A Wagonaire would have saved a lot of work on the tailgate area but good ones are too expensive to cut up for a novelty and would have not given me the lines that I wanted. The base for this build was very reasonably priced--a California desert car with an interior like toasted bread crumbs but a body that needed zero rust repair. I was able to use the grill and bumpers without replating.

Attach file:

---

  IMG_0247.JPG (2,251.52 KB)

Inboard screw affects only 3-4-5-6. Outboard only 1-2-7-8

A day in the life at Speedwell. First, if you must use a floor jack to remove your Ultramatic, please place a piece of wood under the pan.




Second, who knew that relentlessly allowing your Ultra to slip could produce used clutch plates that resemble modern sculpture.



Third, a few of you may enjoy this little 63 Lark pickup we ginned up for a customer.

Very interesting that the V8 gears were a mod of the earlier gears. I can surely understand that as they already had the tooling for forming the teeth and the earlier pumps were trouble free. Are the overall length of the gears the same? Also, very handy to have the specs for the shaft and housing bore. On the earlier pumps, the input shaft had a much longer bearing area. I'm pretty sure that an extra overhang loading from driving the vacuum pump was a chief factor in accelerated shaft wear. What I've never figured is how some cars escaped this til high mileage and some tanked at 20K.

Chances are excellent that bushing will work.

On one car the intermittent fuel problem turned out to be a dead wasp that would would block the pickup tube and then drop out again after the car stopped. The other case, and perhaps more pertinent, was when the tank had been relined and some of the lining came loose.

I like to use a dial indicator with a magnetic base. I stick the base to the axle and let the probe push against the backing plate. Push the axle in, then pull it outwards and read the difference. Or push the axle in and then clamp some bent up piece of steel to the axle with a vice grip or clamp. Clamp the steel so it is just touching the backing plate, then pull the axle outwards and measure the gap with feeler gages.

In your top photo the thrust washers are on the smaller spider gears that run left-right in the photo. Up down in your photo are the side gears, the axle shafts protrude through these and touch against the thrust block. The axles should push against the block directly so I am perplexed by that shim (?) that seems adhered to the side of the thrust block. It should pull right out as the thrust block has plain flat sides. The thrust block should have quite a bit up up-down play in your photo.

The absence of chips or noise tells me the diff is fine. When you reassemble, you will need to pay particular attention to your axle end play as I am guessing that piece of metal was somebody's fix for not understanding how to regulate the play with the shims out at the wheel bearings.

I use little #4 flathead screws. I drill clean through the fuzzy and the door at a suitable spot and run the screw down well below the surface of the fuzz into the backing. They are no more visible than the staples.

On the relatively short pieces on sedans I have glued them in with good success. Get some spring type clothespins and place them upside down to push the strips firmly to the door while the adhesive sets.

Here you go, a 1953 WCFB as evidenced by the starter switch and the small base. Missing a few screws and the choke coil, and the fast idle link--but I could probably find those if they are needed. Metering rods present. $100.

I have friends visiting from Germany in May and they could take this thing back with them to simplify shipping.

Attach file:

---

  IMG_0825.JPG (4,744.83 KB)


  IMG_0826.JPG (2,047.08 KB)


  IMG_0827.JPG (1,793.47 KB)