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'40 Chevrolet

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by BlackJackPG, Mar 23, 2012.

  1. raprap
    Joined: Oct 8, 2009
    Posts: 768

    raprap
    Member
    from Ohio

    Nice job on your '40. Believe me when I say this, after all the big stuff is assembled, the small stuff takes the longest to do. Fit, take off, grind, fit, take off. It took me all day to fit and align the fender shirts on my car. It just had to be right. After all that adjusting, I took it to Kalamazoo and back for a road trip (700 miles) and checking the skirts for tightness all the time. When I got back, I tore the skirts off and adjusted the fit and put them back on. There was nothing wrong with them, I just wanted to fit it better.
    They are never ever done. just enjoy the ride!
     
  2. looking good man. I'd get a vacuum gauge and see if you can't find somewhere to hook it up. That will tell you alot about your timing. I agree with raprap, the little things will just eat at you. But that is the beauty of it sometimes, kinda like a women. Just never enough with them, they always need time and attention and a good ride!
     
  3. BlackJackPG
    Joined: Mar 23, 2012
    Posts: 158

    BlackJackPG
    Member
    from Idaho!

    Thanks guys! We couldn't have done it with out you, really! The advice and wisdom you all have given us was invaluable! It's not over yet though! Still plenty of bugs to work out! :D

    Progress on the '40 has been exclusively tuning and testing. Lots of anal and time consuming work. I love it. After spending hours upon hours working on the timing, I realized that the vacuum advance was not working, so I tore the vacuum advance off of the 216 Chevy that came out of the car and slapped it on to the GMC distributor. It works great! Gramps and I are happy with how it's running now. It does have a bit of a flat spot when you rev it up from idle, but that's probably just going to be the nature of it since we have such a big cam in it. It's not horrible, but it's something to work on. We also finally got some air filters for the thing which look nice. As I get more used to car, I have been able to drive it more vigorously - just testing the waters to see what it'll do. I'll tell ya though, that car goes! After we put the distributor back in this afternoon with it's new vacuum advance, grandpa and I took it out with him behind the wheel. He stuffed his foot into it pretty far coming out of a stop light and it ripped through all 4 gears no problem leaving both of us laughing like school girls. Grandpa's still got it!

    Well, with 2 more days left in my much anticipated Christmas break, things are beginning to wind down for me. Shop time may become increasingly sparse, but I'm going to use the '40 as my daily driver until I leave to see what comes of it. The way I see things, if I've got two days left, the time is no where better spent than in the seat of that car - running or not.

    Thanks!

    Pete
     
  4. awesome, glad things are working out. love the story. You could even (though doesn't look as cool) go with an s10 retrofit distributor or an aftermarket HEI, you'd get better spark and better vaccum advance. OR heck even go with just a pertronix kit for your distributor, do away with the points. I think with all your hotrodding around you'd dig it. No doubt man, them sixers have some torque, very fun to drive. Good luck and for sure you'll never stop tinker with it. Thats the love hate thing that is awesome.
     
  5. BlackJackPG
    Joined: Mar 23, 2012
    Posts: 158

    BlackJackPG
    Member
    from Idaho!

    Sorry RapRap and Rust n' Chrome! I missed your responses on page 10.

    RapRap: Your right. From my perspective, there is two degrees of "done." There's the "done" when it runs and you can drive it - that's achievable. Then there is the "done" when everything is perfect - that's not achievable. My grandpa has a saying, "There is no such thing as 'perfect.' There is only 'within tolerance.'" I'll get it "within tolerance" one of these days!

    Rust n' Chrome: Haha, "a good ride!" You guys are too funny. A vacuum gauge would help. What would I be looking for with it, sudden changes in vacuum pressure? Would I tune it to keep the gauge as stable as possible? I may consider a modern ignition system in the future. Definitely would improve performance. For now, the original stuff is fun to tinker with.

    Thanks!

    Pete
     
  6. blackjack, vacuum really helps tell you what the engine is doing. You can time it just by vacuum if needed be. Ideally you want it at a steady number. Ex. a mild cam sbc would pull 17-20hg. Depending on your cam you might be pulling less and with an inline engine, I dunno what kind of vacuum they pull to be honest. But I'd say it should be in the ballpark and esp if you ran a brake booster, you'd need good vacuum. When setting your timing, disconnect your vac advance and set your base timing, say 4deg BTDC maybe. Your cam will effect what it wants. When you hook your vac advance up, you'll have another reading, cause its pulling vacuum now,centrifugal timing. Then when revved up you'll have an even greater reading, all in or total timing. anyway snag yourself a vac gauge either from a local parts store or summitt and find a port on the intake and carb, might have to try several to get the best one, if there are ported and unported ports. These engines run very smooth so I doubt your gonna see some crazy needle action, esp if the thing is running good. but it will help you keep fine tune your engine. The vac gauge will prolly come with a card that gives you all the variables on what the engine is doing. Keep us posted. I'm sure there is some more knowledge out there.
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2014
  7. blackjack, I may or may not have confused you. Timing can be hard to explain and understand, but here is a decent article on the basics of it. I know its not directly for your application, but it helps to understand what the vac advance does to your timing. http://www.setyourtiming.com/Timing_Settings.html
    "Total timing is the term given to the highest amount of advance. This is when the initial timing is added to the mechanical timing. For instance, if an engine has 10° of initial combined with 21° of mechanical, the total timing is 31° BTDC. Note that Total timing never includes vacuum advance."

    Here is a nice article on using the Vac gauge
    http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/186.cfm

    The more info you have on your cam the better.
     
  8. BlackJackPG
    Joined: Mar 23, 2012
    Posts: 158

    BlackJackPG
    Member
    from Idaho!

    Wow, thanks Rust n' Chrome! Those are great articles! I'm now certainly considering a more modern distributor to get better performance. Either that, or just one with a mechanical advance rather than a vacuum advance. I will also most certainly be attaching a vacuum gauge to each one of the carburetors at some point in the future. I use one to set the idle speed, but it is not permanent and sort of a hassle. It also helps to know the guy who ground our cam fairly well. I'll be talking to him when I get back in the summer. Thanks a ton!

    Progress from today was good, then bad, then good, then bad again. Haha. We started out the day with it running fine and we just roared around town listening for things to tune up and fixing them. Grandpa took off to go hunting around 2:00, unfortunately I couldn't because I need to get ready to go. He'll be back tomorrow though. After he left, I took it out to go see my high school metal shop teacher who was a big fan of the project. It sputtered and died on me shortly after leaving the shop. After pushing it back down the street I realized that the carburetor bowls were empty. When I tried to pull the big bolt out of the top of the carburetor thinking I could put a funnel in it to fill the bowls I promptly turned the wrench the wrong way and stripped all the threads out of the hole. I swear, sometimes I wish I had a different brain... After a few choice words and some failed attempts in screwing in the bolt, I mixed up a batch of JB Weld and slathered it on there. I'll try to re cut the threads tomorrow morning. I also put some over a hole in the welds on the exhaust manifold. Fingers crossed that both of them will hold!

    I'll get back on it in the morning! In the mean time, take a look at our new shift knob and key chain!

    Thanks!

    Pete
     

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  9. dang, yeah its always something man. Have you tore into the carb before? Are you sure the fuel pump didn't go on you? Unhook the hose to your carb and fire it over, fuel should flow, just be careful and have something there to catch it. Eliminate that variable, then move onto the carb. Good luck man, don't get discouraged, if stuff never breaks or always works, we wouldn't ever exercise our brains. Tinkering is fun, but sometimes you just want a day where nothing goes wrong and just cruise.
     
  10. gatz
    Joined: Jun 2, 2011
    Posts: 1,817

    gatz
    Member

    I'm almost reluctant to open this subscribed-to thread 'cuz it makes me wish I hadn't sold my old '40. I paid $15 for this car back in '67; it needed tires/wheels and a battery, but it ran. After using it for a short time as a work car, it got "parked". It used way too much oil at the time. So, it sat for over 40 years. Finally had to move it off the farm property, and eventually sold it. The guy that bought it will turn it into a great car, I'm sure.

    Oh well, such is life.

    gatz
     

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  11. BlackJackPG
    Joined: Mar 23, 2012
    Posts: 158

    BlackJackPG
    Member
    from Idaho!

    You're sure right Rust n' Chrome. It is nice when everything goes well. I just have to keep reminding myself that this is the "Break in Period." Things are going to break and dumb mistakes are going to be made. Just the way it is. For a break down, however, I'd prefer this one over some of the other ones any day!

    Sorry Gatz, I don't mean to make you feel bad! Keep you eyes peeled for another Chevy if you're serious, don't get discouraged! There's plenty of them around in pretty good shape for cheap. Not $15 bucks cheap, but affordable enough! That is quite the story though. Let's hope the new owner did give it the life it deserved.

    Well, that does it for the Christmas Break marathon! We got lots done and had a heck of a time doing it! On our last day together we cut new threads in the JB weld on our carburetor and screwed our cap back in. The threads turned out to be some oddball type, 11/16 - 18 or something, but the 5/8-18 we cut allowed it to get started, then it just cut it's own threads from then on. It is sealed up good for the time being, but I will almost certainly do it right when I get back. After that, we blew all the fuel lines out and pulled the gas tank to clean it and replace the fuel gauge sensor. After dropping the tank, I realized that it was surprisingly light. The tank was empty! All this fuss and I just ran it out of gas! Again, sometimes I wish I had a different brain. Anyhow, we put our new gas tank sensor in, which still didn't fix the gas gauge problem (I'm beginning to think that the actual gauge is broken), put a gallon of gasoline in and started it right up! Whew! It was just out of gas! Problem solved! Don't you just love those moments? You feel so stupid for running it out of gas (and breaking everything you touch when trying to fix it) then you feel so relieved because it was just an empty tank all along. Haha. Oh vintage automobiles, you bring out the best in all of us.

    For now, I'll leave you guys with this picture. Taken only an hour or so before my "moment of genius", while the car still had gas and was running strong! A grin from ear to ear. At long last, "She's a runner!"

    ImageUploadedByH.A.M.B.1390801324.838698.jpg

    Thanks all, the adventures will continue in the summer!

    Pete
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2014
  12. sick man, congrats again. way to keep the life alive man.
     
  13. gatz
    Joined: Jun 2, 2011
    Posts: 1,817

    gatz
    Member

    [​IMG]

    that color looks JUST RIGHT for the '40
    good work, BlackJack

    A little more to the story..... when I went to get the 40 Chevy Coupe back in '67; I "borrowed" some spoked wheels & tires off one of the farm wagons we had. They fit perfectly. After putting in a battery (also borrowed) and getting the wheels on, the thing wouldn't start. Doing some amateur sleuthing, we (a few buddies and I) determined it wasn't getting any gas....traced the problem to a clogged fuel line. We snaked the complete fuel line out from under the car, took it into town and had a service-station guy blow it out. Added some fresh gas, it ran good. However, it had NO BRAKES, as the wheel cylinders were shot.
    Took the back roads for about 25 miles back home, using the hand-brake.........when necessary. Got some wheel cylinder kits put in which fixed the NO BRAKES problem. (BTW, don't use gasoline to clean the (EPDM?) piston cups, ask me how I know)
    As I mentioned, I used it for a work car, but it was using a quart of oil in 20 miles. Too much usage for a 17 yr old to afford. Was going to put a 325 Poly from a parked '57 Dodge in it, but when we removed the front sheet metal & existing drive-line and took a quick look from 15 ft away, it was obvious the front-end suspension was in dire need of repairs; that's when it was delegated to the "grove" to await an uncertain future.
     
  14. BlackJackPG
    Joined: Mar 23, 2012
    Posts: 158

    BlackJackPG
    Member
    from Idaho!

    Wow, Gatz thats a great story! Back yard mechanics does tend to include a lot of "borrowing" and improper use of gasoline. I love stories like that!

    Well, I'm home for a 5 week stint before going back for summer school! In the last 3 weeks I've been using the car as a daily driver until about a week ago when the old stock distributor finally gave up the ghost. At a local Inliners International car show I put up a sign saying "Need Mallory Distributor!" and within 30 minutes I had one. It's a Mallory "Double Life" (duel point) 6 cylinder distributor in it's original box! Yesterday I finally worked up the confidence to hack it to bits to fit the 270 GMC. All went well in fitting it, however grandpa, a friend (retired GM mechanic) and I spent all day today diddling around with it. First, we had a badly corroded set of points. Then, a bad condenser. We have fixed both problems, yet the motor is still acting the same way as it did in the beginning. One moment the spark is too advanced causing pre-ignition and popping against the starter, then the next moment the spark is too retarded causing backfires and lots of burnt eyebrows! It's all over the place. We broke this evening with a plan for our friend (retired GM mechanic) to put it on his distributor tester again and test everything to try to pinpoint a problem. If not, we start looking at things like the ballast resistor, coil and grounding of the distributor. What a day!

    ImageUploadedByH.A.M.B.1401510932.414581.jpg

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    ImageUploadedByH.A.M.B.1401511281.488795.jpg

    Thanks!

    Pete
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2014
  15. 54hotrodder
    Joined: Nov 20, 2011
    Posts: 669

    54hotrodder
    Member

    Nice ridem man. Here is a shot of my 40 early style kustom.

    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     

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