project 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

[PhilA]

2 hours ago, hairnet said:

did you pray to the god of cool cars

 

The guy in the yard on the left seemed happy to see it.

[PhilA]

I pulled the plugs out to read them. All fairly even and not a bad color. 

Ran the compressions.

1- 115
2- 125
3- 105
4- 120
5- 125
6- 115
7- 125
8- 130

Those aren't bad actually. The pot I thought would be the worst (7) was actually amongst the best. 3 needs the tappets adjusting, it clicks. Overall not bad at all.

Phil

[PhilA]

Went fuel up again to see if there was any difference in economy since the adjustments I made. 

Nope, 11.7 again so I'll put the timing back where it was.

 

Phil

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

On 3/24/2021 at 11:44 PM, PhilA said:

It rained again.

Wipers work

Phil

American car's styling in this period was particularly pleasing. 

[PhilA]

Discussion elsewhere led to a suggestion that, despite being bias ply (crossply) tires, I may benefit from a few extra PSI because the tires specified for the car are 7.10-15 rather than the 6.70-15 that the PO fitted.

So, I bumped up from 26 to 30psi and went for a quick drive. Road manners are better, car tramlines a little worse but it feels like a little much because the steering is significantly lighter.

I loosened the distributor and the metal vacuum line sprung the position way back and I have no idea where it was, so I adjusted things again- seems to be ok but I think it needs another tweak.

However, smaller changes are making greater differences now which means I'm getting it dialed in better.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

I received a big box of Pontiac goodies from a guy who's hotrodding a 1953 Chieftain, and had pulled a bunch of stuff out that he didn't need.

One little gem was this:

The factory "handbrake on" warning light. It was in a fairly sorry state so it got reassembled and cleaned.

The rest of it was duly fitted, a suitable bulb procured.

Nice. Ignition on, pull brake and that blinks at you as a reminder.

 

In return I said I would repair the clock from his car.

Cleaned the points and got it running.

Cleaned the rest of it, took the nasty old paint off the hands and applied new.

Looks pretty now, but needs a new gear for the fast/slow mechanism and the setting knob has been sheared off (no idea).

Then, convert it to 12V with a bit of electronic wizardry and send it back home.

 

Phil

[Asimo]

The clock numbers are a lovely font.

[hairnet]

nice gif and hnnng clock porn

hotrod one of these? WTF

 

[PhilA]

This is his car; most of the changes are underneath. Better brakes, more powerful engine, different gears etc.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Fuel and vacuum pump rebuild kit just arrived in the mail.

 

Phil

[hairnet]

I had shizz arrive in the mail also

Thanks @PhilA

 

[PhilA]

Lolfail

 

Someone has rebuilt my pump with later parts.

Replacement diaphragm in the mail.

Phil

[PhilA]

All clean, all new everything. Just waiting on the vacuum diaphragm to arrive.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Eekaaeekaaaeekaa.m4a 

It makes a funny noise if you pump it.

[hairnet]

will that be number one on the top 40 tomorrow :D

 

[PhilA]

Reassembly, complete!

 

It even works.

[hairnet]

[Zelandeth]

How the blazes do you get copper lines so neat?  I'm downright embarrassed to show my efforts from routing new brake lines...

[PhilA]

14 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

How the blazes do you get copper lines so neat?  I'm downright embarrassed to show my efforts from routing new brake lines...

I found lots of forms to bend them round. Paint cans etc; you have to do them little at a time and let the metal "do the work", else as you know, it just kinks.

[PhilA]

Went out for a test drive this evening after work. Car drives well without the boost pump on now. That can be left as a rescue for being stuck in traffic.

 

Checked pump too, by now that would've been barfing oil out of the breather. It is dry. 

 

Winning

[PhilA]

Eyeballed the tailpipe this morning in the sunlight. Don't think I'm going to get it any better than that, to be honest.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Got a bit damp here today.

[PhilA]

Weather cleared up. Car has a new home under the carport.

[2flags]

Can you box the carport in to give it better protection? Would be an absolute tragedy to see it get damaged by the weather you have there, especially after all the work you have put into it.

 

[PhilA]

On 4/17/2021 at 3:55 AM, 2flags said:

Can you box the carport in to give it better protection? Would be an absolute tragedy to see it get damaged by the weather you have there, especially after all the work you have put into it.

 

If it's going to get damaged, it'll be damaged-such is the nature of the weather.

It'll be ok where it is- it's protected from the worst of the elements and gets a nice breeze around it to keep it dry.

 

It had been sat there for a while so it got a short run to the school at lunch time to drop some paperwork off, and then after work I decided to the pharmacy to collect some prescriptions-at which point my mother in law called to say her hot water heater had quit, so I hopped onto the dual carriageway and buried the pedal into the carpet.

Drove all the way at 60. The car is significantly more smooth now and despite the engine note sounding like nearly 6000 RPM in a Morris Minor it was totally happy cruising along at that speed. Backing off the throttle sharply did make it smell a little blue but it's coming up due oil change, so I'll forgive it that.

It's nice to be gaining a little confidence in the car, also to understand that even though it sounds like it's about to go pop, it's actually not turning over all that fast, just the exhaust harmonics make it sound that way. I don't like pushing it too hard but at the same token it appears to be quite happy now to travel at that speed. 

 

Phil

[somewhatfoolish]

Built a bit early for Eisenhower's Interstates but not surprising it can handle the duty. Pre-double nickel too.

[PhilA]

I got fed up with the noise the fan belt was making. It's not quite the right width, and as such the cooling vanes were hitting the bottom of the pulley and whining.

So, I did the not-recommended thing, rested a file on the alternator support and shaved a small amount off the bottom of the belt.

Silence!

 

I haven't realized just how taxing that was to have all the time while driving. 

So, after that I ended up spending about an hour lubricating all the squeaks and rattles. I need to make an adapter to grease the rear leaf springs because they creak.

Overall though, in reflection, this has become a really nice car to drive.

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

11 hours ago, PhilA said:

I got fed up with the noise the fan belt was making. It's not quite the right width, and as such the cooling vanes were hitting the bottom of the pulley and whining.

So, I did the not-recommended thing, rested a file on the alternator support and shaved a small amount off the bottom of the belt.

Silence!

 

I haven't realized just how taxing that was to have all the time while driving. 

So, after that I ended up spending about an hour lubricating all the squeaks and rattles. I need to make an adapter to grease the rear leaf springs because they creak.

Overall though, in reflection, this has become a really nice car to drive.

 

Phil

It's easy not to realise how much noise a belt can make isn't it.  Still trying to get my head around the magnitude of vibration that changing a pair of fan belts in my case eliminated.

[PhilA]

39 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

It's easy not to realise how much noise a belt can make isn't it.  Still trying to get my head around the magnitude of vibration that changing a pair of fan belts in my case eliminated.

Absolutely. Even with this one many feet away on the other end of the engine it was irritating.

It had that scwsh-scwsh-scwsh noise coupled with a vwwweeeEEEEEEE which was not constant and was affected by alternator load.

Now, I just hear the engine fan, the tappets and the exhaust, and a few clunks and the exhaust needs adjusting because it occasionally hits the chassis over bumps.

To say it transformed the driving experience is correct.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

The car has also become Primary Vehicle for local work.

People are getting used to seeing it around, too. Small town effect.

Phil