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Projects New Project: 1953 Oldsmobile

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by EnragedHawk, Jul 13, 2016.

  1. Mike Moreau
    Joined: Sep 16, 2011
    Posts: 291

    Mike Moreau
    Member

    Sorry you lost your dog. They are definitely part of the family. You did the right thing. It may not help now, but later knowing you did what you could may be of some comfort.
     
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  2. DIYGUY
    Joined: Sep 8, 2015
    Posts: 883

    DIYGUY
    Member
    from West, TX

    We lost our Zoey 2 years ago. Hardest thing I had to go through in a long time. VERY sorry for your loss.
     
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  3. ZZ Top Chop
    Joined: Aug 12, 2018
    Posts: 533

    ZZ Top Chop
    Member

    Sorry to hear that, I just lost my dog in Oct. so I know what you're going thru, hang in there :(
     
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  4. chryslerfan55 and EnragedHawk like this.
  5. BJR
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 9,818

    BJR
    Member

    So sorry to hear that you lost your dog. :( They become part of your family and are always glad to see you no matter how bad your day was. After a week or two when the pain starts to diminish, start looking for a replacement. Your next best friend is out there waiting for you to take him or her home. :)
     
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  6. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

    Thanks all, I really do appreciate it. I hate it, but it’s taught me a couple lessons. Primarily, you never know who you’re going to lose or when, so take lots of pictures. My phone is mostly comprised of car and dog pictures. Time to take more regular pictures of my family.


    I’ll get back to car stuff now.

    I ditched the trans crossmember and and made a new one. I’m no master craftsman, but it made more sense to make one out of scrap that I had instead of buy an expensive one that would have to be heavily modified anyway.

    Here’s the replacement:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    Car still needs tires. I should have looked at the date codes on my whites when I got them (then again, would have put them on anyway). They’re all over 10 years old. As much as I love the look, I have to make the smart choice. It’s time to replace all the rubber, especially if I’m going to continue making long distance trips.

    Someone sent me a picture of the 3/4” white walls on their car. They actually look pretty good, and I found a set that costs the same as black walls. I think that’s what I’ll go with. Still may strip the black off the wheels. Haven’t decided.

    Thanks as always. You guys are amazing.
     
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  7. Mount looks good, great improvement!
     
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  8. Tough to love a beloved pet, I have one cat that is turning 12 next year. I would miss her. Tires, have you checked out Tire Rack? I got a set of Hankooks for less than $80 a tire. I turned the WW sides in, as I like blackwalls on my car. They ride really well, believe the WW is 1" wide.
     
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  9. MAD MIKE
    Joined: Aug 1, 2009
    Posts: 772

    MAD MIKE
    Member
    from 94577

    The impact of losing your four legged buddy is always a hard emotional gut punch.
    My condolences.
    Hankook Optimos have a nice 7/8" whitewall, and just about everyone uses them as the default white wall striped tire. They do look nice, but that's it.

    My opinion of them is they suck as a tire.

    Treadwear is usually 500, and they are Traction A, Temperature B rated plus they are usually just an S speed rating of 112MPH.
    Speed ratings on a tire are its structurally integrity limits.
    Go any faster than that speed rating and the tire will start to pull itself apart.
    I often get up to 90MPH just to pass the muppets around here, I would not do that in an S or T rated tire. Give me an H(130) rated tire minimum.

    Lots of the big name tire companies are shying away from their 14/15" tires, and the tire sizes they keep are shit rated. Also these tires become 'classic' tire sizes so they up the price from what should be a $60 tire to twice that and a shit tire.

    Not sure what tire size you are running now, but IIRC factory Olds tire was a 7.6-15 tire, which translated to P-Metric is either a 225/75 R15 or 235/70R15 tire.

    Might want to look at Galaxy R1 whitewalls...
    https://www.performanceplustire.com...hitewall/ma:vitour-tires:ty:Tire:ts:22575-15/

    Not only will you get a healthy whitewall stripe of 1-3/8" but you get a grippier tire of 400 treadwear, A A rating, and a proper H speed rated tire of 130MPH.

    IMO no car should have a treadwear higher than 400, unless you are in a Prius and need a brick for less rolling resistance.
     
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  10. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

    So uh... that’s the exact tire I was looking at. Haha
    IMG_1592.JPG
    IMG_1593.JPG

    The tread wear rating doesn’t mean much to me, I’ll have to look that up.

    I’m debating between a couple different size tires right now. I’ve got 215/70/15 on it now, but the front really rubs. I only get one full rotation on the wheel. I was thinking about trying a 205/75/15. They’re a hair taller, but narrower.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  11. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

    Finally got tires on. They’re not near as pretty as before, but holy crap the car rides so much better! I’ll clean the car up and wash off the blue tomorrow, just thought it was funny the stripe matches the car. Haha

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    Hopefully I can get to the Cokers some day. For now, I’ve got good rubber on all four corners.

    I kept the three good white walls. Before I post them up for grabs else where, would anyone here like to have them? The good years are 215/71/r15 (date codes 1111 and 0806)and the silvertown is 215/70/r15 (date code 0509).

    Obviously they’re older, but they still look to be in good shape.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    They’re not worth shipping, but if anyone can grab them, they’re yours.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  12. pwschuh
    Joined: Oct 27, 2008
    Posts: 2,827

    pwschuh
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Just catching up and sorry to hear about your pupper. She looks like a sweetie.
     
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  13. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

    [​IMG]

    Cleaned up the car and the new tires. Compared to the wide whites, I hate ‘em, but good lord the ride is so much better! Can cruise super smooth up to 70.

    Just glad to be driving it again. Love my Firebird, but it’s just not the same.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  14. I have those on my Ford and it rides nicely, they balanced well too. I have about 12,000 miles on them and they still look new.
     
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  15. Peanut 1959
    Joined: Oct 11, 2008
    Posts: 2,179

    Peanut 1959
    Member

    It's a little bit late now, but maybe you should have mounted the blackwalls out?
     
    Last edited: Dec 7, 2019
  16. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

    I couldn’t decided and finally settled for the whites out. It fortunately looks better in person, but still nothing like the wide whites.


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  17. Tickety Boo
    Joined: Feb 2, 2015
    Posts: 1,610

    Tickety Boo
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Your 53 was a fast car then and the one color paint job and narrow whites came out about 1962 ,that looks like the mid 60s muscle ;)
     
    Last edited: Dec 7, 2019
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  18. Dick Stevens
    Joined: Aug 7, 2012
    Posts: 3,710

    Dick Stevens
    Member

    I don't think it looks bad at all, I understand that you wanted the WWW, but these aren't bad!
     
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  19. Lone Star Mopar
    Joined: Nov 2, 2005
    Posts: 3,811

    Lone Star Mopar
    Member

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  20. I think the thin white looks better than the wider one. I have the same tires on my Ford and it rides nicely.
     
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  21. Hey Hawk

    sorry about your dog. My cat had to be put down after 18 yrs , when I went to the vet after he died to pay my bills the vet had a kitten just brought in to the lobby, I took that kitten home had him 12 hrs now...he's caught mice and snakes in The house .
    those thin ww 's look great! Sometimes gangster wide ww's can be overdone. Very sleek.
     
  22. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

    Thanks again all for the kind words. She was a damn good dog. I’ve been super close with my other two mutts for the last month for sure. These pictures got me pretty teary the other day:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    Aight. Back to cars again.

    I’m off for winter break right now, so I immediately got back on the car taking care of little stuff.
    [​IMG]

    The Chinese exhaust cutouts I put on a while back finally froze open. Which didn’t surprise me in the least. I left the open all the time anyways for a few reasons. When I put them on, I hadn’t been out of the hospital very long, so I wasn’t 100% and my welder was messed up at the time. Worst welds of my life. The whole setup just looked awful and leaked like a sieve.

    [​IMG]

    So, I ditched the cutouts and the mufflers and straight piped it to the back. The sound is now more tame and doesn’t echo in the cab. I’d still like to run side pipes at some point, but this was cheap and easy.

    Well. Should have been easy. Turns out one of the manifold bolts wasn’t tight. Tried to back it out and it broke off. Spent the next 3 hours running around trying to find a new gasket so I could drill out the bolt hole and put it back together.
    [​IMG]

    Done for now. Love the way the car sounds.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  23. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

    A new issue has emerged. Car is still driving, so I want to get the jump on this before it turns into something major.

    I’ve got a new vibration in the car. My first thought was the rear end because it’s a steady drone that vibrates through the whole car. The more I’ve played with it, it happens very specifically from 30-35 mph. I was able to cruise the highway yesterday morning fine, but by the evening, the drone has picked picked up at 70+ mph. I’m starting to think it may be the torque converter.

    I know “vibration” is an extremely vague description via text, but still curious what you guys think it could be.


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  24. Dick Stevens
    Joined: Aug 7, 2012
    Posts: 3,710

    Dick Stevens
    Member

    If the vibration is specific to the speed the car is traveling and not by the RPM range of the engine it is caused by a problem with the running gear and not with the engine or transmission. It might be balance of the tires, drive shaft or universal joints!
     
  25. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

    It’s just not the right kind of vibration for tires, shaft, or u’s. It’s similar to a u-joint vibration, but it’s not constant. The reason I lean toward the torque converter is because I’m in 3rd gear by 30mph. So it would be a consistent rpm range for 30-35mph. 70+mph is also 3rd gear, just a higher rpm.

    Again, could be the diff. I would just expect a constant vibration, not specific rpm/speeds.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  26. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

    Decided to tear into the easier stuff first. I have a known diff leak, so I decided to start there. Even if that’s not what’s wrong, at least I can stop the leak while I’m at it.

    Right now I’m thinking the vibration might be coming from the wheel bearings. I’m about to show off my ignorance, so bear with me.

    Both axle bearings have a little drag to them. The driver side specifically has a very slight hang up to it when being turned by hand. Are these bearings supposed to be oiled by the differential oil? I’m wondering if I burned them up when the oil was low.

    IMG_1975.JPG
    IMG_1976.JPG

    And for my of my lack of knowledge; the outside of the bearing does not move once in the axle housing, correct? There are a couple of rough spots on the housing itself, but I’m not sure if that matters.
    IMG_1977.JPG

    The differential itself seems fine to me. I’m going to clean it and the housing up really good, and regasket them.

    This may still not be my issue, but it’s still something to take care of. I’ll take the axles to a shop tomorrow to get their take on the bearings.


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  27. EnragedHawk
    Joined: Jun 17, 2009
    Posts: 1,229

    EnragedHawk
    Member
    from Waco, TX

  28. pwschuh
    Joined: Oct 27, 2008
    Posts: 2,827

    pwschuh
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I'm not familiar with worn wheel bearings causing a vibration. Usually, you get a droning that sounds like you're running snow tires on dry pavement.
     
  29. junkyardjeff
    Joined: Jul 23, 2005
    Posts: 8,588

    junkyardjeff
    Member

    They are sealed bearings and are not lubricated with gear oil.
     
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