Headlight Upgrade

Since it's dark early now (shortest day of the year just passed) I decided it's time to get some decent headlights on Lucille. I ordered upgrade E code Hella Hi/Lo and High conversion kits with high wattage bulbs. Got started on wiring up a pair of relays to carry the load.

These dudes ought to be bright enough for LA streets, even in the rain!

H5006 5-3/4" Round E-code Hi-Lo Conversion Headlamp Kit
H4 Bulbs : H5006J 85/80W Osram Hyper

H5001 Hella 5-3/4" Dia H1 E-code Conversion High Beam Headlamp Kit
H1 Bulbs : H5001G 100W Optilux Xenon XB

Drive!!

Took Lucille out for a spin this afternoon. Went to the Burbank post office, then on up Hollywood Way to Glenoaks. Took that west to Sunland and on out north to the hill area The road winds through some hills and eventually you come across an onramp to the 210. I got on that and went west, but decided I didn't want to go all the way up the pass to Magic Mountain. ;-) Got off and turned around, only to come back to the same ramp I got on at in Sun Valley. So I just headed home. Ended up being around a 20 mile run. Would have stayed out longer but realized I was hungry. I couldn't have stopped for a bite either because stupid me had forgotten my wallet. Oops! Next time I may go out Sunland farther and not get on the 210 onramp, just to see where it goes. Guess I better take my GPS along with me though, since I forgot to take it with me this time.

The left tail/stop/turn light is now converted to LED. I was not able to leave the original bulb socket in place on this side, but it could be put back (as long as I don't loose the part). I had to cut a larger rectangle in the tail lamp housing to set the LED card in place. The cone shape is quite different from the right side. Replaced all the Satellite radio hardware with a LiquidAUX and iPod Nano 4th gen.

The right tail/stop/turn light is now converted to LED. I left the original bulb socket in place so I can revert if I want. I had to cut a small rectangle in the back of the tail lamp housing to slide the LED card in place, but that can be covered over if a reversion is done. Brighter than the 1157 bulbs were.

D'oh!

Backed into the neighbors new fence today when I went to drive over to Cooper's. Didn't damage much except for the right tail light lens, which busted out. I found a lens for a '57 at Cooper's. It's close, but not exactly the same. Will keep me legal for now though.
UPDATE: Got a nice pair of repro lenses from All Cads of the 40's and 50's. Now converting the lamps to LED.

Plug Wires

Replaced the wires with a set by Pertronix. Plain black 7mm. Looks nice and runs smoother. Silicone wire separaters cleaned up the routing.

Exhaust Manifold, Right hand (passenger)

I replaced the right exhaust manifold today. The gaskets were leaking at the head and I needed to remove it to replace those anyway. I already knew the one bolt at the outlet was stripped from when I redid the mufflers, so I figured it was a good time to get a replacement. I plan to get this one repaired and keep it as a spare.
I had backed the car into the garage last night so I just needed to jack it up this morning. Found that the alternator needed to come off, but didn't need to unhook any wires. The manifold to head bolts were not too bad to get loose. The very front bolt was not even finger tight... it was flat loose! Its pair was barely tight. I think that was where the leak was. The rear two were tight, but not very. The center two were scary tight and did not want to come loose. I used a breaker bar on them *gently*, working them back and forth until they came easily. Hooray! No broken bolts in the head. The outlet bolts were no problem.

The "new" manifold had a snapped off bolt where the choke stove plate has a locking tab on my old manifold. I tried to drill and Easy Out, but broke a drill bit off in the bolt... Oh well, we don't need that feature anyway. Scraped and filed the mating surfaces to prep for the gaskets. Discovered the exhaust gasket set I bought from Cooper does not come with the outlet gasket. I needed anti-sieze compound for the bolts and high temp RTV to glue the gaskets on anyway, so took Betty on a run, first to Cooper's for the outlet gaskets, then to Kragen/o'Reiley for the other two items. Betty always starts and goes no matter how long I leave her sitting neglected at the curb, poor girl. Her A/C control panel reported the outside temp as being 97°F. Yikes!

No problem getting any of the goods. Back home I RTV'd the mating surfaces and plopped the gaskets on. While that was setting up I first applied anti-sieze to each of the bolts and ran them in and out of their holes, then I scraped and cleaned the head mating surfaces as best I could. Fooled around inside for a bit and then checked... it was set up enough to go ahead. So on she goes. The exhaust pipe was a bit in the way, but got the bolts all in and semi-tight. Then I climbed under and found that the pipe didn't line up with the outlet anymore. Odd! The pipe is segmented about a foot from the connection to the outlet and I found out that this is the reason: to adjust the sucker easily. So I loosened the clamp and twisted a little and presto! All is now lined up. Bolted that all back together quickly and them back out from under to tighten up the bolts to the head.

Started her up and the leak is now fixed! I will probably do a quick re-torque tomorrow and then taker her for a spin... hopefully to the car wash as she is pretty dirty. ;-)

Hood Blanket

Put in a set of hood blanket pads, purchased from Cooper's. Three individual pads that you glue in with spray adhesive. I had my doubts but they seem fine. Helps deaden the sound when opening and closing the hood too. Nice!

Drive!

I took my Lucille out for a little 20+ mile jaunt yesterday. She sure rides nice now that the whole front suspension and steering have been gone through. Now to cure the small exhaust leak...

Took Lucille out for a spin on the freeway around 6:30 pm when traffic was down somewhat. Drove out to Griffith park, Forest Lawn exit and then drove thorugh the park to the onramp going west at Betty Davis park. The car drives very nicely on the freeway now, compared to before the front end rebuild, but the harmonic rumbling noise is still there, produced by the engine/trans I'm quite sure. I don't know what can be done about that but it's really loud! At least the steering is tight and confident now. :D I'm very pleased with the results. The engine doesn't run real smooth and there is what I think is an exhaust leak, causing a one-cylinder pop in the exhaust sound. Doesn't sound good to me. I will probably need to hit AZ Vintage up for a right manifold. Might as well get both while I'm at it, I guess.

Front End Finished!

I called Tyerman's yesterday and they said the car would be finished today. Sure enough, I got a call before noon. Couldn't leave work till later, but by 4PM I made it there and picked her up. $1035.00 for the labor and it looks/feels like they did a nice job. She really rides nice on all that new stuff. I grabbed the old parts just to have them. On the ride home I was reminded that the TV rod to control shifts was still a bit too light, causing slightly delayed shifting in a couple of gears, so once home I tweaked that a bit. I don't want to take her out for much of a spin tonight because it's Friday and folks are getting off work. I'll wait til tomorrow and take her over to the car wash for a nice bath.
Next up, clicking sound from the rear wheels that varies with car speed!

I stopped by Tyerman's this afternoon... just couldn't resist seeing if they had made much progress. Interestingly, the front wheels were still on the car, but the springs were out. Odd. Anyway, the guy said he found everything in the trunk OK, and he saw that the upper end of the spring had the isolator, but he was going to use the second set on the bottom as well. So that's good. I'm feeling better about it.

Front End Rebuild Begins

This morning, bright and early, I drove Lucille over the to Tyerman's on Magnolia in Burbank to begin the front end rebuild. The only issue I might find is that they seemed to think the spring isolators were not used that year. But I told them they were, and I have two pairs in the trunk for them to use. I sure as hell hope they use them! But meanwhile, they wanted to warn me heavily that, as an old car, their estimate on how much time they would need could quickly swell, at $75 and hour, so I should be prepared if it goes way over estimate. I had misgivings over having them do the work and I always reassured myself that they were going to do it for "only $800" labor, but now I can't really fall back on that if they are so adamant that the estimate will likely be too low. Nervous. Probably should have just tackled it myself. Too late!

Lucille moved to new digs this weekend. She's still here at the house, but for the time that the '49er is getting painted and needing the garage, I set up temporary space for Lucille behind the garage where she is protected and covered. She seems happy there and has her Battery Tender hooked up as well.
 

DIODE

Installed the diode in the alternator's exciter/warning lamp circuit today. I did not have a problem with the engine running after the ignition was turned off, but I did notice the battery running down over a week's time, so as cheap as the diode was, I figured I might as well.

Drive!

The new Battery Tender chargers I got sure do make it so I don't have to worry about the charge running down anymore. Very nice. Gave Lucille a nice hand wash yesterday and took her for a spin today. The turn signals cancelled themselves nicely and the horn ring didn't rattle one bit! Stopped at the Shell station for petrol and cruised over to see Mr. Cooper. No springs, but I had a nice visit.

I took the horn ring off the steering wheel today to figure out how to keep it from vibrating when driving over bumps and I found the reson for the funky way the turn signals cancel... or not. The cam that bumps the springs to release the signal was 180° backwards. I had to pull the steering wheel to reverse the cam, but that was easy. With the cam fixed, I put little strips of rubber from the stash of stuff I'm using for the '49er's door panels under the part of the wheel that the hold part rides over, and over that I used some of the self-adhesive fabric Cooper sold me for the window weatherstrips.

Parts

I went to Coopers and picked up the parts, all $1400 worth! Cooper ordered the springs, which should be around $170 more. Tyerman's estimates about $800 in labor so it's a pretty typical front end rebuild in my view. I don't think it's worth it to do the labor myself and save the $800, especially. Part of me wants to, but part realizes that it will take me weeks and I will wear myself out. Tyerman's will do it in a day or two and all I have to do is enjoy the results.

Bad News

I took Lucille over to Tyerman's in Burbank for a front end alignment. What they found wasn't pretty. The upper control arm shafts are particularly worn, to the point of being unsafe. I got a quote from them on the labor and called Cooper for the parts. Cooper had everything but springs, and those he will order for me. I had Tyerman's adjust the toe-in anyway and even that little bit made a huge improvement in the steering.

Drive!

Drove Lucille for the first time today with the refreshed carb. Only one issue, and that is the TV adjustment for the trans shift points. It shifts a little late so I need to loosen it a bit. Otherwise, starts, drives and accelerates fine, with better power than she had before. It might need to be leaned out a tiny bit too.