Projects 1955 Pontiac Star Chief: ChiefResurrection

You did "Pack" the wheel bearings right? Not just put some grease around the outside.

 

Totally man, I will be replacing the booster and master with identical new ones, trying to remain period as much as possible. Completely agree, not a time to cut short on this...especially the ability to stop is high on the list lol.

 

Thanks man! You are most welcome on documenting, I hope it helps someone, and is at least entertaining a bit also.

Ya crazy, power factory brakes!?! Sadly really what it does is move the master cylinder forward about 6 inches and traps the access to the fluid reservoir under the steering column. Gastly!

Have to drop the started to change/check the fluid as its the only place to get a wrench on the cap.

Its a Bendix, was used all over the place in 54 onward...pretty standard item, I bet the olds would dig using one.

 

Hhahahah indeed yes, i cleaned them with brake clean and a diaper, repacked them with high end bearing grease, lubed it all good. Ya taking my time on this, not cutting corners, wanting to make sure that mechanically I could drive across the US without gaining an ulcer.

 

Update with a Question!

Ill hand off the pulling out of the old brake booster and master cylinder to a friends shop, Mad Max Cars in Puyallup Washington.

Question: Door latches, i need to replace three of the door latches as their gears spin freely and don't lock any longer.

I see that some folk say the normal GM latch for 1955 is the same as the pontiac...no way to check this, anyone know if this is true?

I plan on pulling one out so i can post its pics...and see if I can fix it.

 

One thing, the small brake shoe should go to the front of the vehicle (primary shoe). the longer brake shoe should go to the rear (secondary shoe). If you have them backwards stopping power will be reduced.

Denny

 

Yeah, Chevy door latches/locks are same as Pontiac. Can't speak for Olds/Buick/Caddy parts tho.

 

Hails all, new Update! Its been a couple weeks since any serious pics. Here we go!

Working on the door latches, only the passenger front works and the others all just spin letting the doors fly open...so thats not good for towing. In a couple weeks the Chief will be heading to Mad Max Cars for its booster and master cylinder swap. All original parts, inside however all the moving bits are stainless steel and all the rubber bits are high grade...should last for a looooooong time.

In prep for that, i need the latches to work or replace them. I vote "lets see if we can fix them". So with PB blaster in hand, i dove into this....

20190807_162841.door_panel_rr by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:38 PM

20190807_162847.door_rr_star by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:38 PM

20190807_162835.door_panel_rr by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:38 PM

After taking off the panel, i found an access hatch to remove too.

20190807_171354.door_rr_diss01 by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:38 PM

wasn't hard to disassemble really, about half a dozen Phillips head screws and it was done. Needed to remove the screws from the door handle cup too.

20190807_175507.door_rr_apart by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:38 PM

Panel even had a 1954 part number stamped on it, not in bad shape but I will replace it...get rid of the old car funk smell.

20190807_175456.door_rr_partno by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:38 PM

20190807_175502.door_rr_insidepanel by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:38 PM

The latch which didnt work, and the star drive spun...worked once again after PB Blaster soaking for a day and gently working the mechanisms. Then into a vinegar batch, 1 part salt to 20 parts vinegar, or 1 to 10, works great. After two days the rust went black and with s small brush was easily cleanable.

20190807_175828.door_rr_rustylatch by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:38 PM

installed...and cleaned...

20190808_133348.door_rr_cleanlatch by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:38 PM

 

Update

Working on the drivers rear door now a bit...latch number two:

Always label and pack the parts to an area in their own ziplock...critical!

20190808_134748.door_lr_baggie by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:43 PM

I first removed the beauty ring and the door cup in the handle.

20190808_134847.door_lr_beautyframe by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:43 PM

Found a tag along under the ring

20190808_134849.door_lr_bug by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:43 PM

Ring off, cup out of door handle...pop the clips time.

20190808_134930 by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:43 PM

Latch clip too, need that goofy metal bar to do this. Be sure to slip the fork between the nylon washer and the metal handle itself.

20190808_135125.door_lr_springrelease by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:43 PM

Door and its access panel

20190808_135319.door_lr_dis by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:43 PM

20190808_135335.door_lr_accessplate by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:49 PM

Door panel off, ya these so far are not bad but will need some recovering I think, should be easy to match the multi color blue...we'll see if the guy that did the seat for my 48 chevy pickup can do this.

20190808_135314.door_lr_colors by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:43 PM

Door latch mechanism with its bar that leads back to the latch, when moved it is supposed to release the star drive and allow the door to be opened from inside.

20190808_135322.door_lr_latchrelease by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:49 PM

Power to the door switch

20190808_135326.door_lr_power by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:49 PM

Latch out! This one isnt as bad as the other was, it was easy to spray this and let it sit for 24 hours before moving its bits. They gave into some gentle persuasion and began to work again, into the vinegar bath for 2 days you go!

20190808_141330.door_lr_latch by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:49 PM

20190808_141337.door_lr_latch by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 8, 2019 at 3:49 PM

 

Update

After dissassembling the rear doors and repairing the latches, its time to make new actuator rods. The rods in each door, there are two rod per door, actuate the lock in the latch, and the inside release for the latch to let the door open.

Each is 1/8 steel and a 36 inch new length can be bought at your local hardware store (Home Depot in my case) for about 3$. This will cover one doors needs.

Once piece is about 2 ft, the other about 6" in need, so 3 ft is perfect. When I took the doors apart, these actuator arms were rusted inside their cloth sheath, weak, and in one case bent in half the first try.

New is easy enough, just gotta bend them!

20190809_125450.about_to_bend by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 9, 2019 at 1:01 PM

 

Update! Video!

Well I've gone and dun it! Here is a video, the introduction for the project. I've culled through some of the vids and present a 'Home Coming' for the Chief. In all its initial view glory, I present the project video (my first time ever editing a video, ever ever!).

 

Came out pretty good for your first try.

 

Ooo my spelling is awful, sigh lol. Well ill fix that in the next video.

 

Looks good. Any plans for transmission? Swap/rebuild?



Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Update video

Episode 2, first walk around the Chief and look in the trunk! My second attempt at a video including music, editing, text, credits, we'll see how it goes. Its close to 20 minutes which is a similar length to a lot of youtube car guys I follow and enjoy myself.

Thanks for watching and enjoy!

 

Update

Today the Chief is heading down the road to get an original master cylinder and booster installed, inside parts will be high end stainless steel and exotics to keep it going forever.

I'll post some pics and vids, thanks for coming along!

-bish

 

Update

The Chief was towed today to Max Max Cars, an outfit that does custom car work, works with Hollywood studios creating cars for Mad Max events and films. Their work is amazing, I know them, and they work on non-hollywood cars to doing a great job caring for old classics including fabrication and full customization, engine work, you name it, they do it all from bumper to bumper.

Onto the trusty Puyallup Towing lift.

20190816_114902.almost On Board by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 8:26 AM

Settled at the doorway of the shop. I've got a couple vids coming on this that will entertain ya, stay tuned!

20190816_143155.chief In The Door by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 8:26 AM

 

Update

Come along as we work on brake adjusting!

This is a tire spoon, you can pick these up for about 5$ at any parts store, really only good for one thing, adjusting drum brakes.

20190816_tirespoon by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 10:02 AM

The business end of the spoon goes in that conspicous slot on the back of the drum plate, inside is a cam that is threaded and on one end, the nut has gears on it, the spoon uses these gears to spread the brakes manually.

20190816_tirestickitinhere by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 10:02 AM

[Tip of the day!]

Always adjust up, if you go down, then you will hear a clink sound at some point indicating you have just achieved another hour of work! You get to take the tire off and put things back together inside the drum, yay!

So adjusting upwards always, and as you do, spin the tire till you hear a faint scrape during the entire revolution of the tire. Then give the tire a few pounds with your ogre hands, and adjust again. Keep doing this till the ogre pounding no longer settles the brakes down and they are uniformly adjusted (scraping the entire way around, ever so lightly though). If the tire cant make two revolutions, you need to back the cam off a few clicks.

20190816_tire_adjust Up by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 10:02 AM

 

Update

Mad Max Cars who builds custom Mad Max/Road Warrior cars for Hollywood and avid collectors, also works on classic iron!

I'm dropping my Chief off with them to perform some very difficult brake booster swapping and my ogre arms just cant get to where they need to go. These guys are great and will have the Chief stopping with more power!

Puyallup Towing arrived this AM and are taking great care to move this antique.

20190816_114902.almost On Board by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 9:47 AM

20190816_pu_tow02 by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 9:59 AM

We've arrrived safe and are meeting with their staff to work on the details of the booster swap.

20190816_destinationand Sign by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 9:47 AM

Dee is awesome and his customer service is outstanding. These guys care about the experience, the spirit of the vehicle and what it means to a family, like caring for a family member, they are just that good.

20190816_swag01 by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 9:59 AM

A fine list of whats going to go on. I will get some pics and vids up on this process so you can enjoy too!

20190816_swag02 by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 9:59 AM

Up in the air now on a lift, we can see a few good angles we normally cant, gas tank reveal!

20190817.in The Air Tank by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 10:25 AM

20190817.in The Air by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 10:25 AM

The front undercarriage and glowy blue new stabilizer bar rubbers.

20190817.underthefront by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 10:25 AM

And lastly, the old booster! Cast iron, a solid unit including the cap that wont come off to allow brake fluid to be added.

20190817.old Booster by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 17, 2019 at 10:25 AM

 

Update

Hope you all enjoy the pics, going to work on some more vids but still aim to provide pics along the way too.

Going to get fancy and figure out a theme song for each car I work on, do intros for them, and cycle them around as I work various projects.

Have a great weekend!

-bish

 

Ha you learned an OLD skill with the brake spoon that not too many newcomers understand anymore.

 

Man you are so right, I can't imagine anyone doing this nowadays or having patience to. Kinda cool really, its like I own the car and have to care for it, unlike a modern car 'buy and throw away in 5 years'.

 

Video Update

Hails all! I'm onto episode 03 now on the Chief Resurrection Project...just posted it. Working on getting these out weekly.

Covers first walk-around of the engine, some starter goodies and typical goofiness. Enjoy!! see it here:



Episode 01 and 02 are there as well, feel free to check them out, let me know what you think. First time using any video editing software and each time i'm learning a ton on this.

Cheers!

 

Video Update

Hails Hambers! I am creating a brief 30 second video introduction of each of my project cars, you have followed me so far on the Chief here, and see it grow from a few pics, to LOTS of pics, and now a sprinkling of videos.

As this grows so will confidence in the video editing. I hope to interject some humor, provide entertainment, and also some cool info or work on old cars that some can come along with and enjoy right there with me.

Cheers and thanks all, introducing: The Chief

 

Update

Today I visited Mad Max Cars, a great custom shop in Puyallup WA. They build cars for Hollywood movies, Mad Max cars for Hollywood and fans alike, and they work on classic cars and anything iron! Their site is here!

http://madmaxcars.com/

The goal today is the swap out of the busted brake booster and the attached master cylinder. The originals were frozen solid, so after a replace of the tiny bits at each wheel it was now time to work the heart of stopping.

Up in the air the Chief goes!

20190819_133935.in The Air by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:13 PM

Took a tour underneath, the oil pan has a tag?!?

20190819_134627.oil Pan Data Plate by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:13 PM

Body mount could use replacement.

20190819_134643.body Mounts Ug by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:13 PM

20190819_134645.mount by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:13 PM

Note the long pipe by the mount, this carries fresh air from the blowers through to the cabin of the car.

Fender wells are nice, no holes, just dirt and algae, that tire is from 1975...and cracked like bad pudding!

20190819_134651.fender Well by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:13 PM

Some old damage behind the bumper, kinda an odd place

20190819_134708.old Grill Damage by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:13 PM

20190819_135942.front Lens by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:13 PM

Springs could use some new rubber...since the old is gone.

20190819_140021.spring Left Rear by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:13 PM

20190819_140025.spring Right Rear by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:17 PM

20190819_140052.spring Left Front by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:17 PM

20190819_140106.spring Right Front by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:17 PM

The old brake fluid was flushed out, care for a sample? I was told they had seen worse....it was bad, but not as bad as they expected.

20190819_141057.old Brake Fluid by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:17 PM

20190819_141107.old Brake Fluid by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:17 PM

Packed up and ready to go home, new booster and master in place....I'll get pics of that up soon.

Videos to come on this too, thanks for checking this out!

 

Update

After running it about half a mile yesterday, a few things came from the shake down cruise. Timing is way off, adjusting that today. Transmission might be sketchy, but like the engine, it needs to wake up, get the old blood pumping (it has new fluids and gasket).

When setting the timing, set it to 5 degrees BTDC (Before top dead center). Its the top most notch in the flywheel that the pin points to.

20190823_134699.timing Pic by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:18 PM

20190823_134699.timing Specs by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:18 PM

So its set properly, anchored down the distributor and checked to see if the vacuum advance was working, it was! Not getting vacuum to the booster so ill check that out.

Thanks Mad Max for taking care of me! You guys rock!

20190819_170401.receipt by Bishop Schulz posted Aug 25, 2019 at 4:18 PM

 

Update

The electric windows. Looking at those a tiny bit, the drivers side both work, their rigging inside the door is wonky and needs some fixing, they need grease for sure.

No power to the passenger side windows, tried a hot wire and spark....so im thinking they are shorted somewhere...so perhaps next ill tear those apart and fix on them a bit!

 

Update

Its not 1960 or older, but I did make a welcome video for my daughters 1964 Thunderbird. I'm getting a kick out of this video editing and making. More on the Chief to come, but for now, here is the 2min welcome video of the TBird to my car family. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

 

Cool car looks to be a good one to start out with.