Hi, guys! Great site! I hope I can get some help from the experts I've been reading posts from. My dad bought this '57 98 about three years ago but passed away last fall before he could finish restoring it. I'm trying to fix it up a bit and sell it for my mom. I have one big problem and one question (I haven't had grease under my nails for awhile and I'm loving looking this car over.)

Problem: The car stalls after short distances in hot weather. My dad knew of this and said it was a vapor lock problem. My brother has told me there's a 2.5 psi fuel pump in the engine compartment that shuts down when hot. He says we need a 6 psi pump outside the engine bay. Apparently this is also related to the wiper blades not working.

Question: The brakes are squishy. I need to depress the pedal to the floor to stop. I found a dipstick behind a panel in the left-front wheel well with only a bit of fluid at the tip. Is this the brake fill point? Do I fill where the dipstick is and if so, how much and what type?

Thanks in advance for the help. I'll post under "For Sale" with the details.

Ken

 

Welcome aboard

Hang in there for some experts to answer

 

Welcome! What a pretty old girl!! Citcapp likes those big old cars!

 

Sandy,

Don't say "Old" round Pat, he might get a complex.

 

Ken, unless someone changed the type of brake fluid, you should put 3 dot type fluid in that reservior that you found. Filler up to about 1/2 inch from the top. Next, before you are tempted to go for a little ride, check
and find out where and why you lost fluid.Then bleed your brakes starting from the farthest brake then next farthest and so on.Keep the reservior full at all times
Poor wiper action is common with this era cars ,mostly from vacume leaks and bad diaphragms in their fuel pumps, also defective wiper motors. You might check your fule pump first as you said you had a fuel delivery problem already.If your vacume lines are bad this also will affect your power brake system and rob power from them making them feel like non power. Keep us in the loop , we like to help if we can....Tedd

 

Welcome to the forum. Very nice ride!

 

Thanks for the comments. Thanks for the info, Tedd. I'll get into the brake system tomorrow. Any help out there on the vapor lock issue?

Ken

 

Welcome to CO. Hope you can fix those brakes.

 

Ken, unless you are in a VERY hot climat I would not think you would be having a vapor lock promlem. You could insulate the gas line with foam tubing insulating material but first I would be looking at that fuel pump. Is it a stock type or an after market electric type?If stock look to see if the diaphragm is shot . Some times they will leak oil at the junction haves and you can see it from the out side , some times the leak will develop on the inside and gas will leak into the oil pan causing thin oil and a possible fire hazard.A quick check of your fuel pump can be done by putting the fuel line in a 16 oz coke bottle, disengage the hot lead to tha coil so it won't start, then turn the engine over for about 10 seconds, this should fill the bottle to at least 1/2 full .If it does let's look some where else.
Gust a added thought, if you have a after market fuel pump you will always have vacume problems for your wipers. They need that extea boost to make them work and you will be fighing them forever.If you changs out the pump I would go with a stock unit. Stock pumps are rated at4 to 5 1/4 pounds and should solve many problems...Tedd

 

SOLD!!! Thanks for all the advice and help. We sold the car today.