PhilA Posted January 15, 2021 Author Posted January 15, 2021 Had a think and spatchcocked a microphone onto the back of the car and went for a drive. The rattle is a loose bolt on the bumper that I forgot about. Sounds okay otherwise! It reminds me a little of Zelandeth's Mercedes van... Chieftain drive-1.m4a LightBulbFun 1
LightBulbFun Posted January 15, 2021 Posted January 15, 2021 53 minutes ago, PhilA said: It reminds me a little of Zelandeth's Mercedes van... the Sound of his Camper the fuel Economy of His Jag and the Colour of his Invacar PhilA 1
PhilA Posted January 17, 2021 Author Posted January 17, 2021 The car got a bit stuttery on the way home tonight so I decided to check the points. Trailing points had closed up sightly. Adjusted them out and also corrected a vacuum leak for the vacuum advance. Light throttle now feels a little smoother, slightly more effortless. I might back the ignition off a shade more to see how it behaves. Phil Skizzer and LightBulbFun 2
PhilA Posted January 17, 2021 Author Posted January 17, 2021 A fit of curiosity tonight saw me take the old brake master apart. Not horrible. Not great. Seen worse. Think that'll clean up with new seals as a spare. Phil Tickman, somewhatfoolish, LightBulbFun and 2 others 5
PhilA Posted January 23, 2021 Author Posted January 23, 2021 Today, I modified the alternator bracket to have a little forward-backward adjustment. Why? New fan belt, correct size. Grips properly, charges better. Something arrived in! A new thing to replace what was missing. Light! Lift the hood, it lights up. Happy with that, completes the engine bay. Phil cort1977, Asimo, somewhatfoolish and 15 others 18
hairnet Posted January 23, 2021 Posted January 23, 2021 On 1/15/2021 at 12:28 AM, PhilA said: Tonight's slightly spirited driving saw a new economy low of 7mpg. I'm impressed 4 mins till wopner or 3 mins till subway shut? PhilA 1
hairnet Posted January 23, 2021 Posted January 23, 2021 6 minutes ago, PhilA said: Today, I modified the alternator bracket to have a little forward-backward adjustment. Why? New fan belt, correct size. Grips properly, charges better. Something arrived in! A new thing to replace what was missing. Light! Lift the hood, it lights up. Happy with that, completes the engine bay. Phil cool - is that a period correct one?
PhilA Posted January 23, 2021 Author Posted January 23, 2021 15 minutes ago, hairnet said: cool - is that a period correct one? It is the 1952 version- the 1951 one is just a bulb with a little metal hood. I picked this because it's nicely protected by the glass. Phil LightBulbFun 1
GeorgeB Posted January 23, 2021 Posted January 23, 2021 37 minutes ago, PhilA said: Today, I modified the alternator bracket to have a little forward-backward adjustment. Why? New fan belt, correct size. Grips properly, charges better. Something arrived in! A new thing to replace what was missing. Light! Lift the hood, it lights up. Happy with that, completes the engine bay. Phil Why did the new belt need forward/backward adjustment?
PhilA Posted January 23, 2021 Author Posted January 23, 2021 9 minutes ago, GeorgeB said: Why did the new belt need forward/backward adjustment? The alternator was nearly in line. The old belt was much thinner and was ok with it, but the new one everything needs to be perfectly aligned because it's so much wider. Phil LightBulbFun, DSdriver and GeorgeB 3
PhilA Posted January 24, 2021 Author Posted January 24, 2021 2 hours ago, hairnet said: cool - is that a period correct one? @LightBulbFun Sylvania 1004 bulb (12.6v, 12.5W twin contact bayonet) FYI I need to get an LED bulb for it really, but that works for now. Phil mat_the_cat and LightBulbFun 2
PhilA Posted January 24, 2021 Author Posted January 24, 2021 Went for a little drive today to get some photos. Most went on film (hope they come out) and I only got that one on my phone before the traffic got busy. It was way busier than it should've been for a Sunday. Phil RayMK, LightBulbFun, Saabnut and 7 others 10
PhilA Posted January 29, 2021 Author Posted January 29, 2021 Redid the alternator alignment because the belt is noisy as hell after being parked up a couple days. Still noisy. Can't figure why. Went get milkshakes, brought the dog along for the ride. Phil busmansholiday, puddlethumper, Dick Cheeseburger and 10 others 13
somewhatfoolish Posted January 30, 2021 Posted January 30, 2021 Is it definitely the right belt? It seems quite deep in the pulley grooves, generally the outer face of v-belts I meet are nearly level with the outer diameter of the pulleys. A skinnier belt will work but won't be happy and obvs won't carry the same load as the correct item/will wear quicker.
PhilA Posted January 30, 2021 Author Posted January 30, 2021 10 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said: Is it definitely the right belt? It seems quite deep in the pulley grooves, generally the outer face of v-belts I meet are nearly level with the outer diameter of the pulleys. A skinnier belt will work but won't be happy and obvs won't carry the same load as the correct item/will wear quicker. Yeah, it had a 1/2" belt on before which was too thin by far, this is apparently the correct belt with, 5/8", same as tractors and stuff. somewhatfoolish 1
hairnet Posted January 30, 2021 Posted January 30, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R2TtmqZKaw can you tow a caravan with that thing on the back :D PhilA 1
GeorgeB Posted January 30, 2021 Posted January 30, 2021 22 hours ago, PhilA said: Redid the alternator alignment because the belt is noisy as hell after being parked up a couple days. Still noisy. Can't figure why. Went get milkshakes, brought the dog along for the ride. Phil Alt looks too far forward and at a slight angle. Belt looks too narrow.
PhilA Posted January 30, 2021 Author Posted January 30, 2021 That's the width belt specced by GM from what I can tell. Alternator has pulled at a slight angle. I think I'm going to remake the bracket. somewhatfoolish and GeorgeB 2
PhilA Posted January 30, 2021 Author Posted January 30, 2021 5 hours ago, hairnet said: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R2TtmqZKaw can you tow a caravan with that thing on the back Nice car. I shall have to pass; I think next car along will be sixties. Late fifties at the earliest. Phil
hairnet Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 i was looking thru their stuff and theyve got some nice catalinas theres a nice conv for 20k 66 - boss would be able to take you for a burger mmmm stacklight.............. *dribbles
hairnet Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 https://www.streetsideclassics.com/vehicles/5486-atl/1979-pontiac-lemans-wagon apart from the glass doesnt slide into the tailgate WANT PhilA 1
hairnet Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 On 11/22/2020 at 9:57 PM, PhilA said: Bore not on this thread (mostly) PhilA 1
Tickman Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 Just managed to catch up on quite a few updates. It just looks fantastic out and about. PhilA and LightBulbFun 2
PhilA Posted January 31, 2021 Author Posted January 31, 2021 2 hours ago, hairnet said: i was looking thru their stuff and theyve got some nice catalinas theres a nice conv for 20k 66 - boss would be able to take you for a burger mmmm stacklight.............. *dribbles Bit too salty for me sadly.
PhilA Posted February 1, 2021 Author Posted February 1, 2021 Decided to pull the alternator bracket apart again this afternoon to adjust it up. That's about as good as it gets- it's actually an optical illusion the two pulleys look "off" in angle, they are straight; the alternator was actually too far back before by about 1/8". It still makes a racket. The belt is 19/32" wide, the correct width for the pulley. For some reason they had it sit deep. I'm going to get a belt that doesn't have the cooling grooves in- Gates do a kevlar mesh coated belt that's nice and quiet- I've got them on my lawn mower- it doesn't do a tight radius anywhere and has massive fan cooling anyway. Slightly more positive, I adjusted the hood stops so the grille lines up again, it was triggering my OCD before. Every photo of a Chieftain I see on the Internet has the grille/hood adjusted incorrectly! Phil Skizzer, LightBulbFun, mercedade and 3 others 6
STUNO Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 20 hours ago, hairnet said: https://www.streetsideclassics.com/vehicles/5486-atl/1979-pontiac-lemans-wagon apart from the glass doesnt slide into the tailgate WANT Tarted up with a very cheap respray job. BE VERY CAREFUL!!
Madman Of The People Posted February 2, 2021 Posted February 2, 2021 On 2/1/2021 at 1:49 AM, STUNO said: Tarted up with a very cheap respray job. BE VERY CAREFUL!! https://www.streetsideclassics.com/vehicles/5486-atl/1979-pontiac-lemans-wagon apart from the glass doesnt slide into the tailgate WANT Arrowhead badges on the rear wings are not original to this car. It's also interesting to note the rear windows on the GM A-Body cars do not roll down. Seriously, look at the photos of the rear door cards. Notice anything missing? Yep, no window winders and no electric window switches, either. You will notice, however, that the little vent window at the rear of the rear door can be tilted open. This was the only source of fresh air for the rear passengers! I can only assume this was one of GM's infamous cost-cutting decisions. It's boneheaded moves like this which drove an entire generation of Americans away from GM and into the showrooms of their Japanese rivals. adw1977 1
PhilA Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 Bought some LED bulbs to brighten the rear lights up some. Camera hates the bright red but you can see the light it casts on the ground. Still not totally convinced, though. The bulbs are a little short for this and make the light as a halo on the lens. They are bright though. 2 moderns with lots of lights as comparison. Phil Tickman, puddlethumper and Saabnut 3
PhilA Posted February 4, 2021 Author Posted February 4, 2021 I thought about the lights a little bit and took one bulb out. There's a little lens in the top with 3 lights under it. This caused the bright slightly triangular blotch of light in the middle of the lamp by the retro-reflector. I scuffed the lens down a little to make the light a little more diffuse. Light distribution is greatly improved, satisfied with that result. Phil cort1977, Saabnut, vulgalour and 11 others 14
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