project 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

[hairnet]

Visit to eye doctor needed I thought you'd slammued it till I realised you'd put the spat back in

*Goes and whimpers in corner

[PhilA]

Couple boxes arrived.

New alternator, same as the last but not worn out. Also with much smaller pulley, so now it charges at idle.

It went where the old one went.

New dash bulbs. Not totally sold. Was aiming for turquoise/EL green but got something closer to Cherenkov.

A little bit blue. Still, goes with the car.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Hot damn, this alternator packs a punch.

 

The old one topped out at about 30 Amps. It was meant to be 63.

This one slammed 70+ earlier after I had been giving the battery a hard time with the starter motor.

I'm glad I put a shunt in the ammeter. I'm also glad I uprated the wire to a couple sizes too big.

With everything on the ammeter reads halfway to max on DIS. It nearly pegged to CHG earlier. Fun times.

Phil

[Rocket88]

On 6/15/2022 at 3:54 AM, PhilA said:

Couple boxes arrived.

New alternator, same as the last but not worn out. Also with much smaller pulley, so now it charges at idle.

It went where the old one went.

New dash bulbs. Not totally sold. Was aiming for turquoise/EL green but got something closer to Cherenkov.

A little bit blue. Still, goes with the car.

 

Phil

The “‘originality police” will be around in the morning…..😂

[PhilA]

5 hours ago, Rocket88 said:

The “‘originality police” will be around in the morning…..😂

They already have been. I don't care, the alternator is significantly better than the generator the car had when it was new.

There's always things that the manufacturer wished they could do better- windscreen wipers being vacuum operated, simply because of a patent on electrical wipers that didn't expire until 1957... With the advent of capable solid state diodes, the alternator is a viable proposition.

Technically you could make a control, rectification and regulator pack from vacuum tubes if you wanted, to keep it period correct.

[Fumbler]

9 minutes ago, PhilA said:

They already have been. I don't care, the alternator is significantly better than the generator the car had when it was new.

There's always things that the manufacturer wished they could do better- windscreen wipers being vacuum operated, simply because of a patent on electrical wipers that didn't expire until 1957... With the advent of capable solid state diodes, the alternator is a viable proposition.

Technically you could make a control, rectification and regulator pack from vacuum tubes if you wanted, to keep it period correct.

Now, that would be interesting, but boy it'd be big and hot!

[PhilA]

35 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

Now, that would be interesting, but boy it'd be big and hot!

The main problem would be the rectifiers- most small Hewittic rectifiers 1) don't like being moved and 2) only pass a few amps.

The glow would be impressive (and give you a decent sun tan at the same time).

[PhilA]

Today was 98°F (36.6°C), with humidity at 85%, which gave a heat index (feels-like) of 108°F (42°C).

I caved in and bought a fan.

This temperature is fine so long as you're moving. Stop in traffic and it becomes unpleasant.

Cheap Chinese fan for $16, same molding they've been making since the 70's.

[LightBulbFun]

9 minutes ago, PhilA said:

Today was 98°F (36.6°C), with humidity at 85%, which gave a heat index (feels-like) of 108°F (42°C).

I caved in and bought a fan.

This temperature is fine so long as you're moving. Stop in traffic and it becomes unpleasant.

Cheap Chinese fan for $16, same molding they've been making since the 70's.

knowing the skills you have 

I would not be surprised if you have plumbed in a full functioning but entirely period/stock looking air conditioning system by the end of the week

like @mat_the_cat did with the V8 Stella  

[PhilA]

15 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

knowing the skills you have 

I would not be surprised if you have plumbed in a full functioning but entirely period/stock looking air conditioning system by the end of the week

like @mat_the_cat did with the V8 Stella  

I have been looking at them, it would be possible, but it would have to be an under-dash unit. There's physically no space underneath to put anything else in.

There's no vents for pointing at you; the only ventilation comes from up under the dash.

Phil

[hairnet]

9 hours ago, PhilA said:

Today was 98°F (36.6°C), with humidity at 85%, which gave a heat index (feels-like) of 108°F (42°C).

I caved in and bought a fan.

 

 

*Would donate ice box and or ice creams

[2flags]

36.6c That is hot! We start complaining when it gets to about 23c-24c. Fan, lots of water and ice creams are an essential in those conditions. Love old cars, but I do love my climate control!

 

[hairnet]

58 f and windy here 

Not too bad the catamaran left with me on swl not compromised

 

 

[Fumbler]

17 hours ago, PhilA said:

I have been looking at them, it would be possible, but it would have to be an under-dash unit. There's physically no space underneath to put anything else in.

There's no vents for pointing at you; the only ventilation comes from up under the dash.

Phil

I wonder if Vintage Air could do something for your vehicle.

[PhilA]

31 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

I wonder if Vintage Air could do something for your vehicle.

They have a few kits that would probably work.

Can't really afford it right now though.

[PhilA]

Damn it, now I am looking at options and how to build A/C into the car as it sits...

The system is not really designed for it; however I am going to go look under the wheel well because there might be space to put an evaporator there, but I would also need to design in a new flap to block the air from outside and force it to recirculate. 

Not impossible.

[2flags]

For a man of your talents I think this is very doable. It seems that with the temperatures you get there aircon is a necessity not a luxury.  

[PhilA]

Couple photos from tonight because the weather's nice.

"Down on Main Street".

 

Up by the church.

[PhilA]

Out and about again.

Got that post-apocalyptic feeling going on. Had to go change a failed card last night. 

Bought some Meguiar's wax, which is of the wash car/spray wax/dry car type. 

Initial results are interesting, it's a bit difficult to dry it off without getting it a little streaky. It did however dry off very nicely this morning after the dew so that's something. 

Phil

[PhilA]

Well, that looks okay. 

I'll see what it looks like when it rains.

Phil

[hairnet]

Oh no two bucket wrong UN

[PhilA]

There's the rain, on cue.

Quite impressed with that. It should dry out in the next hour. Shall see if it leaves marks.

Phil

[Jenson Velcro]

Is that paint prone to fading easily?

I’d be interested to see if it retains its gloss for a fair period of time. Is the Meguiars one of the new ceramic based waxes?
 

Sorry for all the questions, but I’m fed up with cutting back faded paint, waxing it and then having to do it all over again in 2 months time.

[PhilA]

19 minutes ago, Jenson Velcro said:

Is that paint prone to fading easily?

I’d be interested to see if it retains its gloss for a fair period of time. Is the Meguiars one of the new ceramic based waxes?
 

Sorry for all the questions, but I’m fed up with cutting back faded paint, waxing it and then having to do it all over again in 2 months time.

Easily? I'd say moderate. The dark blue certainly. 

I'll keep putting it on- it's easy in terms of that, wash, spray on in sections and dry off with a microfiber cloth.

https://www.meguiars.com/automotive/products/meguiars-hybrid-ceramic-wax-easy-use-ceramic-wax-protection-g190526-26-oz

This is the stuff.

Phil

[hairnet]

felipe.......

you know how the lacker (!) was falling off the roof (from bought)

apart from the goes at buffing it and stuff did you go deeper into it or decide to leave it alone (life things going on notwithstanding)

thanks yall

[PhilA]

15 hours ago, hairnet said:

felipe.......

you know how the lacker (!) was falling off the roof (from bought)

apart from the goes at buffing it and stuff did you go deeper into it or decide to leave it alone (life things going on notwithstanding)

thanks yall

Just scraped the clear coat off as best I could and cut/polished the paint.

[PhilA]

You know what's fast?

A 6V lighter in a 12V socket.

 

Popped the fuse in the socket the other day lighting sparklers for the kids, just got round to fixing it. Fan works again!

[Rocket88]

5 minutes ago, PhilA said:

You know what's fast?

A 6V lighter in a 12V socket.

 

Popped the fuse in the socket the other day lighting sparklers for the kids, just got round to fixing it. Fan works again!

It’s hilarious when, due to “ electricity “  the lighter fires itself out of the dash and sets fire to your rear seat…..

[PhilA]

7 minutes ago, Rocket88 said:

It’s hilarious when, due to “ electricity “  the lighter fires itself out of the dash and sets fire to your rear seat…..

Normally the lighter plug is in the ashtray, the dash mounted fan is plugged into the socket.

I think that's probably the first time the lighter has been used since the fifties.

[PhilA]

Nothing real to report. Over just been driving around in the Chieftain. It's been doing An Car duties well.

Fixed the heater fan the other day by giving it a gentle thump, one of the brushes must have gotten sticky.

Glad it's working now because a rainstorm blew in this morning; before work I went get coffee and sausage burrito from McDonald's. Sitting in the drive-thru the windows fogged up so I put the heat on the screen. At the same time I have got cool air blowing on me. 

Thats a feature modern cars lack- for down here where you need heat on the screen to clear it but it's far too warm outside to actually be running the heater.

 

Sometimes modern is not better.