project 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

[LightBulbFun]

Nice work on the dash is that with LED bulbs? it gives it a vintage fluorescent Juke box look like its being backlit by an 8W T5 tube (I wonder if anyones ever done a fluorescent tube backlit dash? the closest I know to that was in aircraft where they used UV/Blue fluorescent Tubes to make fluorescent dials glow)

 

 

 

I'm making the bits nobody will ever see all nice and shiny.

 

^^ This was all you needed to say................ ever.

 

All this magic about wires and winding and stuff, it's just scary.

 

 

so on a scale of 1-10 how scared does this make you? 

 

 

(just a small* thing I did back in early 2012 when I had a 1Kw Mercury lamp but not the correct ballast to run it with, so I lumped a bunch together to try and hit 1Kw, in the end I only managed about 500W before running out of ballasts)

[DeeJay]

With electrics I used to be chuffed if I could get my Scalextric running.

[PhilA]

It's possible a manufacturer used a ccfl but not likely. That's an expensive means of producing a linear light source where it's not really needed.

 

 

For reference, here it is illuminated with the correct incandescents.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Ok, so with arrival of New Puppy a week or so earlier than anticipated, I've been on Puppy Duty since the dog arrived. Plans to work on the car this weekend utterly dashed, but I still need to make a list.

 

1. Pull speedometer out, take to pieces and grease up

2. Remove speedometer drive cable, clean, grease and reassemble

3. Remove wiper motor and disassemble to see why it doesn't work

4. Remove upper heater box and test heater valve for operation and matrix for leaks

5. Run water though lower matrix to check for leaks

 

That's a good enough list for now. I need to do things that take time, not money right now...

 

Phil

[tooSavvy]

".. I need to do things that take time, not money right now.."

 

Ever Thus

[PhilA]

Item 1: Speedo was removed, needle wouldn't come off, was scared to break it. Spooned some grease into the odometer drive bearings and put a drop of oil on the end race. Now turns smoothly.

 

Item 3: Removed wiper motor.

 

Pulled rooster head knob off gently.

 

Knocked the dial loose and removed the mechanism from under the dash.

 

A pair of spring clips and two 11/32" bolts later and the entire thing is out. Officially the easiest wiper motor to remove of all my cars. Is stamped Trico.

 

Popped the side off. Valve flip-flop.

 

Oiled the selector cable and drive mechanism and let it to sit and soak in.

 

Removed the lid. Inside is just a big flap that seals to the U shaped bucket. Vacuum is applied to one side, then the other, and there's a return valve to automatically park the wipers when you turn them off.

The grease had turned to the consistency of wax crayons, and the flap somewhat relies on the grease to form a tight seal. Cleaned up, regreased and reassembled.

 

Fresh grease in the valves.

 

Cleaned up and greased the bearings that the wiper arms attach to.

 

Finally, connected up to the Renault on the vacuum tee for the brakes. It's got a decent bit of force behind it now. Looking at it, it'll move the wipers across most of the screen then really tuck them down tight to park.

Fun to watch. That's about half of maximum speed.

 

Phil

[Rocket88]

Best use of a Renault yet [dons flameproof etc etc etc]

[purplebargeken]

Puppy!!!!

 

Puppy??

[PhilA]

Puppy.

 

Clio. Australian Shepherd. A handful!

 

Phil

[purplebargeken]

Puppy!!!!!!!!

 

Cute. Nice dogs. mate had one from new, poor old lad was put to sleep a couple of months ago as blind. RIP Harvey.

 

Dogs (and cats) are simply wonderful and add so much to life.

[PhilA]

Yup, pretty smart too, but I'm getting to "enjoy" the up-all-hours puppy thing right now...

 

Phil

[hairnet]

Can lend you $$$$$$

[PhilA]

Sad thing is, that's still worth five cents if you want to spend it...!

[PhilA]

I had a few minutes spare.

 

 

The pipe that goes up under the dash for the vacuum is now shiny.

 

 

Phil

[PhilA]

My suspicions were correct. With the wiper motor disconnected, the wiper spindles are very stiff to turn, so they'll have to come out and be cleaned and lubricated also.

 

That should see the wiper mechanism working properly though. This makes me happier than it should, because following posts will have the word escutcheon in them.

 

Phil

[purplebargeken]

Every thread should contain that word at least once. ^^

[PhilA]

Pulled the wiper arms off and started on the easy side with the most access- through the hole left by the dash gauges.

 

Up in there is the locking bolt and backing plate for the wiper escutcheon.

 

Relatively easy access.

 

Then as with all these things, the plate was stuck to the body with the remains of the rubber seal. Gently prised off and everything came loose, including shearing the old washer pipe. That'll be replaced.

 

Entire assembly. Ball joint was gritty. Arm spindle itself would barely move.

 

Copious quantities of penetrating oil and then engine oil later and it spins around freely.

 

Cleaned up and ball joint greased; left to sit and drain down.

 

Had a bit of a poke at the surround, cleaned it up a little. I'll need to put some rust converter and a bit of paint before reassembly.

 

Going to go look in the catalog to see if they sell the rubber seals as the original one fell to pieces.

 

Other one another day because the glovebox really needs to come out to get at it.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Ooh, they do make replacement seals!

 

Part number C4562197RS, at $6.90 for the pair.

 

 

 

... I like this car more and more

 

 

Phil

[Rocket88]

That's the great thing about American stuff.............parts availability...........

[PhilA]

After a long day, tonight offered a few spare minutes.

 

I head out to the garage at sunset.

 

Randomly cleaned the car and put on a bit of wax.

 

Fight with the glovebox ended in victory.

 

Looking down the bolt hole on the passenger side showed a bit of a hole at the bottom that had a slight sign of rust inside. Figured that was the shaft and that I could probably get some grease into the bearings via this route.

 

Squeezed some grease in.

 

Screwed the bolt down into the grease. This proved moderately effective until the void inside was full. Then more grease escaped past the threads of the bolt than was forced though.

 

Had a thought and undid one of the grease nipples from the front suspension. Correct size to screw in.

 

Grease gun. Now we're cooking with gas.

 

Pumped and pumped and forced all the rusty muck out. Twisted the thing as I was pumping pressure in. This proved effective.

 

Cleaned up and smooth to operate! That's where I had wanted to be with them. Happy now they've got some decent lubrication inside. Did the other one as well and that's even more smooth to turn.

 

Another thing off the checklist.

 

 

Phil

[purplebargeken]

The availability for the majority of parts for American cars across the range is bloody amazing compared to what we get here even for quite popular cars. It's almost embarrassing comparing the two tbh.

[cort1977]

In fairness they were all the same for about 30 years...

[Junkman]

In fairness they were all the same for about 30 years...

 

Even if many components weren't, cross division sharing and the sheer number they chucked them out in helps a lot.

Not with Imperials though, mind.

 

 

Apart from that, I now want a car like this merely for the fact that it enables me to talk about escutcheons.

[PhilA]

Escaped to the garage for a little while tonight.

 

Tools required: small scissors, pencil and paper. You can tell I have kids. Sparkly pink pencils obviously work much better than regular pencils.

 

Cut down, lined up. Made a rubbing off the edge of the cutout in the body and matched the shape of the old seal.

 

Checked for fit.

 

Drew around the perimeter of the paper with permanent marker onto sheet of high density foam rubber bought at the craft store for the rear lights on the Renault. It's a bit thick but it should squash down.

 

Twice.

 

Those of you without your Blue Peter badges will need to ask a grown up for help with this stage.

 

Finally all trimmed to fit. Looking okay, to be honest.

 

Final stage, application of some rust converter.

 

All gone over and wiped down. There's a few localized holes in the bodywork consistent of scratches, which is normal around bodywork trim. That'll all have to come off and have some new metal let in. Right now it'll probably just get some epoxy to stop the water getting in.

 

I'm not sure I like the car sporting the wiper-less look; the next step past that is fitting a Chevy small block and I'm not sure I want that.

 

Once the rust converter is dry it'll get a bit of non matching paint and then hopefully the wipers refitted.

 

Phil

[Noel Tidybeard]

why for you make gasket when you already had smiley face at new ones being available?

[PhilA]

$

 

 

New ones $7 + postage.

 

These ones $0 plus a bit of time.

 

 

If these ones don't work I'll order the proper ones.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Plus, I've not done anything on the car recently because I have been suffering the MANFLU and haven't had the energy to do anything. I even took a day off work and lay in bed, close to death all day long.

 

Hopefully a semblance of normality will return by the weekend but I'm going to be busy with other things, interview on Monday in the city so busy busy.

 

Phil

[Rocket88]

Escaped to the garage for a little while tonight.

 

20190107_201258.jpg

Tools required: small scissors, pencil and paper. You can tell I have kids. Sparkly pink pencils obviously work much better than regular pencils.

 

20190107_201704.jpg

Cut down, lined up. Made a rubbing off the edge of the cutout in the body and matched the shape of the old seal.

 

20190107_202456.jpg

Checked for fit.

 

20190107_202608.jpg

Drew around the perimeter of the paper with permanent marker onto sheet of high density foam rubber bought at the craft store for the rear lights on the Renault. It's a bit thick but it should squash down.

 

20190107_202743.jpg

Twice.

 

20190107_203055.jpg

Those of you without your Blue Peter badges will need to ask a grown up for help with this stage.

 

20190107_204617.jpg

Finally all trimmed to fit. Looking okay, to be honest.

 

20190107_204808.jpg

Final stage, application of some rust converter.

 

20190107_205138.jpg

All gone over and wiped down. There's a few localized holes in the bodywork consistent of scratches, which is normal around bodywork trim. That'll all have to come off and have some new metal let in. Right now it'll probably just get some epoxy to stop the water getting in.

 

20190107_205318.jpg

I'm not sure I like the car sporting the wiper-less look; the next step past that is fitting a Chevy small block and I'm not sure I want that.

 

Once the rust converter is dry it'll get a bit of non matching paint and then hopefully the wipers refitted.

 

Phil

 

9872453 points for sparkly pencil........

[PhilA]

Was feeling better when I came home.

 

 

Here, we have a perfect color match. Painted over the kurust.

 

 

Screws and some bulbs. Oddly the hardware store had a bunch of amber glass bulbs so I bought a pair. $2. Very dusty.

 

 

Fixed up with new stainless screws.

 

 

Looking better, not half hanging off any more. Seal is clamped down nicely too.

 

 

Phil

[Roobarb]

What a totally stunning car!

 

If I hadn’t just swapped out my 914 and spent the farm on a new aircooled 911, I’d be after one of these!

 

Actually I still looked.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1950-Catalina/273616802109?hash=item3fb4d5113d:g:WyUAAOSwgotcGVqo&vxp=mtr

Such beautiful cars!