Sometime I feel like Oddball from Kelly's Hero's when the tank breaks down "Oh man, I don't know what makes them work, I just ride em." That is how I feel whenever my old give has a hiccup, such as the starting problem. Having a classic is becoming a steep learning curve, and I'm starting late in life (57 when Ray gave her to me). Ah well, what is life if you cannot learn something each day!
So, in preparation for our trip to Jenny's Mom in 3 weeks, I decided over the last week to iron out the bugs in the car. 1: Fix starter. I have a thread on the weird starter issue. Long story short, with Larry's helpful suggestion (and everyone else who helped me narrow down the possibilities), the car now starts great. It is not too amazing that the wire broke being in the place it is. The bad part... it looked fine. You needed a test light to track that break down. Thank you to William my eldest Son for helping me. I can't turn the key and be under the car, at least, not without spending more money on parts. 2: Car would starve for fuel while driving, leaving you stalled until the bowl filled again. This one was my own fault for wiring in the electric fuel pump in a hurry and not soldering wires. One of my connections was flakey and would fail at random times. I rewired the fuel pump with fresh colour matching wire and solder connections covered with heat shrink. I took it for a drive and she drove like a dream, no hesitation or stalling after driving around for an hour, where it would stall 3 times in the same time frame. 3: Rewired a 12 volt dual socket/dual USB port that I have on my car. When I put it in I was very broke and used what wire I could. Once again, I used crimp connectors again, and once again, one was flakey. It would randomly fail, so you would give a little kick under the dash. Seems, the ground was also a little flakey. Now, It is colour matching, soldered, neat and reliable. Just the way we like it. 4: Top up the oil. Yup, she's a leaker. I keep a piece of plywood under the engine to protect the pavement in our condo complex. I will not miss the leaks when it is rebuilt. All of this took the better part of a week to finish, in amongst the babysitting, house chores, swim lessons.... Life is busy when you care for two toddlers. I put braid over the wires to the fuel pump where I couldn't hide them in split loom. Everything is hidden where it can be, and really neat where it cannot be hidden. I don't want to take the car back to Ray and have him look and regret giving it to me. I look forward to going north and learning from Ray and Gordy how to rebuild my engine. Originally, I wanted to take it to my mechanic Bob to do the work. Now, I am glad I didn't. I learned a lot, and the costs, with a new starter, was less than 1/2 or what Bob would have had to charge me. I also labelled every wire I put in. That way, if someone else is working on the car (Bob, perhaps) then the wires will not be a annoying mystery to him, or me two years down the road. Well, once again, time for bed. Goodnight all, have a great day tomorrow!
So, I took the car to the mechanic today, to sort out why the car keeps starving for fuel. He called me about 2 hours later with the news that my Cam shaft is worn out, the lob for fuel is completely gone and I need to replace my lifters. Also, the fuel pump I was sold is for too small to supply fuel to my car. . Okay, I happen to have a cam shaft, lifters, rings,.... to rebuild the engine, 8 hours away. I cannot afford the $8,000 that Bob requires to rebuild the engine. I called my Brother-In-Law Ray, who recently retired (that's how I knew he was going to be home.). I explained the problem to him and told him that I cannot drive the car up, and U-Haul doesn't want to rent me a car transport trailer (I don't want a dolly, I want all four wheels off the ground), because my truck is 10 years old. Now, about this point, my old friend Generalized Anxiety Disorder wakes up and tells me "You're screwed, what are you gonna do now?" Ray has a 1 ton diesel, and access to a open car hauler trailer. He said just come on up for our vacation and after the electrician does his work in early September, he will drive down, pick up the car, and we will go up and fix the engine. Take that GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder). I will pay for his food and fuel, of course (7-Eleven is high cuisine, isn't it?). I don't know what I would do without my In-Laws. I lucked out. When Ray was younger, he was unemployed and stayed with us on our acreage we had for 18 months. Really sorry to see him leave when he went. He still feels indebted to us, even though he helped out around the property while I worked and was busy. Well, in the meantime, I have disconnected the battery on the car until Ray and I take it up North. I miss driving it, but do not want to risk damaging the engine any further. I can wait......
I thought the fuel pump eccentric cam lobe on the nailheads are bolt on and not part of the cam? I would look into it before doing anything..Maby i'm wrong but I can try to find out. Edit: Your mechanic either doesn't know or is lying about the cam being worn on the fuel lobe.. Plan carefully Chuck.. LarryGS, linked a eccentric replacement lobe on the Nailhead section..
In all the years I've been messing with the "Nails" not once, ever has the eccentric been worn enough that it will not operate the fuel pump. There has to be more going on OR a mis-diagnosis. Get a cheap camera, it's called an Endoscope for around $20.00, & take a look inside with the fuel pump out. Tom T.
Noticed your mechanic said your mech pump isn't supplying enough fuel. Are you still having problems after you fixed the electric pump? I used a Carter electric pump on my blue GS for decades, no mech pump. It failed last year and I swapped in a cheap Airtex pump for the trip to a show, it ran fine. I've since added a stock mech pump and now have both pumps in line. Your Riv should run ok with just the electric. If you have fuel starvation problems during normal driving, there may be other causes. A deteriorated fuel line could be sucking air, you could have a clogged filter or the screen/sock on the fuel tank pickup could be dirty.
We have also seen the inner segment of the fuel hose separate and suck flat clogging the line. Very easy to connect an electric pulse(loud) or race pump to diagnose the fuel issue
Chuck, curious what your plans are or are they already in motion? I hope your "not" <Edit" offended with my remarks. You mention you have engine parts on this post, did you post this on any other thread or here?
No offence.We are on vacation right now and not home. Ray is going to drive down to Lethbridge with his 1 ton diesel and his Uncle's trailer to tow the car back up north. We went over the parts and Ray feels that we have everything we need, except fluids. I will purchase those later. We are going to pull the engine and replace the parts we need to. .
Yikes!! I just noticed I wrote "I hope your offended" by mistake. I'm so glad you knew it was a typo. I had a feeling you were away as you usually reply. Enjoy your vaca and keep us posted..
Well, we came home from Edmonton last Thursday, because I had Covid, the Grandkids have Covid, and the rest were coming down with Covid. Of course, our trailer had a flat tire on the way home and I had to change it, when I could hardly walk. You should have let Jenny change it, has been suggested. No, my wife does not change a flat tire on the side of Highway 2. My Dad would slap me first thing when I get to Heaven. What does this have to do with Buick? Very little directly I am afraid, but now Ray is waiting for all of us to test negative before we let him come down to pick up the car. He has already offered to just pick it up, rebuild the engine, and then wait for me to come up on a bus (about 18 hours on a bus from Lethbridge, no thanks.). I told him I really wanted to learn and do, not just be presented with a working engine. I am not sure he understands the change from the old Chuck who didn't care that much about a vehicle, just maintain it. Well, I never had a classic Wildcat before. I pray that all of my friends, online and in person, never gets Covid. May there be a hedge of protection around us all. Amen. While rebuilding the engine, I will try to remember to post pictures of the build. Until then, God Bless all, and, have a great day!
Hope your feeling better and getting back to normal, Chuck. I had it a few weeks ago after our trip and it was not a pleasant experience.
Hello back: Thank you for the concern, we have now all tested negative for Covid. Jen and I still have a cough when we lay back in bed, and neither of us has a lot of energy, but we go on. Ray contacted us and asked about our Covid status. When Jenny told him that all were negative now he said that he will come down this weekend and we will go back up on Monday. Really looking forward to it. I have been watching my car sit there since before we left.
Well, we have been working at this rebuild for a few days. Came up Sunday and started right into removing parts. We had just reached the re-assemble stage today when it came to connecting rod bearings. We are they?, Ray asks. What are they? I ask. Now, I didn't purchase them early, because I did not know what they were. Remember, to me, an engine is a mysterious, rusty box. Now I know, and have ordered them. $260 for a full set. They will be in Friday. Ray said we could put the old ones back in, but I said I would rather not, excuse the french, half-ass it. I want to do this right. Ray cleaned and ground the valves with some sort of compound. The springs and valves were in good shape, but the cam was shot. One lob was scrubbed right off. The bolt on lob for the fuel pump... loose. No wonder I couldn't get it to pump any fuel. This has been a lot of work, with long days, but I am really enjoying it. My hands look like I have been fighting cats, and losing, but I am learning and doing things. A lot of "Unbolt this", or "Clean these parts." Hold this..., but also a lot of explaining and asking questions. Only way I learn is by doing. Well, it is getting late and I need to get some beauty sleep. Good night to all, have a great evening/night. [/ATTACH]
It feels nice getting involved doesn't it! Curious though on the placement on the hosting chains? They seem to run between or on top of the rockers and valve springs? kinda scary looking.. Was the there a reason you couldn't the cast in loops on the block and thermostat housing?
So, we got the engine back together, in the car and broke in for 3 hours. We had a heating problem, but it seemed to be solved. We decided to head to town as the car had not gone above 175 F. We got about 25 km down the road and heard a noise. Pulled over, Ray got out and told me to shut it down. The heat had gone to 225 F and was spewing antifreeze down the side of the road. We got Ray's uncles trailer and 1 ton and towed it home. When Ray tore open the bottom he found one connecting rod bearing bearing was shot. Ray decided it was best to take me home (450 Miles) in his little BMW (a shoe box on wheels) and then he is going to send out the crank and the heads and do this completely right. I hate not being there, but this way Ray can take as long as he needs. I am a little depressed, but understand the drawbacks and that things happen. I will keep everyone updated when Ray updates me.
Well, Ray just sent me a picture. He spent the day pulling the engine and finding out what happened. I just received this picture. Ray didn't even have to point out what was wrong (Just a dig at myself). Looks like number 3 has a problem.
It turns out all of the connecting rod bearings had similar problems. They were the wrong bearings and that explained our heating problem. Ray has sourced a machine shop in Edmonton that will turn the crank for $220 Can and for an extra cost, provide the proper bearings. Now, should I pay for their bearings, or not.... Just kidding. I told Ray to go ahead and to keep me informed.
