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1951 Pontiac Chieftain


PhilA

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What a Glorious Sound :wub:

Wow that battery is unusual I thought it was a Suitcase!

Think you need nice pipes on yours something that makes it sing yet is in keeping and old school :mrgreen:

As you can hear in that video, with no downpipe on the manifold, it's a very quiet engine, even when opened up a bit. The stock muffler is a single straight-through so under idle to light throttle is rather quiet, opened up you get that TGHRRGRRGRRGRRGRR note quite pronounced from it.

 

Once it's going I'll be making some films to be enjoyed. It's a nice sounding engine.

 

Phil

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It does. I'll need to set the idle mix and timing properly after I've redone the tappets.

 

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I realized after someone mentioned it that the head bolt that should be at the front to hold the air cleaner was in the wrong place.

 

Moved the two, no idea why the front one had a washer so that's gone.

 

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Bought a length of steel bar. Got as far as drilling a 3/8" hole in it tonight. Need to cardboard up the design and then bend and cut the bar to length as the support.

 

Phil

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Went find my SAE spanners and hung them up on the wall. Tidies up the bench.

 

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Adjusted the bracket a little and gave it a try. Not bad, though I think bracket mk2 is in the future.

 

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Even with no filter material or oil in, the intake is quieter than the rest of the engine.

 

I really need to redo the tappets...

 

 

On a side note I took the front right wheel trim off to inspect. I just ordered some clear red lacquer to redo the center badge.

 

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They're not bad looking wheels. They also have provision for the poverty spec wheel caps.

 

Phil

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Pulled the old wire out from the gearshift linkage.

 

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Cleaned up the connector, checked to see if it would take solder. It did.

 

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Bought a reel of 14 gauge wire, a bit overkill but still, it's what was there.

 

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Put the wire in but the old plastic housing had split.

 

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Hot glued it into place to help it stay put.

 

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Much better!

 

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Got it back down the column. This time there's no bare wire hanging out.

 

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That's definitely better.

 

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All back in place in the housing.

 

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Lamp assembly in place.

 

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Yup, it works, though I'm going to replace this with an LED for cool running and longevity.

 

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Not bad. Need to redo the green discs, I think. The reverse one lets a lot of white past.

 

Phil

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The LEDs I did order are due to be here tomorrow (they went to New Orleans, 67 miles away, went past my house and are now in Lafayette, about 130 miles away).

 

Hopefully that shipping SNAFU is fixed. We'll see what it all looks like with the LED lighting in place... Then I'll begin tearing out the old wiring.

 

Point of no return!

 

 

Phil

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Have discovered where the horn wiring comes out of the steering column; not sure how the slip ring comes out. Further investigation required.

 

Adjusted the green filters, the light is better now. Fixed things in place a little better and blocked the gaps the light was coming out of. Plus the digits don't rattle any more.

 

Phil

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Also found the reason I couldn't figure out where the throttle return spring is meant to go.

 

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That'll be because the hook it's meant to connect to is missing (just below the square access plate in the flywheel housing).

 

Bolt with a shank to be purchased and modified to suit purpose.

 

 

Phil

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After having spent more time traveling in circles around America than they did getting from China to here, my bulbs have finally arrived.

 

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I'll give them a try tonight and see how well (or otherwise) they work.

 

If they're good there's some more pretty looking ones with nicely enclosed optics available, for ones like the glovebox and such where the bulb is visible.

 

Phil

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I made a SPRING BOSS.

 

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Fits into the flywheel housing.

 

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Now the pedal goes back, feels smooth. Might need a spring with a few more pounds behind it though.

 

The LED's have a rather strange gamut. The skeeters got real bad because it's been a hot day so more on that tomorrow. Typically the thing doesn't fit inside the gearshift thingy.

Such is life.

 

Phil

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