Projects Mild custom '51 Pontiac Chieftain

STOP!!! No seriously, stop, get it? Brakes? Stop?................ tough crowd

 

Oh boy....


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Ohhhhh yeah. That's awesome. What can a leaking wheel cylinder do for you today? It can turn your friction material into black goop.


Begone!


Back down on its wheels for tonight. Need to make up the hard line (which broke) for this side, then it's time to adjust.

Phil

 

Sure that isn't the rear axle seal that is leaking?

 

Looks like it but that's from the cylinder, rear side barfed out when I took it apart.

I'm going to keep an eye on the pinion seal, but it's not moist from there.

Phil

 

Found this one looking for customs to keep you inspired

 

Ah yes. A very nicely done car. Very low though! From looking at it, I was considering side pipes for a while as an infill but decided against it because there's too many speed bumps around here for them to last any period of time without getting completely obliterated.

Phil

 

Battery cable came in. That'll do nicely.


Bought a 15/16" wrench to do the brakes with.

Busy busy today.

 

Great looking car. Is that an accessory front bumper or was it made up by the customizer?
Looks cool.

 

Completed hard lines for the brakes. Adjusted rear shoes and e-brake.

Found out why the new brake hose seemed a little short- the lh side of the axle wasn't located on the centering peg and was only done up with 3 nuts, no lockwashers. Remedied that problem.


Battery now has a new home in the trunk.


... Which has tidied the engine compartment up nicely.

Phil

 

If I'm not confusing myself with another build, that customization was all completed by the guy who owns it. The front bumper is his own creation.

Phil

 

Little bit of metalwork today. I was missing a spat bracket on the driver's side, and didn't fancy losing the spat while driving. Copied the p***enger side one.


Screwed into place.


Spat then locates securely and locks up.

Another item off the list. It doesn't rattle when I shut the door now!

Phil

 

I hate brakes.

That is all.

 

Think I found the problem with the rear right brake- two times I remade the flare before replacing the fitting. Now it doesn't leak.
I've got something resembling a brake pedal now, but my helper got bored when I was having trouble with the leaking line and went play with her friends (she's 11).

So, I called it for the afternoon; we are getting somewhere though. Front brakes didn't want to adjust, think they needed a stamp on the pedal to settle them out first, because they got immediately better once I had bled the front brakes.

Phil

 

Phil, have you tried "Speed-Bleeders"? They work well and you don't have to depend on the whims of an eleven year old to get your brakes bled.

By the time you're done, you'll have a new car!

 

I have got a MityVac vacuum bleeder, I used to have a Gunson Eezi-Bleed but it fell apart (the brake fluid did a number on the plastic over time).

The MityVac kinda works but is a pain. I ended up using it and now have good pedal. I need to do a final alignment adjustment on the front brakes but that's good for now.


Edit: And no, not new. Just receiving the maintenance it should have had but didn't.


Phil

 

I had a "Mity-Vac" once. It was a piece of ****; a "gimmick". "Speed-Bleeders" are the real deal.

 

I had actually bought it just as a vacuum pump to test some sensors on the OT; figured I'd give it a try. Worked well enough, got a good pedal.

Phil

 

So, tonight. Wipers working, screenwash working. Screen defog tube fixed like NASA (duct tape and improvisation), glove box fitted, light works, door latches and locks. Battery cable secured to frame. Front right brake adjusted and locked off. Grease points greased.

To do, tomorrow- adjust front left brake and lock down.
Test drive.

Phil

 

One roadworthy Chieftain.

Phil

 

The trick for using a MitiVac is to put a couple of wraps of teflon tape on the bleeder screw threads (and only the threads). If you don't, it'll **** air in around them and you'll never be sure if you got all the air out and probably won't. Added bonus is the bleeders won't seize and break off if you come back later for any reason.

The tape converts the process from 'Geez, I thought this was supposed to be easy, what a PITA' to 'Why the hell didn't somebody tell me this before?'...

Learned this trick on a motorcycle. I spent about an hour trying to bleed a front brake. Kept getting air bubbles and just couldn't get a solid feel, probably used 1/2 a quart of fluid. Finally figured out it was ****ing air around the bleeder screw, taped the bleeder and I was done 5 minutes later with a rock-hard feel.

You can have the same issue with Speed Bleeders (particularly if they're used), same solution.

 

My main problem was it was drawing air between the tube and the bleed screw, the pipe is 1/4" and just a shade loose.

Phil

 

I've clamped the tube to the bleeder with some wire or clamp to eliminate that issue. Motorcycle fuel line clamps work good for this. As long as you have a air-tight seal, it works great.

 

Went to the little local drive-in, got a chocolate malt then hit up the donut shop for some donuts.

All in all a good day.

Phil

 

What did the police at the donut shop think of your car?

 

They all went outside and took photos.

The manager them made fresh the donuts I had asked for because they didn't have any, which was good of him.

Phil

 

Cops think that Cheerios are actually donut seeds Sorry, part of the whole "fireman vs cops" thing

 

F-in hose dragger.

 

BOOOOOOOOO

 

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.

Phil