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1951 Pontiac Chieftain


PhilA

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Car is sitting on the driveway. No pictures because it was lashing it down with rain. I pulled the Renault up alongside and put the jump leads on. Would it start? Would it buggery. Click crrnnnnn. Turn over half-assed.

 

Eventually got it running, cleared the road, backed it up down off the trailer and into the driveway.

 

Just drove to town and dropped the trailer off at U-Haul.

 

330 miles round trip, 15.1mpg (18.1UK).

 

Worn out. Need to fuel up the truck. Feels like a sports car to drive now. Running smoother too, guess it needed a good long run.

 

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View in my mirror all the way home, a stern looking chief.

 

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Dropped off the trailer in town.

 

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Long trip and it's still not over...

 

Update later when it's light.

 

 

Phil

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'51 should be proudly teleshockers. I could see from 4,700 miles away that it's slamt. Air shocks are only available for the rear.

 

Entirely btw, mine was beige with a grey roof. Originally from Illinois it was rotten as a pear, but my Indian lit up!

Thanks God no MoT was required on cars like this in Belgium 25 years ago, otherwise no hoonage would ever have ensued.

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It was difficult to judge, sat where it was. Looks like a 2" set of blocks at the rear and the front lower arms are horizontal so about the same at the front. Service manual doesn't give "height from the ground" as a measurement.

 

I'll have to drive it for a while to reserve judgement. It may end up raised up, it may not.

 

Initial views underneath show a moderate proportion of the body has been coated with the vehicle's built in corrosion protection.

 

I need to get it up on the ramps at work and start having a poke.

 

Indeed it's telescopic dampers all round.

 

On the outside it smells like my old man's Sprite (old oil, old grease, other engineering smells). This is a good thing. Also, someone has cared for it at some point in the past. The kingpin grease points at least are caked with glop and dirt.

 

Back to bed (it's 3am).

 

 

Phil

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mississipppppppi plate ftmfw

 

what part of looeesee aaaaannaaaaa is that west countree accent from :lol:

 

can i ask a stoopid q - the steering column - whats the small tube parallel to it

Ha, still got the accent after eleven years here. The second small tube has the gear shift mechanism inside it.

 

Phil

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Oh, and big mystery yellow* canister is probably your washer fluid reservoir which normally has a vacuum system stuck on top for the wipers, at least if the videos corvetteben on Youtube has done on his 58 Cadillac are anything to go by.  The line running to the fuel pump could well supposed to run to the carburettor instead and is just routed to the wrong place.  For fuel filter, look under the car for a metal one strapped to the chassis somewhere, that seems to be the norm, as does not having one at all anywhere.

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Vacuum wipers!

Memories of a Ford Prefect I'd rather not remember.

Best of luck with those.

A 4.4l straight 8 has a better chance of being on a trailing throttle than a 1.2 4 pot. :D

 

 

Those wires are doing me a scare.

They're giving me teh fearz as well. Fire extinguisher and a BFO battery switch required until that lot's chopped out.

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It's been on and off but it's hot today, 100% humidity.

 

I took it for a quick spin down the street. Feels like the gearbox to the accelerator linkage is not adjusted correctly because it was revving way up high before changing gear.

 

It also sounds like I have a crazed castanets player under the hood. Valve lash is on the books but it looks like access is crappy because that's under the manifolds.

 

Another thing on the list. I need to buy some grease and a new oil can. This has plenty of grease points, with a 2000 mile regime of adjustment and lubrication to "retain the inbuilt value".

 

Phil

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