Moving Right Along – Ford Falcon Project

This past month I’ve gotten rolling on my 1960 Ford Falcon Project. First I had to get it into the garage and begin disassembly. Now I’ve finished clearing the engine compartment and detaching everything I can from the engine -resulting in a healthy pile of parts, hoses, and wires that have come out. If you’ve never torn apart a car or engine before – make sure you’ll know how to put it back together before you take it apart!

Back In The Fast Lane!

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. Since Stude’s spent the past 3 months suntanning her metal in the Mojave sun outside Gene Winfield’s shop…I’ve grown fonder then ever. The great news is (drum-roll please,) she’s back on the road!!! Not only is she back, she’s running better than ever!

Learning How-To Gap Spark Plugs

I’ve known for awhile that I needed to change the spark plugs in my Studebaker. But I’d heard things. Things like you could break the plug inside your motor if you did it wrong and to be sure to tighten the plugs to the correct tension. So although I knew they should be changed, I was scared to do it on my own, and my spark plugs in there were working…right???

As I’m learning, I’m seeing that spark plugs (although they don’t cost much and are small little things) are a major, MAJOR component of your engine. Without ‘em, your engine wouldn’t run. Without ‘em working at their best, your engine won’t run at its best.

So as part of last weekend’s wrenching adventure up at Gene Winfield’s in Mojave, I changed my spark plugs…for the very first time! Gasp! The fellow at the local parts store recommended Autolite over ACDelco plugs which I had been running. Then, when he informed me the gap for my application was .052 I was surprised, and a little confused. Gap…what?!?

While perhaps some people just throw a set of spark plugs in their engine – if you want your engine to run at its best, you’ve got to adjust the spark plug gap prior to putting them in.

Wrench like a Girl: Video #1 – Changing Distributor Wires

With so many fun things to do lately, I’ve had trouble doing the writing for the little mechanic issues that have come up with Stude! And since creating a resource for you ladies (and gentlemen) who might also want to work on cars or understand them better is important to me – I thought I’d give videos a try. Let me know what ya think about this format!

Grease Girl Diary #1: Engine Boogers

I’d been looking forward to Monday for weeks. Yep, this Monday I got to work down at the Studebaker Parts & Service. This is usually a weekly occurrence, but because of another job commitment, I’ve been gone about a month. So basically, my boys down at the shop could’ve given me anything to do and I would’ve been happy!

This week there was a rear-end and an engine block waiting to be cleaned.