More progress…
I hadn't planned on going to the shop today, but talked with Ken in the a.m. and thought I better get up there. Left the office after lunch to see if the trim paint I chose from a paint chip is close to the original Caramel Brown. Ken painted the wheels and I'm glad to say the color looks good. He'll now go ahead and paint the accent color on the wheels (orange), the molding stripe (brown) and the molding pinstripe (orange).
While I was there, I installed an original radiator petcock, got the correct radiator hose clamps installed, put on the correct heater shutoff valve and hooked up the heater. I also switched out the heater fan, installing one that seems to have more juice.
We added 14 quarts of 50-50 coolant and fired her up. Ran it at operating temperature (180) for awhile, then noticed a pool of coolant under the rear of the engine and another pool inside the car on the floormat. Damned if the heater core didn't leak. It was supposed to be a NOS heater, but maybe 70 years of sitting around caused the solder to weaken. So I bypassed the heater, removed it and will take it to Lewiston Radiator to have the core resoldered.
The good news is that the engine purrs like a kitten. It really sounds good, an reminds me that it's time for a valve adjustment on the noisier coupe engine.
Ken also got to work on the RH vent window. It came back this week from Paul's Plating, finally correct after 3 tries. That will allow him to finish up all the remaining window and door work, the last big piece of work. He'll also be able to mount and balance the tires. At that point, it's a driveable car!
Still lots of small things to do, but the end gets closer and closer.
While I was there, I installed an original radiator petcock, got the correct radiator hose clamps installed, put on the correct heater shutoff valve and hooked up the heater. I also switched out the heater fan, installing one that seems to have more juice.
We added 14 quarts of 50-50 coolant and fired her up. Ran it at operating temperature (180) for awhile, then noticed a pool of coolant under the rear of the engine and another pool inside the car on the floormat. Damned if the heater core didn't leak. It was supposed to be a NOS heater, but maybe 70 years of sitting around caused the solder to weaken. So I bypassed the heater, removed it and will take it to Lewiston Radiator to have the core resoldered.
The good news is that the engine purrs like a kitten. It really sounds good, an reminds me that it's time for a valve adjustment on the noisier coupe engine.
Ken also got to work on the RH vent window. It came back this week from Paul's Plating, finally correct after 3 tries. That will allow him to finish up all the remaining window and door work, the last big piece of work. He'll also be able to mount and balance the tires. At that point, it's a driveable car!
Still lots of small things to do, but the end gets closer and closer.
posted by Bob Shafto at 8:00 PM
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