Rusty's not very quiet cuda progress

With the in line gauge when I removed the first one it was a pretty constant 7, one day it did go down to 6 while idling in the garage.
Gonna pray for a miracle & try 68's STP idea, will stop at my mechanics & see how much a pump would be, I am so fed up with this car & don't really feel like attempting an oil pump laying under there, just to have one thing go right would be nice.

See what happens when I start it up later. if I can't get the regulator adjusted I'll put the in line gauge back & pray the oil pressure is up, if so I'll drive around the hood & see if it holds. If not, back in the shop for the pump!
 
RUSTY Cuda said:
With the in line gauge when I removed the first one it was a pretty constant 7, one day it did go down to 6 while idling in the garage.
Gonna pray for a miracle & try 68's STP idea, will stop at my mechanics & see how much a pump would be, I am so fed up with this car & don't really feel like attempting an oil pump laying under there, just to have one thing go right would be nice.

See what happens when I start it up later. if I can't get the regulator adjusted I'll put the in line gauge back & pray the oil pressure is up, if so I'll drive around the hood & see if it holds. If not, back in the shop for the pump!
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I know you're keeping a positive state of mind, so hopefully the bearings wont be destroyed when the mechanic opens it up. Or at least there's no machine work needed so they can just replace the bearings in place.
 
OK todays saga, put in the STP & started it up, started at40lbs, I would assume before the STP had time to do anything.
My choke wire fell off so I had a hard time warming it up, finally saw that & put it back, that will get a new clip & wire tomorrow.
So I lower the idle 1/2 turn after yesterdays bang it into gear deal.
Put it in gear & dropped to right around 20,drive around for about 20 mineuts, all side streets, at a stop dropping to 10 light on, as soon as I start moving up to about 25.
So I pull in at the mechanics & let it idle, out of gear it held around 20, talked for about 10 mins. get back in to take off & put it in gear & it starts to stall pressure dropped to zero as it stalled, I guess that would be right, no spin no oil!
Started right back up again, but it looks like that darn idle speed changed on its own again.

Pressure on fuel is now around 1. so I checked the cheapie in line guage, same threads so when I got home I dug that out & put it in, started her up & it reads 5 & now that's where I set it the first day. Never saw it againall week. Will see if it holds next drive.

So Boss recommended the 10/40, in talking to the old timer in the back he said I should go to 20/50

So I'm going to sched. an oill change, add the STP again in the fresh oil.
Find out if there's any metal in the pan or maybe the filter was gummed up, I can't see how, about a year old with maybe 50 miles on it?

Hope that will improve it enough to nix the oil pump job, estimate was around 1000 bucks!

Soooooooo, what oil should I have him put in?
Can the oil pan be dropped without pulling the motor up?
For 1k I might go ahead and attempt it, if I do't have to take half the car apart again.

Oh yea, got lucky, for some reason I felt the connection right near the compressor, I had shrink wrapped over it, the darn plug did come out, so maybe I'll get a tiny bit of luck on the A/C

My fingers are as numb as my brain now!
 
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RUSTY Cuda said:
Soooooooo, what oil should I have him put in?
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the 20w50 will be fine:

HIGH VISCOSITY MOTOR OIL​

High viscosity motor oil like 15W, 15W-40, or 15W-50 are particularly good for application in high-mileage and older engines. They provide better engine protection at high temperatures and improve oil life, hence, drain intervals. Engine and seals wear with age and these high viscosity motor oils can help with leakage management.
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RUSTY Cuda said:
Can the oil pan be dropped without pulling the motor up? For 1k I might go ahead and attempt it, if I do't have to take half the car apart again.
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OK, I know I keep beating on this drum but Jass is not here to say it, so I have to :). Chances are between slim and none that you will get away with just putting an oil pump in that motor. It's been running at zero pressure for who knows how long, so even if in fact the pump is bad, that won't be the end of the problems. You should go ahead and plan to at least check the bearings while the pan is off.

Or, just drive it like it is and hopefully the 50wt oil, STP, and careful engine management on your part will keep it going for a while.
 
At this point with this haunted car I need the bleeding to stop.
I'll try the oil with STP & see if the #'s come up any.
At least that will take a fouled up oil filter out of the picture.

Why with all this am I not getting some nasty rat tat tats out of the valves/rockers?
When It was idling I pulled the fill cap & it's oily in there & quiet.
The only time it went to zero was when it was about to stall, it seems to be running around 10 at a stop in gear, won't go up till I go or put it in neutral or park.
Gonna grab the book & see what the normal range is supposed to be.
 
RUSTY Cuda said:
Gonna grab the book & see what the normal range is supposed to be.
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10 PSI per 1k RPM comes to mind.

Why no rat tat tats? Maybe because the lifters aren't bleeding off? Dunno. The engine I had was quiet too, but it was a 4-speed so I could just stab the clutch and rev it up a little to get it back home. It would go to zero at a stop and had eaten at least one bearing, maybe the thrust too IIRC.

I'm with you on keeping it going as long as you can.
 
So I put the new connector on the choke wire & figured I'd head into the abyss!
Started up with 40 lbs oil pressure & 5 on the fuel pressure, after warm dropped to 30, drove around the side streets for a while, early on it was dropping to 20 when I stopped, light flashed a little, got a little worse as time went by, dropping to 10 at a stop.
was running around 25 to 30 while driving at 25mph
Putting it in the garage it felt like it was going to stall & did drop just about to zero.

Idling at about 20lbs when I got home
View attachment 20250415_140623.mp4
There is a tiny bit of good news, with the new wire choke was full open. 20250415_140755.jpg& the gas pressure did not drop off20250415_140804 - Copy (2).jpg
It's going in tuesday for the oil change, the old timer wants to try a different additive, I forget the name, risoli or something like that, wonder if it comes with pasta!
 
Oh yea, I looked up the pressures, 30 to 80 so I'm at the bottom of the barrel there.
One thing it did say that made me feel a tad better, minimum press at idle 8 lbs

Could not find the idle speed settings, for some reason 850 sticks in my head & 1500 on fast?

Now I just wait till tuesday & see how he feels about it.
Will have him set the idle speed his timing light has a tach.
 
You worry too much about details stated for a newly built engine over 50 yrs ago. "The book says"-----when the engine was new, zero miles, etc., etc., ........ STP, Rislone, Slick 50, these products are on the market for a reason. Todays oils are not the same as they were 50 yrs ago.

Prior to catalictic converters all oils came with liquid Moly as an additive to lube against wear at high pressure points, such as valve lifters. Then it was discovered that the Moly clogged the converters. So oil refiners were told to not add Moly. Which in turn destroyed camshafts. So manufactorers had to install roller lifters and some other mods to compensate for the missing ingredient. No need to worry that your engine was built prior to these "upgrades" as long as it was "broken in" while using oil with these additives. Once the internals are "tempered" they can live a long life.
 
I have a friend (Mark / charger man from the old days) who does everything himself on all his cars, new & old alike, will ask him if he wants to dive in with me to change the pump in my yard
& what that will involve? Again I don't want to take half the car apart AGAIN!
But also don't want to shell out another grand either.
 
I hear ya Bob, I just trying desperately not to have to go there.
I make the final decision after the oil change, He's gonna check for metal in the oil.
Going with the 20/50 & the Rislone (thanks 68) see what I get after a few miles are put on that?
That will at least remove a fouled oil filter from the list of possibilities.

I Love my 'Cudas, but this one's heading for divorce court!
 
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