Projects Mild custom '51 Pontiac Chieftain

Phil, I can hear Willie singing "On The Road Again".... and the sweet soung of that GR8 straight 8; good for you.

 

Ooops sounD . DDD, not g

 

Another smile.

Been humming that all day long today.

 

Or Gene Autry..."I'm back in the saddle again."

 

Yuck.

I think the seal was a little too good along the bottom!


Cut a slice of it away, cleaned up. Lens is in the dishwasher.

Phil

 

Or too bad on top?

 

Glass half full, half empty.

Either way, it can drain now. I cannot see where it was getting in.

 

Lenz needs a drain notch.at the bottom ..... I used to do moisture testing at Ford in the 80s/90s, amazing how leaks showed up in what seemed to be a "perfect" assy. Drain notches & vents were common on some park & rear lamps.

 

Working on the garage a bit today.


Slowly getting somewhere.

Sat down with lager & lime and some nonsense on the TV. Doesn't look like much but that was hard work.

 

Holy crap, man, you took a HIT! Hope you managed to save the mural.

 

Did the Pontiac mural survive?

 

Tornado. The mural survived, it's behind the door in the workshop, the only part of the building still standing.
I need to pull it all down and start over, the remaining parts are all twisted.

 

S

Sorry that you are having to deal with this

 

Hey. It is what it is. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start fixing up.

 

Phil it looks like you can build the new generation brick shithouse of shop using a portion of the old...the pad is still intact too...that helps to some degree too...

 

Some of the wood is good, but most of it has succumbed to the ravages of Louisiana humidity. A good portion of it dates to the late fifties, and is well seasoned wood. I've had a large number of carpenter bees decided to move in and they need to be made very very gone- they're not particularly aggressive but they are almost as destructive as termites. I don't want the new building to be provided with a self destruct mechanism.

The pad is good, as is most of the foundation so something can go back up- even if it's not as big (I don't need such a tall building, it was created to house a boat originally, then extended to take an RV) but shelter and workspace is a nice thing to have.

Phil

 

Hm. I need to pull the radio out and put it on the bench. It's all crackly and clipping, particularly at low volume.

Another thing on the list.

Phil

Edit: Also need to check the valves. What is the opinion of Berryman B12? I need to get some lubricant on the top end of the valve stems. One of the valves is a bit sticky until everything warms up.

(I know the answer is to pull the head, pull the valves and clean the guides but that's a lot of work...)

Cut down the tree that got blown over and mowed the grass.


Still more to tidy up and the bees are taking an interest in the woodpile.


Still, the weather's nice, I got sunburned and it's beer o'clock. Cheers.

 

Full engine rebuild:

Rebuild in a can.


Bring the thunder!


Some hydrocarbons occur. Rebuilt!

Idle is better, which is good. The intake valve that was clicking up front has shut up. Exhaust 8 is still noisy. Poured a bit of MM oil down it while cranking it over. That can sit now.

My neighbors love me.

 

Next time you do that, back it up to the wood pile and give the wood bees a treat! Two birds with one stone!

 

Went drive the car and this afternoon it got a bit stuttery and was running a bit warm. Fuel starvation leading to a weak mixture. Thinking it was vapor lock, I pulled on the boost pump. Stink of raw gasoline enters the cabin. Not good. Switch that off and slow down some.
Got home, popped the hood and took a look see.


Looks a little damp but that's mostly oil.


Boost pump on, fuel comes pissing out in a stream from between the bowl and pump. Ugh. Looks like the seal has failed, hopefully it's not cracked.

Waiting on it to cool down to pull apart.

Phil

 

Nothing majorly amiss but the sediment bowl wasn't particularly tight.

I might pull it off and re-torque it all. However, as I was working it got so windy and sideways rain suddenly that I was caught by surprise as the hood was lifted up off the prop. Glad I caught it!

That's for a drier day...

Phil

 

Nothing wrong, just needed tightening up a scosh.


Back in, running, with the boost pump on. Totally dry.


While I was at it, I set the idle mix and spark timing. It's easiest setting it in Drive with the brakes on, against the load of the fluid coupling. Set up for highest vacuum at lowest idle. Then reset to 375 RPM in Drive.

Will give that a test run after dinner if time permits.

Phil

 

Test drive successful. It's got a slight warble at light throttle cruise (~2000 rpm) suggesting a valve not closing fully- it goes away under heavier load. Compression test will show that if I can find my gauge in the rubble. Might also be a valve spring gone soft, thinking of it.
Need to tweak the timing slightly, it is pulling very well a little low down the rev range. Just a degree or so will sort that.

Need to clean and gap the points, then redo the timing. Apart from that, it is running better than it did when I started, so that's a bonus.

Phil

 

A few up and downs the highway, and I think I got it dialed in.
45 mph I am holding 16-17"Hg and the warble has settled to a thrum- what I thought was a misfire is actually the harmonic of the exhaust. It's never really had that before. Picks up well and no longer coughs when it's hot, runs just about 175° just as the thermostat starts to open (180 stat).

Now, I think I need some slightly better quality transmission fluid that holds viscosity when it's hot, and I'll be about set.

Phil

 

Hy tran?

 

Yes. Hydra-Matic. It's running a DEXRON-III oil right now, which is fine when it's cool but gives trouble when it gets hot in the valve block.

Phil

 

I mean, you might try International Harvester hy-tran fluid.
https://www.mycnhistore.com/us/en/c...il/trans-hyd-oil-pkg/hydraulic-oil/p/73344265

 

Never seen that before. Looks promising, I will look to see if it's available locally.

Thank you.

Phil

 

At Phil's Garage, "progress is our most important product". Keep on keep'n on Phil !!!

 

This perpetual rain is a hindrance. Dry for a day, wet for a day .. repeat.

Other things around the house have been taking precedence. I need to cut the old fence up and put it to the street for trash. Yesterday was taken up with a little side project that I needed to get on with, going to the store to buy groceries and trying to sort my old lawn tractor which is at my mother in law's property.. need to mow that.

It never ends.