'59 continuing saga, must be a test

[roger crabtree <rcrabshish@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bill and gang,
I had the steering wheel problem with a 1970 Furd PU. 
What had happened was the front cab mount has rusted
out on the bottom and the body mount went through it. 
This in turn forced the steering column down on the
steering box and forcing the shaft up through the
lower bearing.  It happened in the same manner only it
was a speed bump.  Check the body mounts to see if
they are rusted out.  I know a 59 Imperial is set up
differently but probably not much.  O-yeah, when it
happened the horn went off too.  When the column was
forced up it grounded out the horn swivel mechanism. 
Just food for thought.
RC Billings, Montanaaaaaaaa

--- Dick Benjamin <dickb@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Bill, I
think one of the core (AKA "freeze") plugs
> came out of your head.
> This didn't do any damage since you stopped right
> away, and it is only a 28
> cent item.   They are a little tricky to put in, but
> the man who rebuilt
> your engine should take care of this at no cost.
> 
> Dick Benjamin
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <Imperial59crown@xxxxxxx>
> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 8:27 PM
> Subject: IML: '59 continuing saga, must be a test
> 
> 
> > Well, on the way home from work last night I
> stopped at Kragen auto supply
> > who were very helpful in helping me find an air
> cleaner for my '59
> Imperial. It
> > was one of those small ten inch Edelbrock air
> cleaners, but it fit my new
> carb
> > like a glove. Armed with my new air cleaner I went
> out and put it on the
> car,
> > and settled in for my first day of driving it
> since I got it back from the
> > engine rebuild. I drove down to the shopping
> center, and when I pulled
> into the
> > parking lot my horn suddenly went on and would not
> turn off, so I got out
> and
> > pulled the horn wires. When I came out of the
> store and went to drive the
> car
> > I noticed the steering wheel was all wobbly,
> moving from side to side, and
> I
> > could even pull it out a bit. I just said to
> myself this is just great,
> but
> > maybe I can fix it when I get home. When I got
> home I removed the bottom
> dash
> > panel from under the steering shaft, but could not
> find anything. Then I
> removed
> > the horn ring and the rectangle horn apparatus in
> the center, and the bolt
> > holding on the wheel was firmly in place. It seems
> like there is some
> bearing in
> > the steering column that has broken or given way
> near the top of the
> column,
> > does anyone know about this? I then drove the car
> to the last mechanic who
> last
> > worked on the steering to see what he thought, and
> he was pretty much in
> > agreement as to what I thought. Then on the way
> home I was within a mile
> of home
> > when I noticed the temperature start climbing, and
> I could smell coolant,
> so I
> > turned into the closest gas station and raised the
> hood to a cloud of
> steam,
> > but I could see no hose leaks anywhere. One of the
> mechanics came out and
> after
> > it cooled down added some water only to find it
> pouring out under the left
> > side exhaust manifold. This definitely did not
> look good to me. Then
> another
> > mechanic came out with a mirror and held it down
> under the manifold, and
> said it
> > either blew some release valve if it had one, or
> the head was cracked.
> This is
> > definitely not what I wanted to hear after just
> getting my beauty back. My
> > day ended up calling Auto Club and having them
> come out with a flat bed to
> haul
> > the car back to where I had the engine rebuilt,
> and I parked in front of
> the
> > shop which was already closed by this time. I am
> now envisioning not
> having the
> > car again for another few weeks. I hope things get
> better. It seems like
> the
> > more I improve the car the more things that are
> going wrong. I guess I'll
> just
> > keep singing "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow."
> >
> > Bill '59 Crown
> >
> 
> 
> 
>