Behold, the wedge!

[DanStokes]

Steel framework, with aluminum panels screwed/glued over it. Lots of angle iron, and some square tube, and a couple pieces of round tube.

It lived in Michigan for 15 years, and picked up a little rust.

Bummer about the Michigan history. I know that tune all too well.

Dan

[squirrel]

the rust is pretty mild by MI standards, but it's there...

I've been working on it, slowly chipping away at the various problems. I got a new governor gear today in the mail, installed it, and now it shifts to high gear! yay. I also decoded the letter stamp on the differential housing, it has 2.53 gears. Which shows in the RPM...it's pretty low, and I could go pretty fast in high gear.

More carb work, I got a kit for it and went thru the carb again. The inlet check ball on the accelerator pump was missing, which makes it squirt very little fuel, which causes a big flat spot (and makes it really undrivable if the timing is also retarded, which it seemed to be). I fixed that...although I might have to play with float levels, And I'm still playing with the timing, getting a light in there might be a challenge, so I'll keep cranking it up until it has other problems.

I added some electric fans I took out of a truck I had a few years ago. But they like to blow fuses sometimes. I ordered a single 14" that is supposed to draw less current, so I'll install that when it shows up. As long as it's not too hot out (below 85ish) and I'm moving, it stays around 200 degrees, and if I stop, one 12" fan will keep it there. But it also doesn't have a lot of oil pressure, has plenty of blow by, and some interesting noises.

The question is, will it make it to the start of Rt 66 in Chicago next month?

[65RHDEER]

I have no doubt, and it will run just fine.

[DanStokes]

The oil pump on that engine is external and there is (or at least was) a Melling thicker high-volume pump available for it. I had one on my Buick/Vega and OP was not an issue. Might be worth looking to see if that's still available. Blowby is another issue - Marvel Mystery Oil treatment? Just some thoughts...... The Wedge was lucky to have been adopted by you.

Dan

[squirrel]

thanks!

Thanks for the reminder about the pump being external. If the cause of low oil pressure is the pump, then I'd just replace it with a stock unit. It if's a bearing clearance issue, then I should change some bearings...or at least do a bit of inspecting, as the pan is easy to remove.

Keep in mind that I drove a Corvair on a LeMons Rally a few years ago, it ended up being a 5000 mile trip (AZ-CA-WA-CA-ID-AZ). That engine had worn bearings, and had a little bit of a knock. The oil pressure was very similar to what's in this car--5 or less when hot idling, 20 or so hot cruising. On that car, I just took out the gauge, and relied on the light--which would come on when hot idling in gear. I popped it into neutral often, and the light went out. I know that the 3.8 V6 also is a low oil pressure engine, and it's the same oil system, and they survive...so I'll probably not worry about it, unless it's making noises that get scary.

[squirrel]

The car's been working pretty well, it cools ok with the new fan, shifts smooth, runs reasonably well, starts, stops, steers, etc. The gauges all work. the gas tank doesn't leak any more. I added cruise control (the unit I've had on about ten different cars already), and it works pretty well, cruises nice at 70.

So I was out on a test drive last night, and got to the last stop light, which is about 4 miles from my house...went to take off when it turned green...the engine revved, the car sat still. No movement at all, in any gear. No idea what happened. Wife pulled me home with her truck and a chain, and I'm slowing taking things apart today. The converter is still spinning, so the coupling and input shaft are OK. Nothing funky in the transmission pan or differential oil. Transmission fluid level was ok.

still a mystery.

[DanStokes]

Good luck with it.

Dan

[squirrel]

Thanks. I did find one place on the internets that has parts for it. I'll hopefully get it out this morning, and see what's up.

[DanStokes]

Is it the Buick DualPath auto? That's what came in the Special/Skylark with the 215. They were OK but when they started pulling forward in neutral more than slightly (as they were prone to do) they needed work. The first auto trans I ever rebuilt was the DualPath in Mom's Special convert but I had LOTS of supervision.

Dan

[squirrel]

No, it has a buick engine, but the transaxle is all Pontiac. It closely resembles a Corvair powerglide, but with a few differences--it has park, and electric kickdown, and a thicker clutch pack, among other things. And the engine is at the opposite end.

[Deaf Bob]

Early/mid 60's transaxle?

[RockJustRock]

Possibly a Tempest transaxle bolted directly to the engine?

[squirrel]

the tempest transaxle is bolted directly to the tempest bellhousing, which is adapted to the Buick engine. The driveshaft has been replaced with a coupler of some kind.

[squirrel]

this is the coupler, inside the bellhousing. At the very bottom of the picture, you can see the end of the transaxle.

[Beagle]

learn something new every day. I thought I was reasonably versed, never knew about the Tempest transaxle. Neat stuff!