project 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

[PhilA]

Freed up the leading shoe and exercised the pistons a little. Needs copper grease. Lower adjuster isn't seized, surprisingly.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Top adjuster is seized solid. Everything else cleaned up and re-greased.

 

Onward and upward

[LightBulbFun]

5 hours ago, PhilA said:

Freed up the leading shoe and exercised the pistons a little. Needs copper grease. Lower adjuster isn't seized, surprisingly.

 

Phil

there's something oddly satisfying about that GIF  

also I think its the first time iv actually seen drum brakes "working" as in to see them operating but without the drum on so you can see the shoes moving

its very interesting to see, even tho I did know how they worked beforehand etc

is that how much they move max or are only just partly pressing the brake pedal?

[PhilA]

No, that's just very gingerly on the pedal.

Stamping on the pedal would just pop the piston(s) out of the bore.

They hardly move when they're correctly adjusted, they lift off the inside of the drum just a fraction of an inch off pedal. That's significantly more movement than normal.

 

Phil

[hairnet]

Pulsating brakes ooer

[PhilA]

That there took about 600 lb/ft to undo, and let go with quite the clang.

The adjuster also took a fair bit to free off. 

 

I hate brakes

 

Phil

[1970mgb]

I have a love-hate relationship with drums. I can appreciate their simplicity and self-servoing effect, but corrosion seems to be the order of the day when dealing with ones that have sat for any amount of time and I also hate dealing with adjusters(manuals are a pain, autos like to seize).

I was talking to a friend the other day and he got to reminiscing about his 57 Bel Air that was "warmed up" a bit. Way back in the 60s, he and his wife were on their way back to Chicago from up in Wisconsin. She drove much of the way back, and he took over close to home. On taking over, he found that he had no brakes at all. His wife reported that they'd been feeling "funny" for a while. Upon getting home(safely, amazingly enough) he found that a snapped leaf in one of the rear springs had grabbed the e-brake cable and was causing the shoe on one side to drag. It finally heated up enough that on coming to a complete stop for them to switch drivers, one of the cylinders had blown out, which of course gave them no brakes at all(single circuit system). At some point, the drum had become so hot that it peeled the red paint off the steel wheel and turned the metal underneath it straw colored.

I also heard fond stories in that same conversation of his 73 El Camino(which he still has) with 4 wheel drums and into which he'd put VelveTouch linings. I'd not heard of those, but apparently they are a metallic type pad really meant for racing that has to be warmed up a fair bit before it will grip.

[paulplom]

I once connected my eazi bleeder to the tyre of my metro while I didn't have the drum on. It was most satisfying watching the pressure force the shoes out till the wheel cylinder popped it's seals. What the fuck was I thinking?

[PhilA]

Finished up adjusting the brakes. 

Locknut now doesn't bind, cleaned up too. 

Leading shoes against the drum, trailing shoes fifteen thou' gap. Handy little slot in drum front to measure.

 

New distributor cap arrived. Slight improvement in running but misfire still present. Had a thought and moved plug 8 to position 6. 6 is immediately after 1, fired up the engine and got a different misfire.. from fubbafubbafubba to frubfrubfrub. Moved it to 2 and got a different pattern yet.

 

Pulled the plug and wedged it against a head bolt. Cranked engine. No spark across gap, plenty coming from body of plug to head bolt. Bad plug.

Went inside and grabbed the only spare plug I had, a BPR6ES from the GTA and screwed it in 2/3 the way, as it has much longer threads. Started up and got very smooth running. 

 

So, victim of my own advice. New don't necessarily mean good.

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

Result on the missfire! 

Can't help but note that the brake flexi in the photo above looks about one good stab on the brakes from going pop...though given the work you've been doing I imagine that's already on the list.

[PhilA]

3 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Result on the missfire! 

Can't help but note that the brake flexi in the photo above looks about one good stab on the brakes from going pop...though given the work you've been doing I imagine that's already on the list.

Yeah, all the flexis need renewing. I want to see if the system will adjust up first before disturbing them- I have a feeling they may have hacksaw in their future.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Crap

 

[Zelandeth]

Why do I get a feeling that you and that exhaust valve are going to have a very colourful and long lasting relationship...

[PhilA]

Well, either the guide/stem are dirty or corroded. Or oval.

We'll find out. I know why #8 is sticky. I think I know why #6 intake is too. 

 

Need to drop the valves out and give them and the guides a thorough polish first though.

 

Phil

[hairnet]

Remove cheeseburger from intake

*Runs (sorry)

 

[PhilA]

Someone kindly sent me a light lens and bezel for the car.

 

When did cars stop having streamlined interior lights?

 

Had to check it fits and works. Looks good.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Diode pack for the alternator also arrived. I'll fit that and see if it charges correctly.

Started it up just earlier and it runs like a bag of smashed crap.

 

Yup, off with her head!

 

Phil

[PhilA]

New rotor arm arrived. Not much change, so at least now I have spares that I know are good enough to get me home.

 

Fitted the new diode trio. Not without a snafu as I smoked up the 6V converter for the fuel gauge but:

Progress

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Spent a bit of time on the car yesterday afternoon, CCTV caught me working.

 

Pulled the head off.

A couple hotrod guys suggested try put some Marvel Mystery Oil on the stems of the valves to try free up any crud, it's really thin, has good wicking/creep properties and does dissolve a moderate amount of gunk.

 

Did that and got all the valves freed up. Slathered everything in engine oil to stop it rusting and left it for the night. Gonna put a bit more on tomorrow morning if I have time and then hopefully reassemble it all tomorrow evening, again time pending.

 

Phil

 

[xtriple]

I can't recall which bike forum it was but the lads on there swore by Marvel Mystery oil, seemed to cure just about anything!

Good luck.

[PhilA]

1 hour ago, xtriple said:

I can't recall which bike forum it was but the lads on there swore by Marvel Mystery oil, seemed to cure just about anything!

Good luck.

Considering its composition, it's surprising- it's mostly just white spirit, from what I read.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

It ran beautifully for a little while and then the valves got hung up.

Valve job time. Also much torque at 0:16.

 

Phil

 

[PhilA]

Busy week this week full of family visits and other amusements.

The replacement 6v converter arrived this morning so tonight I pulled the dash out and fitted it, this time with a connector.

 

Powered up the fuel gauge does what it's meant to, so that's great.

Just needing to put it all back together now.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Dashboard back in the car and all working again. Next up I want to finish wiring up the front lights.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

We now have parking lights and indicators.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

 

Let there be light.

That represents the car legal in terms of lighting now.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Today started with valve tool. Needed a little adjustment to fit but works nicely.

 

Fought with this valve. It took 40 minutes to remove from the guide.

 

Once it was out, the guide was inspected. Dirty but otherwise good.

 

Wrapped some cloth around a screwdriver and gave it a clean out.

 

Polished the valve. That's gotta be worth at least 5 horsepower.

 

Grabbed my valve tool and carborundum paste.

 

Not the most wieldy position to be in. Does give an idea of scale though. I'm 5'7".

 

Pulled the second exhaust valve but whoever put these valves in didn't lap them to the seat. It was sealing around maybe 1/8th of its circumference. I'm guessing that's the valve that would "wheeze".

 

Packed it up for today. Exhausting work.

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

That first valve isn't bent is it?  Guessing it's just an illusion due to the photograph.

[PhilA]

7 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

That first valve isn't bent is it?  Guessing it's just an illusion due to the photograph.

That's the camera doing that- first thing I did was put it against a straight edge and check it was true.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Thinking of, I was reading up and a method for checking the stems had been suggested- get a length of 90-degree angle metal, deburr the ends and sit the valve in the crook of the V. Rotate it and measure the position of the stem with a dial gauge- the action of having the entire stem in the groove will amplify any bend against the dial gauge.

 

--Phil