Easter weekend with The Ark

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

2 weeks ago Michael replaced the Pittman arm (thank you Jeff Berland) and the right side manifold with an
added gasket (thank you John Abend). 1 broken bolt even with weeks of Kroil applied nightly, this manifold
has been off previously before I bought the car.

Saturday and yesterday Michael worked all day on the car at the shop. Replaced the ball joints on both sides, upper and lower control arm bushings both sides, and both stabilizer bars, lotta work. I bought all the Moog parts on RockAuto.
Saturday I got to "help" a little, very little. "hold this", positioning a floor jack under the lower control arm and raising until Michael said 'stop', had a blast! The parts needed for the annual oil change, fuel filter, air filter arrived Saturday from
Summit Racing so I brought them all to the shop yesterday. Once in the air I asked Michael if I could try to do my own oil
change. "Sure" Deployed the tools sent to me (thank you Mike Josephic), and did my first oil change.

NOW, I'm Austin Coil. Absolutely full of myself.

Now I'm like "Hey Michael can I do this? Hey Michael can I help you do that?" This went on for about 10 minutes.

Michael said "Hey Laurie, want to do something to help me?" SURE! "Go get my Denali, drive it back here, and clean it."

The four hours it took me to detail clean the interior of the truck coincided nicely with the time Michael needed to finish
The Ark in peace. Well played Michael, well played. LOL!

Alignment scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, this completes everything we wanted/needed to do to the car mechanically.

It was amazing how much higher the car sat in front after all that work, now I have to add more air to the rear end
to level the car again, we'll do that before the alignment Tuesday.

One of my best Easter Sunday's in recent memory.

Laurie

[Cadman-iac]

Glad that you got to help with your own car repairs,  even if was just a as tool "nurse". You know,  " scalpel, forceps,  etc..." LOL!
I have heard before that the exhaust manifold bolts have a habit of breaking off just below the heads due to time and the constant heat and cool cycles. I've had several do that on my engines as well. At least you didn't have to get deeper into the engine to have them removed.
As for the extra height in the front end,  once you drive it a while it should settle back down into it's original location. Unless you have changed the springs,  there's no reason why it should stay at a higher level.
The suspension bushings have some  effect on it, and when you have it in the air for a while, they will "reset" in the new position as the rubber shifts some. But once it's back on the ground  and you drive it, and the suspension moves up and down it will go back to the normal position.

Enjoy your ride!

Rick

[76eldo]

Which bolt broke and how was it dealt with?

Brian

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Which bolt broke and how was it dealt with?

Brian

2nd from the front Brian, he had to lift the engine and drill it out, re tap, etc. And this was a bolt I could get behind
with the Kroil and the straw. EDIT: both photos posted upside down, WTF with this webpage....

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Glad that you got to help with your own car repairs,  even if was just a as tool "nurse". You know,  " scalpel, forceps,  etc..." LOL!
I have heard before that the exhaust manifold bolts have a habit of breaking off just below the heads due to time and the constant heat and cool cycles. I've had several do that on my engines as well. At least you didn't have to get deeper into the engine to have them removed.
As for the extra height in the front end,  once you drive it a while it should settle back down into it's original location. Unless you have changed the springs,  there's no reason why it should stay at a higher level.
The suspension bushings have some  effect on it, and when you have it in the air for a while, they will "reset" in the new position as the rubber shifts some. But once it's back on the ground  and you drive it, and the suspension moves up and down it will go back to the normal position.

Enjoy your ride!

Rick

Rick I don't get "help", Michael does everything. I'm only allowed to open the hood to place sandwich boards at car shows. And dust and polish, I'm allowed to dust and polish to my heart's content, LOL!

[Cadman-iac]

Oh! Well don't you get to drive it though? I know my wife would kill me if I didn't let her drive mine when I still had the 69 convertible. 
But I would have loved to get her to clean and wax it! That chore was always left up to me!

  Enjoy your ride! And stay safe.

Rick

[chrisntam]

Yeah, as Cadman said, it shouldn't be any higher than when you started.  Coil springs determine height.  I put new springs in mine (mistake), it now sits higher - I have yet to reinstall the old ones.

Did the mechanic tighten everything up one all four wheels were on the ground or while it was on the lift?  All should have been tightened once all four were on the ground.

Does it ride or drive any different (or better)?

[Glen]

EDIT: both photos posted upside down, WTF with this webpage....

Cel phones tag the photos they take as to which way the phone was positioned when the picture was taken. 

It seems the web page does not use that tag, but displays the picture in the order the pixels were created as a camera would.  That's my guess anyway.   

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Yeah, as Cadman said, it shouldn't be any higher than when you started.  Coil springs determine height.  I put new springs in mine (mistake), it now sits higher - I have yet to reinstall the old ones.

Did the mechanic tighten everything up one all four wheels were on the ground or while it was on the lift?  All should have been tightened once all four were on the ground.

Does it ride or drive any different (or better)?

Chris Hyannis Vintage Auto restores gazillion dollar cars, daily. Michael is the last person I'm going to second guess
on his procedures. Steering 'locally' feels tighter, more responsive. Alignment today at 2pm then up on Route 6 with WAZE on to alert me to any MA's finest, the real test will be how The Ark feels/responds at 80-90mph. Stay tuned...

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Road test yesterday after alignment a complete success!
Got The Ark up on Route 6, activated WAZE to alert me of MA's finest, and got him up
to 95mph sustained, solid as a rock, even hitting those road bumps that would make
the steering interesting. Still some minor body float at that speed, but at least the steering
wasn't following it.

Noticed before and after the highway test the car pulling left when braking. Texted Michael
who said "let the tires settle, keep driving it".

??

Within 20 miles The Ark was braking straight again.

VERY happy.

Another gorgeous day to be out and about with The Ark.

[scotth3886]

Road test yesterday after alignment a complete success!
Got The Ark up on Route 6, activated WAZE to alert me of MA's finest, and got him up
to 95mph sustained, solid as a rock, even hitting those road bumps that would make
the steering interesting. Still some minor body float at that speed, but at least the steering
wasn't following it.

Noticed before and after the highway test the car pulling left when braking. Texted Michael
who said "let the tires settle, keep driving it".

??

Within 20 miles The Ark was braking straight again.

VERY happy.

Another gorgeous day to be out and about with The Ark.

I got mine safely back to the dock today in spite of high winds making for rough seas. 

I've had my 66 Feetwood for four days now, and something I don't understand …. why a train horn on a cruise ship?

[Cadman-iac]

Laurie,

What is "WAZE" ? Haven't heard of that before.
I just use my radar detector when I feel like low altitude flight. My CB handle is the "Cropduster".
Glad to hear that the Ark is sea worthy now. How does it sit now, still high in the front?

Rick

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

Hi Laurie:

Very happy for you that your front end rebuild
and alignment went well!

Also, congrats on breaking the Cape Cod LAND
SPEED RECORD.  Did you get a trophy?

Mike

[35-709]

I got mine safely back to the dock today in spite of high winds making for rough seas. 

I've had my 66 Feetwood for four days now, and something I don't understand …. why a train horn on a cruise ship?

Not a train horn, it's a cruise ship horn!

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Laurie,

What is "WAZE" ? Haven't heard of that before.
I just use my radar detector when I feel like low altitude flight. My CB handle is the "Cropduster".
Glad to hear that the Ark is sea worthy now. How does it sit now, still high in the front?

Rick

Hey Rick,
the old school radar detectors are so over with, they're too slow. WAZE is a program you install on your phone, free from Google Play, I can't imagine life without it. WAZE will show you in real time where the cops are, MILES ahead, then a voice alert before you're in their sights. It will also show you road construction, crashes, and re-route you automatically if you've set a flight plan on the phone. Just an amazing app. And if YOU see a cop/hazard, its 3 taps on your phone, hazard/cops/send and you've alerted other WAZErs behind you. EVERYONE is using this, its so cool.

The Ark is level and I mean level. Ryan put air in his a$$ before we started the alignment. And just to prove he's as anal as I am, he put a level on the bottom of the frame between the doors until the bubble was centered.

CB? God, I think the last CB I had in a car was my 81CDV, which also had one of the first "car phones". Over a grand installed and a buck a minute in or out, and sounded like you were talking to an Apollo mission. But I was cool...
My handle was "nervous wreck".

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

I got mine safely back to the dock today in spite of high winds making for rough seas. 

I've had my 66 Feetwood for four days now, and something I don't understand …. why a train horn on a cruise ship?

Congrats on your Fleetwood! These cars are pretty low profile, you have issues with wind? My high profile SUV is a
PITA in extreme wind, The Ark not so much. Its not a train horn, its a Caddy horn. Michael is restomodding a 66 drop top
CDV, he has 6 (six) horns in series, that's a train horn. Its bagged, you can't slide a dollar bill between the frame and the ground when its 'down'. But I need a cherry picker to get into his Denali that rides on wheels as tall as me. Whatever, when you work for your dad who owns a high end resto shop and you've been doing this forever... He has a 65 and 66 SDV's that are being restored, the drop top will be the monster toy. Digital dash, wifi, beverage holders to keep things hot or cold, Escalade seats, Claire Brothers stereo, LED everything inside and out, on and on. I think he changed engines and the rear end too.

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Hi Laurie:

Very happy for you that your front end rebuild
and alignment went well!

Also, congrats on breaking the Cape Cod LAND
SPEED RECORD.  Did you get a trophy?

Mike

The Ark was panting when we got home Mike, GOOD for these old cars and those
big engines to kick their butts regularly, keeps them young, just like people.
"Drive it like you stole it" - M. Amster

There are Mclarens in Hyannis and Brewster, me thinks they're in 2nd gear at 95. I still
had a ton of engine left, it was still winding up, I just lost my nerve. 100, someday.

I would like to tighten up some of that body float a bit without losing that cool 'feel' to the car.
Maybe stiffer shocks?

[Cadman-iac]

Hey Rick,
the old school radar detectors are so over with, they're too slow. WAZE is a program you install on your phone, free from Google Play, I can't imagine life without it. WAZE will show you in real time where the cops are, MILES ahead, then a voice alert before you're in their sights. It will also show you road construction, crashes, and re-route you automatically if you've set a flight plan on the phone. Just an amazing app. And if YOU see a cop/hazard, its 3 taps on your phone, hazard/cops/send and you've alerted other WAZErs behind you. EVERYONE is using this, its so cool.

The Ark is level and I mean level. Ryan put air in his a$$ before we started the alignment. And just to prove he's as anal as I am, he put a level on the bottom of the frame between the doors until the bubble was centered.

CB? God, I think the last CB I had in a car was my 81CDV, which also had one of the first "car phones". Over a grand installed and a buck a minute in or out, and sounded like you were talking to an Apollo mission. But I was cool...
My handle was "nervous wreck".

Well I'm going to try that WAZE  app and see if it works out here in the country. It sounds good,  but if there aren't enough people on the road I'm wondering how well it would work.

As for old phones,  I didn't have a car phone,  but I did have one of those old brick phones, you know the one that looks like a regular phone in a bag with a BIG battery. Yeah, i was "cool" too! Lol!! I think it put out something like 3 amps or whatever it was,  where a regular little phone was .5 maybe.
It was great even in areas where the coverage sucked. The little phones would cut off, but not the brick, but the phone companies changed things and i couldn't use it anymore. It wasn't compatible they told me.

But the CB was great! I drove almost 200 miles a day to and from work,  and there were about 20 others that did the same,  so we had our own smokey alert system. Did that for 12 years before I retired.

I did a lot of "cropdusting" back then. I miss it too.  Glad you got to do a little today.
Just be careful out there. And thanks for the tip on WAZE.

Rick

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Well I'm going to try that WAZE  app and see if it works out here in the country. It sounds good,  but if there aren't enough people on the road I'm wondering how well it would work.

As for old phones,  I didn't have a car phone,  but I did have one of those old brick phones, you know the one that looks like a regular phone in a bag with a BIG battery. Yeah, i was "cool" too! Lol!! I think it put out something like 3 amps or whatever it was,  where a regular little phone was .5 maybe.
It was great even in areas where the coverage sucked. The little phones would cut off, but not the brick, but the phone companies changed things and i couldn't use it anymore. It wasn't compatible they told me.

But the CB was great! I drove almost 200 miles a day to and from work,  and there were about 20 others that did the same,  so we had our own smokey alert system. Did that for 12 years before I retired.

I did a lot of "cropdusting" back then. I miss it too.  Glad you got to do a little today.
Just be careful out there. And thanks for the tip on WAZE.

Rick

WAZE is population sensitive for sure. I've noticed now with so many hiding in their rooms the lighter traffic could reduce its reliability. Cropdusting! That's some aviating right there. Must have been a blast until you had to fly through the chemicals you just sprayed, LOL!

[scotth3886]

Congrats on your Fleetwood! These cars are pretty low profile, you have issues with wind? My high profile SUV is a
PITA in extreme wind, The Ark not so much. Its not a train horn, its a Caddy horn. Michael is restomodding a 66 drop top
CDV, he has 6 (six) horns in series, that's a train horn. Its bagged, you can't slide a dollar bill between the frame and the ground when its 'down'. But I need a cherry picker to get into his Denali that rides on wheels as tall as me. Whatever, when you work for your dad who owns a high end resto shop and you've been doing this forever... He has a 65 and 66 SDV's that are being restored, the drop top will be the monster toy. Digital dash, wifi, beverage holders to keep things hot or cold, Escalade seats, Claire Brothers stereo, LED everything inside and out, on and on. I think he changed engines and the rear end too.

Mine sounds like the freight train that comes down the tracks by our Cars and Coffee at Lennox, C-Bus.

We had 40mph + gusts yesterday, and I felt it a bit, but it's no worse really than anything else.  What exacerbates is the too soft rear suspension so firmer air shocks go on my list today.  My 63GP I think is better, but its a lot better tied down too.  I'm so new with this car that I'm hacking away with one thing at a time, but the list is growing faster. 

Dealer (shockingly ) over-described the car so I'm dealing with all that he didn't tell me.  He's been really unresponsive once the wired cleared.  Sure not the way I do business with my clients.

Scott