Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

I'm completely exhausted ;) or more accurately, the exhaust system overhaul is done. I moved the O2 sensor bung back 24" per the recommendation from Innovate so I hope that contributes to a longer lifespan for the sensor. And, as I may have mentioned earlier, I was able to relocate the H-pipe rearwards which allows it to clear everything comfortably.

With the exhaust revisions complete, I crossed off a few other items on the punch list. I affixed a standoff to the top edge of the trans cooler so it's solid now. I wasn't happy with the way the PCV system was operating so I moved the clean air side filter to the inside of the air cleaner and hooked the hose to both valve covers instead of just one. I also sealed up the catch can fittings better than they were originally. There was only a couple of teaspoons of oil in the reservoir after the trip, but I don't know if that was the result of an efficient engine or poor performance of the PCV setup. I'll know more in a couple of weeks after we take another trip.

I also adjusted the coil overs. I tightened up the springs an inch in the rear and a half inch up front. Also went one click firmer on the single adjustable shocks. As crappy as most of the roads are, it shouldn't take long to find out if the changes helped.

Tomorrow I'll be pulling the passenger front seat and the console to access the wiring. I need to run the new temp sensor wire to the Dakota Digital brain box. I also have to snip some zip ties to give the O2 sensor some slack. It won't reach the relocated bung as things sit now. Then I need to spend a couple of days cleaning up. The underside of the car got oiled down from trans fluid puking out the overflow on the trip to the TFN. I was concerned about that when we overfilled it while shaking the car down. I drained 8 quarts out of the trans but only put 6 back in. I'll watch the pressure gauge to see if I need to add more, but I'm betting it will be okay just a little over the full mark.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Glad to see she's back on her wheels!

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Looking good, I hope this cures most of the bugs.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Breather inside a breather.....pretty slick

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

The VHT application process is similar but I've never had the patience to do it! The headers on the Dirty Girl look ok on the top sides but exactly how you'd expect on the bottom. I want to do better than that on the C10. Thanks for the details! That process will be coming soon.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

You and me both, Chip. Spent all day yesterday cleaning bugs and road grime off the top and underneath. I may need to be a bit more careful about the weather forecast in the future. ;)
Thanks, Dale. They're getting sorted slowly but surely. I went for a test drive this afternoon and let it sit and idle for a long time. Never got over 195. But then again, the outside temperature is 85 instead of 95 like we experienced on the trip. I need to make a longer run to build more heat into the engine to know for sure. I have a sneaking suspicion I still may be revising the puller fans over the winter.
Thanks, Greg. The instructions for the Moroso breather setups say to plumb the clean air side into the intake tube in front of the throttle blade, so the "old school" equivalent for me would be the location I picked. We'll see how well it works after I put a few hundred miles on it next week. If the breather stays dry and the catch can doesn't trap too much oil, I'll take that as a good sign.
Glad to help, John. I followed the procedure suggested by the guys at HRE and let the engine warm up until I saw a little smoke coming off the manifolds and then shut it down and let it cool off. There was very little smoke but I repeated the process twice more and then went for a drive. Manifolds look the same as when I installed them. I'll know more after some road trips, but right now it would appear to be a good solution.

The exhaust note is radically different than before with the new manifolds and H-pipe. I can still hear the exhaust but it sounds like it's coming from the very back of the car instead of right under me. May actually be able to listen to some tunes going down the road.

The change in the spring height also made a difference. Ride is a bit more harsh, but it didn't seem to bottom out going over bumps. The true test will be crossing bridges at highway speed.

I still have a few items left on my punch list, but if the weather cooperates, we may hit a cruise in or two this weekend.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Sounds like you may get through that punch list yet. :metal:

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Man I am truly impressed!!! Read the whole build in the last 2 days and it has got to be frustrating to bee so close when the gremlins started. Looking forward to seeing the final solution to the problems had the same issues with heat and ac on my truck and 10 years later still fighting the trans.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Two steps forward, one step back, Dale. But I plan to succeed.
Thanks! I've never had a build with so many things go kaput - particularly at the end when it should be just minor tweaking.

Case in point, after my test drive yesterday, I decided to change the adjustment on the shocks just slightly. When I reached under the driver side rear for the knob, I grabbed the tire and realized the backside was greasy/sticky. Upon further inspection, I could see the axle seal has been leaking. Not a huge amount, but more than enough to cause problems. The caliper, rotor, e-brake and the inside of the rim were coated with 90W rear end grease. A small amount had slung up into the wheel well, but it didn't appear to be dripping off of anything - yet.

So, the axle is out and a cursory look see didn't reveal any obvious defects. The axle assembly came preassembled with the chassis from Roadster Shop. I reckon I need to get a good light and my magnifier to see if I can find the cause of the leak and then come up with a plan to fix it.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Per the Bishop in Caddyshack- "RAT FARTS!"

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Amen to that!

So the problem would appear to be some hairline cracks in the outer rubber ring. After cleaning it good and then pre-lubing the taper roller bearing, I saw some seepage thru the rubber in a couple of places. For now, I'm going to apply a thin coat of RTV to it and then carefully assemble the whole mess. I don't hold out a lot of hope this will totally fix the problem, but it may patch it sufficiently to get me into winter when I can press it apart and put a new seal in. Don't try this at home, kids - test driver on closed course - etc., etc.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

i had a axle seal start leaking once for no apparent reason..when i pulled it apart it all looked good..then i found the cause..the spring inside the lip seal was broken..

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

These Ford seals are built a little differently. They have a inner, double lip that rides on the axle and an outer rubber ring that seals against the housing axle flange. Looks like the outer part has developed these micro cracks for some reason. I'll attempt to patch it for now, but won't be surprised when I have to revisit it down the road. I'd just like to make a few more cruise-in's before the end of the season. Seems like I missed so much this year due to all the stuff I've had to fix. There will be plenty of time to break out the wrenches this winter.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

We took a 550 mile road trip to visit some friends and attend a cruise over the weekend. The rear axle problem appears to be 99% contained. I had one small spot on the backside of the rim that looked like a few drops of axle lube may have dripped onto it, but other than that, no signs of major trouble. I've added a new seal to my winter makeover list.

Speaking of that, my list now includes:
1. Replace the 3000-3200 rpm stall converter with one closer to stock - like a 1600-2000 unit.
2. Take another stab at the EFI using my intake setup and Holley's Terminator X controller.
3. Replace the dual Perma Cool fans with Spal fans that actually move air.
4. Repair a small spot on the roof that's lifting due to my improper prep.

There's certain to be more, but those are the biggies. We have a few more cruise-in's and car shows to attend before the car gets blown apart for repairs, so meanwhile, I decided to test another linkage setup on the dual quads. Ever since I put the carbs on, I've been using a progressive linkage that mainly runs off the rear carb. In fact, the front carb has the idle mixture screws all the way in and the primary throttle blades completely closed until the rear carb reaches half throttle. So most low speed operation is handled by the rear carb only. The AFR and the plugs are white when comin in off the highway but in town, the center plugs appear slightly darker which is probably due to the dual plane intake.

So I decided to do something I've been wanting to try and that's to use a direct link between the carbs. I reset the idle mixture screws on the front carb and tweaked the curb idle. It feels more responsive and the AFR readings are much more stable. I'm going to leave it like this for awhile and see how it affects the mileage. On our trip this weekend, we averaged 15.2 mpg which was the same as the trip to Bowling Green. So that should be a good baseline. We have one more long trip planned which will give me a chance to compare.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Congrats on making the trip...sounds like your getting a handle on it..

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

I think so, Greg. I started over with a baseline calibration for the 4L60E and tweaked it a bit today. Shift points are much better but still need to work on the converter lockup. Not sure I can get where I want to be until the new converter is in, but it's pretty easy to adjust the settings with the laptop. The engine drops about 500 rpm when the converter locks and it feels like I popped the parachute. ;)

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Glad you got there and back ok.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Sounds like a fairly successful trip. It sounds like you're getting the bugs chased out.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Me too, Chip. We have one more trip planned to a car show in Sedalia a week from now. It will be a good chance to tweak the transmission calibration.
That we are, Dale. Slowly but surely. My punch list for the winter is growing, but I hope the car will be good to go after all the revisions. My main source of heartburn is the overheating. After much research, I ordered a pair of SPAL fans to replace the Perma Cool ones that aren't keeping up. I'll probably have to pull the core support to install them since they're 11" instead of 10" and will have to be staggered to fit in the available space.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Received an email from Speedway with a link to some radiator tech. One thing led to another and I ran across a thread on a forum that suggested that at least some overheating issues might be traced to using an aftermarket thermostat and housing. Apparently, the LS water pump has a bypass hole used for warmup that when left uncovered by using a SBC thermostat will cause hot water to recirculate in the engine rather than being routed thru the radiator. The LS thermostat has a plunger that supposedly blocks this flow once the engine reaches operating temperature. It looks like the housing on my FEAD from Synister Products is an aftermarket piece. No way to know without removing it what type thermostat is in place. So I reckon when I pull the radiator and fan shroud to replace the fans, I'll have a look.

Another post suggested that replacing the water pump with a high volume unit would help reduce overheating. I can't tell from the numbers on my w/p what it is exactly so I'm unsure whether a swap would be useful. There may be other numbers cast into it, but there's too much stuff in the way to tell. While I have it apart, I want to do all I can to address potential cooling issues because I only want to do this once.

I bought a replacement 4L60E case off eBay. It looked really nice in the listing, but what they sent wasn't the same as the picture in ad. Filthy as all get out and a totally different part number than they showed. When I asked them if the case they sent was identical to the one they advertised they said "should be". How's that for commitment? This kind of practice is why I hate buying eBay junk.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Over the last couple of weeks we attended a few car shows / cruise-in's and I've had enough for the season. I'm ready to get on with the repairs the old gal needs. First up is to remove the radiator, ac condenser, fans, shroud and wiring. Then off comes the intake, carbs, regulator and etc. After that, I'll remove the front seats and console. Last of all, the exhaust pipes back to the mufflers, the driveshaft, the rest of the wiring and nearly all the hardware holding the transmission.

Once I get to that point, I'll have Hot Rod Express haul it to their shop and yank the tranny the rest of the way out. It goes to Nicholls Performance Transmission to have the internals swapped into a different (un-cracked) case. They will also inspect and repair anything they might find. They will also source a different converter for it that doesn't flash to 3000 rpm every time you tip in the throttle a little bit.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I've been preparing for the switch back to EFI. All that will remain of my original setup is the sheet metal intake. It has a new (correct) Nick Williams throttle body, new FIC 60lb injectors and a new Holley Terminator X ECU and harness. I've been building a calibration file based on my sensors and other engine components. I'll write it to the ECU when I get everything assembled and see if it will start. It has a self learning feature, so I hope to be able to get it running well enough to make it to the tuner down in Belton if need be.

I'm keeping the Painless trans controller which I hope isn't a bad decision, but I've been tweaking it some recently and it's made a lot of difference in the way the tranny performs. I'll probably have to start over with the new converter, but I have a route I run to test my changes with convenient places to stop and make adjustments on the fly.

So the radiator is getting pumped out today in preparation for removal. It will probably look a bit sad over the next couple of months but it will be worth it.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

I'm glad you got to have fun with it for a while. Looking forward to you getting comfortable to drive it cross country for a little "California Dreaming " and visiting here!

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Thanks Dale. Kathy is already looking forward to our west coast road trip next spring. There's a lot we haven't seen and if we get ahead of fire season, we'll put you on the itinerary. Fingers crossed you get some extra rain this winter.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

I would love to meet ya two. We're hoping for rain too.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Just made that trip from Florida to 29 palms in so-cal took a lot of pictures here are a few

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Attachment 2138436

Attachment 2138437

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Attachment 2138440

Attachment 2138441

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Now that's the life! We no longer have a camper, but we had some really good times when we did. Thanks for the pictures. Sweet rig!

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

X2! What a tow rig....beautiful combo!

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Vic, I admire your patience and skills. You don't seem to get excited when you have to redo something, so that might be why your builds are always so nice. This wagon is over the top and I'm glad you are going back to EFI. I got hooked on that 57 Ford build a few years back and only recently realized that was you. You have had some nice rides.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Vic, there's a guy that just moved to I think the Waldo area that was a head tech guy for Holley and is doing tunes/Diag. His name is Andrew Borodin, I can hunt up his contact info if you'd like.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Thanks very much Russell. I've always liked working on them more than driving, so they haven't tended to hang around too long after they're done. Having some things to fix over the winter will keep me occupied and maybe allow me to drive this one a bit longer. I had that Ford for many years, but once it was done, it wasn't too long before it was gone. Needed the space and the $$ for the next build.
That would be great if you could, Chip. I found a couple of articles on him and maybe an email address but no phone number. If the email is good, I could probably get a phone number if he's settled in by now. Thanks for the heads up. He might be an even better resource than Todd based on his background.

I've been tearing stuff apart in preparation for redoing the fans and the transmission. Pulled the thermostat housing and it looks like it has the correct thermostat in it (LS style) with a 160 degree rating. So there's no reason to think hot coolant is bypassing the radiator and contributing to my overheating issues.

However, this also brings up an interesting situation. I have two temp senders - one in the rear of the passenger side head and the other in the driver front. The pass side sensor feeds the temp gauge and runs about 5 degrees hotter than the driver front. The ECU uses the cooler reading front as its input. Going down the highway in 70 degree weather, the gauge reads 175 - which means the ECU is probably seeing somewhere around 170. That's still 10-15 degrees warmer than where the thermostat opens. I don't know that you can expect the temp gauge to read 160 just because the thermostat opens there but most passenger cars read within a few degrees of the thermostat opening value. Which leads me to wonder if I have other factors to consider than just the radiator size, shroud design and fan cfm.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Russell said it right! The way you finish is a whole different level. I'm looking forward to your road trip stories, then onto the next build!

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Thanks, John. You're no slouch when it comes to finishing one nicely!

The guys at HRE are understaffed due to Covid and other unforeseen events, so I'm headed down to Sunbelt Rental tomorrow to pick up a transmission jack. Gravity and I can drop it out but I'll have to have HRE reinstall it.

Before removing the exhaust, I marked the tubing for a pair of high flow cats. They may help lower the sound level in the car, but I'm really hoping they cut down on the stink. The carbs have been running a bit rich and will make your eyes water if you hang around too long while it's idling. The EFI (Part Deux) should make it burn more efficiently if all goes as planned.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

As always, pick up the phone and we'll help you get it back in there. We ain't that bright, but we can lift heavy things.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Thanks, Chip! I may take you up on the offer. HRE is still trying to get back up to speed. Rick suggested it might be better for them to send a couple of guys to the house to stick the tranny rather than load up the car and transport it both ways to their shop. I'll check their pulse again when the trans is ready for installation.

I've been busy welding the cats into the exhaust tubing. Not my best work, but good enough. Hard to weld overlapping thin material. I didn't want to use U or V-band clamps. Don't want any air leaks to disrupt the O2 sensor readings. Also picked up the .090 aluminum sheet for the new fan mounts.

Plenty of items left on the punch list. Winter is around the corner and there's nothing better than turning on the heater in the shop and working on the car when it's too crappy to be outside. ;)

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

No worries, just let us know. We'll need to do it to Dad's truck too, we'll need practice.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Well, I ended up getting the practice, so I'll have to help you guys instead. ;)

I took B-I-L Rick's advice and used a transmission jack to do the install. Didn't want to rent the 500lb monster I used the last time, so I went down the street to my local HF and plunked down $199 for one of theirs. It sat a bit high (I thought) so I lowered the stop for the pad and built my own lifting plate. By doing this, I was able to decrease the minimum height by 2". Turns out I didn't need quite that much but it was nice to have the clearance.

It went in with no problems at all. I got the locator pins started and then progressively tightened the four lower bellhousing bolts. All the bolts are in now as well as the crossmember, so it's just a matter of reassembling the various parts and tightening all the bolts to spec.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Great job on the transmission jack mods.

Re: 57 Chevy Wagon - Californa Dreamin'
 

Nice job, I like the jack mods too!