Technical Hot Rod & Custom Maintenance

We all do maintenance on a regular schedule or at least we should, you know, checking the tire pressures, changing the oil, air filters and such but why is it you drive the car or truck one weekend and everything works like it should but the very next weekend the simplest of things quit working.

Today, I was driving the wagon on the way back home from Georgia after attending a fellow club members funeral when the skies turned dark and it started raining, I reached over and turned on the wipers and could hear the motor running but the windshield wipers didn't budge.

I slowed down and pulled over to waited for it to slack off, while I was sitting there I was trying to see what was going on under the dash, it appears both wiper arms that should be attach to the motor were off, I know there was a small spring with a couple of elliptic holes on ether end suppose to be holding the arms in place but it is no where to be found.

The ironic thing here is last weekend at the L.A. (Lower Anderson) Fathers Day car show they worked fine when we ran into a shower that followed us all the way home, a week later and something had obviously broke, not only that but the part that broke had vanished!

It's like the ignition switch last week, this kind of stuff is unpredictable and defies routine maintenance, I suspect after 7 years on the road it's time to spend a few hours checking out everything on the wagon. HRP

 

On my projects, after they're running for a year or two, something minor will tend to break/loosen up/etc. and I'll let it go. Then something else will act up. Once there's 2 or 3 issues that have piled up I'll spend a day or two fixing them and going over the whole car. I usually find 1 or 2 other minor hiccups also. Fix them and I'm good for another couple of years! That's just part of hot rodding!

 

yes,
There's always some stupid thing that either changes our plans or delays our arrivals.
Started feeding a sparkplug to one hole in the flathead of my pickup every week. stupid problem.
Rebuilt engine has run flawlessly for three years. change the plugs every year whether they need it or not. Plug had dry carbon on it every time (thank God it wasn't wet.).
This past winter after installing taller gears I've begin running it 65-70 for longer hauls on the four lane. Now this problem.
Turns out a simple sparkplug wire replacement made everything happy.
Id guess the faster driving caused vibration allowing a wire to short out.
You know, if they run like our everyday cars without problems theyd be boring.

 

Agree, Things like that happen to these old cars when you drive them IMO, I had the wiper arm fall off on my 32 coupe,(electric wiper kit w/5'' blade} lucky it did not scratch/hurt anything on the way off and easy fix, purchase new one, blue loctite on set screw. Everyone I know that puts miles/time on their ride has a few hiccups along the way, other side of coin, have friends that always brag, " never a problem" 10 years and 1200 miles total, not much can shake loose or wear out then. I/WE/YOU are not Ford/GM engineering, so a few things happen, remember back when I was a Kid more than one stupid thing on my part, the learning curve, As a kid Thought I knew everything, for many years, I was Sure I Knew everything, Now Can't remember much of Anything. LOL Keep on posting !, I for one enjoy your thoughts, brings up many memories for me. Old bumper sticker " Shit Happens " covers subject matter today.

 

It's par for the course with old cars, that's also why IF I have to replace something it's good used, NOS, repaired original or in some cases old NORS made in the USA (like ignition parts or switches).

Also tending to all repairs of the family vehicles, build mine, take car of one old customers car, work and fix the stupid house when something breaks........somethings slip by. First thing to get pushed back is the house followed by the car maintenance.

 

Danny, just a thought. Most of our old cars don't get a lot of attention/driving, so this may be their way of saying, "Hey, remember Me!"

 

7 years??!! Has it really been that long? 'Seems like just day before yesterday that you were posting pictures and celebrating the finish of the wagon project. Man time flies.

 

Tom, I was thinking the same thing, it took 7 years to build and that seemed like a eternity but the last 7 have zipped by.

What's odd about the wipers is it seemed to happen just sitting in the garage, but so did the ignition switch. HRP

 

Funny, something similar happened on my '41 Chev on Wednesday. I took it down to have some pin-striping done on the interior. It rained on the way down and the wipers worked fine but on the way home the passenger side wiper decided to take a break- it stopped doing complete swipes and would only swing back and forth about 1/2 the normal distance. I'm just glad it wasn't on the drivers side. Today's project is to fix it.... I hope

 

You would think I would have found the spring with the elliptical ends laying on the floor, but I haven't as of yet found any piece of the missing part. HRP

 

its the hot rod gremlins at work HRP same ones who mess up your workbench and hide stuff

 

http://66.media.tumblr.com/b0bc3e23f7da54bc5db6880e78e1f77a/tumblr_nvdwurhCUu1u2ioxuo1_400.gif

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ujxwDKeKSyo

Fortunately, my builds haven't completely fallen apart like Laurel & Hardy, for that I am truly thankful. HRP

 

I went out yesterday afternoon and on the way home I tried to turn on the lights and the nob pulled out.I drove home in the dark.

 

It's a hot rod! No big deal, unless it's me.

 

the same thing happens to old humans. "sorry honey, darn thing worked just fine last time I had it out"

 

It also seems a lot of guys are having problems with their batteries. HRP

 

Not for me.
I just hope everyone uses a shutoff.

 

Who knows how or why these things happen. I once had a wiper fly off in traffic, go through the air and land at a bus stop. A very nice lady handed it back stating that my car threw something at her. This is all part of hot rodding.

 

You keep breaking shit, and Brenda won't let you take HER car any more.

 

You don't know how true that statement is, she drove the wagon to work today and she ask me what I did to the air conditioning?

Nothing I told her, I didn't use it when I drove it to the funeral, so that's another nail in the coffin. HRP

 

"You in big trouble , boy"

 

Yeah, I need to get it fixed by this weekend, she has a cousin flying in and want's to pick her up at the airport.

They both drive the wagon when they were teenagers working for Miss Jessie. HRP

 

My build just turned 3 years old this week. I keep a pad in the glove box on little things that pop up... jot 'em down wait until I get a few and tackle them. I have had odd things happen, voltage regulator craps out at year 1. Brake light switch and starter solenoid soon after (both NAPA items..). Year 2, lower a-arm bolt starts to walk out. Broken exhaust tailpipe hanger... not pleased at all with the exhaust guy. LR axle seal, I did a cob job installing the oil seal the 1st time. Any time I can get the car on a lift, I go over the whole bottom of the car from end to end and check everything. Same goes with under the dash, looked for pinched or chafed wires. Something is loose on my voltmeter, I look down and it registers 0...give it a whack with my hand and it works. I had my electric fan working mint for almost a year, one of my solderless terminal splices failed and I had to do that over.

 

UH-OH!
Double trouble. The pressure's ON!

 

At least they ain't calling for rain! HRP

 

I have to be honest, after years of messing with my 57 and getting the bugs out of it, I haven't done shit to the car in probably 9 years in terms of maintenance. It sits all winter, in the spring it starts right up, and off I go. I check the oil frequently since it leaks a lot of it, but as long as it has fluids, it runs and drives. It's been a solid 9 years since I've touched anything mechanical on the car.

 

Son't start bragging on your car, if it hears you it will do something to prove you wrong. HRP

 

Same thing here Danny. When we were up in Maryland back in April we got caught in heavy downpour and went to put the headlights on and the knob cane off in my hand. Set screw had come out. Spent a half hour searching for a black screw on a black carpet in the rain. Fun times. Snowman