1951 Pontiac Chieftain

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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Post by PhilA »

Finished bleeding the brakes, got a good pedal now.

Front shoes need adjustment, grille needs attaching properly, new battery cable needs to be finished clipped up and the rest of the list can wait.
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I had to make a new bracket for the rest left spat, saw that was missing and I didn't want to lose the spat.

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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

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MoT achieved.

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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Post by LynehamHerc »

That looks stunning!
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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

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Went get milkshakes at the local drive-in to celebrate.

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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Post by mercrocker »

That looks completely at home, there.....
There's a great long bar in Rock & Roll heaven.......
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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Post by PhilA »

mercrocker wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:49 pm That looks completely at home, there.....
Couple guys in a '49 Ford pickup drove by and gave the thumbs-up. That was nice. Chatted with them for a while.

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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Post by PhilA »

Went out to the car at lunch. Now it's cold I had a chance to inspect a few things.

Oil is nasty, needs to be changed. Short runs up the street and idling in the garage has contaminated it as to be expected.

It's otherwise holding coolant, oil, atf.

Oil pressure warning light sender is DoA. Wiring is good (pull the wire off the sender, light goes out).

Fuel pump needs a rebuild.

Need to get a flywheel stone guard.

Going to do a coolant change this weekend, get some antifreeze in it. Got a couple bottles of concentrate and a bunch of gallon jugs of distilled water to go in.

Overall really quite happy, it covered nearly 100 miles yesterday with only a few hiccups (mostly cutting out due to having to sit in traffic and the fuel boiling in the pipe before the pump- could see it drawing bubbles into the bowl).

Needs a tune up, the timing is "kinda right", needs setting accurately.

Noted from driving, people say these are slow cars, but I find it can hustle along with traffic just fine.

Speedometer is a little optimistic, it reads about 5 over.

50mph cruise, all to temperature (it holds 180-185 nicely) oil pressure reads 20psi, drops to about 10 at idle.

Brakes are bedding in nicely.

Exhaust needs slight adjustment, it's knocking on the hole in the frame it goes through.

Higher ratio final drive would be a significant improvement.
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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Post by PhilA »

Gave the car an oil change tonight. The old oil I changed when I pulled the engine out; it had seen a lot of short runs and idling, and as such had that thin gray look to it.

Surprising how much more quiet fresh oil makes it...

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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Post by PhilA »

Today, I almost completed the list.

Coolant changed, now 50/50 antifreeze and distilled water

Manifold and heat riser gaskets replaced

Fuel pump tightened

Hard fuel lines replaced. Steel line to carburetor was cracked

Rubber fuel lines replaced with marine grade fuel pipe

Air filter gauze oiled and dish filled



Throttle pump needs looking at



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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Post by PhilA »

Running nicely now. Went get pizza.
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Met with general approval.

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