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  1. Hello from DC!

    I've posted a few questions on the forum boards (and been extremely thankful for all of the advice), but I hadn't actually posted anything in the introduction section before. I grew up with a love of vintage cars, but was never quite able to obtain one until my recent purchase of my 1938 panel van. I started a business where I needed a van and used that as an excuse. I'm trying to convert the truck from the super hotrod the previous owner built into a daily driver. It's been filled with ups and downs. Wanted to add back in my thanks to all of the people on the board that had answered some of my previous posts. As a newbie to this hobby I greatly appreciate all of the help and insight!
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2015
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  2. My question to you would be...Why did you post THIS in the Intro section????Intro section is for INTROs..secondly,you do not inform any engine details..is a a Buick engine or a model A? repost to main board with more info,,your problem could be one of many
     
  3. I know, I'm a bit long winded at times :oops:, but I did consider it my introduction. Just saying hi and providing my experiences so far. Which is why I didn't provide any details about the engine or other points. I thought those would have been more appropriate for the questions section than an intro section.
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  4. Intro page says"INTRODUCE YOURSELF HERE"..not Hello...and go into a long ordeal about your truck....Is that the way you would go up to a strangers door ? No,you would probably say something like
    My name is,,,,,,,I am XX yrs old and I live in xxxxxxxxxxxxx,,,
     

  5. I guess I'm not that good at that. :oops: It's shorter now, but I think my story was a better introduction about who I am than hello my name is.
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2015
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  6. In case anyone was interested in the original introduction I've posted it elsewhere. I'm definitely a newbie to the hot rod world, trying to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible.

    Adventures in Vintage Driving
     
  7. Mr Strangepanel...After reading ALL of your 35 posts here on the HAMB...There is no other posting of an introduction..However after reading your other post concerning your unbalance situation,my conclusion is that you are not really a "Hotrodder" nor do you want to listen to anyone on solutions
    Best that you just sell that truck..buy yourself a Honda
     
  8. Actually I've been listening plenty. I'm trying to get rubber mounts, as suggested by many of the good people here. Still trying to find the proper ones that will fit my setup. I've been trying to chase down the miss that some people said may be in my engine during idle. Pulled all of the plugs looking for something there. Switched from NGK plugs to champions, as recommended by the engine builders. It caused some changes in the way the engine ran that I wasn't expecting. Still thinking on that one, since it isn't easy to express. Sort of a different sound, feel, and the engine throws off more heat to the surrounding body panels. I've also been trying to tune the engine idle up closer to 1000 rpms, which was one of the suggestions by someone. I've had mixed success getting it to steady out, but that might also be due to the knock issue. It's either steady in park or steady in drive.

    My first introduction doesn't seem like an easy one given some of the responses I've had on the board. I don't jump on the first suggestion, I tend to listen to everyone and then try and plot a course forward. I admit I underestimated the challenges. I also admitted I wasn't really a hot rodder, or at least from the standpoint of going fast or racing. I like cruising around in my truck. I like hotrods, but I don't have enough experience to call myself a hotrodder and until now had never had enough money to own one. Maybe my experience of things breaking all the time isn't normal, but then that seems to be who you talk to. Thank you for looking at my posts though. Do you also think it isn't the cam, but some other issue that causes that shaking at idle?

    I'll keep my truck, thank you. It is the first car where I actually made a real active choice in buying. I'm still learning from those that provide constructive advice on the board and I'm hoping one day to manage to start doing more and more of the work myself instead of having to find people more skilled than I. I don't trust myself to pull apart the engine, since I can't easily afford to not be able to put it back together. Maybe I made the wrong choice in this truck, I don't know (maybe an experienced HAMB person would have taken one look at that idle shake and run away), but for all of the trouble I've had I'm not discouraged. I'm still working on trying to understand more of what it will take to keep her going for many years to come. It is definitely clear that many people here have the knowledge to help in that, which is why I keep reading and seeking advice. She goes up on the lift for a local mechanic to listen to the lower half of the engine to try and isolate the knock that has developed in the past few weeks(during that fateful trip that I tried to use as my introduction and I had noticed another long introductory story about how someone bought their first hotrod, so I didn't see how my first real drive with my truck was that much different.) Fingers crossed it is just a lifter or at worst a washed cam lobe. One person had indicated my problems were not the cam at all, so it would be great if somehow I managed through the advice here to find something else that 'fixed' all of these issues. I've also read on the board about others having problems with flat tappets and cam setups, so it could be the cam, but because it was already showing signs of issues as opposed to being a standard operating issue. I've read a lot about zinc and other additives. I've been using Rotella T, which is supposed to have all of the old ingredients without the need for an additional additive. Also recommended by the engine builder. I've been meaning to look into that more.

    So, I'd say I'm learning and I'm very thankful for the advice and if I gave anyone the impression that I wasn't listening I can assure them I was. I haven't returned to that post about the vibration only because I haven't had time to try very much of the advice that I was given. Just those few little things and since the knock developed I can't really tell how effective any of those are.
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  9. Strange[anel...Boy,you sure like to write long responses and still defy an introduction,,,I am an 82 year old no bullshit hotrodder...been there,done that and heard every excuse in the book. whoever built your engine did something wrong to cause unbalance,,,that is why he direct bolted vs mounts..trying to steady it ..A LOCAL mechanic will be of no use to you...most local mechanics probably got their training at Wal-Mart Auto Center...or a local gas station,,,,I cant say any good thing about your engine builder either...If he was competent,you would not have the unbalance situation..
    I have no idea on how to advise you as I dont know where the hell you live,,,There are some very very responsible builders available and not some JoeDumbass. Another reason for an intro..Where do you live?? Detroit or S Africa??? so you see,its impossible for me to give you reccomendation on a GOOD engine builder.
    Comprende??
     
  10. Please ignore the grumpy old man! Welcome to the HAMB Strangepanel.
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  11. Um, I did say where I live. I live in DC. Thus my opening line, "Hello from DC!" The capital of the country you live in? I also mentioned in another post how someone needed to add DC to the drop down menu, since there are hotrod lovers here too. As to the last 'local mechanic' I went to, he had been building hot rods for almost as long as you. He swore it wasn't an imbalance issue. Swore it was the cam. He's in Millersville, Maryland. As to blueprint engines (the builder of my engine) http://www.blueprintengines.com/ I'd not heard of them before and I've certainly no reason to support them. I will say that they have been very helpful in providing any information I requested of them.. My next 'local mechanic' professes to be a specialist in rebuilding ford engines. He has a 1965 mustang he's rebuilding and several other 60's cars and one 1934 ford pick-up he was fixing for a client. Do you know of a good engine builder near your nation's capitol? Someone that specializes in 351Ws?
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2015
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  12. Hello Scooter!

    Thank you! You're a relative neighbor. I travel over to Rehoboth Beach somewhat regularly, so drive not far from you. I still have family there, so I go over during the winter months when the traffic isn't bad.. Took the Ford a couple of times. There really hasn't been anything like getting on the highway and cranking out that windshield. The bugs are a bit of a hazard, but I'm willing to risk it. :)
     
    lothiandon1940 and Scooterville like this.
  13. lothiandon1940 likes this.
  14. ....................Good advice.
     
    strangepanel likes this.
  15. Jeeeesus, wbrw32, give the guy a break. So the guy hasn't been knee deep into hot rods as long a you, he still loves that truck and just wants to enjoy it. Christopher, I hope you get any issues sorted out and hope to see you on the road sometime. Like Scott said, join the local social forums and maybe get some advice and assistance from some more amiable sources. Welcome to the HAMB...................Don.
     
    Scooterville likes this.
  16. When you guys get as old as I am,you will have earned the right to be grumpy too...
    plus be able to see thru some folks postings
     
  17. .....................Hopefully if by the grace of God I live to be as old as you, I'll have a better outlook on life.
     
  18. Thanks Don, I see you're in the Maryland Hamb social club. I was wondering if you know of anyone that has any experience with Iron Mike's Garage? He's in Rockville, MD, so it may be a bit out of your territory.. Good reviews on yelp and much closer to DC than Millersville. I'm scheduled to have him diagnose this latest knock issue for me. Thank you for the good wishes. I'm hoping to eventually get her in shape to sustain about 2000 miles per year of driving with minimal issues.
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  19. You can never tell what your future holds and situations that will arise....wish I could be around to hear
    how you faired..........God Speed
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  20. ......................Who knows, you may very well be. You may live to be 120. Folks like you are indeed vast reservoirs of knowledge and often quite entertaining.:D
     
  21. ..................Can't speak for the garage you're referring to as I have no knowledge of it. If it is in fact a "knock" it may be a worse diagnosis than you want to hear. Just trying to be realistic here. Good luck.
     
  22. Thank you! I'm bracing for the worst, which would mean a whole new rebuild I guess. Still hoping for the best, just a bad lifter. Have to take it apart to really know of course, but initial listen does make Mike at Iron Mike's Garage think it is a top end sound. Engine has aluminum heads and valve covers, which he says amplifies the noise somewhat over a cast iron head and cover. One other person thought piston slap. Which would be closer to that worse diagnosis you mention. I may be in need of wbrw32's engine builder recommendations sooner than I like. Hopefully he isn't too mad at me to help if need be.

    I have a newbie question. I notice the tags of the groups you all are members of under your names. I don't see that on my own posts. Is there a setting for that, or when I tried to follow an invite to join a group did it not work? Thanks!
     
  23. .....................We had this issue before and I think there is a setting on your profile page that you need to check off to get that little icon below your name. I've been there so long I can't remember ever doing it myself. Are you able to get onto the Md Social Group and read but not reply?
     
  24. If you can get onto the Md. Group, go back and read the post I started on Dec. 2 of last year about New Peeps having difficulty getting into social groups. It should help.
     
  25. Just figured out how to join the Maryland social group. I'll look up that post you recommend and fool around a little more with the settings.

    Found it!
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2015
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  26. Strangepanel,,,WBRW32 is not mad at anyone...you guys will completely understand by the time you reach my age,,,
     
  27. It's all good.:D
     
    Scooterville likes this.
  28. Welcome! Good to have you here.
     
    strangepanel likes this.

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