Real Newbie questions!

Okay, just picked up my '65 tonight and drove her home, about 30 miles, what a drive!

A few real basic questions:

What are good shift points for the manual 3 speed trannY? I've got a 250 in there and I know the tranny is at least newer than the original because it has syncros for 1st gear.

How much oil does a 250 hold with filter change?

What is the dwell setting, and where are the timing marks, what is it timed to?

What is the procedure for adjusting the E-brake? Mine no workie!

I don't have a book , the only one I've found online is for '67 and beyond but I imagine thats okay.

thanks for any help!

mark in Portland

It holds 5 qts with the filter. The 250 is a great motor alot better than the 194 or 230, and your lucky they put the newer trans in. I'm not for sure but have heard 66 had syncro trans??? Maybe your is late 65??

Turns out I had the supplemental truck manual in the back of the rig with all the parts the PO gave me, cool!

A few more little thing:

Someone added a water temp gauge at some point, what temps am I looking at here for normal running around? At what point do I think about pulling over?

And my throwout bearing is making some noise, I knew this when I bought and the PO was up front about it. However, I have no issues whatsoever with the tranny, really the clutch/tranny work flawlessly! How long can I drive around with a worn bearing? Until I start to have shifting problems?

I have an extra working tranny/bell housing/clutch etc in the back, so no big deal when I gotta swap it out.

Another thing: the manual says these brakes adust on their own after initial setup by reverse motion. Now, I don't have any issues with the brakes on this rig right now except for a pedal that gets hard after awhile. Even during a quick stop it doesn't pull or make sounds. So they're probably all right? When do you have to mess with the adjusters, just when things are out of whack?

And as far as the E-brake goes, it looks like I've got all the wires, so I just adjust according to the manual: pull handle 2 notches, tighten nut until the rear wheel feel slight resistance from brakes, then you're good?

And finally, my manual says for oil filter change to first knock a hole in the filter bottom and drain it? Really ? Never done that before!

Sorry about all the questions, sure has been fun driving this baby around!!

mark in Portland

You mean free play in the pedal? How do I check/adjust for this? The pedal is pretty stiff.

mark

So I've got this water temp gauge hooked up, the PO for some reason put inside the engine compartment up against the engine (there's a bunch of coiled wire and zip tied so I know whoever had it before had it outside the engine).

Anyway I just started checking the temp after driving and its up near 230....now, this last time I was driving the rig maybe a few miles to home, its hot out here maybe high 80's, lotsa low speed under 30mph driving, and lots of stops.

Now, from the little research I've done, it seems like 230 is pretty high.

Could the gauge be influenced by its proximity to the hot engine?

I'm gonna cut the zip tie tomorrow and get the gauge out of the doghouse, see how it reads.

thanks for all the info so far!

mark

Yes the clutch pedal already has the 1/2" clearance, guess its just a worn out bearing!

mark

Well the PO told me the throwout bearing was bad, and he seemed to know his stuff.

He said the guy who had the van before him ran the tranny out of oil, so he put some in and the tranny was fine but the bearing is noisy.

Thats how it stands now, there's noise until you put the clutch in. And you can hear some noise at low RPM's but not once you've got 'er revved up.

mark

Okay, well that is probably what is happening, but the long and short of it all is that I have zero problems with the tranny/clutch besides the noise, which doesn't bother me at all.

Now, the water temp thing is what is at the foremost of my mind. I'm wondering my gauge is accurate, if the location of the gauge in the doghouse makes it read hotter, or what is going on.

Any clues on the temp stuff? No boiling over whatsover with this van so far.

mark

Okay, so tonight I took the van to the local auto parts place to get stuff for an oil/filter change. I pulled the temp gauge out of the doghouse so I could watch it while I drive. It got up to 215 or so by the time I got to the store, maybe 5 minutes of low speed stop and start driving. Then when I came out it read closer to 230 after sitting, but as soon as I started it up it went way way down, and soon settled around the 215-220 mark by the time I got home.

I'll have to check the things you mention with the radiator tomorrow.

thanks for the help!!

mark in Portland

Yes the brake upgrade will happen this month.

Changed the oil/filter today, the old stuff looked real old!
Engine is smoother now.

Another problem: this baby has an automatic choke that doesn't seem to work so well, but I may be using it wrong. I pump the pedal a few times, crank, it starts/dies. I do this a few times and then it starts but sometimes the throttle really goes high and I have to tap the pedal real quick to drop it down. Is this a lube/grease issue? Something is sticking? Or does it have to do with the choke?

mark

Looked at the carb quickly today, its a Rochester MonoJet.
Didn't have time to check the things you mentioned, I was messing with the brakes (see other post)

mark