Another Hot Rod....

[57hemicuda]

Drives me crazy that sorting is so much harder then building. Glad they got it figured out. I know you and everyone involved have to be pissed that it ended up being something so simple, always the way though.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by 57hemicuda

Drives me crazy that sorting is so much harder then building. Glad they got it figured out. I know you and everyone involved have to be pissed that it ended up being something so simple, always the way though.

You know -- I don't know that I'd characterize it as simple. Roy said they discovered the movement of the upper radiator hose by accident - and then looked further into it and noticed the fan blade contact "witness" mark. I might have torn the heads off the motor before I ever figured it out and had the block x-rayed... LOL

Going for complicated over simple... like most of us do!

The stupid part is that of all the things that can go wrong with a motor like the LS with all the drive by wire - and ECM's and relays and harness and blah blah blah... the last thing I'd think would become an issue is the cooling system. And what brought it to the forefront was that the car sat idling for several minutes - thus ZERO air movement being forced thru the radiator... and it needed ALL of the fan CFM to stay in control. And again -- all of my "testing" was done inside the shop with no air movement. I could have used my big (36") fan in front of the engine but I was trying to test the cooling system so I didn't want to have any artificial cooling aids. Thus the problem repeated itself over and over.

Funnier yet is that I had commented to Roy that his fan "sucked" earlier... it was noisy... but then I also knew that with just the single smallish fan - it would have to have healthy CFM numbers and when they're moving lots of air - that makes noise. Little did I know that some of the noise was the blade pounding the housing and that friction causing the motor to work harder. It NEVER sounded like a fan blade hitting anything.

Now I guess that with the motor running "hot" - the cool down side of things must have brought in ever more air to the system exacerbating the whole "burping" / "steam venting" thing.

[Vegas69]

So you fixed it by installing a part that has been on every factory car for 75 years?

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

So you fixed it by installing a part that has been on every factory car for 75 years?

Pretty much sums it up.

[GregWeld]

Roy Brizio called and asked if I'd like a join a small group of guys and head down to Austin Texas for the Lonestar Round Up... I asked Gwen if she was interested - and of course, she was, since our daughter lives in Austin.... Lucky for us the '33 was already at Roy's shop waiting for me to pick it up... so we flew to SF and picked up the fully detailed '33 (I had to laugh because Roy said he's spent $1000 having the car detailed after every time I drop it off there).

We departed Andersons Pea Soup right on schedule with about 15 or so cars. Roy Brizio and friend Tami - Andy and Sue Brizio (The Godfather) in their 32 (Andy is 83) - Sid Chavers - Darryl and Terri Hollenbeck (painted our '33) in their brand spankin' new '32 - Scott Hawley in his '32 Fordor... Dennis Varni (a member of the 200 and 300 MPH Bonneville club)... and several others. First day was short as we were only going to Redlands --- but we took off the interstate - and had a very nice drive thru some countryside.... next day we pounded I-10 to Tucson... where Gwen and I have friends so we split off and did cocktails at their place. The usual departure time is 7AM - so day 3 - we're off for El Paso... a longer day but so far the trip is going as planned and by now we've picked up John Mumford in his 32 coupe and Tom Gloy in his yellow '36 Cabriolet - and a few others along the way.... Diner in El Paso was about 40 or so people -- and to all of our surprise the whole thing was picked up by the President of MSD! What a gracious and unexpected "nicety"!

Day 4 was supposed to be a stop at Sonora, Texas but a buddy and I discussed the fact that it was only 200 more miles to Austin -- so we punched on thru and skipped this stop altogether.

The weather thru New Mexico and into Texas was COLD for the folks in the roadsters!! Wow was I happy Gwen's '33 has a top and side windows and a heater!! When you're 80+ and cruising with either no top and no windows or just a top and no windows... You are one tough rodder!!! We had 4 guys on the trip that were 80 or more! Talk about diehard hot rodders! Trust me when I tell you these cars ain't that comfortable for long days behind the wheel.

One of the guys in a '40 Ford had a U-Joint going out - and luckily he had a spare with him. At a lonely spot in the Texas "weeds" - we stopped for fuel - and when getting back on the highway he spotted a sign that said "Drivelines"... he and Roy stopped there - and in 35 minutes they had a new U Joint....

At a couple of the stops I noticed the temp creeping up quickly -- but lucky for me - the stops were just for some gas and a pit stop -- and then we'd be right back on the road and the temp would never budge. Coming into Austin though - we hit normal city traffic and the temp began to be uncomfortable... the fan seemed to be working intermittently -- or not at all -- and then would roar to life and the temp would drop - only to go back up - like a yoyo. Hummmmmmm Go figure. Roy and I pulled the side panel off when they all arrived in Austin and we couldn't see anything wrong. Thinking it might be a failing relay he had the shop overnight a replacement. The next morning I go out to the car - fire it up and the fan works like a charm.... hmmmmmm... weird. I shut it off - only to go back in the afternoon to try it again - and NO FAN. Okay -- this is goofy. Roy and I pull the side panel and start looking at wire connections and the fan comes on and goes off - or runs slowly... obviously there's an issue with the wiring and a quick investigation and the nose piece pulled off - reveals a loose ground! That explains the whole problem. 1 minute later it's fixed....

The car ran great - is a joy to drive... and comfortable for what it is.

Gwen had torn her ACL 5 weeks ago while hiking at home.... and had been nursing it along to see if she could do without surgery. Well -- while walking from the hotel to diner - she and Adrienne (our daughter) decide they're going to climb up on a lifesize Willie Nelson statue - and the knee comes apart. Now she can't walk at all without the knee going wonky - and we're blocks from the hotel - and she is NOT doing well... so off to the ER we go... some examination and a "immobilizer" and crutches and pain meds -- and she's now hobbling/hopping/struggling all weekend. UGH.

The show was 100% "rat rods" -- which was a surprise to all that traveled on this journey --- and I think "we" were the only painted cars in the show (of about 2000 hot rods!!). But the show was fun - with live music and fun people etc.

Last night (Saturday night) SW invites us to join him over on South Congress street -- where the car show has "moved" to (unofficially). The streets are lined for as far as you could see on both sides of the road - with hot rods! How fun! This street is fun to begin with - but now we have killer restaurants and bars and cars! We sit outside on the outdoor patio and order some food and drinks and Adrienne and SW are "on edge" about a predicted storm heading our way... Next thing Adrienne's phone issues a Severe Thunderstorm warning - and we start to see flashes of lightening --- and the trees start to rustle.... I'm thinking - 'big whoop' - but in a matter of seconds the night went from fun to utter chaos!! The rustling tree leaves went into full on wind storm and the sky opened up and dumped BUCKETS of rain and hail! The completely packed patio was emptied in nanoseconds as people rushed for any cover they could find!! LOL I managed to give Gwen the roller derby elbow technique as she reached for her crutches and by god I beat her to the restaurant door! SW, being the good Texan he is - stayed back to help her.... HAHAHAHAHAHA Oh man!

Anyway - we had a great server who managed to round us all up and served our dinner at the bar. What a hoot!

I can only imagine the mess this made out of the cars parked on the street -- and by the time we finished dinner the storm had moved thru the area leaving rivers of water... and the cars had vanished. I hope none were damaged.

We left the '33 at SW's to be shipped back to Brizio's shop (so we can go to the LA Roadsters Show mid June)... and I can't thank him enough for taking care of it for us. Next up is tracking at Thunderhill.... EEEEEEHHHHHAAAAAAWWWWWW.

Build 'em to drive and drive 'em! That's the most fun you can have with your cars. Get out there and do it!

[GregWeld]

I have to apologize to Bryan and Steve for not getting in touch with them on this trip -- it wasn't my "trip" and I was just one of the group... and trying to round up and keep a group of 20+ cars and 40ish people was like herding cats! Way too much going on and keep the group together... and there just was no time left in the day or outside "stuff". WTF -- I never even got out to The Salt Lick!

[Greg from Aus]

Great story GW.

[GregWeld]

After our trip to the ER in Austin -- which got us back to the hotel at about 1AM.....

[glassman]

Nice write up Greg and sounds like alot of fun....Hope your wifey does better soon and post some pics when ya can.....Hope to see ya at t-hill

[Greg from Aus]

I hope Gwen recovers fast, knees are a pain in the ar$e.