Where to Start - Winter Project

5

54FordYBlockGuy

Member
Looking for some suggestions:

So I got this 1954 Ford Custom Line. V8 Y Block, Standard Shift, 4 Door.

It is an old, old restoration that sat for years.

In some of my other posts, I described what I did to the interior, tore out old carpeting, replaced door panels, and quickly spray-dyed cloth on the seats, the vinyl portion is still good.

Have her up for sale, but if she doesn't sell before the cold, winter months hit us here in Ohio; she is going in the back shop for some going over, repairs where needed, and some more TLC; here are my questions.

She currently runs "good", starts, drives, stops, steers, and even on highway speeds, but it does:

Ride a little hard - stiff - hits bumps hard
Steering just a little sloppy, but highway speeds, let go of the wheel, straight as an arrow.
Brakes; work well if you are easy with them, hit them hard sort of locks up and pulls to the left.

Questions: Where do I start?

If I start with the front end, what exactly should I check, what parts, do I grease - are there fittings, "Are there grease fittings"?

Shocks, should I replace them?

Shifting....some minor "chatter" when I start, but very little, and if I "feather" the throttle a little, high RPMs, No chatter.

Just looking for some good advice as to what to look at, and where to start over the winter, so come spring she's a nice "Weekend Dairy Queen Cruiser"

If you want to check out the car, the sale feel free to at: https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...wse_serp:8d5ac37f-bc09-4b85-97cd-fa0f089e39d6
 
you can adj the steering box a bit to tighten it up, definitely grease the front end and there are a lot of fittings. when greasing jack wheels off the floor and grease, turn wheels L & R and regrease. hard on bumps may be bad shocks. pulls to one side may be leaking wheel cylinder or just brake adj. while up in the air, with jack stands, getting greased is time too crawl around underneath and have a look around.
 
Also, the hard ride just might be too much air pressure in the tires.
Try about 30-32 lbs in the tires and see if that helps. ;)



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Standard steering system grease fittings are found at the bottom of both tie-rod ends, one on each of two idler arm fittings, one on each of two drag-link fittings and one at the drag link above the pitman arm.
Fill steering gear-box with 90 weight lube and adjust steering slack by tightening the screw under the gear-box cap, (cap must be removed to make adjustment).
Equalize front tire pressure. Identify tire inflation markings on the tire sidewall and fill tires to within about 5 lbs below the max, but make sure both tires come out even. Adjust tire inflation pressure later to improve ride. Generally, the shop manual directs you to fill front tires to max press but fill rear tires to less than tire max pressure. That might have been okay then with the old bias ply tires, but todays tires fly under a different set of rules.
 
Wow! Some "Great" - where to start suggestions.....truly appreciate it. Everything seems tight, I really think the "greasing" will help out a lot....and little adjustment of the steering box, and a new set of shocks.

While I got the group here; my throttle linkage was a little, well she wasn't returning to idle readily, you had to lift the pedal with your tow. I checked it out, put another, and kept the old one there, but another "return spring", helped a little then I saw that "adjustment rod" on the throttle return, and attempted to adjust it, but didn't seem to do much....anybody have any pics, or know more about that "Throttle Linkage Adjust Rod"?
 
original throttle return spring may have weakened over the years. I've had a couple that had to be replaced. You can get duplicate of originals from many of the repro parts suppliers. Another thing everyone should check is the hole in the bracket of the bellcrank located on intake manifold.
Most folks don't know that those should be lubricated with lubricplate and checked fairly often as lubriplate will be forced out during operation. I tend to keep shoving lubriplate into the hole to keep it lubed.
Inspect your bellcrank assembly to see if the hole has been elongated over the years. This is VERY bad. Here's how to fix it but it aint very pretty:
Find two flatwashers that would fit the bellcrank and split them both in half. Use a mig welder to weld the washers onto the bellcrank bracket at the original spot where the bellcrank is supposed to sit in the hole. That will hold the bellcrank in a stationery position and allow it to swivel, restoring the original operation. Lube as before to preserve the life of the washers. Try to get the thickest washers you can. You can use the little gap between thwe washers to shove lubriplate down to the bellcrank.
 
Daves55Sedan: I truly appreciate the reply and suggestions....but all I want to do is "replace the spring"...LOL, but again let me ask: Right where the throttle linkage return assembly sits at the flywall is, what looks like a "turnbuckle" adjustment rod; you can adjust it by turning; what is this, does it adjust the movement (distance) of the throttle linkage?

I attempted to find some schematics online, but couldn't. I attempted to adjust, turn the rod, and got it to turn but didn't seem to adjust anything; I was just curious. I'll try to get some pics later today.
 
I attempted to find some schematics online, but couldn't. I attempted to adjust, turn the rod, and got it to turn but didn't seem to adjust anything; I was just curious. I'll try to get some pics later today.
Click to expand...

1954 239CI S/T?​

See if this ILL comes through large enough to read -

If not, maybe try to print and enlarge it. It is a screenshot from the MPC.

Do you have the 1954 FORD SERVICE MANUAL?
 

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I do not have the service manual; planning on getting one soon.

It is the top, rear adjustment rod shown in the diagram; show only #s; do you know or does anyone know the "name" of that item?

Oh, thanks
 
It is the top, rear adjustment rod shown in the diagram; show only #s; do you know or does anyone know the "name" of that item?
Click to expand...

Can you give the four digit BASIC PN so I can hone in on it?
 
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