What did you do today-2024

I know most on here will have a similar story, Fairlane sat for a while and needed to move it around the shop. Went to hit the brakes and pedal went to the floor. Look in the master and dry, puddle under where it was sitting. OK, no big deal, humidity here so this is not the first time. To Rock Auto order master and wheel cylinders. Pull stuff apart, master gone, wheel cylinders look good, together again pull out the Mityvac to bleed everything (wife doesn't want to climb up into the car on the hoist anymore). Can't pull anything through the rear?? I have heard of this before but the first time for me, the rear hose and distribution block will not flow anything! Totally plugged or collapsed. Looking for parts again.....
 
I know most on here will have a similar story, Fairlane sat for a while and needed to move it around the shop. Went to hit the brakes and pedal went to the floor. Look in the master and dry, puddle under where it was sitting. OK, no big deal, humidity here so this is not the first time. To Rock Auto order master and wheel cylinders. Pull stuff apart, master gone, wheel cylinders look good, together again pull out the Mityvac to bleed everything (wife doesn't want to climb up into the car on the hoist anymore). Can't pull anything through the rear?? I have heard of this before but the first time for me, the rear hose and distribution block will not flow anything! Totally plugged or collapsed. Looking for parts again.....

I had the exact same thing happen with a 1958 Edsel wagon. The hose is nothing special. Just take the old one into a parts store and match it up with another application. Just make sure it’s long enough so when the axle drops to its lowest point it doesn’t pull the hose apart.
 
Got really tired of the hood popping on my '49 Meteor so had to remove the pan that spans the fenders to get the spring & lever out to straighten & relodge the coil spring. Should have been easy but with 75 yr old cars who knows what came before! One side was top monted/bolted the other crammed & tacked under !! Grrr! I guess from what I read on the HAMB 49-51 Ford cars have a cronic problem with hoods popping . Maybe should look for another assembly to retro in but with a finished car it's iffy! Anyone has done an upgrade??
 
Al. Rotate the plunger into a different location. They wear in one place some times. The plunger has a penis shape
 
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Got really tired of the hood popping on my '49 Meteor so had to remove the pan that spans the fenders to get the spring & lever out to straighten & relodge the coil spring. Should have been easy but with 75 yr old cars who knows what came before! One side was top monted/bolted the other crammed & tacked under !! Grrr! I guess from what I read on the HAMB 49-51 Ford cars have a cronic problem with hoods popping . Maybe should look for another assembly to retro in but with a finished car it's iffy! Anyone has done an upgrade??

Go to your nearest Pick'n'Pull, look for a VW Rabbit (I expect a Golf would have similar bits). At one of the Swap Meets, one vendor had an aftermarket latch setup, I recognized it immediately as being almost identical to the one in a Rabbit I had eons ago. Grab the Pin, Latch, Cable & Lever, and you're set!!
 
Just think 40 years ago we could rest them on our chests and bench press them up into place. What happened?
Relatable. in around 1993 I changed the clutch in my '77 chevy 4X4 hunting truck. Didn't own a floor jack or anything fancy like that so pulled the trans/transfere case by hand. Putting it back in was fun, rolled it onto my chest and while bench pressing the trans and lifting the transfer case with my knees (bending my legs) I hoisted that thing into place. Took a couple tries to get the input shaft through the disc, would wrestle it for a minute (or less), get played out, lower everything back onto my chest, wheez trying to breath with all that weight on me for a few minutes, then try again. Did I mention it was a cast iron 4 Spd with a cast iron 205 transfer case?. A smarter man would have split them and installed them separately but....that would be a SMART man and none was available that day. These days I would probably struggle to put the pressure plate on while laying on my back on the floor.
 
I know most on here will have a similar story, Fairlane sat for a while and needed to move it around the shop. Went to hit the brakes and pedal went to the floor.......
Also relatable. Back in about '82 or '83, after a long winter with my '57 chevy sitting in the garage, I was excited to get it out in the sunshine. I opened the hood to connect the battery then just lowered the hood but did not latch it. My girlfriend had her '67 Firebird parked in the driveway (this is important). Started my car and slowly let out the clutch just until the car started to move out of the garage and then pushed in the clutch and hit, what USED to be, the brakes. Pedal to the floor and all I could see in slow motion was the "battering ram" in the middle of the firebird grill getting closer and closer with no way to stop. I was barely moving but was also very close to her car. The car barley hit but, unfortunately for me, her bumper went above my bumper an smashed the gill bar on my car and hit the chrome bar along the bottom of the UNLATCHED hood putting a slight buckle in the hood. I was devastated as I had just had the car painted the previous summer. Not a mark on the firebird. Took the car to the buddy that was my hotrod mentor at the time and he looked at it and said "no problem" and proceeded to put some short lengths of 2x4 under the hood on both sides forward of the buckle, then climbed on the hood and "gently" bounced his weight on each side of the hood (while I looked on horrified). Climbed down, removed the blocks and closed the hood. Fit like brand new and didn't even crack then paint.
 
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Great story LTK, luckily, I had nothing to run into but trees around 30 feet away so had lots of time to throw it into first and get her stopped. Was careful and got her back into her spot without damage. Thought about 'what could have happened' like your story. Probably will forget (I'm old) but thought maybe take a better look at stuff that sits for some time before going for a spin? Ya right!
 
Also relatable. Back in about '82 or '83, after a long winter with my '57 chevy sitting in the garage, I was excited to get it out in the sunshine. I opened the hood to connect the battery then just lowered the hood but did not latch it. My girlfriend had her '67 Firebird parked in the driveway (this is important). Started my car and slowly let out the clutch just until the car started to move out of the garage and then pushed in the clutch and hit, what USED to be, the brakes. Pedal to the floor and all I could see in slow motion was the "battering ram" in the middle of the firebird grill getting closer and closer with no way to stop. I was barely moving but was also very close to her car. The car barley hit but, unfortunately for me, her bumper went above my bumper an smashed the gill bar on my car and hit the chrome bar along the bottom of the UNLATCHED hood putting a slight buckle in the hood. I was devastated as I had just had the car painted the previous summer. Not a mark on the firebird. Took the car to the buddy that was my hotrod mentor at the time and he looked at it and said "no problem" and proceeded to put some short lengths of 2x4 under the hood on both sides forward of the buckle, then climbed on the hood and "gently" bounced his weight on each side of the hood (while I looked on horrified). Climbed down, removed the blocks and closed the hood. Fit like brand new and didn't even crack then paint.
Sounds just like the procedure to straighten the kink just forward of hood hinge on the early square bodies, followed by bolting an angle iron on the inside lol.
 
Al. Rotate the plunger into a different location. They wear in one place some times. The plunger has a penis shape
Yes done with a new one and also rewelded the latch indent to flat where it was worn plus a teflon washer underb the slider latch. ALL to no avail. James idea about a rabbit latch sounds good ....hey, I could send my dog after one as she's a rabbit hound!!
 
I installed a drain on my fuel cell. A simple ball valve with a couple AN fittings and tube through the trunk floor. I always dread draining leaded fuel by just disconnecting the fitting from the electric fuel pump. Makes a mess, stinks up the garage, bad stuff for health reasons and I don’t like leaving fuel in the tank for months on end.
 
Well I'm definately on the hunt for some fenders and bits for my 35 "wanna" be coupe project. I pulled all the sheet metal off the rafters and started to cobble it together to mock it up. The majority of it is pretty beat and paper thin, I figure I can make use of 1 front fender, 1 running board and 1 drivers side rear fender. The hood top is shot though I have a very nice 36 hood top I will likely use, even though it is completely different from a 35 it would be getting cut up eventually anyways to fit the 37 LaSalle grill I have.

So if anyone has any leads on some fenders for a 35 shoot me a message! I'm not looking for 2000 dollar fenders, just something better then what I have and/or am missing.

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Damn, always seems sub-standard to post after Hooligan’s posts…. Great stuff there!

This past Wednesday evening at buddy’s GMC garage task night we aimed our three machinists at the block for broken/seized stud removal. Good night 4 came out relatively and 1 was a beast…but sucummed to the heat and the vast selection of drills, extractors and more drills.
There was enough time to also fit wood dowels as mock D-D shafting to get a proper placement of the u-joints for the steering shaft.
A good night.
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Today’s task, or afternoon fun, take the ‘55 steering column & box apart for an internal cleaning and rebuild. The steering box rebuild kit was purchased about 2 years ago…maybe 3 haha, and now it is time to get at it.
No issues to disassemble and clean. Quite simple as the old manual (I had this for quite a few years) actually goes into full detail how to do this.
Tomorrow, punch out the old plain bearings (brass bushings) and put all the new bits into it. Cheers… yes this is my truck/project!
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Just thinking that when I see a post saying it was simple or easy ..then I see a lath and other expensive tools and having the knowledge to use these tools..I’m wondering how easy it would be with my tools that I have…vice , hammer and a few other hand tools….and yes I do have tool envy..
 
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