Getting started for Drag Week 2018

[cjshaker]

Ross, after thinking about what Jay said the other day, I understood what he was saying. A severe lack of sleep has made my brain a bit mushy here lately..lol

I understand your point, and that just might be the case. The I terminal has to be in contact with the resistive wire at some point after the switch, and there probably isn't a diode to keep it from backfeeding. That would explain why it was dim on my test light. Honestly, I have never checked voltage at those terminals before because I never had a need to. Still, at this point, I have more important things to do and the car has been starting perfectly, so I'll leave that mystery for another day. It would still be a first for me to have a solenoid slowly engage a starter while being disengaged, and I'm not sure why or how that could happen, but again....electric components can do strange things. Want another example? When I went to work today, the front right turn signal was working perfectly with the headlights on/off or in the running light position...LOL! Go figure I think the horns and turn signal have gotten together and formed a plan to screw with me 

[Drew Pojedinec]

Keep it up Doug, you can do it!

(Do I need to bring my tools to Atlanta? just in case)

The office called and told me I need to come back to the boat despite only being off for a week due to another moron's screw up.  I informed them I have a religious holiday on the 9th and 10th.... they asked what holiday, and I said "Drag Week is in Georgia mofo's and I aint leaving!"

We'll see how that goes.

[cjshaker]

Drew, I usually do the overkill thing when it comes to tools and spare parts. I should have enough tools to disassemble the entire car if I had to, even though I know if there's one tool that I need, that'll be the one I don't bring. I appreciate the offer though.

Good luck on getting your days off. I was looking forward to meeting you. As it is, the only forum members that will be present this year will be Scott and his Dad (participating with their cars), you if you show up, and one other person mentioned going on the first day (sorry I can't remember who right at the moment; this thread has gotten much longer than I anticipated, or you guys probably want..lol).

[Heo]

Thinking about it when i started my Galaxie after 10 years
there was something with lights and turn signal that fixed
it self after a while

[KMcCullah]

The office called and told me I need to come back to the boat despite only being off for a week due to another moron's screw up.  I informed them I have a religious holiday on the 9th and 10th.... they asked what holiday, and I said "Drag Week is in Georgia mofo's and I aint leaving!"

We'll see how that goes.

Sing it ,Drew. So put on your yamaka...it's time to celebrate Drag Week... 
Hope it works out.

Will be rooting for you, Doug. Will your son be handling shotgun duties?

[cjshaker]

Kevin, yes, my Son is driving over from the coast of North Carolina and will be with me the whole week.

I was packing things up last night and finishing it up today. I'll be taking off on Friday to take my time getting there and to give me a much needed day of rest before the event. This last month has really worn me down.

I also finished up the last few details last night and gave it a good cleaning. I took about 10 trips around the mile to adjust the transmission modulator and kickdown rod, which I had to modify to work with the taller height of the RPM intake. You can't shift through the gears in a 1-2-3 fashion on a Cruise-O-Matic like you can nearly all other automatic transmissions. It has a Low gear detent, then a Drive detent that shifts through all 3 gears by itself, then it has a Drive 2 detent that starts out in 2nd gear. I can shift from Low to Drive manually, but then it will shift into 3rd on its own. If the kickdown and modulator aren't adjusted right, it'll shift into 3rd right away, which is what it's been doing. Not a big deal with normal driving, but not good from any performance standpoint. I was too busy with other things to mess with adjusting it, but finally got around to it last night. I also adjusted my low beam headlights last night while parked on a country mile. Right now I'm extremely happy with how the car runs and drives, just solid all around. The rear doesn't even sag when fully loaded.

[Heo]

Doug you can shift the C-O-M manualy. Start in low shift to drive, it shift to second,shift back to low
it will hold second gear, then you shift to drive and you get third. it is the same if you want engine
brake shift down to low and trans shift down. Atleast my 64 C-O-M mediumcase work that way
when kickdown and modulator is adjusted right

Please tell if you want a demonstration video

[AlanCasida]

Kevin, yes, my Son is driving over from the coast of North Carolina and will be with me the whole week.

I was packing things up last night and finishing it up today. I'll be taking off on Friday to take my time getting there and to give me a much needed day of rest before the event. This last month has really worn me down.

I also finished up the last few details last night and gave it a good cleaning. I took about 10 trips around the mile to adjust the transmission modulator and kickdown rod, which I had to modify to work with the taller height of the RPM intake. You can't shift through the gears in a 1-2-3 fashion on a Cruise-O-Matic like you can nearly all other automatic transmissions. It has a Low gear detent, then a Drive detent that shifts through all 3 gears by itself, then it has a Drive 2 detent that starts out in 2nd gear. I can shift from Low to Drive manually, but then it will shift into 3rd on its own. If the kickdown and modulator aren't adjusted right, it'll shift into 3rd right away, which is what it's been doing. Not a big deal with normal driving, but not good from any performance standpoint. I was too busy with other things to mess with adjusting it, but finally got around to it last night. I also adjusted my low beam headlights last night while parked on a country mile. Right now I'm extremely happy with how the car runs and drives, just solid all around. The rear doesn't even sag when fully loaded.

Good luck Doug, wish I could be there. As far as shifting the C-O-M goes, I found that when you shift from low to drive if you pull the shifter back to low it will hold it in second gear. Then shift back to drive for 3rd gear. Don't ask me how I figured this out because it doesn't sound like a very logical(or smart) thing to do. At least it worked on the '66 Galaxie I had back in high school.

[cjshaker]

Wow, thanks Heo and Alan! I do recall hearing that many many years ago, but had totally forgotten about it. That's very useful info! I would have been afraid to try that, thinking it would slam it back into 1st and over-rev the engine.

Alan, it just won't be the same without seeing you there. It was always nice having a familiar face to chat with. You've got a year to get your problems sorted out for the next event.

[e philpott]

Good luck Doug, wish I could be there. As far as shifting the C-O-M goes, I found that when you shift from low to drive if you pull the shifter back to low it will hold it in second gear. Then shift back to drive for 3rd gear. Don't ask me how I figured this out because it doesn't sound like a very logical(or smart) thing to do. At least it worked on the '66 Galaxie I had back in high school.
[/quote]

My 65 T Bird from high school shifted the same way and good Luck Doug

[Heo]

Doug, Like the saying goes...Its only kinky the first time
I must say i had my doubt first time i tried shifting like that

[Barry_R]

Good Luck!

[Stangman]

Yes good luck Doug we will be rooting you on

[Bolted to Floor]

Good luck Doug. Carry the FE for the rest of us. Here’s to safe travels and a trouble free trip.

[cjshaker]

Well, just when you think you have everything licked....

I changed the oil tonight and found no issues with it. It came out looking good, the filter looked good and the magnetic plug didn't show a single sign of any metal. I refilled the engine with the 15w-40 that I was using, and with the breather off, I started the engine and watched inside. I couldn't see ANY oil flowing. I checked the other side and saw the same thing, no oil flowing. I went ahead and pulled off the valve cover and started the engine again. Again, I couldn't see any oil flowing. On the off chance I made a mistake putting the wrong rocker stand bolt in the wrong location, I pulled the proper bolt out and saw that it was the necked down bolt that it should have in that place.

I have no idea why this is happening. With the engine warm, there is just a tiny, very tiny, amount of oil getting to the pushrod. It's not even enough to run down the pushrod, or fill up the bottom of the head. And normally you should have oil being shot at the valve tip and running down the valve spring, and I'm getting none of that. There is literally no oil pooling in the head at all, and I can rev the engine with the valve cover off and not get a single drop of oil thrown anywhere. If there were a plug that came out in the upper passages, I don't think there's any way I'd have the good oil pressure that I have. I can't imagine that the oil passages are plugged, but given the crud that was in the engine, that may be a possibility.

At this point there's nothing I can do. I either scrap the idea of going, or run it and hope that the cam and lift is mild enough that the valve springs will survive and that I don't destroy the valve tips or rockers. I thought about going back to 10w-30 oil in the hopes that the thinner oil might flow a little better. I might change the oil again in the morning before I take off.

I'm open to any and all suggestions, although I don't see a remedy for this except for possibly thinner oil. It was 90* here today, so it's not like the 15w-40 was real thick either.

Edit to say THANKS for everyones good wishes and support!