Up to around 400 miles on the 52 and still working on a few bugs. Had some bolts on the driver's side manifold to exhaust pipe that loosed up a bit and were making things rather loud. Also did some adjustment to the (non-functioning) horn button to get it to quit rattling. Went to Henderson MN show Tuesday night, a Cruise to Webster MN Wednesday morning and to Buck Hill Wednesday night. Next up is Pan-O-Prog cruise night, Friday 7/8 in Lakeville
Pan-O-Prog cruise night, Friday 7/8 in Lakeville downtown after the cruise Lights on to let folks see the hood ornament
Minor update, added some of the smaller bumper guards (after getting pricing on re-chroming the whole rear bumper including the wings and larger 3-piece guard) Like the look and for now it works for me.
Wow, nice poncho. I love that car, my brother built it. He bought it with the straight 8, and pretty much original. He did most of the paint/interior. Saw it at BTT50s, but didn't find owner. I will try to post pics of car just before he sold it.
Thanks for the pictures, I would like to hear more about the build and the history of the car. There are still a few things to sort out, but the car is a safe driver. Sorry i missed you at BTT50"s
Racked up some more miles, finally tried out the USB port for music. The sample song is a classical piece my wife has played cello on in the symphony I can use the port to charge my phone, now if I can just figure out how to load some favorite road tunes
i heart radio is a free source of a variety of music. load the free app onto your smartphone. only problem with the free service you might not get all the specific songs you want. but it’s nice for free. since my 41 Cadillac does not have a radio installed I just use a Bluetooth speaker to play the music. (i like my radio delete plate.) otherwise if I had a radio like yours I would do the USB port modification and play it through the factory speaker.
we have used a speaker and phone too, looking forward to a bit cleaner setup, however it will still be the Bose and my wife's phone in the other car
Get Siris radio on a phone app. Mine plays thru the stock speaker. The original stock radio has been gutted only a light gives it away. AM- FM- Blue Tooth. 50-60’s oldies all the time.
It is nice to have the Catalina to the point that we can just hop in and drive to a car show this was last night at Buck Hill in Burnsville MN
Well... it may be time to tear into the dash to replace the speedometer, install the ashtray and wire the light, as planned AND then probably replace the headlight switch... when leaving a show Wednesday evening as it was getting dark the only lights that came on was the head lights. Brake and turn signals were fine. Should have looked a half hour before when someone wanted to see the chief light up, the front parking lights came on, but the ornament didn't, assumed it was a burnt-out bulb. Didn't look at taillights. The switch has felt a little funny lately so we will see, also will be moving it to the correct location, it is currently in the starter push button switch. Time to pull the front seat again and get after it
Finally, back to trying to have a functioning speedometer/odometer (that is not an app on my phone) replaced the speedo, have a new cable and now there is nothing when driving. tested the speedo directly with a drill and it works great, same with full cable from the transmission end. The drive gear seems fine but will replace to see if that helps. any ideas on wat might be going on here???
Very sanitary engine room. The power booster is interesting, I like the big flat unit vs those protruding canisters on most. I love these sweet cars, the trim level on these is so stunning. I had an unfortunate event with a 51 Hardtop my Dad had on his car lot, cream color bottom with a blue top. It had a leather interior and hydromatic option. I was driving at age 14, and the town drunk backed out of the stall at the Tavern, and I slammed into him. Small-town privilege. My Mom told her insurance agent she was driving and they paid off on the claim, amazing. You have a rare super fine classic brother, Congradulations!
The trim level on these premium coupes is so cool. I forgot about the stainless trim around the windshield. I see they went with the big over-rider bumper guards and the spotlight with rear-view mirror options. What a knockout!
If your new cable is from the internet or parts store, the cable being used is way undersized to save on cost. The square size in the gear stem is .104 so the speedometer cable is usually squared down to .102 . Some of the aftermarket Chinese cables are as I said undersized and squared to .99 or smaller, so the cable won't engage in the gear (gear spins cable will not). Check the cable square with calipers for size. If needed I can make you up the proper size cable, not trying to push product just trying to help.
Thanks, I had checked the squared ends and they seem to be in that range. Appreciate the verification Still wondering if the melted cable issue earlier this year caused some problem inside the TH400??
So, the cable square is .101 to .102? If the melted cable caused any trouble in the transmission the driven gear would be dished in the middle, or the drive gear (could or would) have been moved on the output shaft or also dished, which would have dished the driven gear.
Will double check and see if there is anything messed up on the driven gear, Thanks PS, like the Blues Brother's quote
Back to having a functional speedometer, using the old one that was original to the car. It's a bit shaky but fairly accurate over all compared to my phone app. Going to get a longer new one made by "el956v" to start fresh and route it with sweeping turns. Will follow up on the progress with the new one once installed and tested.
v1956v is a great contributor to our car fraternity. I bought a new cable from him for my 56 which was better than any a local supplier could. He also helped me get a speedometer correction transmission after a complete rear end change.
The new cable has the speedometer operating smoothly and right on compared to the phone app Odometer still seems to be a bit under the app, will do a longer test if I can before the really cold weather hits Next up will be to look into the old original rear leaf springs, seem pretty worn out
I need to heed what you are saying here to fix the speedometer in my Buick. Mine started squealing and jumping so my temporary fix was to pull the cable from the back of the speedometer until I get it fixed. Silas let his jump around long enough in the Edsel that the needle broke off...
With winter here in Minnesota it is time to dig back into the Catalina to make it a bit better for next year. Starting on a list of what all might be good to tackle and then prioritize based on cost/benefit, then decide what can reasonably be done by spring. With 5 months available tearing it up seems reasonable but need to avoid underestimation of the time it may actually take. The doors are not really set up right, looks like the fenders or the whole front end may be coming off.
Glad the new cable settled it down, check the odometer on a measured mile and let me know what you come up with and we can work on that. Thanks for trusting me with your business. Rusty
Eaton Spring in Detroit handled my needs for my '46 Ford pickup real well. They built my springs based on original blueprints with the changes I desired.
The Jalopy Journal
