Hello, been following this site for a long time and decided to finally join. My latest project has been my recently acquired 55 chieftain, just got it running, falls on its face if you don't feather the pedal, ***uming it needs a carb rebuild, 26 years ago engine was rebuilt so there is 1500 miles on the build. Needs bumpers, headlights and taillights but it cruises pretty good! Scary with no brakes haha. Debating a 2" drop, just painted the steelies a deep dark metallic red/maroon and to follow with pie crust tires and baby moons. 287 2 barrel strato streak I believe they called it. This car is cool! But needs front pans and rockers is all, maybe peen some of dents out of the front fenders, finding parts has been my biggest issue, running low on my stock but so far so good. Any help would be appreciated a ton! Jim P.s forgot to mention free
Welcome to the HAMB. I have a 55 4 Dr too. Looking forward to seeing you working on this. You can find parts at: www.fusickautomotiveproducts.com
Much appreciated, im gonna keep it as is and enjoy it, my biggest thing right now is getting her road worthy and safe. As I go replace things here and there but I'm going to rock the patina for a long time till I decide I want to tackle paint. Last thing im thinking about. Got some gl*** I need to replace and get the mouse piss smell out. Lol. I just went and bought some seat covers that matched the interior and that turned out sweet, did the same front and back seat so it looks pretty decent. Fighting the wipers, that vacuum style. Kinda set that project aside for now and having 2.5" exhaust bent up, single out. But the tube off the manifolds will be a pain to install by looking at it. And a borla xr-1 muffler so she will have a decent deep tone
we did a Scarebird disc brake upgrade on our '56. Fits behind factory wheels OK, best money spent yet.
I was curious about an upgrade on this old girls brakes, Ill have to look into this! This car I have just a blast riding in, cruises... And I'm blown away how solid it actually was besides the two smaller holes in the floor pans Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow and not bad on prices neither, im adding this to the grocery list Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Congrats.. The price is great! I once had a 55 chieftain hardtop given to me because the engine was thought to be "blowed up"and it turned out to me a great car after I replaced 2 broken rocker arms.
Man I know! Free.ninty free! And being that us guys are knowledgeable with vehicles it's the best running into deals like that. Simple fixes are my favorite. I kind of like when the people ask "how the heck did you get it fixed so fast?!" Oh it was nothing [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
As far as your bog is concerned, be sure to TEST the accelerator pump before spending the money for a carb rebuild: http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Troubleshooting.htm A defective advance mechanism in the distributor will also cause the problem. By far the best place for parts for older Pontiacs is: Kurt Kelsey Pontiac, located in Iowa Falls, Iowa. Kurt's nickname is "Bonneville". Number 2 would be Then & Now Automotive in Boston. Also, while the H.A.M.B. is a wonderful forum, this forum is Pontiac only: http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/ And this one, older cars in general: http://forums.aaca.org/ Jon.
Jon, thank you very much for the useful information, I'll be sure to check on these things. I did notice the vac advanced is loose and kind of not fixed in place so I knew there was an issue there that needed to be addressed. So this could be contributing to that bogging I was mentioning. I did take the carb apart and boiled the components in some lemon juice and they were super clean as a whistle when I was finished. Thankfully im single cause the house smelled real weird lol. But it wasn't crusty internally but I'm sure I need to find some information on the mixture screws. On the firewall side of the carb that bung is missing a ****** to hook up either the line that goes back to the fuel pump for the vac windshield washer pump motor. And this is just a guess cause it's the only thing missing a connection but when I plug it she dies, I know it needs a little give and it should run but I barely plug it and she dies. So there is some head scratching I been doing and it has been tough finding some accurate information on certain components Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Don't worry friend! On the grocery list haha. I had to stuff tubes in there to get her to roll! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I only keep it around the farm here, quarter mile spirts for testing, makes for a short pull home lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Haha haha don't look at that! It only arched once on the hood [emoji41] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
These tires a little better?? Lol I got one hubcap to stay on kind of, I can't find anything except for these weird clips that kinda keep the cap on Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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