Help with a 54 starchief

[Ralph_Fury]

ok here's the deal i live in miami and i've had my starchief catalina for about 4 years now and i have yet to find a respectable place that can help me fix it. I'm leaking a crazy amount of oil so i'm guessing my oil pan is cracked and i believe that the car isn't grounded right and the battery keeps draining on me(it's been "re-wired" about 3 times now) if anyone out there can help me out i would greatly appreciate it. I'm on the verge of ripping everything out and just putting a new engine and transmision in it and be done with it but i still need some where to take it. I NEED HELP PLEASE!!!!

[Oldcar_Mechanic]

Welcome to ClassicCar Ralph

I can appreciate the frustration you have. The first thing you need to remember is that the oil leak needs to be attacked from the uppermost part of the engine. A good cleaning at a self wash car wash is a good place to start. If the valve covers are leaking, the entire engine will be coated in oil due to the oil running down the block and blowing around from driving. After a thorough cleaning you can watch to see it the covers are leaking. Fresh cardboard under the car can help to get an idea as to about were the leak may be coming from. Look at all the obvious points like oil drain plug gasket, oil filter gasket or any oil lines that may be there.

As to your wiring problem. You didn't say why the car was re-wired and the depth of the work such as the entire harness being replaced but it appears that what was done didn't help (if that was why it was re-wired in the first place). A battery going dead on it's own happens because something is drawing current from the battery. You also don't mention how long it takes for the battery to go dead so I will only assume (which is never good) that it goes dead in a short period of time and not weeks or months without the car running. I don't have a diagram of your cars wiring but I don't think you have a fuse block, so it will be more difficult to find the problem. The thing I would start with is looking over the entire car wiring and see if there may be a wire that is possibly touching bare metal. Another thing to try is disconnecting things like generator, cigar lighter or other electrical components to see it that makes a difference. First remove the ground cable from the battery and put a test light between the battery post and the cable. With all switches off and the doors closed, the test light should not light. If it does, there is something that is drawing power. Disconnecting components one at a time to see if the light goes out is the next thing. When you find the culprit you can then make the repair.

I hope that this helps somewhat. If you have more questions feel free to ask.

Sorry I can't help with knowing someone in your area to take the car to. Most repair facilities today do not want to work on these cars nor do they understand them. Maybe looking to find a local club for your car will help find people that have had similar problems as you and are willing to help.

Best of luck with your car and keep us posted.
Ron

[Ralph_Fury]

well we "re-wired" it from a 6 volt to a 12 volt battery but it still has the 6 volt solenoide and i used a dry cell battery and it dies within 3 to 5 days of regular driving average 10 to 12 miles and some of the original cloth covered wires caugh fire when the pole i have to hold the hood up hit the frame of the car and the oil is comming from under the motor i think it has something to to when i went to change the motor mount the engine fell hard. i'll keep you posted and i appreiciate all the help i can get. and special thanks to Ron.