Jurisd

Hi all - glad to be back after several years away. Also glad to be able to get back to working on my '69 'vert. First up: my heater core is now gushing coolant into the cabin. I've watched the CCCTV video on replacing the core. Given that I'm in SoCal and almost never use my heater, I've decided to just take it out of service and bypass the heater. BUT, I can't seem to find a clear answer about how to do that, considering that my '69 has a 351 Cleveland in it, not a Windsor. Can I just remove the hoses, cap off the inlet and outlet of the heater core, and install a "U" hose to the two ports that currently run from the water pump and intake to the heater core?

Hi all - glad to be back after several years away. Also glad to be able to get back to working on my '69 'vert. First up: my heater core is now gushing coolant into the cabin. I've watched the CCCTV video on replacing the core. Given that I'm in SoCal and almost never use my heater, I've decided to just take it out of service and bypass the heater. BUT, I can't seem to find a clear answer about how to do that, considering that my '69 has a 351 Cleveland in it, not a Windsor. Can I just remove the hoses, cap off the inlet and outlet of the heater core, and install a "U" hose to the two ports that currently run from the water pump and intake to the heater core?

So I know I'm ressurecting an old thread, but hey, it was mine, right? Anyway, I thought I would provide a conclusion for those of you who had made suggestions, mostly so newbies (like me) have more data to diagnose their own similar issues. Recall my '69 'vert/351C all of a sudden started running really rough, after a few minutes of smoot idle. Lots and lots of smoke too. After I replaced the coil (which was cracked anyway) and checked for vacuum leaks, I figured it must be a fuel problem, so I yanked the carb - a 2-year old Edelbrock 1406. Halfway through a rebuild kit install, I discovered that one of the floats had leaked. So, that explains why it would run, but not idle, why all the smoke, and why I had fuel stains all down the front of the carb. Anyway, I called Edelbrock, and they mailed me a replacement float at no charge. Nice of them to do, although they mailed it in a soft-sided mailing envelope, so by the time I got it is was dented. I did a leak check, and went ahead and used it anyway. So, a follow-on question: I used the same jets, and set the floats to 7/16". I set the idle scres 1-1/2 turns out from stop. Other than that, no adjustments. Car seems to idle and run like normal, but I noticed when I really get on it, at around 4k-5kRPM it sort of stalls out a bit. Just doesn't have the top-end oomph it used to. What do I need to adjust to get that back? Thanks!

Thanks for all the replies. Responses in no particular order: My thought was vacuum leak as well, although I'm not sure that would cause it to that badly. I had a leak when I first installed the carb, and it wasn't nearly this severe of an effect. The smell is not rotten eggs. It was just an exhaust smell, but much stronger (and more visible) than before. I think the water is unlikely, as the car was in the garage and not driven in rain since it was running correctly. Finally, the ignition - I need to get in there and check the wires for spark at each, but It would have to be like 3 cyl. out to make it this bad. The engin will not idle by itself once it warms up. The ignition swithc was left on a bunch of times (stereo installs, etc.) before I knew that was a no-no. Anyway, the new coil did not fix it, and I'm running the Pertronix 1 in the cap, so not the points. So troubleshooting plan is to spray carb cleaner to see if I can find a leak, and then test the spark on each wire. Strange that the change occurred in between drives - not sure what triggers a vac leak? Any thoughts?

Been away from the forum for a while, focused on the honey do list. But now I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction... My 69 351C 'vert sat in the garage for ~ 1 month (ran fine the last time I drove it). When I went out to start it, it sounded cold and rough, like a cyl. or two were missing. Lots of smelly exhaust smoke too (but not black or white). Taking it out on a warm-up, I drove about 2 miles, and then noticed the engine would die unless I kept my foot on the gas. Eventually, it died and would not restart. Thinking I had an ignition problem, I replaced my Pertronix Ignitor 1 coil with a new one. The old one cracked on the top, which I assume happened by leaving the key in the on position too long. No change. Then I pulled the cap, and confirmed no water in there. As far as I can tell, the accelterator pumps on my Edelbrock 1406 carb appear to be pumping gas, and the see-through fuel filter is clean and filled with fuel. In a nutshell, when cold, the engine will start up, but then runs very rough, with lots of smelly exhaust. Once the engine warms up (3-5 minutes) the engine will die and not restart until cold again. So, anyone have some troubleshooting tips for that set of facts? Thanks - JD

Hi all. I pulled my valve covers today and found the casting numbers on the heads, but cannot find them referenced on decode sites. Can anyone tell me about the following? DIA E-AIO (last digit could be "O" or zero or even possibly "C"). But I haven't found any of those, so far.

I recently (last Spring) completed a T-5 swap, replacing the C-6 in my '69 vert using the Modern Driveline kit. Although I agree with others that each person will have their own preference, for me, my car became so much more fun to drive with the manual gearbox. As for the install, I had a local shop do it, and had a great deal of difficulty on the clutch alignment (which caused the stiffest clutch I've ever felt). The installer claimed Modern Driveline's kit was faulty, but then he didn't bother to follow the instructions and ended up grinding and modifying the kit's parts because he thought he knew so much more than MD. Long story short, Bruce at Modern Driveline was great - he worked with me to diagnose the problems, and in the end went the extra mile to make sure I was happy. And the installer charged me for every minute of diagnosis and re-work, even for his own mistakes. I'll look to Modern Driveline again if I need something - needless to say, I will not, however, be a repeat customer for the local installer. In a nutshell, I would highly recommend doing a swap to a manual.:biggrin:

Yes, the scoop bolts directly on with no gasket. FWIW, I painted mine black (semigloss), and sitting in the middle of a Tangerine Orange hood, I think it looks pretty good. If you are doing a Mach hood, then you would not want a gloss finish on either hood or scoop, since the whole point was to reduce glare off the hood. But if you are away from factory stock with a contrasting hood color anyway, I would suggest semi-gloss. Easier to wax, and looks "right" next to a shiny hood, IMNHO.

I recently put a scoop on my car, and I have an original Ford OEM scoop leftover (purchased for the turn signals). The twist is that the scoop was used to catch a falling tree branch, I'm told. Saving it is beyond my non-existent fiberglass skills, but I figured one of you may want to give it a try, since it is an original Ford scoop. Anyway, free to good home. You pay shipping only. PM me if interested. JD

I'm in the same boat with 3 little ones. I can tell you that the most enjoyment I get is in working on it, but driving the little ones around in it (and all of the attention it and they get in their carseats) is a close second.

Two answers, if i'm understanding your question... First, my trim piece (that stretched along the windshield and has the visor clip mounted on it) appears to be steel, and had surface rust on both the inside and outside. So unlike Raven's, absent a whole lot of work I couldn't get mine back to bare clean metal. And even if I did, I'm sure it would rust again, so I treated it with navel jelly and painted it. On the other hand, the large brackets that hold the visor arm appear to be aluminim, and had a strange "pimple" type corrosion that didn't go away with any chemical treatment, and responded only to the most aggressive sanding. For those, I painted them the same color, mostly to help hide the aluminum acne, and for consistency. Now the second answer (and the purpose of my original question) is that my PO painted both the trim piece and the two brackets a flat black. Since my interior is black (including the visors and the pillar trim leading up both sides of the windshield), it looked correct for it to be black. But, I went ahead and painted the pieces silver, which better matches the exterior trim around the top of the windshield. If I get a chance I'll post a picture once I get it all re-installed. In the meantime, anyone have any idea what that pimple-type corrosion is on the visor brackets? Am I incorrect about them being aluminim?

My two cents is that if you like the idea or working on a project car and learning about it, but don't want to make the time commitment required to restore what you have, I would recommend trying to sell or trade it for something without rust issues. I spend a lot of time on my car, but I'm only fixing things and upgrading. Take a look at Dan's website (an inspiration to me before I bought my car) and you will see just how much work the rust repair is. If you can skip that step, you will start much closer to a driveable car, and every hour you spend you will be able to see noticable improvement/reward. JD

Many thanks for all the advice and pictures. I ended up stripping all the chipped paint off mine with a paint stripper ($15), only to find it and the visor brackets all pitted with rust spots. So an hour scrubbing with navel jelly ($5), an hour with an abrasive ball ($10) and drill, and a can of chrome paint ($8) later, I have a nice shiny but still pitted piece of !$@%, er, trim. :huh: Oh, and a wife who is really unhappy about how paint stripper makes the house smell. But, I guess for 4X the cost, the online one is nice, but my car certainly has better uses for the $160. JD

I have a hydraulic clutch for my T5, installed to replace the cable clutch. Both clutch parts (and the T5) came from Modern Driveline. Although the cable is simple, the hydraulic made a HUGE difference on pedal pressure, and I would highly recommend that over cable, if that was an option you were considering.

Thanks Raven. Did it come out looking ok? Mine was painted black by the PO, and it looked ok (at least the places where the paint didn't peel). Do you happen to have a picture?