Some successes, some almost successes! '63 SDV Update

[Tom Bahner]

Well, I've had this ol Deville a couple months now and thought I'd give and update. I've learned a lot from this forum and its members. Jason, Russ, and others have got me over the hump on a bunch of occasions. Thanks all, hope you don't get tired of me asking questions. Hope I don't bore you too bad.

Success - visors stay up out of the way and rear view mirror stays in place.

Almost Success -Wipers didn't work. After removing the washer assembly, cleaning all the old sticky grease off the gears in the wiper housing, and cleaning up the ground strap, I now have wipers that move. New wiper refills and all. They only work on low speed, but hey, I have wipers. Any ideas on the hi speed??

Will deal with the washers at a later date, on to more pressing issues.

Success - Passenger window gets hung up. Cause was a severely rusted window sash. Replacement from Russ - thanks - expertise on removal/install from Jason - thanks - and window is now fully functional.

Rusty and crusty

New sash! What its supposed to look like.

In progress - Non functional drivers window. Motor is froze up. Toying with taking it apart to see if brushes are stuck or what. Anything difficult about motor dis-assembly/re assembly? I answered my own question, tore it completely apart, freed up the part with the windings(maybe its call the commutator?), cleaned everything up with a light coat of lith grease. Hopefully nothing has shorted out. Will try when it warms up again.

In progress - replace vent window regulator gears in both sides.

In progress - Working with my local shop on the drive train rumble. Rear spherical ball joint should be here today. Center support bearing in hand for replacement - hopefully the rubber in the support bracket is ok yet - won't know till its apart. New ball and socket, spring, seal, etc. for the double Cardan CV joint should be here in a couple days. U-joints can be had locally. Will let you know how this all works out.

Will also look at choke operation. Cold start problem. I imagine choke tube/intake manifold problem. Possible cracked manifold?

Yet to be done - seat don't move, no AC, valve cover gaskets,  couple small leaks on power steering hoses, alignment - front end in pretty good shape. 

Need warm weather - 1degree again this morning after almost 60 yesterday..

Later

Tom B

[David Thomas]

Congratulations on your progress getting your car road worthy. Sounds like a great trip you have planned, it'll be a blast. My wife and I are also looking at retiring within the next 12 months. Looking forward to some trips, maybe some in the 63, some on motorcycle.

Enjoy! David

 

[Tom Bahner]

Thanks for the comments and additional tips.

I'm retired and the wife is retiring in a couple months.The plan is to get this land yacht road worthy by this summer.

We have a hankerin to drive what's left of Rt. 66 from one end to the other. Will start with a trip to Chicago- the starting point(s) of 66 and see how far we get. Always wanted to take the wife to the top of the John Hancock Bldg. and have a drink overlooking the Million Dollar Mile. Its been many years since I was there, I believe thats what they called it, if my failing memory serves me right. .

[Jason Edge]

Tom, You have made a lot of progress in a short amount of time and thank you for sharing your experience with everyone.

Just a few things on the "to be done" list:

Valve cover Gaskets.  You can get them from local auto parts stores. Main thing is to make sure valve cover lip is straight and not bent down requiring you to over torque the small bolts, further causing it to bend downward meaning rest of cover doesn't seal.  Stock torque is 28 inch lbs (or 2 1/3 ft/lbs) and the only way you can get the valve cover to seal correctly with that torque is with a flat valve cover seal lip.  There have been several posts on the valve covers and straightening across boards or hard surfaces. Once you remove the valve cover you can see pretty quickly if it is bent where it attaches to heads.

On seats, if seat motor not running, turning check wiring from switch to motor and transmission, and ground from seat chassis on right side of seat rail..and of course the large 40amp body feed circuit breaker.  If you hear it moving when you move controls (assuming 6 way bench seat), the transmission probably needs to be cleaned and regreased. There are 3 solenoids inside that often get clogged  in old hardened grease and do not engage. There are 2 end screws that holds the casing together. Remove screws, pull apart noting position of parts, clean out and regrease with white lithium grease. I used spray lithium grease on shafts and gears and the white lithium cup grease in the solenoid cavity.

 Here is that illustration of my seat motor:

[Chris Codd]

Sounds like you've made some great progress on the car. My seat wasn't working when I first started working on my car, but after playing with the switch for a bit, it came back to life. Hope you have the same luck.