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Projects The bucket of ugly! A de-uglifying thread...

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by need louvers ?, Aug 14, 2013.

  1. Well one of the first things you need to do is run to Manny Moe's and Jacks and get some breathers for the valve covers. Twist in to replace the caps. They also have twist ins with PCV's in them from Jegs. Put a breather on one side and a cap with a PCV on the other and that should solve the oil sputtering problem. Now you do know that AFB stands for Always Fucking Broke!!!
    PS
    283's love 30-30 Duntovs !!!!!
     
  2. DaPeach
    Joined: Apr 22, 2009
    Posts: 260

    DaPeach
    Member
    from NE OH


    I'll be waiting to hear more about all of this. I picked up a pressure regulator over the weekend as well as a 1" wood spacer for mine. I'm running a 600 cfm edelbrock on an old torker intake w/ a oil fill/breather tube. My valve covers are solid. I have the same carb leak on the drivers side. It likes to flood & tends to heatsoak...along w/ cleaning oil spatters from windshield each time I take it out. I have a 283 as well.

    Awesome you guys are getting to enjoy it so much. Makes all this little stuff tolerable. Annoying, but tolerable.
     
  3. landseaandair
    Joined: Feb 23, 2009
    Posts: 4,485

    landseaandair
    Member
    from phoenix

    Could be a bad needle and seat or washer not sealing.
     
  4. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Well, I pulled the carb apart again today and double checked my float height (3/8" about a 1/16" lower than stock recommends), pulled the booster out and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned as per LandSeaandAir's suggestion via our telephone conversation last night, double checked my pressure regulator, and I forgot to mention that I replaced the needles and seats on Sunday... I am so thoroughly out of ideas my brain hurts! I am normally one of the guys that people go to when they just can't figure out why some thing isn't working correctly, but here I am pulling my thinning hair out over a constant drip of fuel. Clues anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

    On an even less happy note, I spent the better part of the day laying upside down beneath the dash of the Ugly Bucket redoing wiring that was making me crazy. It has been starting with a not so confident, slow, grinding rollover that eventually speeds up and catches... Until yesterday. Judy and I went to go grocery shopping at our local hippie infested "Sprouts" store, and upon rolling back out with our leafy purchases, it decided that, no, it wasn't going to start. Found a gal that described herself as "until recently a frequent jumper cables user", and then amazed the entire parking lot by hooking up to the frame rail and starter instead of the battery.

    In looking today, I found the main charging circuit tied into the fuse box, and the ignition switch power running through a fuse... Not good. So now main charging goes to the battery cable at the starter, the ignition switch is another 10ga. from the starter terminal to the switch, and the fuse box is powered from the switch with another ten gauge. It's amazing how well a starting circuit works when it's getting full power! Much happiness! Maybe tomorrow I'll have some time to initiate turn signal removal proceedings... I swear if I hit that damn switch with my foot getting out of this thing just one more time and come out to find that damned right signal happily blinking, I might just go completely over the edge!
     
  5. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    One day, I spent an hour asking people for a jump, when my daily driver ran the battery down. An hour. When my T Bucket wouldn't start, I had 5 people to choose from AND an offer of a ride to the parts store. Hot rods rule

    Rod & Custom's T Bucket is on the cover. A very well done traditionally styled T. Looks pretty good.
     
  6. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member


    Thanks Dana, I hadn't really thought about vibrations being a culprit. I don't have any sort of isolator under the carb, but this occurs in all the ranges, so I'm just kinda stumped at this point.
     
  7. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    That's true! We did have a whole bunch of folks asking about the car and what we were doing driving something like that around... Just nobody had cables. What made it worse was it was the first trip out of the driveway without my tool box on board.
     
  8. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    Doesn't that crap always happen when your pants are down?
     
  9. verde742
    Joined: Aug 11, 2010
    Posts: 6,269

    verde742
    Member

    My grandpa said " Just when you think you'er really cool, and the crowd is laughin' at everything your puttin' out, you better reach down and make sure that little flipper on yer zipper is at the top, chances are it won't be"
     
  10. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    I like your Grandpa Bob!!!
     
  11. Where is the like button when you need one, thanks for the laugh Grandpa Bob.
     
  12. steel rebel
    Joined: Jun 14, 2006
    Posts: 3,604

    steel rebel
    Member Emeritus

    About the fuel drip. Is the fuel outlet on the bottom of your fuel tank so the weight of the fuel is pushing on the needle valve. I had that problem until I installed a tank with the outlet on top. On a T bucket with the tank mounted so high in the P.U. bed it can be a problem.

    Saw this T at Crackelfest in Bakersfield this last weekend.

    Gary
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Oct 23, 2013
  13. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Ya, that's Mike Smith's car from Sonoran Hot Rods. I really like that little car a bunch too.
     
  14. dana barlow
    Joined: May 30, 2006
    Posts: 5,115

    dana barlow
    Member
    from Miami Fla.
    1. Y-blocks

    THINGS NOT TO DO;Roundy tread MC tires on front of that yellow T scair hell out of me.how the hell dose he steer with only about 1 in. of rudder tread on the ground,keep it under 10mph maybe. Make about as much scents as no front brakes,but he has some on there,just no traction to use them. I like the rest of it.
     
  15. steel rebel
    Joined: Jun 14, 2006
    Posts: 3,604

    steel rebel
    Member Emeritus

    Their were a lot of things I didn't like about this T too. I took the picture for the look of the engine, blower and scoop.

    I'm not a fan of narrow motorcycle tires on buckets either. By the way I think it was a steel body. It did have a crack in the paint below the cowl seam anyway. I actually didn't fill the seam in mine so it would jump out at anybody it is steel.
     
  16. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Yup, that one is a steel body. He built the car in the early nineties with a flathead as a teen ager, then put it away for many years. When he pulled it out he did a make over on it and it gained the small block and more sixties kinda look.

    Now, I am not a fan of cycle type wheels on the front of 'Buckets and small cars. but when Roy insisted that they were necessary for the front of the Bantam I posted a few pages back, I did what anybody in business would do and set out to maximize my client's wants. I have to say that after playing with tire pressures, they work pretty well, and are a lot more confident feeling than I thought they would be. I have to admit I have never driven the car in the rain though. When we first put the car together, it didn't have front brakes, and it worked okay. I'm not condoning that, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. When Hurst/Airheart announced their 175 calpers reproduction, I knew the proper brakes had hit the market again. I had to build brakets and do some engineering to make them work, but damn that little thing stops like a champ! Nice and straight and quick too.
     
  17. Tim_with_a_T
    Joined: Apr 30, 2011
    Posts: 1,358

    Tim_with_a_T
    Member

    I've been following your thread and enjoying the commentary. About the carb issues: could it be that the idle circuit is plugged on the driver's side, so the vacuum from the engine is pulling fuel from the booster? You could take out the mixture screws and spray some brake cleaner and compressed air in there or something along those lines. Have you confirmed you don't have plugged air bleeds on that booster? That's all I could think of off the top of my head. Good luck.
     
  18. Tashing
    Joined: May 7, 2012
    Posts: 23

    Tashing
    Member
    from Tulsa, OK

    My wife is also Chinese...Believe me I understand about the bargaining part.
     
  19. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Thanks Tim, I have gone the route of the idle passages already, but I can try again. It would make sense too. Maybe if it's not totally plugged it's restricted to a point that it's net effect is what you mentioned. I went through the boosters on both sides and very carefully cleaned the emulsion tubes and everything else under the sun. Everything seems to blow through with both compressed air and carb/brake cleaner.
     
  20. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member


    we've got the first swap of our new season coming up this weekend, and there is one guy there that will actually walk away from his booth when he sees her coming down the isle...
     
  21. johnod
    Joined: Aug 18, 2009
    Posts: 799

    johnod
    Member


    Now that's a good one.:D
     
  22. Tim_with_a_T
    Joined: Apr 30, 2011
    Posts: 1,358

    Tim_with_a_T
    Member

    I figured you'd already checked :) Another something stupid to consider: are the main jets the same size? Are the main metering rods the same size? Do the metering rod springs move freely? I'm not sure what that would do if they were significantly different sizes, but it's something to check if you bought the carb used as it's easily overlooked.
     
  23. Tim_with_a_T
    Joined: Apr 30, 2011
    Posts: 1,358

    Tim_with_a_T
    Member

    One more stupid question, but what happens if you swap floats from one side to the other? Does the other side drip? Just trying to rule things out.
     
  24. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    No, but that's damn good idea!
     
  25. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    I'm not a big fan of tall windshields, but that's a nice looking T Bucket. On the front wheels and tires, I liked them when I had them. But I liked them because they looked so crazy. They also turned me into a weather watcher. Any chance of rain, meant I didn't drive. Those tires proved useless on a wet street.
     
  26. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    another thing kind of a long shot. Have you checked the metering rods for straightness? Power piston moving freely? If a metering rod is intermittently hanging up in the jet, preventing vacuum from pulling the power piston all the way down at idle, could be a possible cause that could only happen sometimes, and really have you chasing your tail. And definately triple check the idle air bleed on that venturi.
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2013
  27. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Are the floats brass, or nicrophyl? If they are brass, pull it out, hold it up to your ear, and give it a shake. Usually a sinking float doesn't come and go, but its worth checking.
     
  28. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    Okay, so some minor updates for ya! I mentioned the starter woes the other day, and the wiring repairs. Suffice to say, I now have a full 12volts to my starter switch and life is better. It will be smashingly perfect one I build a one piece battery cable to hook everything together.

    I didn't really take to many pictures of the wiring 'cause, well, it's wiring. It's kinda boring. But I did snap a picture of the main power wire coming off the back of the alternator. in the first shot we see a chunk of roughly 18 ga. household solid core wire with a 10ga. crimp on end with a crimp performed with a side cutters.... Wonder why it wasn't charging so well? The second pict shows my new 10ga. wire going directly to the starter poll with a 10ga. loop stripped of it's ugly assed yellow end and properly crimped with a double shrink wrap seal. The whole charging starting system is now done this way, with lighting and tail lighting systems to follow soon. Doing wiring well counts. If anybody would like a quick tutorial on properly crimping and insulating, let me know and I'll write something up.

    The next bit is not quite done yet, but Judy asked me how I made them. See, I have a 10" by 31" knock off Moon type tank for this car, that someone had fairly craftily added a pad for a SW type fuel sender into. The only problem is that when I found it at a swap years ago, it didn't have brackets. Up until a couple of years ago, I could just swing by my Alma-Ata, Karl's Custom VW and pick up a pair for basically nothing. Since Karl pulled the plug a couple of years ago, nobody stocks this sort of stuff around town. Boo-Hiss! I could order them from Speedway 25.00, pay 20.00 shipping and wait for them, or hunt the swaps. After asking everybody local, no dice, so make 'em!

    Pretty simple actually. Find something just a bit smaller than the tank to bend around, take my trusty sewing tape and wrap it around the tank to find the circumference I need (31 1/4"), grab some 3/4"x18" hot roll strap and have at it! The first one was made in an anything but elegant manor with lots of swearing, and did not get filmed, thank god. The second one though, I actually used my head and made it tons easier.

    See, my bending fixture is an old VW rear drum that I had laying around from the bad old days. They have a hole in the front surface that you adjust the brakes through. (By the way, it has already been determined that my days in hell will be served in chilly room endlessly adjusting manually adjustable drum brakes while a steady stream of Barbara Streisand and Elton John tunes pollute my workspace... it's comforting to know where you will end up if nothing else!) By clamping the 3/4" stock through the hole, and clamping the drum to the table it got much easier!

    I adjusted the clamp at the last a bit, and got two happy rings of nearly the right size and diameter. The one inch ends were marked off and turned up and out using my vise and Mr. Hammer - It's not just for whacking your thumbs any more! After that, I clamped the turned up ends together, laid them flat on my welding bench and tacked the ends together to make shaping the ends and drilling the holes much easier. cut them apart when I was done... Tomorrow, I'll take the last little scraps of the 3/4"x1/8" and make the feet for this deal, and spot a couple of 5/16" bolts into them so I can drill 4 holes in the floor, drop them through and put four bolts on the underside.

    Now, if I could just find a spinner type cap to fit so that is the only thing you see through the tonneau cover....
     

    Attached Files:

  29. Like your drum bending jig; goes to show you can build nice parts at home without a shop full of fancy tools.

    Noticed the "pile" down by the headlight stand in the first picture, looks like the brake lines need attention like the wiring does. Funny what some people think is an acceptable way to do stuff.
     
  30. I just couldn't stand this anymore...

    Every time I read about someone recommending/doing soldered wire connections on a bike or car I cringe (and yes, that's not what you're doing here but this still isn't 'right'). You'll hear guys say 'that's a better connection', but if you look at any factory car or motorcycle harness just try to find any soldered joints that aren't on a circuit board. There's reasons why the factories don't solder and it's not because of cost either.

    In the electrical industry, it's been illegal to splice/terminate wires with solder for years; only mechanical means are allowed. Why? Because solder, when subjected to a high heat situaton, will melt. Another issue is the heat needed for soldering destroys the wire's annealing and makes the copper brittle (so now it will break much easier). But, you say, crimp connectors don't have a good record; too many fail. True, but that's not the connectors fault but rather the crimping method that's at fault. With the correct crimp, you can retain both the electrical and mechanical characteristics of the unbroken wire.

    The problem is the use of insulated crimps. They're convenient, but the compromises needed to make them work also reduces their reliability in these applications. One thing to keep in mind is that none of the 'generic' wiring connectors you'll find at parts houses were invented for vehicle use; all have been 'adapted' from the electrical industry. There's several problems here...

    1. To avoid ruining the insulated sleeve, you don't get a 'full' crimp. The 'standard' insulated crimping tool you'll find nearly everywhere with it's 'football' shaped crimp opening only gives you about a 70% crimp at best. So you've reduced both electrical and mechanical strength. The fix? Use a uninsulated crimp and this type of crimp tool:
    http://www.idealindustries.com/prodD...lti-crimp_tool
    These feature a 'U' shaped crimp opening and will give you closer to a 100% crimp. These are available from several sources, with Ideal, Klein, and T&B all offering versions. My personal choice is the T&B (the original inventors) as their openings have tighter tolerances, but any will be an improvement over a 'standard' type. These are about $25+/- at most electrical supply stores. Look for them at swap meets/garage sales too; most people don't know what they're for, so you can get them cheap. The one I use the most is probably older than me, has three crimp holes (the newer ones only have two), and has no other functions (no cutter, insulated crimper, etc). It does give a 100% crimp.

    2. Insulated crimps don't 'support' the wire insulation. If you look at any factory termination, there's two crimps; one on the copper, and one to the insulation. The insulation is a big part of the wires strength, and failing to 'transfer' any stress from the termination to the insulation can lead to strand failure. You can buy this type of crimp, but they and the special crimp tool are both expensve. Using uninsulated crimps/shrink tube and overlapping the shrink 1/2" to 3/4" onto the insulation will be equal.

    3. Insulated crimps aren't sealed; with a 70% crimp and it's open end, there's plenty of places corrosion can get a foothold. As designed, these are only rated for use in dry, vibration-free enviroments with no movement. Not exactly a car or motorcycle...

    Can't find uninsulated crimps? Just cut the plastic sleeves off; that's the difference. A properly crimped, uninsulated splice/termination with shrink tube over it will have all the same qualities as an uncut wire.

    I'll also point out that OEM vehicle terminations aren't made of tinned copper either; the factories use brass or tinned brass as it's mechanical strength and resistance to vibration is superior to copper. Copper can work, but proper strain relief is more important.

    Now, before anybody says 'I've been soldering wires on my bike/car/etc for years with no problems!', I'm not going to argue with you. That can work, but either you used a lot of care about where/how you did it, or you've been lucky. This is the right way to do this, that's what I'm saying.
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2013
    daddylama likes this.

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