project 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

[PhilA]

Scrubbed some at the seat, but that showed it needs to be vacuumed more first. It's kicking up dirt from the brush.

 

 

Definitely an improvement to be seen though.

 

Phil

[Squire_Dawson]

Cloth seats and twin reversing lamps, you are living it up. Not much chod has reversing lamps fitted.

[PhilA]

Cloth seats and twin reversing lamps, you are living it up. Not much chod has reversing lamps fitted.

Optional extras! Sadly they aren't the originals, but they're period vintage.

 

Originally they had 33W bulbs in. Closest I could get was these, 30. They now significantly light up the area behind the car- useful for around here where street lighting is optional.

 

Phil

[Squire_Dawson]

Blimey that's good. Can only obtain 21 watters here. You only come to appreciate them when in a dark and unfamiliar area and don't know what's in the ground behind.

[PhilA]

Something something legislation.

 

Considering the headlight dip beams were only 35 Watts originally, yeah. These 30 watt bulbs get used in things like cornering lights and such so are still kinda available.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Well, crap.

 

I had stuffed the keys to the Chieftain into my pocket earlier after taking the picture with the reversing lights on.

 

I then went to the store, must have dragged the keys out of my pocket with my car keys and dropped them onto the floor because they're gone.

 

Nobody turned them in either

 

 

Blah.

 

 

Phil

 

 

Edit: Still no keys, bought a replacement pushbutton for the starter, to go with the replacement ignition switch I bought.

 

If that's the case then the only real irritation is the key for the trunk did work, the door locks didn't work though.

[Zelandeth]

Ack, sorry to hear that!

 

It's one reason I have a huge bundle of keys (having four cars has nothing to do with it...the van having about a million keys doesn't help). If I drop them it's impossible for me not to notice usually.

 

Does mean that the day I inevitably do... I'll be well screwed however...

[PhilA]

I'll get it sorted- for now I'll just hotwire it but it's annoying.

 

Ultimately I did need to replace the door locks to get a matching set- I guess that's bumped up the priority list.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Haha

 

Yeah so GM can go piss up a rope

 

The ignition barrel I bought is GM cars, all except Pontiac.

 

Pontiac use Chevrolet Truck ignition barrels.

 

 

 

 

 

Argh. Al Pontacs R Shit

 

Phil

[PhilA]

I have bought a replacement pushbutton for the starter. It's something I needed to get.

 

Off sick from work today, going to go find a quiet dark place to crawl into and die.

[Rocket88]

I have bought a replacement pushbutton for the starter. It's something I needed to get.

 

Off sick from work today, going to go find a quiet dark place to crawl into and die.

 

Back seat of the Pontiac with a blindfold?

[cort1977]

Think pretty much all mainstream American stuff of this era had a seperate chassis.........Hudson had a perimeter frame, as you say, and was considered really radical. I think that we, on this side of the pond, had better roads than in rural America..................

 

Roads in Europe, even the British ones, are far better engineered and maintained than most roads in the US.  Even the interstates have junctions that would give a British civil engineer heart failure. 

[PhilA]

 

Cleaned up the "wrong" ignition barrel. Going to put it back up for sale and try get my money back.

 

Phil

[SiC]

Well, crap.

 

I had stuffed the keys to the Chieftain into my pocket earlier after taking the picture with the reversing lights on.

 

I then went to the store, must have dragged the keys out of my pocket with my car keys and dropped them onto the floor because they're gone.

 

Nobody turned them in either

 

 

Blah.

 

 

Phil

 

 

Edit: Still no keys, bought a replacement pushbutton for the starter, to go with the replacement ignition switch I bought.

 

If that's the case then the only real irritation is the key for the trunk did work, the door locks didn't work though.

Glad I'm not the only one. I've never lost keys before. However I have miss placed the 1100 keys. Luckily 1970s worn out locks are so rubbish, my garage key opened the drivers door. The same drivers door that is no longer attached to the car.

[PhilA]

Haha yeah. The locks on my old man's Sprite are rather worn. They do still lock but it's not like a ragtop is particularly secure...

 

Phil

[PhilA]

 

Got the trunk open. At least the keys weren't in there. On the other hand, sucks that they weren't.

 

 

Bonus wooden spoon down the back of the passenger seat.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Just ordered a crimp tool and some of the correct #8 flag fork connectors. And some bullet connectors and a 6V bucking converter for the gauges and a new brake light switch.

 

Correct lockset for the car (55-58 Chevy truck) available and not hugely expensive ($100-ish).

 

This car gonna make me po'

[Sir Snipes]

Getting a '50s Pontiac into shape looks a lot more fun than trying to keep a reluctant Renault going.....

[fordperv]

Ooofff how did I miss this thread, the car looks both beautiful and sinister at the same time

[PhilA]

It's sad to say, but to a degree the Pontiac is better engineered than the Renault.

 

Sure, the tolerances and metallurgy from the Regie are better but the Renault wasn't designed with home repair in mind. It was definitely part of the beginning of "just replace the part", which was ultimately the car's demise because Renault pulled out of sales the year it was released.

 

The Pontiac? Well, all I have to say on that front is "GM Parts Bin".

 

Phil

[PhilA]

 

Starter button arrive! Original Delco part, with patina to match the rest of the dash. The repro ones are nice but don't have that domed finish to the end of the button, and this is a particularly tactile item and it's the first thing you see on the dash when you open the door.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

The pushbutton has an interesting feel to it- spring loaded against old grease.

 

 

Still, tests very well so I'll leave it as it is, rather than pull it apart (the switch portion is fully sealed).

 

Phil

[somewhatfoolish]

That looks lovely, how much is a NOS starter push button for a 1951 Chieftain? Occasionally if there's a bargain on a certain internetz auction site I'll buy random ex-aircraft switchgear simply because the switch action always has a fabulous tactile feel to it. Sometimes I'll even make the effort to fit them to something.

[PhilA]

NOS $50-60 if you can find them. Reproduction ones are good but those are in the $35-40 range.

 

I paid $40 for this one, untested, no guarantee.

 

I wanted the patina of the button more than anything.

 

Phil

[mat_the_cat]

Blimey that's good. Can only obtain 21 watters here. You only come to appreciate them when in a dark and unfamiliar area and don't know what's in the ground behind.

Sorry to digress Phil, but you can get these over here:

https://www.ringautomotive.com/en/product/r796

Agree on the usefulness if you regularly have to reverse in unlit areas.

[PhilA]

Sorry to digress Phil, but you can get these over here:

 

Agree on the usefulness if you regularly have to set fire to your wiring and melt bulb holders.

FTFY

[hairnet]

 

(sorry) - unless hank willams sang about buttons

[PhilA]

Hm. Spot the reason for replacement.

 

 

And the new one fitted (wiring yet to be done):

 

 

Missing paint notwithstanding, much better!

 

Started working on why the horn push wasn't working, too. Typically, a bad connection.

 

PHIL

[PhilA]

Had a bit of a go at the horn push.

 

It was, in short, unreliable. I cleaned up the contact ring because it was corroded and pitted.

 

 

Nice thing with round things is they go around and around! All cleaned up.

 

That didn't fix it. A little more work shows the ground to the column is the problem.

 

I'm probably going to pull it apart again and look at the ground paths.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Some stuff I ordered arrived in.

 

 

Brake light switch, crimp tool, flag connectors and a 12-6V converter for the gauges. I decided to go down that route instead as I'll only be running 2. The oil pressure gauge leaked when I blew in the line because it's not connected right so I'm going to try that one again...

 

 

Phil