on the power steering pump, might be debris or little roughness on the valve. the lines have to be tight and not sucking air. i like to get the front wheels off the ground and slowly turn the wheel all the way to each side with out hitting the stops to get any air out.
Nice progress. I have my 1968 apart in my driveway for a similar treatment. started with a leaky freeze plug... While I'm here... Hope you get to driver a bit! Your car looks great.
I'm happy to report the Wildcat has been back on the road since last Saturday. After going through draining/reconnecting/refilling/jacking/bleeding the power steering I dunno, 5 or 6 times with basically the same results I was about ready to give up on this pump. By the last few times I was doing the process with pit crew speed. The draining is the worst part, and after making a horrible mess the first time or two I made a small funnel by cutting the top off a quart bottle and sticking some leftover heater hose in the nozzle (3/4" hose fits perfectly). I'd just loosen the high pressure hose until it was dripping steadily, walk away for 10 minutes and it'd be drained with no spillage. Hard to see in the photos because there's so much stuff in the way but the drain hose fits very nicely through the gap under where the water manifold meets the block. I asked Tom T. about the PS situation and first he suggested having the high pressure nozzle drilled out 1/32" at a machine shop. I was able to have it done by a local shop for $15, no big deal, but it didn't make much of a difference, valve was still getting stuck all the way in by the time I was at the end of my street. His next piece of advice was stretching the valve spring 1/4" to 1/2" before putting it back together again. So simple and obvious, I figured why not but it can't possibly change much of anything, right? How wrong I was--the spring turned out to be the whole issue. Last Saturday afternoon I stretched the spring about 1/2" and the difference was instant, and I got the car to the end of the street with no steering problems on the first try. Had the kids in the car so didn't go further than that. But the following day took a leap of faith and drove the car all over town for about 30 minutes. No issues. Wednesday I drove it for maybe 45 minutes, still no problems. And yesterday I drove it for an hour, maybe more, again no problems. The engine is definitely running smoother and quieter after all the upgrades to the front end, and certain situations that used to cause vibration have disappeared. No smoke or leaks anywhere. It's great to be back on the road but now that I've got the ball rolling there's a lot I want to fix & upgrade on this car to make it even better. Still have to get some driving out of my system before I tackle the top of the engine though...
Just enjoy it a bit Phil. What could be better then a spring evening drive with the window down and the cicadas singing your praise! Cheryl
Phil, I had a GREAT time working with you & giving you some pointers from my experiences over the years. It appeared you were enjoying what you were doing/learning. I'll do it again in a heartbeat. To me this is fun although at times can be frustrating, BUT still FUN!!! Tom T.
Tom, It's been a pleasure and a privilege reconnecting with you after so many years. Not many of us are lucky enough to have a nailhead guru less than an hour away. And willing to make house calls!! I definitely learned a lot and it was great to put in some serious work on that car. Haven't done anything that involved since I did the brakes on that '69 Polara I had for a little while, and that was about 8 yrs ago! Going to take care of a few cosmetic things before I tear into the engine bay again. My armrests are looking rough and the vent window weatherstripping has been dry/cracked & making noise since I bought the car, so those'll be first.
