Bill, I think one of the core (AKA "freeze") plugs came out of your head.
This didn't do any damage since you stopped right away, and it is only a 28
cent item. They are a little tricky to put in, but the man who rebuilt
your engine should take care of this at no cost.
Dick Benjamin
----- Original Message -----
From: <Imperial59crown@xxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 8:27 PM
Subject: IML: '59 continuing saga, must be a test
> Well, on the way home from work last night I stopped at Kragen auto supply
> who were very helpful in helping me find an air cleaner for my '59
Imperial. It
> was one of those small ten inch Edelbrock air cleaners, but it fit my new
carb
> like a glove. Armed with my new air cleaner I went out and put it on the
car,
> and settled in for my first day of driving it since I got it back from the
> engine rebuild. I drove down to the shopping center, and when I pulled
into the
> parking lot my horn suddenly went on and would not turn off, so I got out
and
> pulled the horn wires. When I came out of the store and went to drive the
car
> I noticed the steering wheel was all wobbly, moving from side to side, and
I
> could even pull it out a bit. I just said to myself this is just great,
but
> maybe I can fix it when I get home. When I got home I removed the bottom
dash
> panel from under the steering shaft, but could not find anything. Then I
removed
> the horn ring and the rectangle horn apparatus in the center, and the bolt
> holding on the wheel was firmly in place. It seems like there is some
bearing in
> the steering column that has broken or given way near the top of the
column,
> does anyone know about this? I then drove the car to the last mechanic who
last
> worked on the steering to see what he thought, and he was pretty much in
> agreement as to what I thought. Then on the way home I was within a mile
of home
> when I noticed the temperature start climbing, and I could smell coolant,
so I
> turned into the closest gas station and raised the hood to a cloud of
steam,
> but I could see no hose leaks anywhere. One of the mechanics came out and
after
> it cooled down added some water only to find it pouring out under the left
> side exhaust manifold. This definitely did not look good to me. Then
another
> mechanic came out with a mirror and held it down under the manifold, and
said it
> either blew some release valve if it had one, or the head was cracked.
This is
> definitely not what I wanted to hear after just getting my beauty back. My
> day ended up calling Auto Club and having them come out with a flat bed to
haul
> the car back to where I had the engine rebuilt, and I parked in front of
the
> shop which was already closed by this time. I am now envisioning not
having the
> car again for another few weeks. I hope things get better. It seems like
the
> more I improve the car the more things that are going wrong. I guess I'll
just
> keep singing "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow."
>
> Bill '59 Crown
>
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