Windshield

Well with the holidays, and our new foster dog, Diesel I haven't had the time to get out and work on Diane as much as I'd like too. Although I got to work on her for an hour or so this past weekend. I was able to finally remove the windshield, it was really easy once I cut through the moulding along the edge of the glass, then pop the glass out, and the moulding came off easy. The glass is really amazing looking... it's two pieces held together with what looks like double sided sticky plastic... all together its close to a 1/2" thick and very heavy, definitely not like windshields of today!

Once again time has slipped away...I was able to get the engine put back together...so much easier than taking it apart! Everything went back into place without any hiccups. But Margaret and I were out there this past weekend for a bit. I re-timed the engine, put the plugs back in and we tried her, of course as my luck would have it nothing. Margaret had talked with her dad and brother when her brother was here visiting a couple of weeks ago. Doug came up with the conclusion that the exhaust might be clogged making it so the engine couldn't breathe. I'm working on trying to loosen the bolts that hold the exhaust to the manifold. At first I was a bit skeptical about the idea because the last owner said he had replaced the exhaust...but then realized that he probably didn't check everything above where he welded in the new exhaust. So we'll see...hopefully I'll be able to remove the bolts in the next couple of days. But in the mean time I'm going to move onto working underneath her.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

So on Sunday Margaret agreed to help me with Diane...all we needed to do was replace the gasket in the middle of the engine between the cylinders and rocker arm assembly. Sounded easy. I knew it would be a pain, because the rocker arm assembly, is very heavy, covered in grease, and awkwardly shapped. But we thought we could handle it. So we started and were able to pull the rocker arm up and remove the old gasket without too many issues. We felt good, we were able to get it out in just a couple of minutes. We talked for a couple of minutes on how we could get the new gasket in and thought we had a good plan. First I would lift the rocker arm assembly onto the part where the radiator flows into the engine then I would lift from the rear so Margaret could slide the new gasket into place. In theory it sounded great, but in actuality not so good. We were able to get the new gasket slid into place but when I went to return the rocker arm assembly it pushed the gasket back. We tried this a few times and realized we weren't getting anywhere. We decided to try "plan B", I would basically try to lift the whole rocker arm straight up and hold it while Margaret put the gasket into place, then I would gently put the rocker arm back into place. Only when I was holding the rocker arm up about an inch or so above the engine, it slipped out of my hand and smashed Margaret's hand. She jumped back and I saw the blood...I thought the worst. When we got inside Margaret said she thought she had possibly broken her fingers. We decided to go to the ED, where she was taken back and they took X-rays...luckily nothing was broken! They put a splint on her finger and gave her a prescription for some muscle relaxers/pain medication. When we got home from the ED and picking up her prescription she said we needed to finish up the engine, that it needed to be done. So we went back out and I was able to lift the rocker arm up just long enough for her to get the gasket into place and I set it back down. We might have been off by a 1/16" but it was close enough for me! So now I just need to finish replacing all of the gaskets and then tighten all of the bolts to spec., reinstall everything and hope we were successful.

Oops!

So I had a little accident, I was trying to time the engine by myself which I have done in the past without any problems but low and behold this time I did. I was using a bamboo stick in my first cylinder to help me realize the placement of the piston, when as I was cranking it the stick got stuck and snapped. Oh shit! Needless to say there wasn't any way to get it out... I tried. So long story short... after freaking out for a couple of days I decided to take the engine apart (which has actually been easier than I thought it was going to be). Granted I did make a big mess when I disconnected the hose to the radiator. I'm glad I did take the engine apart though, the bamboo stick broke into a few small pieces, and I found a bunch of gunk piled up inside. Margaret and I ran to Chevs of the 40's to get a new set of gaskets for the engine when I put it back together. Hopefully we'll get a chance tomorrow or Monday to replace all of the gaskets and get the engine put back together. Then maybe even start it up?!

The New Distributor

So after much pain and agony! I was able to get the new distributor to fit. I had to run all over town to find a new nut and bolt set that would fit to replace the one I had to cut in half. The set is used to hold on a clamp with a plate off of it to hold the distributor down. Needless to say though, I think I got it in the right spot and it's all hooked up and ready to be fired!

Well we tried it....no luck. But there is a big spark now...so I just need to go through and retime the engine and try it again.

Bought the New Distributor

Picked up the "new" rebuilt distributor yesterday from Dan's Classic, in Portland. The distributor came in a box sealed inside of some thick plastic and it came with a new cap and rotor as well. Maybe it's a sign things are going to work!! This morning I removed the old distributor and now I'm working on removing the vacuum advance clip. Once I get it removed I should be able to transfer it over to the new distributor and then put the new distributor in and maybe I'll get lucky and won't need to re-time the engine. If so it shouldn't be too hard this time around since I have the hand crank for the engine now.

Not the Carb

So I got the carburetor rebuilt without too many hiccups. Rob came up on Friday afternoon to help me with Diane again, and we tried to get her to start, with of course, no luck. Let me just say I'm getting very frustrated! We tried messing with the timing of the distributor again and even tried flipping the wires 180 degrees. Nothing... then we tried testing the spark again...come to find out the spark has diminished to just about nothing again after the distributor. So I'm going to have to buy a new distributor and hope it'll fix all of my problems. Once I purchase it I'll have to retime the engine and then keep my fingers crossed as I step on the starter.