1957 country sedan build

[1930artdeco]

Fixed the intake leaks and got the rpm's dialed down to a much lower setting. Damn she sounds great!!!!! Then I noticed this🤬☹️. So, after this gets fixed then I will get to work on the carb and get it dialed in.

[djfordmanjack]

Mike, this might also be a good time to remove and check the heater core and heater valve. it is quite a tricky assembly with several spots prone to leak later on.

[1930artdeco]

DJ, the heater was rebuilt and the valve was permanently closed off and relocated to the engine bay. I took other peoples advice on that issue. but the more I think about it, the more I think she is puking from the overflow tube. I thought I left the cap off so she could burp out any air pockets. So, if this is what is happening, then I overfilled the rad or had the cap on to tightly. I will check when I get home tonight.

Mike

[BP57CUSTOM]

Yep, they will puke until they find their happy place!

[djfordmanjack]

It will certainly puke after a complete drain and refill. also the cap yould be weak. they are rally cheap so maybe well worth a try. Great to hear that you already have your heater core and valve sorted.
The original vaccuum operated thermostat heater valve was really 'high tech' in the 1950s, but, after nearly 70 years it has more possible leaks than we could care for.

[1930artdeco]

Nope, she is dead. So it will come out and go to the shop for a resolder🤬. What irks me is that I have about 30/45 minutes of actual run time on it. Now I have to drain it and the tranny.

[CobraJoe]

It's definitely frustrating, after years of going through what happened to you (back when we built Cobras, the radiator was lower than the engine, a constant pain in the ass getting them to burp) I ended up buying an Air-Lift.
It pulls a vacuum first, so you can tell if you have a leak and the vacuum pulls all the coolant back in without the introduction of air into the system. It works extremely well and allows you to use the car immediately after filling.

This is a knock off, not sure how well it works, but I'll post a link to the actual Air Lift below:



AirLift

[RICH MUISE]

If I'm understanding correctly, and the radiator is leaking into the tranny cooling, I strongly recommend a replacement aluminum radiator from Classic city auto. Too risky ruining a tranny.

[1930artdeco]

Yeah it is dead. I don't think it is leaking into the tranny cooler. At least I hope not. But I will pull it this weekend and send it out on Monday.

Mike

[RICH MUISE]

OK, I thought that was what you meant when you said 'have to drain it and the tranny"

[1930artdeco]

small update. Well the engine would not start unless I held the key in the start position. So I replace the ballast resistor and the ignition switch. All to no avail. Then I replace my NOS USA made solenoid and she fired up. So I am not sure why the solenoid failed with only about an hour of run time on it. But I replaced it with my spare one from NAPA. Next up is tuning the carb for choke running and installing an electric choke.

Finished patching in 2 of three patch panels on the pass side tunnel. I need to build up one more patch and install it before I move onto the rear pass floor pan.

Have not seen any more leaking of rad fluid so I may have seen over flow but I will still check it over.

[1930artdeco]

Update time.

Well as far as I can tell I have no holes where I installed the front pass floor pan and tunnel patches👍. Although I don't necessarily trust my skills that much yet. I am thinking of getting a smoke generator to see where any holes are.

So now I am onto the rear pass floor pan! I cut it out and ground the spot welds smooth this weekend. Now I just need trim the pan down left o right. I do need to figure out that aft end of the pan. Do I butt weld or trim the original metal back and use half of the body brace for support.

I also snagged the brackets and pulleys to reinstall my AC system!

[1930artdeco]

Front brace

[1930artdeco]

I will have to find a way to shrink the photo sizes to load the rest of them.

[RICH MUISE]

If you brush on a good coat of por-15 or por-patch over the welds, it will seep into any voids and seal them off. I overlapped my floor panels and used a flange plier to form a lip to nest the new metal into.