...I haven't posted much lately, evidence of my waning interest in the blog. I have already resigned from blogging for the Poughkeepsie Journal. That leaves this blog.
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The original intent of this blog was to chronicle the build of the electric vehicle; a project, in my mind, worthy and interesting enough to blog about. That got cancelled, or at least put on indefinite hiatus, and I moved onto other, more conventional small projects.
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I now feel that the blog has lost it's way. I don't think it's particularly interesting, or relevant, or worth reading. My continuing unemployment means I don't have the money I would like to spend on car projects. That's a big show-stopper. I am making excellent progress on my impending career change, but that is a long term endeavor.
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The car projects I have on hand now are long term projects as well. I do want to get back to the electric vehicle project. I still think this project would be the most unusual and interesting project to write about. I am still very enthusiastic about every aspect of it. I have imagined, over and over, what it would be like to actually drive; what the sensations would be, how it would look, the bright sun glinting off of the metallic green paint. A big, fat, pimped out, truck sized golf cart, zipping down the road, the only sound you would hear is the noise from the tires. I still think it is the right thing at the right time. But again, to do this project decently, I expect it would take possibly $20,000, and I just don't have that kind of dough to invest. I think it could be big. It could become a business. I think it could be the next Boyd Coddington, Jesse James, or OCC. But I never was a big financial risk-taker. Jump off a bridge, yes, I've done that, and worse. But financial risks, no, I'll keep my little copper pennies* right here, thanks.
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So my point is, speaking of having lost it's way, that I don't know if I'll keep on with the blog. We'll see.
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For what it's worth, I got the shifter done in the '58, and it works great. I also took the '58 out today for it's maiden voyage up the street and back, and, let's just say it needs a bit more work. But it did drive!
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Thanks for your interest. Talk to you soon. Or maybe not.
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*Yes, they are really just copper plated zinc. But how poetic would that sound?
Friday, June 26, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Transmission surprise and a new shifter
I got the motor in the '58 running decently. New spark plugs made a world of difference. I have not even checked under the distributor cap yet, it could probably use a new set of points (this is OLD technology) and some other stuff, but it's running ok for now, so we'll explore that all of that later. Since I now have brakes, I could move on to getting the car to drive.
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The automatic transmission would only shift into forward, I either could not find reverse, or reverse is not working. Not good. I did a quick inspection of the stock column shift linkage, and found it to be all dodgy and worn out. I quickly decided to eliminate it and install a more mechanically direct floor shifter. I began to make a shifter from some random extra parts I had saved from other shifter installs I have done over the years, and some miscellaneous metal materials. All I needed it to do was to move the transmission into the gears, and by mounting a shifter right on the floor, over the transmission, I felt that I could fabricate something that would do the job pretty cheaply. An inspection of the transmission itself yielded a surprising and fortunate find: The transmission is not the archaic stock cast-iron case Powerglide 2-speed, but the more modern and preferable aluminum-case Turbo 350 3-speed! This trans did not come from the factory in this car. This is a swap I was already planning to eventually do, and I happen to have a spare T-350 for just such an occasion.
This is a Turbo 350. While this model of transmission has not been produced for many years, it is still a very popular install in many mild-performance street cars today. It is very well supported by the aftermarket. While I thought I was saddled with the stock transmission in the car, I was not eager to get into a trans swap right away, since I believed I would need a different length driveshaft, which would really mean a new driveshaft, probably a $400 expense. Well, here's a T-350 already in the car, and that sure looks like the stock driveshaft in there too, happy as can be. (By the way, the "Turbo" in Turbo 350 has nothing to do with a turbocharger. The real name for this trans is Turbo-hydromatic 350, and the use of the turbo designation is puzzling to me. Of couse not as puzzling as the shaving razor called "Turbo-something-or-other", which really has nothing to do with a turbocharger, but I digress.)
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Now I am not so concerned about reverse gear. If the reverse truly is not working, I can easily swap my spare Turbo 350 in there. If I still have problems, it will be worth having one of these transmissions rebuilt, since I will be putting money into a viable transmission choice. I am hoping that the reason the transmission would not work in reverse is because the balky stock shifter was never selecting reverse gear properly. I am now expecting that once the shifter issue is fixed, we will have the joy of reversing.
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So after all of this, I was still working on my custom shifter fab. I know I could make a useable mechanism, but would this be worth the effort in the end? Since I feel as if I have saved money on the driveshaft I won't have to buy, I decided to splurge and buy a real shifter. But I'm not just looking for justification to spend money on cool parts (as if I have ever needed any), I have good reasons.
This is a Hurst V-matic shifter. This is what I'm getting. Now I did have an accordian-style rubber boot, an aluminum shifter stick, and even a Hurst T-handle to use on my home-made shifter, so I know I could make it look cool, but anything I could make would on it's best day be a far cry from something like this. This shifter has a reverse lock out, to guard against an unintentional shift into reverse. It has a neutral safety switch, to prevent starting the car while in gear (very important!). It has an illuminated gear selection indicator. It has cable operation (I was making a mechanical linkage) for flexibility in mounting position. It would not require cutting up the car floor and splicing new sheet-metal in (my linkage would require this). It is all new, and reasonably priced. My design had none of these advantages, and I had no certainty that it would even work properly. BOOYAH! New shifter. Should be here early this week.
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Photos: Jegs
-
The automatic transmission would only shift into forward, I either could not find reverse, or reverse is not working. Not good. I did a quick inspection of the stock column shift linkage, and found it to be all dodgy and worn out. I quickly decided to eliminate it and install a more mechanically direct floor shifter. I began to make a shifter from some random extra parts I had saved from other shifter installs I have done over the years, and some miscellaneous metal materials. All I needed it to do was to move the transmission into the gears, and by mounting a shifter right on the floor, over the transmission, I felt that I could fabricate something that would do the job pretty cheaply. An inspection of the transmission itself yielded a surprising and fortunate find: The transmission is not the archaic stock cast-iron case Powerglide 2-speed, but the more modern and preferable aluminum-case Turbo 350 3-speed! This trans did not come from the factory in this car. This is a swap I was already planning to eventually do, and I happen to have a spare T-350 for just such an occasion.
This is a Turbo 350. While this model of transmission has not been produced for many years, it is still a very popular install in many mild-performance street cars today. It is very well supported by the aftermarket. While I thought I was saddled with the stock transmission in the car, I was not eager to get into a trans swap right away, since I believed I would need a different length driveshaft, which would really mean a new driveshaft, probably a $400 expense. Well, here's a T-350 already in the car, and that sure looks like the stock driveshaft in there too, happy as can be. (By the way, the "Turbo" in Turbo 350 has nothing to do with a turbocharger. The real name for this trans is Turbo-hydromatic 350, and the use of the turbo designation is puzzling to me. Of couse not as puzzling as the shaving razor called "Turbo-something-or-other", which really has nothing to do with a turbocharger, but I digress.)-
Now I am not so concerned about reverse gear. If the reverse truly is not working, I can easily swap my spare Turbo 350 in there. If I still have problems, it will be worth having one of these transmissions rebuilt, since I will be putting money into a viable transmission choice. I am hoping that the reason the transmission would not work in reverse is because the balky stock shifter was never selecting reverse gear properly. I am now expecting that once the shifter issue is fixed, we will have the joy of reversing.
-
So after all of this, I was still working on my custom shifter fab. I know I could make a useable mechanism, but would this be worth the effort in the end? Since I feel as if I have saved money on the driveshaft I won't have to buy, I decided to splurge and buy a real shifter. But I'm not just looking for justification to spend money on cool parts (as if I have ever needed any), I have good reasons.
This is a Hurst V-matic shifter. This is what I'm getting. Now I did have an accordian-style rubber boot, an aluminum shifter stick, and even a Hurst T-handle to use on my home-made shifter, so I know I could make it look cool, but anything I could make would on it's best day be a far cry from something like this. This shifter has a reverse lock out, to guard against an unintentional shift into reverse. It has a neutral safety switch, to prevent starting the car while in gear (very important!). It has an illuminated gear selection indicator. It has cable operation (I was making a mechanical linkage) for flexibility in mounting position. It would not require cutting up the car floor and splicing new sheet-metal in (my linkage would require this). It is all new, and reasonably priced. My design had none of these advantages, and I had no certainty that it would even work properly. BOOYAH! New shifter. Should be here early this week.
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Photos: Jegs
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