My '59 in car hospital, Heart transplant!

[RandalPark@xxxxxxx]

No need to apologize, Tim. 

Early on Bill and the rest of us went through the list of possibilities over 
the IML that could make the '59 run rough. None of us can tell for sure what is 
wrong with Bill's car since we are not there. As I recall, ignition issues were 
ruled out early on, but anything is possible.

What we all read with such interest was that the car ran "fine", but would run 
bad (or even quit) when Bill stepped on the brake pedal. Now that seems to have 
changed to it running bad when it is in gear and not when it is in neutral. 

All we can do is throw out suggestions, and hope that Bill doesn't spend money 
unless he absolutely has to. Hopefully the brake booster was tested before he 
spent the money to replace it, since testing it is not difficult.

More than anything else, we all want to help him figure out what is wrong with 
his car.

Paul

In a message dated 5/6/2004 10:22:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
thulse@xxxxxxxxxx writes:

> 
> 
> Has Paul or any of his mechanics even checked the timing on the 59? I know I 
>have just done a bunch of work on the 60 and forgot all about the timing until 
>night before last. After unhooking the vaccum advance and setting it to the 
>proper (10 deg before TDC) she smoothed up really nice. If they have and I   
>missed it them I'm sorry for the post.
> 
> Tim
> 1960
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>[mailto:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of RandalPark@xxxxxxx
> Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 7:10 AM
> To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: IML: My '59 in car hospital, Heart transplant!
> 
> 
> Rebuilding the engine is definitely a good thing to do. Based on your post it 
>sounds like it has needed that all along. Bad rings are bad rings, there is no 
>getting around that.
> 
> I am still stumped though on why it would run perfectly smooth in neutral and 
>really rough in gear. Burned valves effect the smoothness of the motor in both 
>scenarios, although when pulling, the roughness would be more noticeable. The 
>engine would run poorly all the time, well at least not good ever.
> 
> It is true that when in neutral, the engine RPM would be higher, and could 
>cover up some symptoms of rough running, but I have not heard of a case where 
>the difference was as drastic as you describe, unless the idle speed is set 
>way too high. That would bring about other issues, though such as transmission 
>damage when going into gear, using both feet on the brake to hold the car at 
>stop lights, etc.
> 
> Although I would not dispute the fact that your engine should be overhauled, 
>I think a few more ideas about what could be causing this problem might be in 
>order. I have driven cars that had new motors and cars that were worn out, but 
>short of having burned valves, broken pistons, blown head gaskets, cracked 
>blocks, or some other catastrophe, I have always been able to make an engine 
>run smoothly with fairly minor repairs.
> 
> If it were to turn out that your car had a burned valve, it would not be the 
>end of the world to fix it and move on. True enough, it is always advisable to 
>rebuild the entire engine if it needs to be rebuilt, but if you don't have or 
>want to spend the money, there are alternatives. Do you plan on driving this 
>car everyday, or occasionally? I have heard of people having their cylinder 
>heads reconditioned without doing the bottom end, and their cars ran fine.
> 
> To get your car to run smoothly, I think more diagnosis my be in order. 
>Taking your car to mechanic after mechanic is going to result in them telling 
>you what they want to do, not necessarily what should be done. It still sounds 
>like there are vacuum issues to me. Did you replace the hose to the booster? 
>Did you check to see if the gasket at the base of the carburator is leaking? 
>Are you sure that the intake manifold gaskets are not leaking? Have you done a 
>compression test?
> 
> I would be willing to bet that many of us have cars that need engine 
>overhauls, but that doesn't mean that the cars can't run smoothly. Of course 
>your car could have one of those "catastrophic illnesses" mentioned earlier, 
>but I think that would be obvious.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> Paul
> 
> In a message dated 5/6/2004 1:15:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Imperial59crown 
>writes:
> 
> > After taking my '59 Imperial to a couple of mechanics who deal with
> > antique cars, the consensus was that it needs an engine rebuild, or I will 
>only be able to use the car to go to the corner grocery store. My other 
>alternative is to drive the car with two feet, one on the gas and the other on 
>the brake, or putting it in neutral every time I stop. The engine is fine in 
>neutral, but as soon as it is pulling it starts running very rough. Even when 
>I pulled into the parking lot of the mechanic the car started stalling out all 
>of the time. I decided to give the car to the mechanic who explained 
>everything clear cut, and most of what he had to say was exactly the same 
>responses I have gotten from members on this list. He could give the car a 
>valve job, but that wasn't going to cure bad rings, and would only make the 
>bottom of the engine blow out that much faster. I had to think for a while 
>since this was my new super computer I've been wanting for so long, going on 
>hold. By the time I finish this one I will have a fourteen thousand dollar 
>Imperial which still looks like crap in the interior. Anyway I love it, so I 
>will keep it going, and the most important part of a restoration is to get the 
>car running
> > perfectly, the rest is all cosmetic!
> >
> > Bill '59 Crown
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