'57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan

[jlsanborn]

Looks great Vic! I'm facing the same battle someday. Anxious to hear your results!

[knomadd]

I feel your pain. It took me several tries to get my lines re-bent. I purchased a pre-bent line kit, but with my custom setup, I needed to fix the master cylinder to frame lines.

Lines look great! Nice work, as always.

[Low Elco]

Good lookin' stuff. Glad you're getting on top of it. Hope to see you tearing up the street soon!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Looks great Vic! I'm facing the same battle someday. Anxious to hear your results!

Originally Posted by knomadd

I feel your pain. It took me several tries to get my lines re-bent. I purchased a pre-bent line kit, but with my custom setup, I needed to fix the master cylinder to frame lines.

Lines look great! Nice work, as always.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Good lookin' stuff. Glad you're getting on top of it. Hope to see you tearing up the street soon!

Thanks guys! I'd hoped to be able to do a full report tonight, but other stuff got in the way. (Some welding, helping my brother replace a u-joint in his truck, several long distance phone calls and so forth.) Anyway, I finished all the plumbing last night and followed the recommended steps to prep the unit for service. Unfortunately, with the car back down on the ground, I had no power steering. After some anxious moments, I realized everything was acting as if there was no pressure coming from the pump. Then the light bulb went on and I recalled when I reassembled the spool valve into the pump, I wasn't exactly sure how it was supposed to go. Instead of checking an online resource, I made an (incorrect) assumption about which way the spring went. After consulting a rebuilder resource, I realized my error and set about fixing it. Fortunately, it was a very easy to do, so once the valve was in the correct location, I went thru the steps again and the power steering is now working. With company here, it was too late to make a test run, so that will happen tomorrow and I'll let you know how it goes. Oddly enough, the pump never complained at all about the misconfigured valve. I'd have thought it might whine a little, but it was quiet as a church mouse.

[sduckworth13]

Very nice work Vic. That really looks great.

[jlsanborn]

Sooo clean. Nice work Vic!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Very nice work Vic. That really looks great.

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Sooo clean. Nice work Vic!

Thanks, guys!

Well, I took Maybelline out for a drive this afternoon and I believe all systems (transmission, steering and brakes) were performing the best they ever have. I wasn't sure what to expect with the brakes since the only bleeding I'd done was using the reverse pressure method, where you pump the fluid from each corner back thru the lines into the m/c. Afterward, I didn't even gravity bleed or "pump and hold" to evacuate any remaining air. However the brakes worked very smoothly and applied with very little effort. No pull to either side when braking at low or high speeds. Didn't try a panic stop, but it felt like there was enough power to easily make 'em lock up. So despite all the heartburn associated with the vendor, the booster unit seems to work flawlessly. WooHoo!

The lessons I learned were:
1) Don't assume they know your setup. They may tell you they have it covered, but verify all the measurements. For me, the problem areas were the firewall bolt pattern, the firewall to brake pedal distance and the master cylinder actuating piston depth.
2) Go ahead and pop for the extra $$ to buy one of their master cylinders. That removes it from the list of things that can go wrong. In my case, my SS Brakes m/c was off just enough to not work. Even though it was in perfect operating condition, either it or the booster rod would need modification. H-T threw a fit over my request to modify the rod, so save yourself the grief.
3) Be prepared for a long wait. They may promise 2-3 weeks delivery but add at least two weeks to their estimate.
4) If something does go wrong, it will be your fault. (See lesson #1) And get ready for another really long wait. Paying customers go to the back of the line.
5) Don't get mad and call BS when you hear the same lame excuses over and over. You may need them at some point down the road. If you've burned your bridges, the only resource you'll have is the collective wisdom/stupidity of the internet. Don't ask how I know this.

I'm really looking forward to this Saturday. There's a cruise/BBQ at Vintage Fabrications in Independence, the weather is looking great and my alignment guy says I should put a few miles on the old girl before my appointment on Monday. Sounds like a perfect chance to mix business with pleasure.

[sduckworth13]

What a relief, glad you got the hydrobooster setup the way you want it and hopefully you can have many trouble free miles out of it.

[Xeen]

The engine compartment looks clean enough to eat off of.
You worked hard to make everything perfect and it shows, I see many more awards in Maybelline's future.
Well done Vic.

[Low Elco]

Glad it up and running well. If I'm lucky, I may see you out at Vintage.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Glad it up and running well. If I'm lucky, I may see you out at Vintage.

Thankfully, Chip made it out to the Vintage show. Just as we pulled into a parking spot, the power steering hose puked the last of the fluid out of the reservoir and the pump started squealing. There wasn't any oil up topside, so I knew the problem had to be underneath. But there was no way to get to the lines to find out what happened. We were parked on a steep incline in grass that came up to the rocker panels.

As I was dialing information for the number of a local towing service, we bumped into Chip and his son Aaron. Chip graciously offered to go get the rollback trailer he's used several times to transport CRLS and haul Maybelline home. So that's what we did. After stopping to buy some PS fluid and hitch up the trailer, we made it back to Vintage Vehicles and refilled the reservoir which allowed me to drive up onto the trailer.

On the way home, our alarm company called to say they'd dispatched the fire department to the house for a carbon monoxide alert. When we got there, they had already left but the alarm was still active. Kathy cleared it, but it fired back up again very quickly and then we had an instant replay. The fire truck arrived in short order (firehouse is right around the corner) and the guys came in with their meters and checked the whole house. We finally decided that when I started the Ford to go to the show, the fumes must have filled the shop and it took awhile for them to migrate to the detector. All in all, more excitement than I'd planned for.

The leak turned out to be a loose fitting, so it was an easy fix. Chip had brought along some wrenches but it would have been impossible to get under the car without a jack. Today my plan is to retighten every fitting, top off the fluid and purge the system again. Tomorrow I have an appointment to finally get the alignment finished. Hopefully, nothing interferes with that.

Big thanks to Chip and Aaron for bailing me out!

[knomadd]

As the saying goes. "It's always something." Or so it seems to be with my vehicles. Either needs attention, or wish list items... At least you know what needs to be done.

[Xeen]

It sounds like packing an aluminum jack and a basic portable tool kit wouldn't be the worst idea in the world while you are still bug testing the car.

[swamp rat]

All's well that ends well, glad you got it all worked out.

[Low Elco]

Glad we got you and Miss Kathy and Maybelline home ok. Made for a fun afternoon, and we got ribs out of it at Dad's, so right on! Glad the fix was an easy one!

[Vic1947]

While we're on the subject of bug fixes, I spent most of today fixing a mystery failure. I took Maybelline to have the front end aligned yesterday and on the way home tried to run the power windows up. Neither side worked.
Earlier on the way to the shop, I'd closed the passenger side but left the driver side window open, so I know the passenger side was working. When I picked the car up, both sides were down. I was a bit puzzled, but assumed it must be a fuse. However, at home the fuse checked out so now I was really flummoxed. This morning I started tracing the wires and found I had 12V into both doors as should be the case. Plus I could hear the relays click when I pressed the up and down switches. That meant the problem had to be in the PW motors. To go any further, I had to pull the window frames, the armrests, the door handle and the upholstered door panel.

My upholsterer told me when I picked it up that he hoped I'd never have to take the doors apart as it took a lot of tweaking to make the panels and trim fit correctly. So now here I was, doing that very thing. When I laid open the interior of the door, nothing seemed amiss and the relays were putting power to the motors. As a last resort, I removed the motor / gear drive from the rest of the assembly and voila! it actuated. I carefully reassembled it and the window worked perfectly. The rubber cushions that acted as the bottom stops were totally squished out. It appears as if the window channels crashed into the stops and destroyed them. I replaced them with firm plastic stops that will prevent the windows from overextending in the down direction. Now all that's left is to reassemble everything. Oh, and I also need to readjust my tie rod ends to center the steering wheel properly and re-do the shim packs so they're all the same style shim.

My buddy Steve passed along a couple of man cave items he got from his son, Charlie. For the last couple of years, Charlie's been working with the Hatfield and McCoy bunch to launch their whiskey and more recently, with Richard and Aaron to get Gas Monkey Cinnamon Tequila out into the stores. Below is a picture Charlie took of Richard with an LED backlit sign Steve made for them. Pretty cool!

[Low Elco]

Nice stuff! Now if he'd go to work for Tito's Vodka, we'd be in bidness!

[Vic1947]

Winter Update:

It's been awhile since I last posted, so I thought I'd catch up on a few things. We've been to a few shows this fall but the car cover is now on Maybelline for the winter. We were invited to the KCI All Speed Expo a couple of weeks ago and had the car on display there. They only awarded one trophy per class but we were edged out by Ray Worth who owns a Harley dealership here in KC. Oddly enough, his car was a '57 Ford Custom with a fuel injected Boss 521 Jon Kaase engine. I felt like we had a more detailed car than his, but there was no getting around the impact of that powerplant. We had a great time anyway and bumped into a number of folks we know.

The hydroboost brakes work like gangbusters, but the increased line pressure found one more small leak that was easily fixed by tightening a bleeder valve a little more. Not sure if I mentioned that the trans leak turned out to be a missing o-ring on the downshift lever. With that fixed, the only leak that remains is a very tiny one from the rear main seal. After the car sits for a week or two, there will be a spot about the size of a half dollar under the bell housing lip. Not too bad after all is said and done.

I've been mulling over what to do next and have arrived at a difficult decision. I'm completely out of space to work on anything. I could store one or two vehicles at Subtropolis to free up the necessary room, but still, my present cash flow would hinder progress on CRLS. So I'm testing the market at the moment. We listed Maybelline on Hemming's website a few days ago and the print ad should go out the first of January. If it sells, I'll have both the room and the money to proceed with the truck. I'll let you know how it goes. Till then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!

P.S. Speaking of Christmas, my (early) present from Kathy was a new set of hoops for the Mopar. Added some needed sparkle.

[swamp rat]

Thanks for the update Vic! Merry Christmas to you and family!

[jlsanborn]

Good luck with the sale Vic. Somebody will be getting one sweet ride! What's up with the 305 I saw on the tube?

[Elliot949]

Merry Christmas Vic and Kathy... I understand the funds part... After paying the Paterson Racing Bill on "Raymond" and having just a couple of small thing done to it at Chris Carlson's Hot Rods I am pretty much out of Mula And the fact we are starting to Build our house next Year it is unlikely that much will get done on it for 2016...

If you ever decide you want to make a road trip come see us... We have a spare room and a few bottles of Wine and a pretty full stock of liquor and about 10 kinds of Brewskies...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Good luck with the sale Vic. Somebody will be getting one sweet ride! What's up with the 305 I saw on the tube?

Thanks, John, I hope I can find someone to give it a good home.

About seven years ago, I collaborated with G&G Performance and a good friend in Houston to build that engine for my buddy Smith. He was running in the 305 sprint car class up in central MO and wanted a good bullet, but no one in his immediate neighborhood was into that kind of build. I picked up the engine and took it home with me and proceeded to tear it down and build it back up using forged lightweight parts, a solid lifter cam, low tension Total Seal rings and the best set of stock steel heads allowed by the rules. G&G did the machine work and my buddy Wilson rubbed on the heads (maybe just a smidge more than was allowed back then.) We also accidentally slipped some titanium parts in them and a set of Comp beehive springs. His driver won the local track championship with it the following year. Last I heard some guy from Knoxville bought the complete car for his son to drive.

One interesting thing that we did after dyno testing was to build our own velocity stacks for the Hillborn injection. We used larger tubing with Formula style inserts that slip fit into the tubing. I did all the CAD work on the inserts and the flanges that bolted to the manifold base and my buds in Houston at Cryotech did the machine work on their CNCs. Turned out very nice, but I always wished we had made another trip to Ostrich to do a back to back dyno test. By the time we had the velocity tubes in place, it was time to go racing! I still have one of the leftover stack inserts that sits on my toolbox.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

Merry Christmas Vic and Kathy... I understand the funds part... After paying the Paterson Racing Bill on "Raymond" and having just a couple of small thing done to it at Chris Carlson's Hot Rods I am pretty much out of Mula And the fact we are starting to Build our house next Year it is unlikely that much will get done on it for 2016...

If you ever decide you want to make a road trip come see us... We have a spare room and a few bottles of Wine and a pretty full stock of liquor and about 10 kinds of Brewskies...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Thanks for the invite, Dan. We'd love to make a road trip in the new Dodge, so maybe we can find a few good days after the holidays are over. We'll stay in touch. Later!

[jlsanborn]

TRICK! Are those inserts siamesed? I could see that it was a Hillborn setup and wondered why an iron head 305??? All makes sense now and it's cool!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

TRICK! Are those inserts siamesed? I could see that it was a Hillborn setup and wondered why an iron head 305??? All makes sense now and it's cool!

Good catch, John. During the construction of the stacks, we were forced to siamese the inserts - mainly for packaging.