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57 Pontiac "Zero Fox"

I was getting enough to the top end I had a leak at the VC, just being cranked with the starter. I added a thin skim of RTV to the gasket. I don't have a proper gauge, and when it fired I was pretty busy trying to keep it running. I honestly never looked at the oil pressure gauge, but I think it's OK.

It doesn't want to fire this morning. I'm gonna order a carb kit...I think the accel pump is just too weak. 59 year old leather and all. I was hoping to play with the timing some today.
 
A little brake fluid might soften up that hardened accelerator pump cup..till you can get the kit to rebuild the carb..I would reccomend boiling the carb in lemon juice or vinegar for awhile after its apart,it'll help a lot..more than just spraying carb cleaner will,as far as cleaning out the passages in the castings..then blow it out with high pressure air..

If that has one of those dual diaphram fuel/vacuum pumps that also runs the wipers,I'd make sure no gas ends up in the oil--if either diaphram ruptures,the one thats still good can pump gas into the crankcase..seeing it might be original,or very old,it has the potential to have that happen...the insides of the pump might be just as bad as the carb you pictured ..
 
Sweet! Sounds like an airplane.
 
Sounds a lot like mine! When mine is idling, it sounds like an old Honda motorcycle
 
I did order some more small parts including a carb kit and some other sundry items. I have to say the carb has been a pain in my ass and has been on and off the car seven or eight times now. I had bought a carb from this guy on Canadian Poncho allegedly from a running car. My carb the base section was broken. The carb I bought was filled with a tar like substance, so I used most of my original carb on the other carb's base. This got it to fire...but I had put it together with the old gaskets and no new parts.

So, I took it apart again, cleaned the ever loving shit out of it, blew out every tiny orifice. Slightly better.

So, I took it apart again, put the kit in...accel pump giving me fits as all that was supplied was the rubber part and it did not play nice with the original part I had. Ran better, but still issues and wouldn't start on it's own.

So, I took it apart again, stripped down the carb again specifically the accel pump which wasn't going down the bore smoothly. I removed it and chucked it in the drill press and buffed down the rubber part a little at a time until it did go down the bore of the fuel well smoothly. Started on it's own, once.

So, I pulled the new fuel pump off, cleaned up the old original pump and installed that. Finally have pressure at the fuel inlet of the carb...telling me I have supply and a good working needle and seat. Now it starts on it's own and imitates a high idle. Progress...

I'm at the point I need to get the cooling system installed so I can run the engine longer, so I can tune and tweak without worrying about damaging it. My original core support was damaged. I had a straighter one from my parts car, but it was the V8 version. 6 cyl cars the rad mounts in front of the support, V8 cars the rad mounts behind the support. I used the two to make one that will work for now.

That's up to date as of this past weekend. Nothing pic or video worthy, just incrementally better with lots of frustration along the way.
 
i know what you mean! little steps are just as important. i.m just back from the shop,i now have a rolling truck. hopefully it will be stored tommorrow,till next winter!
 
Getting better every time you do something to it is winning!
At least is not costing you a fortune to do it.

That 350 is long out of the 79 c10 sitting in the big storage shed we have in the back...I drained the oil out of it again after I pulled it out... Nasty is what that was! More antifreeze mixed with the oil! Gross! :dunno: That is all that I have done with it. I should pressure wash it and drag it to your place after the crops are planted.
 
I spent a little time out there hoping to mount the rad. I'm gonna have to make some additional brackets to bolt it to the core support. Appears that I have a V8 rad too so all my fancy maneuvers with the core support were for pretty much nothing.

If you guys get time to come up and visit it'd be awesome if you brought the 350!

You guys getting any real rain there? It's drier than last year here, kinda worried we're gonna go up in flames too. too many dumb people still flicking cigarettes out the car window here. It's not "if"...it's when.
 
good to read progress Rene'
Still anxious to see the first drive!
Dean, is there a blown head gasket or cracked head or whats up with that 350?
 
We are covered in dust over here! And the stinking wind is relentless!

Not sure what`s up with that 350 it needs to come apart and be investigated for sure,
 
I have to laugh reading your post Rene, as I went through the same damn thing with my car last spring. Just like you, I must have had that damn carb off 8 times! Lucked out and found an NOS carb on ebay. Then the practically brand new condensor took a dump. Bailed on that and went to a Pertronix setup. Now the semi-auto trans doesn't downshift on it's own....it's an endless spiral
 
OK here is the update. The clown car is gone, which is good. Kinda like finally cutting ties with that crazy stripper you were hooking up with. It was just never gonna end well...ya know?

now with a bit of extra room, and a K5 that runs and drives I have moved the Blazer out of the garage and began a ruthless clean/de-junk/organize effort. I hope to continue this weekend. Not sexy, but gratifying all the same. An organized space is so much better for motivation.

So, the 57 you ask? Scott from Cold War Motors youtube fame is going to do some minor body work and get the front sheet metal back on the car. I have all of it here. The front end will be painted the same "line fire green metallic", then artificially aged to match the rest of the car. The goal is to present as an original paint survivor. Scott is cutting me a very good deal on this work, and it's work I have no experience doing myself. I have seen his "dust in" paint matches on some of the other CWM cars. Al I can say is he has a gift!

On the mechanical side of things I have been looking ahead to driving this car as much as is feasible. Overdrive would be huge from a DD standpoint. The car has 3.70 gears and ~25" tires. Highway would be spinning at 3200 rpm. I knew that Borg Warner made an overdrive unit that was available from the middle 40's through the middle 70's on the back of the three speed standard trans. I tried eVilbay and a few other paces and came up dry. I finally put up a wanted ad on canadianponcho.com thinking long shot. Canadians back in the day were a thrifty lot and were well known for checking zero option boxes. Overdrive? **** that dear it's an extra $7. Anyways, a week after putting up the ad I got a call from a guy in BC that has a OD 3 speed from a 59 El Camino he got from a WA state car but decided not to use. He was weird to deal with, but I stuck with it and today it arrived. It's crusty, but everything appears to be there. I'll clean and dis-assemble and rebuild alongside the other progress on the 57. When the OD trans is ready I'll make the swap. We'll see which is ready to go first. At any rate, this OD unit was actually the predecessor to the gear vendors unit and has a .70:1 overdrive. That puts my cruise rpm at 2100 rpm at 70 mph. Able to hang with modern traffic...yay!

I'll snap a few pics tomorrow. Everyone likes pics right?
 
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