Sloppiness Cured!

Lots of work today. Slow going, but I'm in no rush and I was learning stuff as I went.

I'm so fancy...You already know

First, I cleaned up the brake caliper that had been sitting in the vinegar overnight...think she's good to go. A bit more cleaning in there, but no pits or hard rust inside the bore that I could feel or locate.

The dark spots on the right are where the fluid "pipes" come in. There is some white stuff in there...that is the residual grease that I used to pop the pistons out. It turns white after it sits in the de-greaser for a while.

The second caliper is getting the vinegar soak as I type this and will get the once over tomorrow. I also put the pistons in there just for the heck of it. We'll see how those come out, but I'm planning on replacing them.

Another choice to make is the brake fluid. I looked in the DOT 5 stuff. Its synthetic, just like all of the other brake fluids, but it's silicone-based, vice glycol-based. This essentially means two things: (1) It won't eat the paint on your car, and (2) it doesn't absorb water into the fluid. However, the two fluids cannot be mixed so a complete flush and refill of the system is required and seal changes are also recommended. I am at that point with this car, but I did some quick local shopping today and the stuff costs more per pint than DOT 4 does per quart. For now, I'll be sticking with the DOT 4 stuff. I just don't see the benefit (paint is not a concern and I'll wipe up spills immediately). Moss Motors has a good article on the argument here.

After that, I decided to tackle the sloppy shifter using the rebuild kit. There was some trial and error here, but a couple of looks at the diagram from Canley Classics (which, by the way, has the best exploded parts diagrams that I have found anywhere) and it all came together just fine.

All fitted up.

Everything you see above came with the kit except the shifter itself, of course. Hard to see, but there is a black rubber o-ring just below the gray spherical bushing. There is a small recess in the lever for this. The small hole holds the reverse stop screw. The larger hole is where the shift lever bolts into the gearbox shaft. There were two plastic bushings and a pinch sleeve in the kit that went in this hole, sizing it properly for the attaching bolt.

Out with the old...

In with the new

The kit also included bushings for connecting the two gearbox shafts that are hidden. There are two plastic washers and a rubber bushing. As you can see in the pictures, my rubber bushing was in pieces. Much better now, however.

Not positive that this is correct...looks pretty, though (it's not correct...red washers not required).

Above is the mating union between the two gearbox shafts connecting the shift level to the actual transmission. This is the only place that I'm not sure of. Looking at the diagram, those two red washers (they are a paper-type material) go there. I had these left over when I was done and didn't know where they were supposed to go until I reviewed the diagram. However, the nut is a nylock nut. In my experience (and in accordance with the US Navy Joint Fleet Maintenance (or Quality Assurance) Manual, you should have a certain amount of thread protrusion past the end of the nut to ensure enough contact with the nylon to provide the resistance necessary so the nut can do its job. While I didn't look up the actual spec for this size nut, I'm pretty sure you need to see threading sticking out past the end of the nut.

All installed...I can actually find all the gears, including reverse!

Finally, I got the rear carb all rebuilt and put back together. I get the nice "ker-klunk" sound when the piston falls back into the landing zone on the carb body. The kit has a lot of stuff and it had a real good instructional pamphlet, but I wish it came with a parts list identifying which part in the kit was which. I referred to those Canley Classics diagrams, however, and had no problems. Even set the float bowl switch!

Those parts at the bottom I thought were extra but were mis-identified them. Again, Canley Classics' diagrams. And, yes, those are my reading glasses. At 42, it was time.

Tomorrow I will clean up the caliper that is soaking and make a judgement on that and take a look at the pistons in case I get lucky. I will try and finish the forward carb (though I have some cleaning to do on it yet) and get that all put back together. Then, if there is still time, I'll get the carbs back in the car and get the linkages all connected and aligned.

I removed the fuel pump today and cleaned most of the gasket material off of the block, but have some more to go (hate that stuff when it is really sticking). I'll get that cleaned up and get the fuel pump installed. Then, based on an idea from the forum, I'm going to try and shim the gas tank to level out my fill cap if possible. I need to get shims, though. But, the fuel tank is essentially empty so now is the best time.

Once I get that done (or as done as I can), the fuel pump seated and the carbs installed and all linkaged up, it will be time for another attempt at starting the car. So, if all goes well, I think Friday may be the next shot.