Jump to content

1951 Pontiac Chieftain


Recommended Posts

Posted
On 22/01/2025 at 06:51, hairnet said:

yall cant drive isnt an instruction - sounds like fact :D

will it be gone by sunday - they were saying so - whether thatll happen - although to temp will go up they said

Speaking as a Chicago boy who moved to Nashville, I can attest to the fact southerners can’t drive in winter conditions.  A light dusting of snow is all it takes to send them into a “We’re all going to die!” state of panic!

 

Posted

It still surprises me the amount of people who seem to think that older cars just immediately stop working when it gets cold.  I had to move the Rover last week to make room for the guys who are currently working on our landscaping and it was hovering somewhere around freezing.  They both seemed completely gobsmacked by the fact that it just started first time just like any other day.  Only sign of any grumpiness was the power steering pump being a bit whiny for the first minute or so. 

  • Like 1
  • Agree 2
Posted

Weather was conducive to paintwork work.

20250204_171729.thumb.jpg.e4e8f26fdba71bd661aa6d0c4471bcbe.jpg

A little work needed yet but that's coming up acceptable.

 

Phil

Posted

Weather turned warm, from -6 to +29 in two weeks.

20250208_115344.thumb.jpg.acb00dfa148950be51e49aa62b4f685e.jpg

Got the front clip polished up. Got to the point where the compound was flashing off faster than I could keep it damp so quit at that point. 

Starting to look better now, was all dull and oxidized before. 

Phil

Posted
12 minutes ago, PhilA said:

front clip

I had to google that.

Fucking yanks.

Posted
7 hours ago, GeorgeB said:

I had to google that.

Fucking yanks.

Love you too. 

Dates back to carriage making.

It's a later reference, because on this style of manufacture, all the metalwork (wings, inner wings, slam panel, grille) all "unclip" as a single unit and can be removed, leaving just the chassis , suspension, steering and engine in place forward of the firewall (which was the furthest forward portion of the body.

I mean, we still have a dashboard, despite it not directly stopping you from being pebbledashed by whatever the front wheels pick up off the road... Plenty of terms still in use that really should have been retired as vehicle design moved on?

  • Like 4
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Finished polishing it today. 

20250222_101353.thumb.jpg.2dfe52b05285bae1c5c1c1daf2176c4b.jpg

20250222_101416.thumb.jpg.d5bb8d590f192d79c91a582867d05681.jpg

Good enough for government work

  • Like 11
Posted

Is that a guillotine on the front of the float?

Posted
9 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Is that a guillotine on the front of the float?

Looks like it, but never even considered that! No, that's the remains of an old billboard that's on the side of the highway there. All that's left of it after the last hurricane.

  • Like 1
Posted

I thought the theme might have been the end of Marie Antoinette.🤣All the gold made me think of cake and angry peasants.

  • Haha 2
  • 1 month later...
Posted
5 hours ago, hairnet said:

watching camaro WD

headliner light same as chief

/nerd

Nearly the same. Not quite. Same overall design though.

  • 3 months later...
Posted

Fixed the shift indicator. 

20250709_205132.jpg.1c19100091432d1d6638aef45691d780.jpg

Bulb had burned out. 

 

Phil

Posted
3 hours ago, hairnet said:

3 months to fix a bulb *runs

Yes. To be fair, is not exactly critical to the operation of the vehicle.

Posted

I had disconnected the clock because it got stuck a few times and that a) makes the clock really hot and b) drains the battery fast. Not great when the car is parked up. At least the power supply I put in has overheat protection, something it originally lacked - these clocks are known for burning these cars. 

20250715_180521.jpg.625bbb093527f7c6a46c994839fb7c80.jpg

Yesterday I put it on the bench. 

20250715_181038.jpg.24469bed778fd3c89bf1d63d7bff2f17.jpg

Inspected the wear points and filed down a few rough spots. 

20250715_185712.jpg.9134134dfe49ef8c829507116e3b4777.jpg

Ran it on the bench for a while and it seemed to be happy. 

20250715_201944.jpg.9821390b544152e3571238a0a7a4843c.jpg

Put it back in the car. It's nice to not have it stuck at 5pm any more. 

20250715_202102.jpg.7ce54052ffc6b4f31d2cc2b17d61961f.jpg

Been putting a few miles on it. Needs to be driven, doesn't like sitting up.

 

Phil

Posted

Gave the car a tune-up. Timing was waaaaaay off because the distributor had come loose. 

Starts much easier now (funny how that works), and at 45 I'm pulling about 15-16 inches of mercury. Fuel economy is better also. 

  • Like 9
Posted

Stuck a couple new wiper blades on the car. Shame nowhere does refills any more, having to hack up cheap wiper blades sucks.

Posted
15 hours ago, PhilA said:

having to hack up cheap wiper blades sucks.

May be worth trying Amazon, Phil - they seem to have different profiles available.

Linky

Posted

Road trip.

20250720_125449.jpg.06e4a10babee01f9a561f4f0b8f22b09.jpg

Country byways.

20250720_131932.jpg.2d20ed1250efb62012068a60cc2182d4.jpg

Towns.

20250720_142034.jpg.434396f411345c42761d3d6f514fafff.jpg

Highways.

 

It can do them all. Held 180° the entire time, even stuck in traffic. Gearbox decided to act the fool again. I'll get to the bottom of that eventually.

Posted

A 70 mile round trip keeping up with traffic 45/55 mph. 12.3 mpg (14.8 UK). I'll take that.

  • Like 3
Posted
6 hours ago, PhilA said:

A 70 mile round trip keeping up with traffic 45/55 mph. 12.3 mpg (14.8 UK). I'll take that.

How much is a gallon of fuel there?

Dont think many of us could ‘take’ that mpg here :D

Posted

3.60 now

Round trip of 70 miles cost $28.54 in fuel.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...