What I Did on My Lunch Hour

[Vic Piano]

This past weekend I did some car related stuff that did not involve turning any wrenches… some was fun and some was work… Saturday night my wife and I drove the ’39 LZ over to a friend’s house for a bonfire BBQ. Thankfully, the Zephyr is performing flawlessly and, it was a perfect night for topless cruising. While at the BBQ, I was asked to host next Saturday’s local car club meeting at my garage… As a result, I spent all of yesterday trying to clean and organize the garage as it was a real mess after all the work we’d done on the Zephyr. It’ll take me the better part of every “lunch hour” this week to try and bring some semblance of organization to the garage. One good thing is 90% of the stuff (for the house) that was stored in the garage, is now actually in the house. Here's a photo of the LZ in an almost clean and organized garage, along with her younger cousin (another project) the '49 Cosmo.

[Vic Piano]

What's that Smell?

The other night when my wife and I took the LZ out for a ride, she complained about the unpleasant (to her) aroma permeating the passenger compartment… I told her that the engine had gotten oil spilled on it when I first fired it up (after the oil pressure sending unit met with an untimely demise ). She dismissed that explanation (excuse) and said that the car had always smelled this way! I told her (Trying to introduce some levity into the rapidly deteriorating conversation) thatthey didn’t call them “Stinkin ’ Lincolns” for nothing… She noted that the aforementioned unpleasant aroma was coming into the car through the holes in the floor… to which I responded “I’ve got the new floorboards”. Then she gave me a look, you know the look, she didn’t have to say “when are you going to install them?” I told her it would be several months before any work could be done with the floorboards but, I would put some insulation on the floor to help keep the unwanted odors out. As luck would have it, I found a partial roll of roofing underlayment (while cleaning out the garage). So, I thought it would be a good “lunch hour” project. It’s a stopgap measure until we get around to installing the new floorboards and, if I may say so, it works very well, even though it is not the most attractive solution. Perhaps now the only people that might be adversely affected by the so-called nocuous fumes emanating from the V-12 are those who would tailgate while driving… and to them I say "enjoy"

[B-O-B]

How to eliminate unpleasant oders. Put all the windows down & drive faster.

[Vic Piano]

B-O-B, we had the top and the windows down, and that didn't help... The Zephyr V-12's allegedly had some inherent oil distribution issues that caused excessive "blow by", creating an unpleasant aroma, which earned them the less then flattering nickname "Stinkin' Lincolns". However, with the interior floor and firewall insulated, the exhaust/blow by (and other interesting redolence) have been significantly diminished, making driving the Zephyr an even more enjoyable endeavor.

[TomT/Williamsburg]

Is there a simple way to install a PCV valve to reduce the blow by smells even further?

[Vic Piano]

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Tom, actually, (I think it was after '37) the Zephyr V-12's had a type of PCV valve. It consists of a tube coming out of the intake manifold and going into the air cleaner. I don't have the correct air cleaner (they are hard to find) so, I made up a "Rube Goldberg" arrangement to reroute the gases and it did vastly improve the way the V-12 runs however, it did nothing to dissipate the displeasing fragrance. Also, the V-12 in our Zephyr was rebuilt in 1952, YES, 1952 and it gets 20 Lbs. of oil pressure at normal operating temperature at cruising speed (around 50 mph), so I'm going to continue driving her for now.

[B-O-B]

Vic, Please try some restore,found @ wally world or parts house. My bird was so bad one time a lady came running up to tell me the car was on fire. I put sa can of restore & it would last for around 1,000 miles. Drove it across country & back like that before I rebuilt the engine. Only around 7 or 8 bucks. Worked for me. Might just make your life a bit more pleasant. Heh heh he
B-O-B

[Vic Piano]

B-O-B, I'll give that a try and see if it helps. Thanks. Vic

[B-O-B]

Vic: I don't generally go for fix in a can but sometimes they can work like a crutch till you can get to the repair.

[Vic Piano]

B-O-B, I know, I feel the same way but, I do use MMO in all our cars/trucks, not just the Flatheads, and it has worked well for many years.

[41ford1]

Vic, Some thing like Restore will improve things for the short term. I did use it on an OT V6 Cheby that smoked badly when cold and a little less when warm. The restore stopped the smoking for the year I had it. It may be your solution your better half happy until rebuild time.

[Vic Piano]

Yeah, I told her the car had to smoke because it couldn't chew...
Seriously, I’ve been driving the Zephyr for almost 10 years and all I’ve done, aside from routing the PCV tube through the after-market air cleaner, is change the oil and filter regularly and the spark plugs about once a year. I did install the Top Oiler (MMO) and put in a new set of plug wires on the V-12. The engine runs quite and smooth and does get around 20 Lbs. of sustained oil pressure at highway speed. All in all, a little smoke from an engine that was rebuilt 61 years ago is not such a bad thing…

[Vic Piano]

Here's a Reminder

Tomorrow (Saturday, January 19th) I'll be hosting the local area car club (Keystone Motor Club) monthly meeting at my garage so, if you are a member of the Cigar City Flatheads, a FordBarner, a Floridian or a tourist with an interest in old cars, Ford Flathead V8's in particular, and you'll be in the Tampa Bay area tomorrow, stop in and say hi. We'll have coffee & donuts and even give you an opportunity to get some Ford grease under your fingernails should you want to play...

If you need directions to the garage, PM me.

[40grit]

I'll bet there are a bunch of us who would love to take you up on you offer.

John L

[Vic Piano]

Well today was my day to host the local car club meeting and we had quite a turnout. A bunch of folks from the Keystone Motor Club, some Cigar City Flathead members and even a group from the Breakfast Club showed up. There were approximately 50 people and I don't know how many cars/trucks. I was so busy I didn't get a chance to take many photos but, here are a few for you viewing pleasure...











I think it's safe to say a good time was had by all...

[Lawson Cox]

Nice showing. Thanks for the pictures.

[Vic Piano]

Lawson, I worked all week cleaning out the garage and didn't even get one picture of it to post...

[41ford1]

I'd say you had a good day. I'm not a Cheby guy, but are there any more pics of the black 57? One like that could pull me to the "dark side".

[BILL WZOREK]

VIC:

" HELP " I think we are loosing Chuck , The Barners Bash can't come to soon,
When the Dash plaque come in Please send 1 to Chuck ( I will pay for it ) to see if we can save Him from Himself LOL LOL

[Henryat1140]

Chuck L,

They do have a support group for that kind of thinking. If it goes any further, call 1-800-NO-CHEVYS.

Best to you and the Mrs.

Henry