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Sterling #130 (aka American V8 ~ Chapter 2)

nbb350

Active member
I shouldn't have to pay, but they want me to pay return shipping thru their "easy online return portal". Or sit on the phone for 45 minutes and try to plead my case to a rep. That will have to wait until the workday next week when I'm sitting in one place all day...

I did an online chat with a rep for the next pump. The rep said the new pump had 1" NPT threads and two inlets; hopefully they actually looked at the product and not just at the webpage - THAT is why I initiated the chat. We'll see when it gets here next week...
 

farfegnubbin

Site Owner
Staff member
Those seats look like they’re going to be comfy. And I’m impressed that you found a way to narrow them, cushion and all. Interesting. Looks like they might be out of a Nissan 200sx(??)

With the pump…. That does suck. But sounds like you’re closer to the right part than ever.

One question: I know you said you don’t have enough room to do an actual filler cap by the heater core. I certainly get how sometimes there just isn’t enough space. What is your strategy for filling the system up into the heater core? I still wonder whether you could put just a low profile tee in the hoses that have to be up there anyway that could be used to purge the system or fill it. You know your system. I don’t. I’m just trying to picture what you have and to help. 🙂
 

nbb350

Active member
Is it wrong for a grown man to cry? I've been angry and amused and now crying is all that's left! ;)
The pump that was delivered today was another WRONG PART. After 40 minutes on the phone with the customer "service" guy (which eventually degraded to both of us looking at the same web page and me describing which part of the picture was wrong on what was delivered), he thinks the manufacturer put the wrong part in the box (since the number on the box is correct). Unfortunately there is no part number on the actual part! ugh. So...wait another WEEK for it to be delivered - and another weekend spent NOT working on the car. But at least I'll be getting a FREE HAT for my troubles!

Farf: my plan is to keep the heater core blocked off with the valve until the time comes when I want heat. Then I'll turn the valve OPEN/THRU and let the pump run coolant thru the core. Some air MAY get trapped, but not much. And if I need to open the system, I can just turn the valve CLOSED/BYPASS again and then the overflow tank will once again be the high point of the system. In theory...
 

nbb350

Active member
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I'm ready to let that little ground rat drive me right off the cliff...

Fourth pump arrived today - WRONG PIPE SIZE INLETS!!
after 1 hour on the phone with Summit "customer service", they're blaming the manufacturer for giving them the wrong info, since the 1" spec is obviously not what the pump is shipping with.
the next option is $100 more...so that pump is now on a "hold order", waiting on someone in the warehouse to physically inspect the pump for fitting sizes next Monday.

Also received my other order for custom seat belts today. I ordered TWO belts with a 10" fixed leg. they shipped me ONE belt with a 20" fixed leg. Um, that'll put the buckle BEHIND THE SEAT! ugh...
so 30 minutes of chatting with their customer service and he agreed to remake the proper length belts and ship them to me in a few weeks. oh well, not like I need them any time soon!

I think it's Beer O'clock now...
 

vpogv

Active member
View attachment 9751

I'm ready to let that little ground rat drive me right off the cliff...

Fourth pump arrived today - WRONG PIPE SIZE INLETS!!
after 1 hour on the phone with Summit "customer service", they're blaming the manufacturer for giving them the wrong info, since the 1" spec is obviously not what the pump is shipping with.
the next option is $100 more...so that pump is now on a "hold order", waiting on someone in the warehouse to physically inspect the pump for fitting sizes next Monday.

Also received my other order for custom seat belts today. I ordered TWO belts with a 10" fixed leg. they shipped me ONE belt with a 20" fixed leg. Um, that'll put the buckle BEHIND THE SEAT! ugh...
so 30 minutes of chatting with their customer service and he agreed to remake the proper length belts and ship them to me in a few weeks. oh well, not like I need them any time soon!

I think it's Beer O'clock now...


That has to be so frustrating nbb - you'll get it figured out though.
 

nbb350

Active member
After waiting over last weekend plus a few days this week to hear back from Summit "customer service" about physical verification, I gave up on waiting for a reply and started calling their "customer service" line again. Nope, no one remembers me and the extensions of the people I talked to last week just go to a general voicemail pit which apparently never gets listened to. To hell with Summit.

So I started calling Holley - the "manufacturer" (it's all just rebranded third-party equipment) of the Frostbite series of pumps. Only $100 more expensive. Their website says 1"NPT and shows 2 inlets...but I've been burned before so I tried calling their Tech Support line. OMFG. after 15 minutes yesterday, I gave up and hung up. Today was a slower day, so I called back again on speakerphone and waited 17 minutes for a Tech to answer. I asked him my question...and he disconnected me. So I called back, and waited...35 MINUTES for another Tech to answer. He took my question and put me on hold for another 15 minutes. Hopefully during that time he was running to the warehouse, pulling the item off the shelf, and checking the box. He confirmed my questions and I went to the website and ordered the part. We'll see what shows up next week...

Good thing I have multiple projects to fall back on...this pump issue has been dragging on for almost a month now...
 

nbb350

Active member
Oh we all know exactly what 3/4" part will show up next week. 😂

Oh, Wise One Who Can Forsee the Future, what Lottery numbers should I play to win??

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This will be the FOURTH pump I have to return. Plus I have to return the 1.5" Hose to 1"NPT adapter and the 5/8" Hose to 1"NPT adapters...IF I still can. This ordeal has dragged on so damn long I may be past the return deadlines! THEN I have to source a new 1.5" Hose to 3/4"NPT thread adapter since my old adapter got damaged upon removal from the 15 year old pump.
 

nbb350

Active member
Yup - not like I have any choice. It's obvious that "tech support" people nowadays are idiots.
One of the pumps I ordered was "body only"...no adapters from pump to specific engine block. it was cheaper that way, so I held off returning it until last - even if the inlets were the wrong size.

btw, turns out the threads weren't "damaged" on the old 1.5"hose-3/4" adapter - the threads are "straight", not "pipe tapered". ??? I wonder if the old pump had "AN" threads or something else odd. the 5/8"hose-3/4"NPT adapter for the heater bypass threads into the old pump and ALL the new pumps fine, the but the 1.5"hose-3/4" adapter will only screw into the new pumps about 1 turn before stopping. WTH? Sigh...right now I'm debating whether to spend 60% the cost of the new adapter on SHIPPING, or find another $80 worth of stuff that I "need" to earn free shipping.
 

nbb350

Active member
Well, if anyone is wondering what is up, I decided to order a 3/4-14 NPT die and try to re-thread my old adapter. That way I'll at least have a nice tool for the toolbox when I'm done.
BUT, while that part was being shipped to me, I threw my back out the morning of September 1st and spent the next 35 hours in the ER and hospital. Ugh.
I have some recovery time ahead of me, so progress on the Sterling has STOPPED.
 

farfegnubbin

Site Owner
Staff member
Hey, just checking up on you to see how you’re doing. It’s been a bunch of weeks; is your back getting back to normal? I know that can take a while. 🙁
 

nbb350

Active member
I plateaued after about 2-3 weeks of improvement. Some days now I'm okay, but other days are spent popping Advil and laying on the couch. I saw Doctor No. SIX recently who FINALLY ordered an MRI - only 10 WEEKS after the injury. The first Five Doctors didn't think an MRI was needed - including the Three Doctors who observed me in the ER and the Spinal Specialist I visited 3 weeks later (first available appointment!).

Our health care system is a joke...don't like what the doctor says? Fine, make an appointment with another doctor, wait 2-3 weeks for your appointment, and pay for another office visit - whether or not you get any results. (Not that a National Health System is any better - I've read horror stories from Canada and Britain about their NHS and I've seen the fuster-cluck NHS in Costa Rica too)

As for the car, I still haven't touched it. The next step is to LEAN OVER the engine bay and TWIST into position to reinstall the water pump. Um...my back still hurts when I lean over to spit after brushing my teeth! I don't think I'm ready to reach out while holding a water pump! Ugh...
 

nbb350

Active member
I finally found some free time in the Shop on Sunday, so I bolted the new waterpump in and connected all the hoses. Then I added 1/2 gallon of water to the system and listened to the bubbles...until I was listening to a LEAK. UGH...steady stream of water pouring out of the thermostat housing. It was leaking from there before too, so I had installed a new gasket & silicone. Obviously I didn't fix it right. So I ordered a new thermostat gastket and RTV silicone - it'll be here next week. The local auto parts store doesn't seem to stock gaskets for a 1963 Buick V8...go figure! lol
 

farfegnubbin

Site Owner
Staff member
They didn’t have that in stock?!

:)


The thing I hate is when you need a part of a certain size — like a catalytic converter of some specific dimensions — and they can’t tell you what they have in inventory because it is ONLY sorted by year, make, and model of car.
 
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