flathead fuel pump and vacuum

[Steve Rinaldo]

Gentlemen:
I am in process of trying to resolve some issues/questions that I have with my Flathead engine. I'm sure that you will have the experience to answer these questions.
1. The vacuum line has a slight pressure instead of vacuum. Is this normal and if not I think the pump needs to be rebuilt, right? What connects to this line?
2. There is a vac. fitting in front of the carb. on the intake manifold, what is connected to it. Right now the line from the pump is there.
There is a Vac. fitting in the front of the carb. what is connected to it?
I have been unable to find a routing diagram in any of my manuals, so I'm not sure about this stuff. Thanks, Steve

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Hi Steve: A couple of pictures below should help. Look at picture 1 and you will see line A which is a vacuum line connected to the vacuum fitting on the intake manifold in front of the carb. Follow line A and you will see in picture 2 where it is connected to a fitting in the side of the engine fuel pump. Now look at vacuum line B in picture 1 which attaches to the bottom front of the carb and then follow the routing of line B and it attaches to the vacuum advance on the distributor. Notice vacuum line C in picture 1 which is attached to the bottom front of the fuel pump. This vacuum line C goes up and then goes under the intake manifold and then comes out under the back of the intake manifold next to the firewall , goes up and through the firewall and this vacuum line is then used to power the wipers and some accessories. The second picture also shows fuel line D from the fuel pump to the carb and fuel line E from the fuel tank to the fuel pump. Hope this helps.  Bill

[Steve Rinaldo]

Thanks. A great Help. Steve

[Smedly]

Bill. In the first picture, above where you wrote the "A", there is a steel line coning off the carb on the far side. Can you tell me where that line is supposed to go? I just have a empty fitting with what looks to be a breather tube on top of it.
Thanks
Sheldon Hay

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Hi Sheldon: The steel line is a 5/16 overflow line which I have marked as to location and how it goes across the bell housing and then down the left side of the housing. Held over the bell housing with a clamp on the top bolt. Line routed this way so if the carb ever over flowed, the fuel would dump on the side of the car away from the muffler and tail pipe.   Bill

[Smedly]

Thank you Bill.
that is one nice looking chassis/motor.
Sheldon Hay

[Paul Phillips]

I'll definitely agree that is a nicely prepared chassis/engine!!!  Hope someday to be able to park beside yours and meet the same standard.

Bill - do you by chance have some additional shots which show the hangars for the exhaust system?  I am sure the way my car came was beyond wrong & would like to see if I can get close to correct as things go back together.

Thanks
Paul

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Paul: I will look through my pictures which may take awhile. The pictures I posted this morning were from my 47 convert restoration and I will try to see if in any of my books would show if the hangers and placement were the same for the 41-60s and the 47 62 series cars.  Bill

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Paul & Sheldon: I thank you both for your kind remarks on the chassis. I drove this car for about 10 years and got all the mechanical issues fixed. Then one day my wife said why don`t you paint the car. It was just going to be a paint job but after seeing the amount of rust in the body, it then became a frame off. The man that did the sheet metal and paint said when finished- it was not a restoration but a resurrection.

Paul: Here are a couple more pictures of the exhaust system on the 47. It has been a couple of years since I sold my 41-60s and I forget how the muffler and tail pipe were secured to the frame on the 60s. I will follow this posting with another posting and 3 more pictures taken from the Master Parts Chassis List that show a 38,39 & 40-60s exhaust but not the 41-60s. Hope this helps and maybe someone else can post regarding the 41-60s exhaust.  Bill

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Here are the 3 other pictures of the exhaust layout

[Paul Phillips]

Bill
Thanks for the additional info, definitely helpful.  I think the publication year of your master parts book was a better one than mine, as it has better detail in this area.

I completely understand the 'resurrection' idea.  I also started out with the repaint idea, then we got to the 'just a few more bolts' to pull the body and it spiraled from there!  My car seemed fairly nice until it was apart, then the level of deterioration that was not easily visible became apparent.  Doing a total resto did let me find the cracked block and nearly spun #1 main bearing before those became a catastrophe, so some hidden blessings as well.

I am including a photo of my chassis partially reassembled - again, I hope mine comes off as nice as your did.

Paul

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Hi Paul: What I see is a winner. You have done an excellent job. I know the hard work that is necessary to end up with a beautiful chassis that is shown in your picture. Like the roll around dolly for the hubs, wished I would have used those during my restoration. How is the wood in your car?  Whenever someone tells me they want a 41-60 special, I say to take an ice pick with you when you look at the car. Not to many realize how much wood was still used in a 41-60s Cadillac and you really need a ice pick to determine how sound are the two wood stringers under the body. Have fun finishing the car.   Bill

[joeceretti]

The first and second show some info that I believe is wrong for the 38-60S. The third shows correctly though. Not important for what you are looking for but for anyone with a 38-60S stumbling across this thread, this is important to know.

Paul, your chassis looks great!

[Bill Ingler #7799]

Joe: I presume you are referring too the last two pictures I posted. If picture one or two, which is out of the Master Parts Chassis Book, is showing something wrong, pertain to the 38-60s please, post what you believe is correct. I would not want to post something that is incorrect.  Thanks   Bill

[joeceretti]

As far as I know, the 38-60S had a resonator under the passenger seat and the the muffler was in the back behind the fuel tank. As in the MPB scan I am attaching. My car currently has the muffler under the passenger seat and in that position it rubs on the parking brake cable.

The obvious difference is also the place where the tailpipe sits. On the 38-60S it is on the drivers side due to the transverse muffler behind the tank. What I am actually looking for is the design of the valance that would have covered the muffler so it wasn't visible from behind.

[Paul Phillips]

Bill
Thanks for the kind comments!

I completely agree about the risks of the wood sills.  My car was mostly structurally ok, but when the wood was removed from the body, it was obvious that it had deteriorated, in general on its top surface where unpreserved wood was in contact with uncoated metal, and in particular at the cowl, B pillar and wheel arch areas, where water was more easily encountered. The other consequence was an 'abundance' of small pits in the metal on the pan where it sat on the wood. All of this (wood & metal) required repair or replacement. In case of the wood, I reverse engineered much of it, but had a great benefit when Barry Wheeler made his prints of the factory drawings available for review in exchange for a CLC Museum donation. Barry will likely repeat that offer for others.

We are within days of reuniting the new wood sills with a restored body shell. I will try to post photos of that process.

Paul