[Parkman51]

Took the car out for a proper drive a few days ago, and by and large, it performed admirably. Two action items: first, I have to adjust the brakes a bit - they pull to one side slightly and aren't as responsive as I'd like. Second, I've sprouted what I believe to be a coolant leak. That's being worked on now.

In addition to that, I shipped the radio off to a guy who specializes in classic car radios - I plan to have him repair the AM equipment so that it functions stock, and add one of those drop-in "ghost" FM chips. That way, I can return the radio to original condition at will, but I'll also have FM, which is what I mostly listen to.

Then I also ordered a replacement "Pontiac" script for the speaker grill, you may remember that was missing. It didn't come with the clips to hold it in, so I 3D printed 3 ring washers out of some rubber-like filament, and those hold it in admirably.

[Onestone]

Very nice to read that your car now is driveable! I'm always reading your thread, helps me very much with my own restoration.

Where did you get these nice Pontiac scripts for your speaker grill, CPR? How is the quality?

3D-printing really is a gamechanger these days, especially for old cars restorations

[Parkman51]

Good to hear from you, Onestone! I'm watching your project as well. Got the script from CPR, at this link https://www.pontiacparts.net/product...plate-pontiac/. The quality is great, honestly strikes me as better than the original Star Chief script that remains.

Once the radiator gets repaired, there are a few more leaks to chase and a few more projects to tackle, like changing the spark plugs and timing the engine.

[Parkman51]

I'm back!

And so is the car. The reason it was out for so long was the Radiator Saga: Allow me to regale you with the sequence of events:

- On the drive to the shop, it sprang a coolant leak, which I mentioned when I got there.
-- It ended up being a leaky radiator core, which is impossible to fix with duct tape and good wishes, so it was sent out to a local radiator shop for a repair quote.
- The local shop gave me three different options, costing between $1700 and $2500.
- Once I was done spluttering, I thanked them and said I'd do some research. Research led me to a company that offers refurbished and drop-in replacements for a variety of classic cars, so I ordered one ($500).
- Unfortunately, the radiator that arrived at the shop was the wrong one. So I got on the phone with the supplier to figure out what gives.
- Turns out, that was the No-A/C version, not the With-A/C version, and since A/C was an uncommon option for this car, they didn't have a drop-in replacement. They credited me for the incorrect one, and offered to rebuild my existing unit ($1100 including shipping), to which I said Yes.
- They did a thorough and comprehensive job (testing the tanks, sandblasting, recoring, refinishing), which took about a month - last week it came back in, and this week I drove the car home.

When I got home, I walked around the front of the car to find a spreading puddle of coolant.

On the list of things to do, among sundry others:
1. Check for & fix small fuel leaks at the gas tank drain and outlet port
2. Thorough exterior cleaning (got rained on)
3. Reinstall repaired and upgraded radio (original electronics repaired, fully removable no-footprint FM chip installed)
4. Investigate possible transmission fluid leak (likely a bad gasket. CPR's website is down for some reason, so I couldn't check if they have a replacement)
5. Replace under-hood light bulb with LED
6. Begin testing the A/C system (by...turning it on, I guess? I know almost nothing about refrigeration, so I'll take any recommendations you guys have. What and how should I test?).

And, of course, be grateful that the puddle of coolant seems to have come from the overflow line, indicating that the radiator was simply overfilled (likely, since when I opened the radiator today, it was full). It's good to be back!

[Bill Hanlon]

If cooling systems without coolant recovery (overflow) tanks are filled to the top they will expel coolant when they get up to temp, and a little more when the engine is first turned off. Check the coolant level when cold. If the tops of the radiator tubes are covered with coolant leave it as is and quit worrying.

[Parkman51]

Today, I finished reinstalling the radio and speaker grille (it works very nicely). Couldn't find a new foam surround, but it's hidden and the old one is functional, so I left it.



Two questions:
1) I think I'm going to need to replace the transmission oil pan gasket. Is this job as simple as it looks (drain, remove bolts, replace gasket, reassemble) or will I be digging into machinery somehow?
2) Should I be able to reuse the old fluid, or since we're draining it anyway, is it best to just put in new Dex III?

[Bill Hanlon]

1 Easy as it looks.
2 If I didn't know what kind of fluid was in the transmission now or how long it had been there I'd change the fluid. If you change it don't forget to drain the torus while you are at it.

[Parkman51]

Today was a bit of an adventure! I decided drive a block down the road to pick something up from a nearby store, but I didn't even get out of the neighborhood before the engine died. (And thank heavens for that. Better to die in the neighborhood than out on the road).

I tried a few things and checked the engine compartment - everything looked fine, but for some reason nothing worked. After I and a helpful passerby pushed the car closer to the house, I went and got some tools and started diagnosing.

The primary piece of evidence was that no power appeared to be getting anywhere useful on the car, at all. So I traced the power flow from the battery, to the starter... and aha! The main 12v wire leading from the starter to the junction block had slipped its moorings, coming out of its ring terminal entirely. Well, that would do it. I spent some time thinking, and resolved upon a somewhat dodgy expedient to restore the car to its garage:

I dug around in the garage until I found some stout wire (2x12ga stranded, looks like heavy duty lamp cord), stripped both ends, and twisted them. Then I unhooked the main 12v wire from the junction block, and duct-taped my jumper cord through the ring terminal. The other end I twisted through the battery terminal. Then I got in - and the car started immediately. So I drove straight into the garage and parked. (See below for photo of the jerry-rig.) I shall have to pull the starter out again to get to that disconnected wire, and I am going to seal it in stoutly this time.

Only one question today: I'm going to check the rear axle/diff oil - what is the recommended product to use to top off, if it needs it?

[Onestone]

Oh I feel for you, since the car can't be easily towed without damaging the transmission Thank god this fault is easy to fix.

Beautiful radio and speaker grille btw!

I have the same question regarding the rear axle/diff oil. The previous owner told me he used a standard 75W-90 diff oil. I also have to seal my diff, its leaking a bit (and spraying ) around the propeller shaft.

[Bill Hanlon]

55 Pontiac Shop Manual calls for SAE 90 Hypoid Lubricant. Modern (and probably much better) equivalent is API GL-5 75W-90 or 80W-90 gear oil.

[Bill Hanlon]

Nice MacGyver fix on the electrics!

[Parkman51]

Simple day today: starter out, wire repaired, starter in. (This conveniently skips over the pain of manipulating a 20-pound starter and its awkward wires while under a car. Plus the liberal amount of grease that ended up everywhere.) Car runs again. No questions today, onward to the next thing!

[Parkman51]

Today's job was balancing the brakes - making sure that they all braked with approximately the same force. I suspect that they're somewhat out of round - each wheel 'drags' a bit at some point during its rotation - but this I expect will correct itself as the high points wear off during driving.

Here was the procedure:
I started with the front wheels, since they're free-spinning, and not complicated by the drivetrain or the emergency brake. I jacked the front of the car off the ground, and spun the wheels by hand until I felt like I had a good understanding of the force required to produce a given rotation. The driver's wheel was noticeably looser than the passenger, so I tightened its adjustment spring by one or two notches and checked the rotational resistance. When both were fairly equally free, I applied a consistent force to the brake pedal and rechecked to make sure that, as the brake applied, the resistance increased consistently across both sides of the car. (See photograph below. I used a reversible clamp and a spare board.)
Then I dropped the front back down, chocked the wheels, and jacked up the back. After releasing the emergency brake and putting the transmission in neutral, I was able to rotate the back wheels as I had done the front ones. To be sure I was getting an accurate picture of the resistance on each side, I used some 2x4s to stop the rotation of the opposing wheel. The difference here was more pronounced. The driver's wheel was very loose, and the passenger wheel was very tight. I loosened the passenger wheel 2 notches, and tightened the driver's by about 4 (for some reason, the driver's rear wheel has an adjustment gear with half-size teeth, so I really tightened it about 8 notches, but 4 is a more useful comparative measurement). Once the wheels spun about the same, I made sure that the brake force applied equally by means of the emergency brake, withdrawing it 5 clicks at a time and checking each side. It took 15 clicks for the wheels to lock up.
Then I dropped the rear back down and took the car out for a neighborhood drive. It performed finely, and the brakes were noticeably better. The steering wheel no longer drags to the right when braking, and they're a little more responsive too.

One question today: The emergency brake has to get pulled out quite far to achieve proper braking force. Is there a procedure to tighten the response on the emergency brake? It does work serviceably as-is, so is it worth adjusting?

[Bill Hanlon]

Step 7 on this page:

https://www.pontiacsafari.com/55/Sho...-%20Brakes.pdf

Thank you Larry.

[Jack Gifford]

Originally Posted by Parkman51

... I suspect that they're somewhat out of round - each wheel 'drags' a bit at some point during its rotation - but this I expect will correct itself as the high points wear off during driving...

If a brake drum is truly out-of-round it won't "correct itself". It could possibly be caused by some rust spot[s], which would get rubbed off.

[Parkman51]

Tweaked the speedometer. When I cleaned it previously I must've reassembled it wrong, because it was about 10 mph slow. So I removed it, adjusted the positioning of the wheel, and put it all back together. It's a lot faster doing things the second time around, let me tell you. I'll take it for a short drive on Sunday and give an update on how much better it is (if I remember).

Jack, I hope it's either some rust spots or some bumps on the shoes. Either of these should ideally get fixed over time, if it doesn't then that's another issue to be addressed.

[Parkman51]

Today's project was planned to take a half hour, and it took three.

I had some very small leaks in the fuel system, one at the gas tank drain, and two more in the fittings between the tank and the metal fuel line (for those who don't remember, since the new sending unit didn't line up with the existing fuel line, it goes Tank > Sending unit > about a foot of rubber hose > fuel line). Now, to reseal the gas tank drain, it is necessary to drain the gas. And boy oh boy did I have more gas in there than I thought I did. I filled up all 3 of my gas cans on hand, a 4-gallon bucket I had lying around, an oil drain pan, and a pickle jar.

Once all that was out, I checked the drain plug and decided to replace the gasket/washer, so I ran to the local hardware store and picked up a new gasket. They actually had a much better gasket than the one I had, so this was a pleasing upgrade - and I also decided to get a new drain plug at the same time. Standing in the aisle, wondering whether to buy or not to buy, my rationale was that I didn't want to have to drain the tank again, so better safe than sorry. Then I came back and installed the new drain plug and gasket, with a coat of Gasoila soft-set thread sealant.

Then I removed the bridge line, pulled one of the fittings that didn't seem to be fitting all that well, cut off about a half inch to get a good seal, made another store trip to get a new fitting, set the fitting, and installed the bridge line back where it belonged, with another coat of Gasoila on both ends.

Took the car out for a short drive after the sealant had time to set, and all seems to be well so far! Though the fuel line partially drained during this process, any air gaps were well supplied by the pump, and the engine didn't notice at all.

[Parkman51]

Today I began to replace the transmission pan gasket. After removing the torus/flywheel cover, and pushing the flywheel around to find the drain plug, I tried to remove the drain plug, and promptly failed. The instructions in the manual solemnly adjure the would-be transmission drainer that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES must you use a twelve-point socket, lest you ruin the plug.

Well, my six-point socket was a little loose, and after a bit of pushing, I noticed slight deformation on the corners of the plug. I tried hitting it with WD-40 and tapping it with a hammer, but no luck. And I couldn't wait too long for the WD-40 to ooze in, since the instructions also direct you to drain the transmission while the oil is warm.

Then I hit upon a bright expedient. After cutting a long, thin strip of blue painter's tape, I wound the strip around the plug, then shoved the socket back on, over the tape. The outer layer or two of tape crushed down as the socket pushed in, but the remainder stayed where they were - and that was the ticket! The socket, now fitting snugly indeed, drew the plug out with comparative ease.

With the torus and pan drained, I turned my attention to removing the bolts that hold the pan on, and ran into another problem. Four of the bolts are tucked almost inaccessibly behind a structural crossmember that (I presume) supports the transmission (see photo below). And that stumped me for the day.

So today's question is - Any idea how I can get those four forward bolts out? Once I solve that problem, I should be able to disconnect the filler pipe and have the whole pan off.

[Sirrotica]

Remove the nuts holding the transmission mount to the frame crossmember. Use a bottle jack to raise the transmission up from the crossmember to gain some clearance. Use a 1/4 inch drive swivel socket to remove the bolts (likely 1/2 inch bolt heads). You possibly could get away with a 3/8 drive setup if you can raise the transmission up into the tunnel far enough.

That's how I'd do it, and have done it for many years when pan bolts are obstructed by frame components. Move the component you're working on, away from the obstruction.

The 90s Silverados have a similar build problem on the rear of the 4L80E transmission pans, raising the transmission enables you to get enough clearance to get the rear row of bolts out of the pan rail.

I hope this helps............

[Parkman51]

Thanks, Sirrotica! That got me halfway there: Two questions about your approach.

1) When I have the nuts removed, where should I place the jack to safely lift the transmission?

2) I successfully loosened the nuts on the driver's side, but when I checked the passenger side, the exhaust pipe runs directly under the access slot. One of the nuts I can get to, but the other has so far defied my attempts to reach it. Any suggestions?