project 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

[hairnet]

13 hours ago, PhilA said:

 

At 45 it'll hold 15-17"Hg 

 

Phil

you missed a bit out it should be hnnnnggggggg

[hairnet]

5 hours ago, PhilA said:

I have a sadness over the lack of garage now.

 

im happy that you let me in/mooch/stroke reno

i sad i cant travel down from kenner in ma new whip

you still have one just its very diy now

[PhilA]

Yeah it's called "driveway"

[Noel Tidybeard]

2 hours ago, PhilA said:

Yeah it's called "driveway"

thru-flo air ventilated garage 😁

[PhilA]

Checked and gapped plugs.

Cleaned and gapped points.

New coil, new condenser. Running very much better, the old coil crapped out this morning.

Phil

[PhilA]

Out and about today.

Brought the kids to the park to go rollerskate. It's nice to be out and about again. Car behaved almost flawlessly, which was a pleasant surprise.

Phil

[PhilA]

Invisible* repair. Just needs a light skim of filler to take up the ripples.

Still needs work but it's in a really quite awkward place to work on.

Better than it was, at least.

Phil

[hairnet]

39 minutes ago, PhilA said:

Invisible* repair. Just needs a light skim of filler to take up the ripples.

Still needs work but it's in a really quite awkward place to work on.

Better than it was, at least.

Phil

reno wonders 'is it my turn next'

 

[PhilA]

Washed the car quickly.

Chocolate malt. It's Thursday!

[hairnet]

Bassa 😛

[PhilA]

Tweaked timing and checked plugs tonight.

That looks reet. 

[PhilA]

Little bit more tune-up today.

Checked the vacuum advance was working correctly. The weather got hot and humid, the car started pinking under heavy throttle at low RPM- when it does it, you know. Wow, this engine is loud. One pot clacks particularly (guessing it's got better compression than the others). Broke out the strobe light and set it back carefully a couple degrees. Now you can just hear it on the verge at very low revs (under 500) so that's perfect.

Fixed the low note horn which had stopped working (rusty points) and cleaned the screen wash jar out because the previous blue fluid had gone gooey and moldy. Even the unopened jug was bad. New stuff looks like orange soda.

So, went out and got ingredients to make orange cream soda. Very good.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Aight, so here's one for y'all. 

Pottering about the way the car is set up functions nicely. It drives well, doesn't hesitate or stall, surge or act stupid.

BUT

Give it a modestly hard run (2200 rpm, 55 mph) for about 10 miles. During that time it's happy as a clam, buzzing along without trouble. Slow down, then accelerate immediately after that high speed and it knocks/preignites badly. Drive slowly for a half mile or so (35-45 mph) and after that mashing the pedal results in no knock or pinking.

I'm thinking maybe the plugs are too hot, despite being what the manual says to use.

 

Thoughts?

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

1 minute ago, PhilA said:

Aight, so here's one for y'all. 

Pottering about the way the car is set up functions nicely. It drives well, doesn't hesitate or stall, surge or act stupid.

BUT

Give it a modestly hard run (2200 rpm, 55 mph) for about 10 miles. During that time it's happy as a clam, buzzing along without trouble. Slow down, then accelerate immediately after that high speed and it knocks/preignites badly. Drive slowly for a half mile or so (35-45 mph) and after that mashing the pedal results in no knock or pinking.

I'm thinking maybe the plugs are too hot, despite being what the manual says to use.

 

Thoughts?

 

Phil

Sounds like *something* is getting too hot.  Plugs isn't a bad shout, possible there's a big temperature gradient from one end of the engine to the other?  So it's running in spec where the water is feeding in from the radiator, but the other end of the circuit is running way hotter than it's designed to.  

[PhilA]

47 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Sounds like *something* is getting too hot.  Plugs isn't a bad shout, possible there's a big temperature gradient from one end of the engine to the other?  So it's running in spec where the water is feeding in from the radiator, but the other end of the circuit is running way hotter than it's designed to.  

Possibly, and these engines are prone to that when the water distribution tube is broken, missing or clogged. I had been advised to inspect mine so I did when I had the engine out and it's in good shape.

It feeds in and jets water from the radiator at each valve set on the inside of the water jacket, which then circulates back out via the head.

I could grab my IR thermometer and check after a run but the thermistor for the temperature gauge is at the back of the engine and read steadily for the whole journey just under 180 F.

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

Hmm...so based on that I'd probably suggest trying a different heat range of plugs then.  

Other thing worth trying I guess (assuming you haven't already) would be turning on the fuel boost pump during that period in case there's some heat soak induced fuel vaporisation that's becoming an issue once the revs have dropped for a period of time causing it to run lean.  Either in the lines or actively boiling off in the float bowl.  

That's about all I can think of for my part.

[PhilA]

37 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Hmm...so based on that I'd probably suggest trying a different heat range of plugs then.  

Other thing worth trying I guess (assuming you haven't already) would be turning on the fuel boost pump during that period in case there's some heat soak induced fuel vaporisation that's becoming an issue once the revs have dropped for a period of time causing it to run lean.  Either in the lines or actively boiling off in the float bowl.  

That's about all I can think of for my part.

 

What I thought was vaporization was actually the pump drawing air in through a pinhole in the cork gasket around the sediment bowl.

The pump now rarely causes problems unless the car sits on a hot day and then it can lose the contents of the float bowl to evaporation and it takes a moment to fill up.

Eyeballing the plugs after a hard run like that shows a very even mixture distribution. You can really feel when it's starving out, too.

Phil

[hairnet]

so was looking at this thread last night and missed a page so pressed the prev button (or so i thought)

being blind and chromebook = i hit the arrow that went to page 1

the original pic @PhilA theres a c70 volvo - bit posh in that bit of baton then?

 

[PhilA]

15 hours ago, hairnet said:

so was looking at this thread last night and missed a page so pressed the prev button (or so i thought)

being blind and chromebook = i hit the arrow that went to page 1

the original pic @PhilA theres a c70 volvo - bit posh in that bit of baton then?

 

Lacombe, a tiny little place out in the middle of nowhere.

27075 Ronald Reagan Hwy
https://maps.app.goo.gl/xqP7RzkBC9DRovP6A

[hairnet]

52 minutes ago, PhilA said:

Lacombe, a tiny little place out in the middle of nowhere.

27075 Ronald Reagan Hwy
https://maps.app.goo.gl/xqP7RzkBC9DRovP6A

nice 6 door burban

 

[PhilA]

On 4/28/2022 at 1:43 PM, Zelandeth said:

Hmm...so based on that I'd probably suggest trying a different heat range of plugs then.  

Other thing worth trying I guess (assuming you haven't already) would be turning on the fuel boost pump during that period in case there's some heat soak induced fuel vaporisation that's becoming an issue once the revs have dropped for a period of time causing it to run lean.  Either in the lines or actively boiling off in the float bowl.  

That's about all I can think of for my part.

Dialed in 2 more degrees of ignition.

 

Doesn't do it now. That'll have to work, then.

[bigstraight6]

Just reading about the possible fuel vaporisation issue here, I had the same problems with my Zodiac which made it awful to drive in hot weather but a few years ago I put some insulated wrap on the under bonnet fuel lines which cured it as it did on my son’s Mercury Cougar when he was having the same issues…

[PhilA]

I don't mean to put a damper on things, but this is shocking.

[hairnet]

didnt know they did boing thought only electrical

the pic when you went for a malt................

and the chief is a big car ffs

 

[PhilA]

2 hours ago, hairnet said:

didnt know they did boing thought only electrical

the pic when you went for a malt................

and the chief is a big car ffs

 

Nope, they do allsorts of car bits. The original dampers would have been Delco.

The old ones were very very very knackered Monroe Manumatics. As you can see, they fully extended under their internal pressure... Nope.

Driving the car now- major difference. Like seriously major difference. It's highlighted the rear shocks are also completely shot...

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Went fuel up tonight.

8.7mpg, but the radio has fixed itself and it doesn't like this fuel much, need to tweak the timing and mixture again.

Phil

[PhilA]

Since the storm, the passenger front indicator was leaking in water but not letting it out. So, it filled up with water and that left a rusty tide mark.

I tried some patented rust remover.

Nope. Gave up on waiting and scrubbed it with a wire brush.

Much better, that was welded on.

Slight improvement, for if you were actually looking. Next up, chrome.

 

Phil

 

[LightBulbFun]

im curious, you use this lovely car pretty regularly which is really awesome to see  

how many have you clocked up in it?

 

I really do love how its being used, as it would of been 71 (bloody hell) years ago, not too many modern upgrades much, still its glorious flat head straight 8 driveline, its just been expertly fettled back into good health

just wonderful to see because you just dont see this anymore, I love how its not even a weekend only toy

I love how its just used as a "alright i need to get something from the shops" and you look at the driveway and go yeah ill take the Chieftain, type car still   

[PhilA]

11 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

im curious, you use this lovely car pretty regularly which is really awesome to see  

how many have you clocked up in it?

 

I really do love how its being used, as it would of been 71 (bloody hell) years ago, not too many modern upgrades much, still its glorious flat head streight 8 driveline, its just been expertly fettled back into good health

just wonderful to see because you just dont see this anymore, I love how its not even a weekend only toy

I love how its just used as a "alright i need to get something from the shops" and you look at the driveway and go yeah ill take the Chieftain, type car still   

Yup, it performs as An Car quite well.

I've done about 3500 miles in it so far, which isn't too bad, considering.

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

This turned up at a local classic car get together yesterday evening, definitely from the same era as the Chieftain.  1947 in this case I believe.

I used to just look straight past cars that were this old, but more and more over the last few years I've been more drawn to them.