1968 Coronet 500 Project

[JimKueneman]

What gasket did you use for the fill neck? I found the squared off hockey puck looking one sucks. I used the more rounded one which seems to be made of more flexible rubber. The one I pulled from the Belvedere was split after a couple of years.

No it is leaking in the front of the tank where the fuel pump is.

 

[JimKueneman]

I may have to evacuate the Coronet soon. This is from my front porch tonight. Many of our friends are packing and being told to leave their homes...

 

[moparnation74]

I may have to evacuate the Coronet soon. This is from my front porch tonight. Many of our friends are packing and being told to leave their homes...
View attachment 417504

Man I am sorry to see that...I wish you guys the best and be safe! Keep us posted please!

I will pray for you and your family to be safe and not to incur any damages,,,

 

[JimKueneman]

I may have to evacuate the Coronet soon. This is from my front porch tonight. Many of our friends are packing and being told to leave their homes...
View attachment 417504

Fire blew north last night, many miles away now.

 

[dieseldazzle]

Thank god.

 

[JimKueneman]

Thank god.

So far no buildings or people burned. This is a very very rural area so home and ranches are far between (most on 5 and up acres). Many friends have been told to leave their homes even tonight.

 

[JimKueneman]

Wow even more infamy!

http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/photos

Keep an eye out as the images pass by.....

 

[dieseldazzle]

Wow even more infamy!

http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/photos

Keep an eye out as the images pass by.....

Not bad for an old orange gutter snipe brought back from the dead!! Hahaha

Great job!

 

[JimKueneman]

Found a mint 1968 Coronet owners manual on eBay! It is even an Orange cover!

 

[moparnation74]

Great picture of your ride for that website!

 

[oldbee]

At least I didn't have to look for my owners manual, lol. All 30+ pages; guess we were more knowledgeable back then? Now ya got 300pgs to look thru.

 

[JimKueneman]

The electrical engineer in me finally dragged the scope out and built a filter for the EFI Tach pin. It took a resistor, zener and capacitor to create a nice clean waveform for the FiTech to use. I also set the timing to the values for a 1967 (pre emissions) to 8 degrees BTDC. The 68 value was 2.5 degrees ATDC, I think it was to far advanced. It runs a LOT better over all now.


Here is the tach signal I am now sending to the FiTech ECU. The tail is still slow but that is not my filter it is just the way the points close.

If you interested in understanding this here is a diagram.

What a coil looks like at the negative terminal. This is NOT recommended to hook to the Tach wire on the FiTech. Notice it is over 100V on the first ring!

Checked the dwell using this method too. It is close enough for government work.

And the filter

 

[JimKueneman]

I called Bob at Glenray about the overheating. He had me send pictures and do a few thing and concluded my fan clutch is shot. He gave me part numbers and we talked about it some. It turns out that '68 had the AC compressor moved forward more than later models and the fan clutch shaft is longer than later model. The clutch he recommended _just_barely_clears the AC clutch....

If nothing else Rock Auto is a great place to research parts. They have all the mechanical specs for Hayden clutches.

I bough the 2747 at Merles Auto today. It has a fan offset of 1.62".
HAYDEN 2747

I see there is a normal duty version, 1706, that is 1.75".
HAYDEN 1706

I measured mine and it is 1.95" so that means I am
1.95
1.62
-------
0.37" closer to the AC clutch and pulled out of the shroud. That is what about 3/8" of an inch.

1.95
1.75
------
0.20 closer so that gains me back almost a 1/4".

Time to call Merles tomorrow and see if they have the normal duty version.

 

[JimKueneman]

I am back on the road. The "correct" fan clutch for a 318 with AC is 2706. This clutch is the same depth as the 1706 (did not notice this is a non thermostatic unit). The other thing that is better is the hole in the shaft matches the water pump, the 2747 has a larger hole with a bushing. Did not like that, 2 places to not line up correctly and have wobble.

Then I took it for a test drive.... 150 miles later and getting stuck in traffic on a "cool" day in Tucson it is working great. It is moving a LOT more air at RPM now. Also the 10 degree BTDC and new filter makes it run much smoother. There were times when I was not sure if it was running at 55 mph on the two lane roads.

 

[dieseldazzle]

Jim, sorry if I missed it but what symptoms were you having that made you start to chase the signal your fitech was seeing?

 

[JimKueneman]

Jim, sorry if I missed it but what symptoms were you having that made you start to chase the signal your fitech was seeing?

My old filter (just a 28V TVS with a 0.1uF cap) was just hacked in to keep the RPM steady on the handheld when I was first getting the FiTech working. It still would go a little crazy once I got it up past 3500 RPM. New new filter is done nicely with real measurements to show what it is doing and with with soldered lugs (vs wires twisted under nuts). It now stays at a nice steady RPM as far as I ever want to rev it.

 

[JimKueneman]

102F in Tucson today. Should I give the Coronet the ultimate test and take it to work today?

 

[threewood]

Yes. And you can calculate mpg

 

[JimKueneman]

Yes. And you can calculate mpg

I actually can't calculate the mileage. Still not able to fill it up because I have a book like asking I only put up you gallons in it so that it doesn't leak

 

[JimKueneman]

Yeah got a love Siri