Gas, tires, oil.

I am trying to get the trike running within the next 2 weeks, so of course I started working on something that has nothing to do with it running. But any progress is good. I unpacked the fender supports (they have been wrapped in a wool blanket for the last 2 years). I set them in place and polished some 5/16 stainless carriage bolts to mount them to the rear frame.

The supports are made from some 3/4″ x 1 1/2″ x 16ga. tubing made for railings. I figured that the half-round edges would make them look streamlined. I formed the tapered ends by cutting out a wedge with a sawsall and bending the edge around, tacking with the mig as I bent it.
The fenders had also been packed up since the move.

When unpacked they looked just as craptactular as I remembered. When I put the final clear coat on, the temperature wasn’t right, it was a very cold Montana night, and I had a propane heater going full blast so one side was too hot and the other side was too cold. So the finish was a little dry. To top it off, the clothes dryer must have come on or something, because I suddenly got a ton of lint stuck to the surface.

Rather than repaint, I decided to see if I could buff them out. First I wet sanded them with 1500 grit paper. Then I buffed them out and waxed them. They don’t look too bad. I’ll show them buffed and mounted next.

I didn’t include a pic yesterday of the case top. Unfortunately, some one ran strapping tape around case at some point and put something (probably a plant) on the top that left a ring .

My wife got an early christmas present last friday (the eve of christmas eve) when I found this coffin top Singer sewing machine at the fleamarket.

Interestingly, the base has a slot for a belt so it could also be used on a treadle base, but most bases would just take the bare machine. I haven’t seen a treadle base that would accept this wooden base. But it is set up for hand crank use right now.

After some oiling and some web research to find out how to thread the shuttle, it started to sew nicely. A look up online of the serial number showed it to be made in 1904 in Scotland. That night, my wife used it to sew a christmas stocking for the baby.

Not bad for 101 year old machine.

I had alluded to the fact that sedans (or posts) are lighter than the corresponding hardtops in spite of the fact that they have more metal showing (a vertical post in front of rear side window and a rim around window on the door). I found some actual numbers in this book, “Chevrolet, a book of numbers):

It has codes for the serial number plates and the codes stamped just about all drivetrain components (axles, engines, transmissions). It also has the weights for various models, lets look at ‘55 V8s first:

The first column of 4 digit numbers is the model, the second is the price and the third is the weight. My ‘55 candian pontiac (the model is a “Pathfinder”) is a utility sedan, its based on a Chevrolet drivetrain so the numbers should be comparable. The number right after the number of doors is the number of occupants (3, 5 or6). For the utility sedan, it’s 3. That’s because it doesn’t have a back seat (nor do the rear side windows roll down). This also makes it the lightest model at 3055 lbs with the normal sedan coming in at 3080 lbs. There’s no hardtop 150, so we have to go the a more deluxe model (210), where the 2dr hardtop is 3142 (some of that weight is other options, the 210 sedan is 3115). To get a convertible we have to go up to a Bel Air, where the weight is 3285 lbs., but again, some of that extra weight is other options. So, model contributes as follows for a sedan: 150 to 210, 35 lbs; 210 to Bel Air, 10 lbs. Body style: utility sedan to sedan, 25 lbs; sedan to hardtop, 27 to 40 lbs. and hardtop to convertible, 120 lbs. Each step doesn’t make much difference, but a convertible Bel Air weighs 230 lbs. more than a utility sedan.
Here’s the numbers for ‘68 V8 Chevelles, with much the same trend.

My wife’s ‘82 Suburban has been a good vehicle, I only paid $1000 for it and it gets 20+ mpg. With the third row seat it’ll seat 9, its got overdrive so cruising at 75 mph is no problem and it’s 4 wheel drive. But the trans went bad, it wouldn’t go into 2nd gear. Give it enough throttle and it would skip to 3rd. I couldn’t figure out what the problem was so I bought a rebuilt trans ($825 from a guy in salinas who’s shop is a storage unit). First, I had to pull the old trans, I like to put vehicle up on old bare rims instead of jack stands.

I removed all the bolts and linkage and wires, then put a small jack under the transfercase and took off the crossmember. I don’t have a transmission jack, so I bolted a large piece of wood to my floor jack.

More next time.

Check out this strobe light I got a yard sale:

Here’s the back:

In case you can’t make out that date, it’s Nov. 6 1979. I wonder if someone got this for Christmas in ‘79. I used it to illuminate my front yard for Halloween.

In this post, I showed how the overdrive 4 spd. NP 833 trans I got off of ebay had some problems. The tip of the output shaft is surrounded by rollers and sits inside a race machined into the input shaft. The rollers had gotten chewed up, as well as both shafts. New shafts were about $250-350 each, so I’d end up with like $800 bucks in this trans. I thought about getting another one on ebay, even if it was bad, maybe I could put two together.
What I ended up doing was finding a needle roller bearing (with its own races) from SKF that fit in the internal bore of the input shaft with no modification (the bore was just a little rough, not out of shape). I then had the tip of the output shaft built up with hard chrome and then ground down to fit the ID of the needle bearing race (Babbit Bearing Co, San Jose). As far as I’m concerned its better than factory, now it has replaceable races. Unfortunatly I can’t find the pics, so you’ll just have to use your imagination. I put in a new main bearing, rear bushing and all the seals.
So here’s a pic of the stock pickup shifter in the ‘55, it’s too close to the steering wheel and needs a knob, but thats for next time.

Having synchros in first gear is really nice, and with overdrive I’ve got no problem cruising at 70 on the highway (except now I need to update the brakes).

No time to post today, I spent my lunch posting an answer to a question on “Ask metafilter” about a ‘64 Bel Air. You can read it here.

One of the next steps on my trike will be to hook up the oil lines. I snapped a pic while I was disassembling it so I could see how they hook up.

I’ve got the tank remounted, now I just need to hook up the lines.

Where does the name come from? It’s the punchline to an unfunny joke: What does GTO stand for, the three things a goat uses most, gas, tires and oil.

Sorry I haven’t been posting lately, I’m writing a proposal for an NIH fellowship. Monday is the due date, so next week, back to Harleys and hot rods.