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1951 Pontiac Chieftain


PhilA

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Ohhh lightbulb content! :)

 

Did you grab a shot of the date code before fitting those bulbs? going by the package design id say they are from the early 1990s, pretty cool that they are made of proper coloured glass, interesting how the glass is yellower in colour compared to the more amber look of your other natural glass indicator bulb, (I would not be surprised if they where made on old Westinghouse machinery from when Philips took over the Westinghouse lighting devision in the mid 1980s)

 

by the 1990s natural glass regular type lightbulbs where Long gone from the market sadly. although funnily enough for a while during the late 2000s-2010s Philips sold natural red glass Fireglow lamps, always wanted to pick up a pair but never got the chance too. https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-82423

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Sad thing is, that's still worth five cents if you want to spend it...!

That reminds me of the time when I was working in a petrol station and a rather odd chap came in and tried to pay for a fiver's worth of fuel with a Charles & Diana Crown.  He wasn't best pleased when I explained to him that it was only worth 25p when used as legal tender.

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That reminds me of the time when I was working in a petrol station and a rather odd chap came in and tried to pay for a fiver's worth of fuel with a Charles & Diana Crown. He wasn't best pleased when I explained to him that it was only worth 25p when used as legal tender.

I think everything that's been stamped by the federal mint here as coinage is still valid at face value. Even from a hundred years ago, the monetary system here hasn't changed greatly since it's inception. What goes into making the coins has changed, so the intrinsic value is less but overall it's been fairly uniform.

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On a side note I was looking at paint again after the wonderful* color match a few posts up.

 

Looks like it's currently painted Starmist Blue, only the Ford Thunderbird color, not the Pontiac color! They're close but this is more baby blue than the rainy-sky blue it should be.

 

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As a comparison. This is why you don't trust people when they tell you the paint you bought is Starmist Blue.

 

Also, whoever owned the car in 2011 was part of the National Guard, the sticker in the window is a parking pass for the training camp in Mississippi.

 

Phil

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Wiper arms look smart.

 

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Just need to get blades now, the current ones are non existent.

 

Twisting one spindle with fingers, also attached to wiper motor- liberates easy movement of the one on the other side. This is good!

 

Found the reason for the big washer on the control, that's been overtightened and the thread is buckled. That'll prove fun to repair.

Gone back with the washer on for now.

 

Phil

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With the paint fully hardened, I took a look at the fitting of the wiper arms. They appear to be generic replacements.

 

They were sitting all wrong and almost touching in the middle, overlapping the center divider of the windshield.

 

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Took it all to bits and removed just over an inch of the arm.

 

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Adjusted to the correct angle and length, compared to the original.

 

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Fitted up, in their parked position.

 

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Stepping back to look at how they look. Not bad, pretty tidy.

 

Just need to get blades for them now. I'm not sure anywhere around here just sells blade refills any more though.

 

Phil

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They make that arc in operation, turn them off and they tuck down tight to the bottom of the screen. I think I need to get a seal rebuild kit for the motor, it does like to get a little stuck and it can be heard hissing, though that was being run through 1/16" tube off the Renault's vacuum. It's meant to be 1/4" all the way so that probably doesn't help matters.

 

 

Phil

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I wanted to see why the vacuum and fuel system had been bypassed.

 

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Detach fuel/vacuum pump.

 

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Stinky fuelly oily gunk. Gasket split.

 

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Said contraption on the bench. When pressed down on the lever, it makes burpy farty noises. Something is working, at least.

 

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Split the fuel bowl off. Ideally needs a new seal, that one is starting to feel a little plastic, rather than elastic. Effects of ethanol in the fuel making themselves present.

 

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Cleaned it up a little. By the looks of it the crimped fuel line broke off and that's why the fuel pump was bypassed. I polished the union because brass. I like shiny brass.

 

I think I need a fine wire brush to poke through the gauze filter mesh. It's overall quite clean and a moderately good design. Can't really see a good reason not to use it, to be honest.

 

Phil

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I thought of one reason. Well, two but they are the same reason.

 

1) Can disable the vehicle with a hidden fuel pump switch on an electric pump

 

2) Can fit an inertia cutoff switch to an electric pump in the event of a crash

 

Still think I'm going to redo the original. Where the fuel pump is now underneath will probably get an inline filter.

 

Phil

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Really no2. An engine driven pump cuts off in a crash too. If the crash is bad enough to spray fuel everywhere the engine will cut out.

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That logic is exactly the same reason the lack of an intertia switch on the Lada doesn't bother me.

 

The fuel pump won't run in that case unless it's detecting timing pulses from the crankshaft position sensor...so engine stops = fuel pump stops. ...and given the CPS is about 0.000003mm behind the radiator cowling, it will be the first component to be destroyed in the event of any frontal impact.

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