'40 Chevy Update

alchevy · May 15, 2005, 07:20:01 PM

After 12,000 miles on the car since July, 2003 on the way to a car show on March 5, 2005...just a normal day cruisin' with 18 old cars on the way to the event...Enjoyed the car show and headed home. Decided to top off the tank with some gas before I left this small town so pulled into the first place I saw. It was a name brand service station. (some will not remember these, where you actually got service when filling up the tank) Left there and met up with the group I came with and we got onto the ramp to the interstate.
Noticed as soon as I put my foot on the gas that it had a bad gas knock that it did not have before. It got up to speed finally and I caught up with the group. But every time we had to slow down for one thing or another, the bad gas knock was still there. Got it home and asked a friend about it the next day and he told me to run some high octane fuel through it so I went and topped the tank off with 93 octane. Had been running 87 octane for 12,000 miles. Drove it around town and noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust and it was shifting funny. Drove it enough to clear up the knocking. We checked the timing and it was right on. Bought a new modulator valve to go onto the automatic transmission (turbo 350). Thought that the modulator was letting transmission fluid up into the intake and that was causing the white smoke. Then I noticed another leak in my radiator, so a new Walker Radiator was ordered and I put it in the car along with the new Stewart High Flow Stage 1 water pump and the switch to turn my electric fan on and off at 190 degrees.
Checked the transmission fluid and it was low so I added some. Drove the car and it would not shift out of first. Asked questions around my group and found out that if the modulator was not getting enough vacuum, then it would not shift right, so I was told to adjust it out three turns.
Folks were still questioning the white smoke and wanted to know if it was a bad head gasket so they told me to take the spark plugs out and take aloose one wire from the distributor and have someone turn the key while I checked to see if any water came out of the holes where the plugs were. Nothing but air came out.
Drove the car with the modulator turned out three turns and it did not work. It would finally shift, just was hard and late. Oh, yeah...while changing out the modulator the first time, part of the transmission broke off where the threads are for the bolt that holds the modulator in place. So we just have it rigged with a longer bolt with a nut on the other end. Don't trust it for long trips.
Somewhere in this process I did a test to check to see if all of the cylinders were firing...with the motor running I felt close to each header to see if any of them were cooler than the rest and some were. So I changed out the spark plugs. Several friends came over and looked at the car and decided that the distributor cap must have a crack in it and for me to swap it out. Also when the PVC valve was removed from the valve cover and removed from the hose going to the carb, the car idle smoothed out and ran better. This confused my friends because it was introducing a vacuum leak and it's not supposed to run better like that. It's a stock 350 V8 crate motor. The Edelbrock 600 carb was cleaned out on Saturday and put back on the car. Then it was still not running smooth, so the spark plugs were looked at and compared to the ones that came out of the car and they were not the same part number. AC 45TS came out and were replaced with AC 42T. So I went to the parts house and bought 8 45TS' and a new distributor cap and the motor runs smooth now.
The transmission is another story. We put the old modulator back in and the same thing happened...shifting hard and late, but not slipping.

So it looks like I am in the market for another transmission soon.

I have heard that Tony is the transmission guy here, so Tony do you have any ideas on the transmission problems I am having?
AL

alchevy · May 17, 2005, 09:39:13 AM

I found another turbo 350 transmission at a local transmission shop for a good price and bought it on Monday. Think I will do what has been suggested and change my "K" member into a removeable piece that bolts in instead of rivets. Should make for an easier swap without having to disturb the motor that's running good now.
AL

coupla48s · May 19, 2005, 05:40:02 PM

Doncha hate it when you are chasing something like that all over the car?
I'm still contemplatinmg what to do about my steering.

Kevin in Seattle

32coupe · May 19, 2005, 09:21:27 PM

I was chasing a problem in my coupe, I have now got a fresh motor, a fresh gearbox and a fresh diff.
And you know what?

It all works fine now

Problem solved.

Now it's time to get it out of the shed and drive the doors off of it

alchevy · May 20, 2005, 10:02:16 AM

Quote from: "32coupe"I was chasing a problem in my coupe, I have now got a fresh motor, a fresh gearbox and a fresh diff.
And you know what?

It all works fine now
Problem solved.

Now it's time to get it out of the shed and drive the doors off of it

Well, it should...not much else to change!
I worked out a deal with the local transmission shop and they swapped out the rivets for bolts in the "K" member for me and swapped out the transmission for a very reasonable price...took them all day to do it, but they stayed with the price I was quoted. Might be higher for the next fellow, next time.
I drove the car on Thursday about 130 miles and here's what it is doing now: At low speeds, the water temp is at 160 and at highway speeds it is at 190-200 degrees, then goes back down to 160 when I slow down to 60 and slower. The electric fan switch is from Vintage Air and it is supposed to turn the fan on at 190 degrees. Running a Walker Radiator, no shroud, Stewart Stage 1 high flow water pump, 180 degree thermostat Robert Shaw (it does not have the extra holes drilled in it). The fan comes on at 160 degrees, so is my VDO water temp gauge off that much?? Also is the fan turning restricting the air flow through the radiator?
AL

enjenjo · May 20, 2005, 11:28:09 AM

QuoteAlso is the fan turning restricting the air flow through the radiator?

Disconnect the fan and see what happens then. If the fan is the problem, it should run cooler at high speed that way. It does sound like an air flow problem

btrc · May 21, 2005, 07:24:49 AM

My Cobra is kind of like that. It has 1 pusher fan on a thermostat and two pulling fans on a switch. If I leave the puller fans on on the highway it will run hotter. It always runs hotter than yours though. about 210 in town with all the fans going on a hot day. On the highway it depends on the direction of the wind. If your in a strong crosswind it will run around 230 at 65 MPH. Into the wind down to 180. It's been like this for 29,000 miles. A new radiator is on my list of things to do but it will probably be a few years before I get to it.

Bob

alchevy · May 21, 2005, 04:56:09 PM

Well, I disconnected the switch and tried it. I could still turn the fan on with my toggle switch. So I cruised over to a fellow car club buddies house as we were going on a picnic. Going down the road at 50mph the car ran at 160 degrees and I thought...that must have been it! Coming back home, though, at 50mph it ran at 190 degrees. The outside temp was warmer coming back than it was this morning. I pulled off the road with the motor still running, I checked to make sure my lower hose on the radiator was not collasped and it was fine. Drove it home at around 190-200 degrees.