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Projects New Daily Driver - Squarebird

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by guthriesmith, Oct 9, 2020.

  1. RMONTY
    Joined: Jan 7, 2016
    Posts: 2,540

    RMONTY
    Member

    Ahhhh the adventures of a new "old" car!
     
  2. Thor1
    Joined: Jun 6, 2005
    Posts: 1,664

    Thor1
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    That's a great parking spot Jeff...hallowed ground.
     
  3. Update? did you get her home?
     
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  4. Yea, sorry. I suppose I should have updated this after leaving folks hanging. My oldest son came and picked me up from work later in the morning and we put the bird on a stretcher and hauled it home. It starts up and runs fine sometimes, just down on power a lot to the point it won't hardly pull itself at times. I figure I will try to look at it in the next few nights. I had a full afternoon and night yesterday between taking my father-in-law to a doctor's appointment, pulling a hood and doors off a parts truck to sell to a co-worker today, and then a beekeeper club meeting in the evening. I may try to figure it out tonight. Thanks for asking Rich.
     
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  5. RMONTY
    Joined: Jan 7, 2016
    Posts: 2,540

    RMONTY
    Member

    I wish I had about 1/10th of the energy you have Jeff. You are a go getter for sure!
     
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  6. I don't know about that... I have seen your project and it is bigger than anything I have ever taken on. :D
     
    Thor1, loudbang, drdave and 1 other person like this.
  7. So, I messed with the car a little last night with no luck. But, I decided to change out the air filter assembly for something not quite as rigged and did figure out my problem today. Let’s just say it runs WAY better than it has since I have had it and it only cost me less than $10 to fix. These new fangled sensor thingamajigs are a little beyond my knowledge base, but I guess I am going to have to figure this stuff out. Anyway, back in business again!

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  8. They are known as fix or repair daily.
     
    guthriesmith likes this.
  9. LOL! This one is living up to that so far. :D
     
    catdad49 likes this.
  10. Probably put another 200 or so miles on the old bird over the weekend with no issues. Seems we are working our way toward it being a good driver. The weather is predicted to be pretty crappy this week here maybe even including some snow, so not sure if I will drive it to work this week or not. I suppose it will somewhat depend on whether they decide to salt the roads. I don't mind rain or even snow so much until they start putting salt out.

    Oh, and got a pic on the way to church this morning hauling my three teenagers in the family car. :D

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    Last edited: Oct 25, 2020
    Baumi, selohssa, Okie Pete and 19 others like this.
  11. patsurf
    Joined: Jan 18, 2018
    Posts: 1,025

    patsurf

    hey!-illegal use of cellphone-unless you were pulled over-i bet you were,of course...
     
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  12. Maybe not pulled over...but was going very slow on a dead end residential road with only 5 total houses. :oops:
     
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  13. 48fordnut
    Joined: Nov 4, 2005
    Posts: 4,215

    48fordnut
    Member Emeritus

    Always wanted a 58 60 bird with a 351 W and aod trans. That ship has sailed.
     
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  14. Well...nothing to report so far this week. Ice storm came through taking down most of the trees in the area and our power has been out since Tuesday afternoon. I went to work today, but didn’t want to get the bird out in the salt. Hoping power comes back on tomorrow since I was hoping to take my 56 to the Gathering at the Roc this weekend. However, still 300k or so folks without power, so not sure when we will be back on. Seems appropriate considering what else has gone on in 2020...
     
  15. Appears a week went by and we got power back on yesterday afternoon. So, I can now work in the shop after dark again which also comes earlier this week. :(

    Anyway, the bird sat most of last week until Thursday if I remember right. Then, we went to the Gathering at the Roc over the weekend in the 56, then back to no power Saturday evening. I drove the bird to take the kids to their homeschool coop this past Monday and it did great. Several of the homeschool moms and lots of kids seemed to love it. ;) Yesterday morning, I jumped in to head to work and it had a rolling noise...so I turned around and took the 56 to work instead. Jacked it up last night and found the rear brake pads appear to be pretty much gone. And, the pinion seal and both wheel seals appear to be leaking pretty good. So, pulled it apart tonight and then had to figure out what the rear brakes came off of since the previous owner couldn’t remember. He adapted the discs to the 9”, and gave me a few clues that led me to what I think is right. We will see...

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    Last edited: Nov 5, 2020
  16. Pretty sure I found the rolling noise... The bearing on the right was not long from going out since it spit out it’s seal and was puking out the grease. Thankful the left side gave me enough warning to stop driving. I will take the axles to work tomorrow and press the old bearings off and new ones on.

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    Hoping I can get it all back together this weekend, but I also have tons of tree limbs to clean up that the ice storm broke off for us.
     
  17. 48fordnut
    Joined: Nov 4, 2005
    Posts: 4,215

    48fordnut
    Member Emeritus

    Thanks for sharing the wounds. Stay safe during clean up.

    jim
     
  18. bchctybob
    Joined: Sep 18, 2011
    Posts: 5,190

    bchctybob
    Member

    Man, you got your share of "Used Car Blues" and more. In a way it's good though, once you address it all you'll know what you have and what to expect and can drive with confidence.
     
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  19. Yea, agreed, but I went into buying this one with that expectation to some extent both from the fact it sat a while as well as just knowing it needed a few things. It was cheap enough that I don’t mind fixing stuff. I should likely go through most of the mechanicals to make sure they are up to what they should be. But, I am also somewhat doing this on a tight budget and trying not to fix anything that isn’t broken. After I get through with this part, at least I have been through all the bearings and brakes. :D
     
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  20. belair
    Joined: Jul 10, 2006
    Posts: 9,013

    belair
    Member

    You know Jesus drove a Ford...he walked everywhere he went.
     
  21. 48fordnut
    Joined: Nov 4, 2005
    Posts: 4,215

    48fordnut
    Member Emeritus

    You will feel confident having done that.Rear wheel bearings are a big deal. Not real expensive ,but lots of labor. Good luck.
     
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  22. LOL! You know...strangely enough, I am more of a GM guy. Before I got my 56, I had only had a handful of anything other than GM vehicles over the years. Working on this car is like learning all new stuff again. :D
     
  23. Thor1
    Joined: Jun 6, 2005
    Posts: 1,664

    Thor1
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Hahaha! belair, that is a good one!

    Jeff, I am right with you. I too was a GM guy - mainly Pontiacs but also a few Chevy's. I've got a Falcon with a samll block Ford in it and it is a steep learning curve for me - old dog, new tricks, and all that...
     
  24. Almost back in business. Just need to put them back in and replace the brake pads while I have it all apart. Nice to have use of lots of tools at work that I can use over lunch break. In case anyone is wondering about the plates...they are spacers to help center the rotors in the calipers and are replacing the 4 washers I pulled out that I didn’t like. They will be sandwiched between the retainer plates and the axle housing. Also nice to have use of a water jet to make stuff like that. :cool:

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  25. straykatkustoms
    Joined: Oct 30, 2001
    Posts: 22,308

    straykatkustoms
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    You the man! Good weekend to get it back on the road.
     
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  26. Got it all back together last night in time for evening church. On Monday’s, I “work from home” or actually from the homeschool coop that two of my kids go to. So, we are on our hour commute to go about 45 miles taking advantage of another driver’s education opportunity for my son Samuel that will be 16 in a couple weeks. :D

    So far, we are by far the oldest car I have seen on the road this morning as expected and you guys know. :cool:

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  27. straykatkustoms
    Joined: Oct 30, 2001
    Posts: 22,308

    straykatkustoms
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Kool update, you are having a Blessed day.
     
  28. Not much happened with the car over the past week other than lots of trouble free miles. We got to put a few extra on it over the weekend since my youngest son turns 16 this coming Sunday and kinda got screwed on his drivers ed. We paid for one guy to do his and my daughter's back in February then the instructor quit doing the driving part once Covid hit in March and has been shut down ever since. I get that it has been an impact to his business, but seems a little squirrely to leave multiple kids hanging to where they would have to wait an extra 6 months to get their license based on him dropping the ball and giving no refunds, etc. Anyway...I digress. The short of the story is that we had to use another company and pay again so he then had to sit through the classroom part all over again which got him another 3 or so hours of drive time back and forth to the class Saturday and Sunday. At least it was a pretty drive and the weather was great for it. And, I got to spend a little time cleaning it up yesterday while I waited for him to get out of class. Oh, and I think most of the other kids in the class thought it was kind of cool that my kid was driving himself to class in a car a little different than what they rode in. :cool:

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    Last edited: Nov 16, 2020
  29. alanp561
    Joined: Oct 1, 2017
    Posts: 4,612

    alanp561
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Mine looked like yours before I got hold of it;) Scan_20201112.jpg
     
  30. So...just dreaming now, but we all have to have goals right? Anyway, when I was at the car wash yesterday, I blew some more paint off where it is peeling. Seems that is going to continue the way it is coming off. So, it gets me to thinking how I can shoot somewhat of an overall quickie but also make it mine. Although I am not necessarily a fan of black mainly when it comes to the maintenance part, I also don’t really want to blow it apart to jamb it. So...I am questioning if I might like it black in place of the silver on this car other than going ahead with silver inside the panel fades. :rolleyes: If I am going to paint it, I might as well make it stand out, right? Anyway...maybe I need to see if I can get someone to photoshop that idea for me to see what I think. I kind of think it would work and be a little less bold than the darker panels on a lighter background...you know, since it is just a daily driver and all. I would hate to stand out too much in the midst of all the Honda’s and such. ;) Thoughts?

    FC4740A1-343F-4645-87D8-084B4530F495.jpeg
     

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