I finally got back behind the wheel after close to a year hiatus. It really felt good as it gives me motivation to keep going with it. The '46 must have a higher gear ratio in the rear because it sure feels better than it did when the 455 was in the '69 Delta a few years back. I drove the car more today than I think I ever have before, maybe five or six miles around the neighborhood. As I get the kinks worked out and find and fix little leaks the trips will get longer. Maybe next spring I can take it on a road trip.

 

Great to hear you made some progess. Hope you keep at it. The weather in these parts sure has been nice, makes it a little more fun to mess with doesn't it?

 

Congrats, Dan. I took the 62 out to our OCA chapter meeting today - about 100 miles round trip. The car seems to run better the more I drive it. Despite the "patina", I got several "thumbs up" from civilians walking their dogs as I rolled through town, had two folks come up to me at the gas station to talk about the car, and as I took my exit off the D.C. Beltway to go to the meeting, a late model Pontiac passed me with the passenger hanging out the window taking a picture of the car. It definitely feels good to drive them!

 

glad you did that and yes it does motivat you, adds pleasure to the times that were tough but you can have some fun , the little things arent so bad now'''jim

 

I can relate Dan, keep at it and post some pics of your progress!

 

It is good to hear that you drove the 46. I bet you have a pretty cool distributor in it, don't you?

 

I will have to post some pics. My project is just so much of a heap compared everyone else's it is almost embarrassing. When I was adding air to the tires on the first part of the little trip I heard someone say "sir, sir?" and as I turned around to acknowledge them the driver asked "can we go for a ride?". It made me feel good as they were admiring the car and complimenting me on it, and it is really a heap!

I have yet to get the wiring finished before I get out on the road as it really isn't safe yet, no brake lights. But I just couldn't resist and the tires were soft anyway so they needed air. I have all the wiring complete up to firewall. Just don't have it all terminated on the fuse block and still need the brake switch and turn signals added in. That should only take a few hours.

Also noticed how much heat leaks through all the old inspection holes and drain holes in the floor pan and firewall. I am going to have to patch those up too. I think some dynamat or similar product would help but I am not ready yet to re-do the interior yet.

Lots of stuff needs completion. I should revive the project thread I started a year ago................if admin hasn't deleted it

 

Glad to here that you got it going again Dan. I don't consider your car a heap at all. I have a few pictures of it myself from when I stopped to see you. We would all like to hear updates and see pictures

 

Way cool! I have been waiting for this announcement for a long time...
Moving under its own power is a good accomplishment.

Now if we can only get Pat's 48 on the road, too....

 

I finished the aftermarket turn signal switch (mail order) and wiring and have turn signals on the rear, brake lights, running light front and rear and headlights. I took the car to a local fill-er-up and put $45 worth of high octane fuel in the tank. Not because it really needs it but what the heck, it felt good to do it. When I left the station I accidently (really) got into it too much and broke traction so easily. I think the final gear ratio is a little higher than in the Delta the engine was originally in. It really felt good to know the car will be fun to drive. Then yesterday I checked the horn wiring that I had initially installed before and found that the used horns I put on aren't working, or at least one of them aren't. Also the horn switch on the steering column is not working, probably from corrosion of disuse. As I recall when I first did it the contacts were kind of rusty and grungy then as well. So, I will have to make that a project as well. The carburetor stuck on high idle on the way back home and with the old single cylinder master brake cylinder I had to really lean on the pedal to keep the car from creeping. It caused the brakes to heat up a little too. I think I need at least a dual master cylinder and want to inspect the brakes again. And then the carb sticking on high idle isn't good either. All these are just little things that I think have been caused by the car sitting in one place for close to a year and a half.

 

exciting news Dan, gets the old heart pumping when you get on it a little doesn't it. Its always the little things that show up when you ride has been sitting for a while that's why I choose to drive the 57 year around weather permitting.

I am back working on the 48, taking some welding classes to tune up my skills as they are a little rusty. I' be spending the winter on it.

 

I need to do the same. Every season, or when I need it done, I tell myself to take welding classes. Haven't done it yet but I will some day.

 

It is cool that you were able to drive it down the road to the gas station. I'm sure you will get all the kinks worked out soon.

 

I hope you do better in that welding class than I did. I learned, very well, how to burn holes in metal. That truly is an art, to me. Glad to hear the '46 is getting closer to completion.

 

Aron, at least burning holes is a start. I bet you I couldn't even get a flame!

I checked the horn, it was the switch on the steering wheel, it is two discs separated by a spring of some kind and they are insulated electrically of course. Pressing the center cap/horn ring causes them to make contact. The inner surfaces had a healthy covering of surface rust which prevented electrical continuity. I fixed that with a piece of emery cloth. Horn works fine now. The left front brake was hanging up and that was the heat problem I noticed. I backed them out a bit and that problem is fixed. The carburetor didn't stick on high idle at all. I think just sitting so long has cause everything to be a little sticky and reluctant to work as it should. Again, it was such a good feeling to drive today. I took it over to a friend's house and returned after sunset, the lights worked great.

 

lets see some pictures!!!!

 

x2!

Nice job getting her back on the road. The rest is icing on the cake.

 

X 3 Dan

 

I will have to get out today and do some. I drove it yesterday on the highway on a 25 mile round trip to a local town and back. Kept it below 60 and it seemed to do fine, the rear gear ratio is definitely higher than I am used too. I haven't checked it but will some day, I suspect the original ratio had to be friendly to the lower torgue flathead engine built in '46. It was dry too, took almost two quarts of 85-140 weight gear oil.

The horns died so I had to replace them with some auto parts store generics, they are higher pitched but work. I think I might adjust the vacuum upshift actuator on the transmission, it shifts just a little early. Beginning to be more critical of little things here and there now, mostly mechanical. People are talking about cosmetic changes but I am going to wait on those for a while.

Anyway, will have to get those pictures posted. Everyone have a good Sunday.

 

Glad to hear of continued progress and motivation. Yes, we need some pictures soon...
And I know for fact that fun drives build up the motivation.
I took Lady out for a 60 mile drive to an out-in-the-country catfish restaurant last night and admire how well she does on the highway - just wanted to go on forever!
Front suspension is all mushy so it will be redone this winter.
It is getting a little cool around here now, so top-down days are getting numbered.

 

Being able to drive your car while working on it is a good thing Dan, looking forward to seeing those pictures.

 

Dan , glad to hear you're getting the '46 out and about! Guaranteed you'll turn some heads with that car rolling down the street.The hardest part of any job is GETTING STARTED, and now you're on a roll ,so keep it going! Sadly , just as you are resurrecting and restoring , I had to put mine to bed for the winter.Despite it being 78 degrees here last week , it is now snowing!Good news is I found my car a good cave to hibernate in...a heated monitored ex-tool factory charging $500.00 for up to 8 months storage.Hope you are able to continue enjoying your ride with your warmer climes, and keep us up to date with the repairs.

 

Ok guys some bad news. I went over to my buddies and we re-tasted the beer on the third week, well.....................it is great! But the bad news is, we liked it too much and by the time I got back home the light was gone so no pictures of the car. But the good news is we liked the beer! Here are a few shots of us with the beer. The young guy is Jon our apprentice, he is 23 and will be the future of home brewing, I am the ugly one with the beard, and my buddy Mick is the third guy.

Derek, I won't be able to enjoy it too much longer as it has no heater, hence no defrost. I want to be safe when I drive it so when it gets too cold the car goes under the canvas too.

Pat, I know I owe you guys some pictures of the car and will get some posted soon.

Rob, I know what you mean about a soft ride. Can you imagine how soft it is with the '46 since the springs are so old and those old 'knee action' shocks just aren't up to it any longer. I bet driving lady on the highway was a rush and she got lots of admiring looks.

 

I have been watching this thread waiting for some pics of the 46 so I can comment and I get 3 guys drinking beer.

That is some great looking beer

 

Fax me some of that beer Dan, the pictures can wait. I'm standing by the fax machine waiting.................still waiting..................

 

heh, heh. It was a little brassy tasting last week but much smoother today. Mick said he thought he could still taste a little bit of a metallic taste to it but I didn't. Next week it will be even better.

Ok, ok sorry. I think I have a few pictures that are a little older that I haven't posted yet so here goes.

 

unless you should take it apart and dont want to risk doing it do to you wont be able to drive it lol.

thats my dilemma lol

 

Looks like a 46 to be proud of...thanks for the pics

ok guys,back to the beer now ,my Uncle used to make his own beer. Drink 1 and feel like you drank 4

 

Great pictures Dan, I still have the picture of my wife setting in the front seat of your 46.

 

I still have that as well as the others we took that day.

 

Sweet looking car, Dan - I do not recall even seeing pics of it before.
I do understand the posting hierchy though - beer pics first! Looks very tasty - please email me a sample.
Beer does not fax - only paper can travel down the phone line.
However it can be emailed as an attachment. Use a USB extension cable and using a tiny funnel, pour it slowly into the cable. Hit send quickly afterwards to prevent it from leaking out.

 

Well, there are a few in my album on this site. I have some more that I may find but I really need to take some newer photos. I would like to post some specific photos of the fuse panel and some other things I have worked on in the last month.
The beer photos just kind of happened. I put the camera in my pocket and stepped out the door planning to take some photos of the '46 but it was overcast, so I decided to go ahead and drive over to my friends house but decided on the daily driver instead of the '46. It stayed overcast the rest of the evening with just a few sporadic patches of daylight, those were the times we took the beer photos.
Your method of sending beer over the internet won't work....................................the funnel would be too tiny to allow sufficient enjoyment of the beer.

 

The weather is clear and dry so I decided to go home for lunch and bring the '46 back to work. I had wanted to achieve that as a milestone, part of the process of working the kinks out so to speak. It drove as expected, loosey-goosey as all get out. That old kingpin steering and suspension is really bad even compared to cars 60s era cars. I think a new front suspension, perhaps even a front clip from a 70s era Cutlass or Delta will be a good improvement. Maybe that will be an improvement to shoot for next year.

Anyway, I am stoked, very happy to be driving the '46 for as long as possible.

 

Way cool!
Enjoy it as much as possible (and some beer afterwards.)
It is pouring down rain over here with cold air to follow.

 

Have done some more work on little things. Restored the rear trunk lamp (mercury switch works!), got the fuel gauge working and it is accurate, have the correct series resistance figured out to make the temperature gauge read correctly with the 455 temperature sensor, got the clock working (YEAH!), all the dash lights working, and even got the high beam indicator working. I am thinking about wiring a neon or LED lamp to the front hood ornament, it has orange plastic wings on either side. I think that would be cool.

 

Dan,

I have had the same idea for the front hood ornament. let me know what your work out. Fun working on it again once you get started isn't it.

 

I will Pat, I tentatively tried to find the correct socket size to remove the nuts holding it one and cannot find the correct one. It is weird, I have even tried metrics, it seems that one size is too large and the next smaller size is too small, in both SAE and Metric. I hate to take a pair of pliers to them as they appear to be the kind that were stamped from flat steel, you know, the hollow type, but not sure. I will keep you posted.

 

I have an extra hood ornament in a box somewhere that's in perfect condition. I will look for it and see if I can figure it out too.

 

This weekend I did a few more things. The hood ornament came off and got some lights. Those 'nuts' were actually screw heads with lots of rust on them. No wonder I couldn't get a socket on them! Actually there were two machine screws with straight slot heads in the center which go through the lower portion of the metal, through the plastic, and into the upper portion of the metal 'rocket body' which is threaded. Then there are three threaded holes to accept 10/24 pieces of all-thread; one closest to the windshield and two closest to the bumpers. These pieces of threaded stock screw into the metal portion of the ornament and are secured by fender washers and 7/16" nuts. I used the neon part of some 'indicator fuses' as lamps. They are cheaper than buying lamps and draw little current. It is easy to dis-assemble them on a bench grinder by grinding away the plastic and the blades, then they can be peeled back to pull out the actual neon bulb. I wired two in parallel with some 20 gauge wire and then attached that wire to larger gauge wire after mounting them in holes I drilled from the bottom side of the ornament. They work great.

I had been having some trouble with the choke not un-loading and causing the car to run poorly. It turned out to be the air cleaner I was using. It had crushed down when I was over-tightening the lid enough to cause it's inner diameter to decrease to the point that it rubbed on the choke rod. I am going to have to re-think my home made air cleaner and housing.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, just never think about taking them while working, too single minded I guess.

 

You need to use one of those "rounded head" extractor sockets on it! Thats what i did on my 42 when i ran into same nut-size issue. Those extractors are the nutz!!! I got a set of them for a Xmas gift one year and they have proved invaluable when working on these old cars!!
MOO
T.