My 59 has been out of action for about 1 year - new engine, rebuilt tranny, etc. The car ran great when my mechanic handed me the keys. I fill the tank up at the local Chevron, and then within miles the engine started to miss at idle, and the car would barely start when hot. I suspect I pumped a delightful blend of winter/high ethanol % gas into my car at the Chevron station. The gas was boiling away on winter days where the outside temps were in the mid-50s.
I spent yesterday trying to make the car run better. Two things seemed to have helped quite a bit
1. My engine rebuilder installed a 180* thermostat in the car. I removed the 180* thermostat and replaced it with a 160* thermostat. This change helped the idle stability in a noticeable way and the hot starting problem somewhat. The 59 idles better now - not perfect but noticeably better. Hot starting was still a nasty problem, however, even with the 160* thermostat. So I focused on that problem separately.
2. Researching the hot start issue on the various chat forums, I spotted a post by Jim Lockwood where he recommended leaving the hood of the car up when parked. So I gave that a shot. I first opened the hood up completely whenever I parked the car. Looks pretty silly to have your hood wide opened parked in front of the local hardware store, but what the hell. Leaving the hood wide open solved about 95% of the hot starting problem. Amazing. So I tried different approaches to see just how much the hood needed to be open to generate the same result. I tried just unlatching the hood, which didn't help at all. I then tried keeping the hood open with just a single tennis ball wedged between the end of the hood and the area next to the windshield. That generated only a slight improvement. I then tried the tennis ball can approach in the attached pic. Bingo!!!! The tennis can solves about 80% to 85% of the hot starting problem. Good enough, and it sure beats the heck out of propping the hood wide open. The exact technique is this - I pop the hood as I am getting ready to park. I shut off the car as soon as I stop. I get out of the car asap and open the hood completely, letting the contained engine heat escape. I then go back and lock the car. I finally close the hood, leaving it propped open with the tennis ball can.
I suspect the government is going to continue to mandate changes to gasoline. Thus I fear the that we are going to have really bad gas boiling problem in the future. During my chat group research, I sptted a post indicating that one or more guys have installed systems to push cold air to the area under the doghouse. Does anybody have pictures of a setup like that?
Thanks,
Russ
I spent yesterday trying to make the car run better. Two things seemed to have helped quite a bit
1. My engine rebuilder installed a 180* thermostat in the car. I removed the 180* thermostat and replaced it with a 160* thermostat. This change helped the idle stability in a noticeable way and the hot starting problem somewhat. The 59 idles better now - not perfect but noticeably better. Hot starting was still a nasty problem, however, even with the 160* thermostat. So I focused on that problem separately.
2. Researching the hot start issue on the various chat forums, I spotted a post by Jim Lockwood where he recommended leaving the hood of the car up when parked. So I gave that a shot. I first opened the hood up completely whenever I parked the car. Looks pretty silly to have your hood wide opened parked in front of the local hardware store, but what the hell. Leaving the hood wide open solved about 95% of the hot starting problem. Amazing. So I tried different approaches to see just how much the hood needed to be open to generate the same result. I tried just unlatching the hood, which didn't help at all. I then tried keeping the hood open with just a single tennis ball wedged between the end of the hood and the area next to the windshield. That generated only a slight improvement. I then tried the tennis ball can approach in the attached pic. Bingo!!!! The tennis can solves about 80% to 85% of the hot starting problem. Good enough, and it sure beats the heck out of propping the hood wide open. The exact technique is this - I pop the hood as I am getting ready to park. I shut off the car as soon as I stop. I get out of the car asap and open the hood completely, letting the contained engine heat escape. I then go back and lock the car. I finally close the hood, leaving it propped open with the tennis ball can.
I suspect the government is going to continue to mandate changes to gasoline. Thus I fear the that we are going to have really bad gas boiling problem in the future. During my chat group research, I sptted a post indicating that one or more guys have installed systems to push cold air to the area under the doghouse. Does anybody have pictures of a setup like that?
Thanks,
Russ
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