This is the black '63 I bought from Bob Peterson.
I decided to clean the carb out so I could drive it off the trailer. Took the carb off, and took the lid off the carb. Fairly varnished up but not seriously corroded inside. The accelerator pump plunger is toast; the leather cup is hard and crisp, and the plastic stem of the plunger got melted when I put heat on the pivot screw to loosen it. Oops! I think a carb kit and bead blasting would make this carb good again.
Anyway, I opened up the box with the 600 CFM Edelbrock I bought on sale, and proceeded to mount that, using the spacer plate and gaskets I'd used earlier to mount an Edelbrock on my GT Hawk. That worked pretty well, and I had no difficulty hooking up the fuel and vacuum lines, the electric choke, and the throttle linkage.
Got it started and backed off the trailer OK, and drove it over by the shop to get things sorted out a bit. The alternator wasn't putting out. I took it apart, and found the un-grounded field brush was disconnected. Installed a new brush from my stock, and noticed this alternator has a brand new stator in it. Still had no continuity through the field, and it turned out to be an open field winding. I robbed one from a core alternator, and got it back together. Still wouldn't put out, unless I fed juice to the field terminal.
Checked the fancy adjustable electronic regulator. It has 3 terminals on it: NEG, POS, and FLD. So I connected NEG to a ground wire that was hanging nearby, POS to a wire that had been taped up, and FLD to the wire going to the alternator's field terminal. That did it; it appears to charge fine now.
Now I have all working gauges, except for the tach and the vacuum/boost gauge.
Each time it starts, it starts easier. I drove down to the corner, and back up the road to my neighbour's place. Maybe 3/4 mile in total, hit maybe 40 MPH on the gravel road. Seems to steer OK; no massive slop or heavy pull, anyway. Not a huge amount of low-end torque, but it will break the wheels loose on gravel. Power brake booster is definitely NOT working; the pedal is very hard, but it does stop.
I pulled a spark plug, and determined that the pistons are flat topped, and that the stroke is a touch over 3 inches. So it would appear that this engine is a 259 (3.25" stroke). Heads are casting number 1557570. Which heads are those?
If this is a 259 with standard heads, then installing a supercharger would not require any internal engine modifications, provided the engine is sound. Haven't yet done a compression test, but the oil pressure remained at about 60 PSI when it was warmed up.
Next task is to go through the braking system, and fix any safety-related defects in the suspension.
Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands
I decided to clean the carb out so I could drive it off the trailer. Took the carb off, and took the lid off the carb. Fairly varnished up but not seriously corroded inside. The accelerator pump plunger is toast; the leather cup is hard and crisp, and the plastic stem of the plunger got melted when I put heat on the pivot screw to loosen it. Oops! I think a carb kit and bead blasting would make this carb good again.
Anyway, I opened up the box with the 600 CFM Edelbrock I bought on sale, and proceeded to mount that, using the spacer plate and gaskets I'd used earlier to mount an Edelbrock on my GT Hawk. That worked pretty well, and I had no difficulty hooking up the fuel and vacuum lines, the electric choke, and the throttle linkage.
Got it started and backed off the trailer OK, and drove it over by the shop to get things sorted out a bit. The alternator wasn't putting out. I took it apart, and found the un-grounded field brush was disconnected. Installed a new brush from my stock, and noticed this alternator has a brand new stator in it. Still had no continuity through the field, and it turned out to be an open field winding. I robbed one from a core alternator, and got it back together. Still wouldn't put out, unless I fed juice to the field terminal.
Checked the fancy adjustable electronic regulator. It has 3 terminals on it: NEG, POS, and FLD. So I connected NEG to a ground wire that was hanging nearby, POS to a wire that had been taped up, and FLD to the wire going to the alternator's field terminal. That did it; it appears to charge fine now.
Now I have all working gauges, except for the tach and the vacuum/boost gauge.
Each time it starts, it starts easier. I drove down to the corner, and back up the road to my neighbour's place. Maybe 3/4 mile in total, hit maybe 40 MPH on the gravel road. Seems to steer OK; no massive slop or heavy pull, anyway. Not a huge amount of low-end torque, but it will break the wheels loose on gravel. Power brake booster is definitely NOT working; the pedal is very hard, but it does stop.
I pulled a spark plug, and determined that the pistons are flat topped, and that the stroke is a touch over 3 inches. So it would appear that this engine is a 259 (3.25" stroke). Heads are casting number 1557570. Which heads are those?
If this is a 259 with standard heads, then installing a supercharger would not require any internal engine modifications, provided the engine is sound. Haven't yet done a compression test, but the oil pressure remained at about 60 PSI when it was warmed up.
Next task is to go through the braking system, and fix any safety-related defects in the suspension.
Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands
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