We did not get into the actual problem today, but that is something that I can troubleshoot on my own. I might get lucky like you did and fix the problem with some contact spray. If not, I think I remember there being a fuse in that line to that switch on the wiring schematic. I can check that fuse if there is one. Then start checking continuity and connectivity of the wiring. If push comes to shove, as a last resort, I guess it will be time to pull the motors and start checking them.

Tbird, I got a good laugh out of your comment about the seat! Yup, us guys have a thing about putting seats back in the right position also. Only it is not the toilet seat we are thinking of! lol... Anyone else have suggestions of things to check? I am gonna go find the contact spray and spray around the contact. I will probably have to get it off the seat to do a better job, but I will see how lucky I get. Thanks!

Ray