'66 Newport 2 Door hardtop

[darth_linux]

Not corrected, just more knowledgeable!

It could well be that if a collision occurred, perhaps it was something where the correct parts were not available easily, and used parts were employed - I figure they'd likely bolt right in if they were 65 - yoke, rad, shroud, etc.

Would the build sheet/build card have any info on something like a tow package cooling system upgrade? Maybe it was dealer installed, but I don't think Philadelphia is "high-altitude" and I don't see any remnants of a trailer hitch ever being installed.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

It may do, but I am NOT an expert by any stretch on deciphering build sheets or build cards. Others here may be able to, though.

 

[darth_linux]

Part Two of my air conditioning upgrade is live!

 

[darth_linux]

While removing the thermal expansion valve and other AC hoses, I had a good look at the firewall of my car and noticed a LOT of rust around the wiper motor area. I also noticed that when the car was repainted, paint person haphazardly painted the firewall with overspray - wiper motor, bulkhead connector, wires, EVERYTHING, all black. Since my OCD will not allow this to remain forever, I decided to dive in and remove the wiper motor so I could figure out how bad the rust was. Boy was I unprepared. Luckily none of this is structural, so as bad as it looks, I'm basically going to just apply some rust converter and cover all of the holes with metal HVAC tape and then apply a coat of black paint. The metal (what's left of it) is probably 1/32" thick - paper thin basically - so I don't feel too bad about replacing paper thin metal with more paper thin metal. It just needs to route the water down to the drain holes. Also to be seen in the photos is the proper cowl vent plug - listed as fitting 61-65 B bodies, it's a perfect fit!

 

[darth_linux]

I finished “rebuilding” the little alcove where the wiper motor lives. Since it’s mostly cosmetic I feel it’s an acceptable repair. All the holes are covered, so water should go where it’s supposed to, and the cowl vent will no longer be pressurized by air from the engine compartment. I was kinda panicky before but now that I’ve done a deep dive into that part of the car I’m not worried anymore.

 

[darth_linux]

I’m starting to think this car sat under a tree for a very long time. The amount of rot in the cowl vent area and now looking at the scuttle cover or whatever you wanna call it - it’s got a skim coat of Bondo across most of it that is now bubbling rust up through the paint. Not that I’m going to do anything about it, but it is interesting.

 

[darth_linux]

The wiper motor is back in its home. I did my best at re-insulating the bare wires on the motor where the cloth insulation had dissolved into nothing. It doesn’t look pretty and it’s not my best work, but I didn’t wanna cut anything as the original splices were crimped. Hopefully there won’t be any shorts.

I’m leaving the wipers off until I get the battery hooked back up and can make sure the motor still works, and that the park mechanism is in the right place.

 

[carguy300]

Really looks good!

 

[darth_linux]

Well, I got most of the new AC lines mocked up (not crimped yet) but I was shorted two fittings for the hose going from the compressor to the condenser, so that's not ready yet. Anyway, it was about $200 for the hoses and fittings and $100 for the crimping tool. Almost there!

All of these parts came from Nostalgic AC and Cold Hose, which are actually the same company, located in Ocala, FL. Highly recommend, their phone support helped me find a couple of pieces that weren't showing up on the website.

 

[darth_linux]

It took me about a year to get to this project. I bought six sheets of 1/4" Phenolic Resin board last year in order to make my own thermal spacer for the carb. I looked and looked on eBay, and other sources for one that was premade for the Stromberg WWC, but struck out.

Originally the goal was to use two of these sheets for a 1/2" spacer, but with the original carb studs in place, I only had enough threads to run one. If the hot-start problem isn't solved with one spacer, I'll get some new studs that are longer and run both of the sheets.

I didn't get the holes correct until the 5th sheet, so I'm glad I bought six. Making these with primitive tools is difficult. I used a straight edge, various drill bits, a center punch and a 1 1/2" hole saw. Despite measuring everything as accurately as I could and being precise as possible, these things are no beauty queens. They "fit" but they are not exact at all, despite my best efforts. Kudos to people who have the tools and know-how to make stuff like this that fits precisely!

Anyhow, once the SS Anderson is up and running again, I'll see if the heat-soak hot start problem is solved with the 1/4" spacer. If not, it's off to the parts store for taller studs and I'll add the second sheet for 1/2" spacer.

 

[67_300_Convertible]

I just put a 1/4" phenolic spacer on my '67 300 (440 with a 4-bbl Holley Sniper EFI; luckily the spacer and gaskets were commercially available). I noticed results such as a lower intake charge temp (manifold air temp), so I am hopeful your new spacer will help you.

Two suggestions:

1. Paint the perimeter edges of your spacer either blue to match the manifold or an aluminum/brass color to match the carb. My intake is blue like yours and my Sniper is flat black. I painted the spacer flat black, and it disappears. You don't see it unless you know to look for it.

2. If you need longer studs, go with the ones by Canton Racing Products. These are handy because you screw them in with an Allen wrench, not with two bolts mated together on the stud and a box wrench. I used the ones below, as the length was right for my application. Summit and Jegs and Amazon had them.

85-510 2" Stud Kit for 1/4" -1/2" Carburetor Spacers

Our carburetor mounting studs are made to be screwed into the intake with an allen wrench. By installing studs into your intake you eliminate the common problem of pulling the threads out each time you reinstall the carb. The mounting kit comes with a set of 4 stainless steel studs and 4 locking...

www.cantonracingproducts.com

P.S. Watching your progress is fun. You do nice work.

 

[darth_linux]

I just put a 1/4" phenolic spacer on my '67 300 (440 with a 4-bbl Holley Sniper EFI; luckily the spacer and gaskets were commercially available). I noticed results such as a lower intake charge temp (manifold air temp), so I am hopeful your new spacer will help you.

Two suggestions:

1. Paint the perimeter edges of your spacer either blue to match the manifold or an aluminum/brass color to match the carb. My intake is blue like yours and my Sniper is flat black. I painted the spacer flat black, and it disappears. You don't see it unless you know to look for it.

2. If you need longer studs, go with the ones by Canton Racing Products. These are handy because you screw them in with an Allen wrench, not with two bolts mated together on the stud and a box wrench. I used the ones below, as the length was right for my application. Summit and Jegs and Amazon had them.

http://[URL]https://www.cantonracin...stud-kit-for-1-4-inch-1-2-carburetor-spacers/

[/URL]

P.S. Watching your progress is fun. You do nice work.

Thanks for the feedback @67_300_Convertible . What were your charge air temps before and after the spacer (if you recall)? If or when I get around to painting the engine the correct color, I will probably paint the spacers at the same time. Right now, no ones really looking at my engine anyway and I don't care. Soon, though . . . thanks for the lead on longer studs - I'll check them out!

 

[67_300_Convertible]

Thanks for the feedback @67_300_Convertible . What were your charge air temps before and after the spacer (if you recall)? If or when I get around to painting the engine the correct color, I will probably paint the spacers at the same time. Right now, no ones really looking at my engine anyway and I don't care. Soon, though . . . thanks for the lead on longer studs - I'll check them out!

I have data logs of before and after the spacer, so I can check the temperatures and get back to you. Give me a day or two. (BTW this is a nice feature of the Sniper: you can log hot/cold start, idle, accel, cruise, etc. data to include temps, timing, RPM, throttle position, vacuum, and so on.)

I was also having an issue with the fuel tank being very pressurized at the end of a drive. It may be a vent issue, but I also think it was hot fuel being sent back to the tank (the Sniper has a return line for the unused fuel). I have noticed a significant decrease in fuel tank pressure despite unseasonably warm weather here in VA, so I think the fuel is staying cooler (fuel being injected into the motor to burn as well as the fuel going back to the tank) but have no data to prove my theory.

As a side note, I tried both a 4-hole spacer and an open spacer. My intake is an Edelbrock Performer dual plane, and I feel like the drivability and throttle response is better with the open spacer compared to the 4-hole. You might consider cutting out the center of one of your spacers to make it an open hole that combines both barrels on the intake and carb and see what that does to drivability and throttle response to your engine.

 

[darth_linux]

I have data logs of before and after the spacer, so I can check the temperatures and get back to you. Give me a day or two. (BTW this is a nice feature of the Sniper: you can log hot/cold start, idle, accel, cruise, etc. data to include temps, timing, RPM, throttle position, vacuum, and so on.)

I was also having an issue with the fuel tank being very pressurized at the end of a drive. It may be a vent issue, but I also think it was hot fuel being sent back to the tank (the Sniper has a return line for the unused fuel). I have noticed a significant decrease in fuel tank pressure despite unseasonably warm weather here in VA, so I think the fuel is staying cooler (fuel being injected into the motor to burn as well as the fuel going back to the tank) but have no data to prove my theory.

As a side note, I tried both a 4-hole spacer and an open spacer. My intake is an Edelbrock Performer dual plane, and I feel like the drivability and throttle response is better with the open spacer compared to the 4-hole. You might consider cutting out the center of one of your spacers to make it an open hole that combines both barrels on the intake and carb and see what that does to drivability and throttle response to your engine.

Yeah I went back and forth about whether to open up the spacer or keep it 2 hole. Read several articles and watched some dyno runs and decided to keep it a 2 hole for now.

 

[67_300_Convertible]

I had some time and looked at my data logs. I couldn't find logs with exactly the same outside air temp (OAT) and driving events for before and after installing the spacer, but I did find one event that was illustrative. I guess I could have recorded some data logs for before to make an apples to apples comparison, but I didn't think of that. Anyway, here's what I found, but first some other pertinent details about the car to help give this context.

Car has a 440, TTI headers, Torqueflite, stock trans cooler in lower radiator tank, 3.23 gears, 185 degree thermostat, mechanical fan with no clutch and no shroud, 22" radiator, non-AC car, cruises at 60mph at about 2400 rpm. At idle, such as a red light or stuck in traffic, the coolant temp tends to increase significantly (often to 200+), but at highway speed the coolant temp comes back down pretty quickly and will stay just above 185. The problem though is once you get all that metal in the motor hot, it tends to stay that way. Even the aluminum intake manifold. MAT used to take its time coming back down.

Before the spacer, accelerating to 60 down a freeway on ramp close to the house before the motor sits and gets hot, I might see the coolant temp go from 188 to 189. Basically zero change. But the manifold air temp (MAT) would go from 82 to 89 degrees. This happened in just a few seconds while accelerating (and nowhere near WOT). After the spacer, MAT goes up just a degree or two during the same event. And when I sit at a red light, the MAT still rises but not as fast and not as much. At cruise, the trend with MAT is to decline toward the OAT faster with the spacer than without.

I have also noticed my A/F ratio is much more even with the open spacer than the 4-hole. One thing I saw in an Engine Masters video on YouTube where they tested spacers was that an open spacer on a dual plane intake tended to even out the A/F ratio from cylinder to cylinder, compared to the 4-hole. They put an oxygen sensor in each of the eight header tubes and looked at the data. My single oxygen sensor is in the driver's side exhaust, so I don't have the same data, but I have seen things even out a lot.

Hope this helps, even though I don't have as much hard data as I thought.

 

[67_300_Convertible]

Here are two photos of my painted spacer/gasket sandwich. Also, if you look carefully at the top of the studs, you can see the Allen wrench holes.

BTW, I drove the car to the post office yesterday. On the way there water temp was 188+- two degrees and MAT stayed between 98 & 100. OAT was around 87. When I left the post office to come home, the coolant temp was 215 and MAT was 120. After 10 miles the MAT had come down to 111 and coolant was 200 degrees.

I'm hopeful that you will experience less heat-soak and less fuel evaporation through the carb vents with your spacer(s) installed.

 

[darth_linux]

Here are two photos of my painted spacer/gasket sandwich. Also, if you look carefully at the top of the studs, you can see the Allen wrench holes.

BTW, I drove the car to the post office yesterday. On the way there water temp was 188+- two degrees and MAT stayed between 98 & 100. OAT was around 87. When I left the post office to come home, the coolant temp was 215 and MAT was 120. After 10 miles the MAT had come down to 111 and coolant was 200 degrees.

I'm hopeful that you will experience less heat-soak and less fuel evaporation through the carb vents with your spacer(s) installed.

View attachment 729086

View attachment 729087

That's a real clean looking install. I'm glad it is working well for you and thank you for sharing the data. The only complaint about my engine, and why I made the spacer, is that in the summer months when it's hot, if you need to start the car between 15 and 45 minutes after driving it, you have to hold the throttle half way down and just let it crank until it fires. I pulled to the air cleaner off one time to observe what was happening and it was fuel boiling out of the float bowl after heat soaking for 20ish minutes, so I'm crossing my fingers the phenolic spacer will do the trick.

BTW - do you know what brand/shade of engine paint you have there? Photos aren't always very true, but it looks "correct" (unlike mine).

 

[darth_linux]

AC hoses are all done! Now to flush the evaporator and see if it will hold vacuum.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Nice! I would try to move that hose that is above the condensor and touching the radiator yoke in several places away from the metal, as it may rub through. At least put something as a sort of barrier that will take the rubbing rather than the hose itself. Same with the one I can see on the driver side inner fender. It will wear away.

 

[darth_linux]

Nice! I would try to move that hose that is above the condensor and touching the radiator yoke in several places away from the metal, as it may rub through. At least put something as a sort of barrier that will take the rubbing rather than the hose itself. Same with the one I can see on the driver side inner fender. It will wear away.

Yep, gonna do all of that once it’s all vacuumed, charged and operational. A/C hose is pretty thick already but I’m gonna make sure it isn’t directly touching any metal. Thanks Ross!