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1953 Pontiac Chieftain 4 Door


JP75

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  • 2 months later...

Hi again not much progress to comment on I finished the starter refresh and installed it on the engine. However I thought I would share my latest find.  I shared early in my posts that the car was hit by a Gray Hound bus in the rear left quarter back in the late sixties.  It has been a chore figuring out the poor repair work in the rocker and why the door would not line up and the amount of body filler I have pulled out of the door jamb and found in the quarter has troubled me.  I have been watching a rear quarter keep coming up on e-bay for a while and after I scrutinized the pictures as much as possible I finally talked my self into buying it. How often does what appears to be a NOS panel for a 1953 Pontiac show up. Well it showed up today and the more I look at it the more I think it is an NOS panel.  Fedex only damaged it slightly at the front of the fin you can see the small buckle in the attachment flange. I think I will be able to straighten it. 

 

What have I gotten myself into!!

 

 

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More pics of the repair done in the 60s.  The replacement panel has several inches of overlap and the stick weld recessed and then brought back level with body filler.  The edge of the replacement panel shows in the fender opening.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi its been awhile since I posted any updates.  I have a new focus and drive to work on the car again and I have made some good progress this Spring. 

This past weekend I got a little ahead of myself and dug out the repair done in the 60's.  Lots and lots of Bondo and not a lot of welds. 

I have a question I would like the advise of the resident experts.  I have what I believe to be a factory replacement quarter panel or a good aftermarket one and the question is should I cut it up or try to replace the whole panel?  

Hopefully the 4 pictures load and you can see the two blue tape out lines. The larger oddly shaped blue tape line is the outline of the actual panel.  The smaller straight lines directly around the damage would be the smaller partial panel replacement option.

Of course none of this will happen until the body is back on the frame and the rear door hung.

Thanks in advance I appreciate any of your suggestions, opinions, tips or advise that can be shared.

 

 

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hi jp75, glad to see you're making progress, in regards to your question about starter paint color, most if not all delco remy parts such as starter, generator, distributor, voltage regulator will be glossy black, not pontiac dark bluish green engine color.

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  • 6 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I also have a 53 4 door in progress. I'm almost in the same time frame as you also. 4 1/2 years so far. Body just back on frame, getting panels prepped for paint. That was probably the best milestone for me cause now it looks like a car again !!! Been following your build. Looking good ... John

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On 8/18/2015 at 9:38 PM, JP75 said:

Hi Paul funny you should ask a major mile stone was achieved tonight.

 

A couple pictures of the engine assy. So far the engine has gone together without any issues and what should be the easy tasks have been the most trouble.  I got lucky and picked up a 2nd gasket set at the last Charlotte Auto fair. I had to dig into the 2nd kit because I managed to ruin the timing chain cover gasket.  I wish a I had a picture to show how the timing cover and front motor mount go together.  The new gasket is cork and what I took off was something else (much harder). The front motor mount share the bottom bolt holes with the timing cover and when I tightened the motor mount the first time I squeezed out the cork gasket and ruined it.Bits were cut off.  The second one I used some Indian head gasket sealer and took my time and let each step set up and so far it has worked. Also the timing chain was a bare to get back on.  I even tried the original chain and speokets with 3/4 inc of slop and it was a bare.  If the gears were not lined up just right the cam gear would not slide on.  It took an hour to get it on. Almost on slop at all.   

 

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Dad came over tonight and we were able to set the engine and transmission in the frame. I think he was more excited about it then I was, am. My biggest fear was the gasket between the flywheel and the torus.  I was not let down it must have fallen off a half dozen times.  We finally got the two units together and did not damage it.  I had read it would be a chore to install the 30 bolts that hold the two together but I did not have a problem at all. I just hope it does not leak.

 

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did you coat the first part of the threads of the thirty bolts with non silicone sealant ?, hope you didn't run a tap through the thirty threads of the flywheel, the tap will wipe out the interference threads and cause the bolts to come loose later. also non silicone sealant would be needed for the flywheel to crankshaft bolts.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi it's been awhile since I last shared but I just crossed a major mile stone. Well a major mile stone for me and thought I'd share.  To catch up on the progress i have painted the firewall, put the body back on the frame rebuilt the trunk hinges, aligned all 4 doors repaired the wheel well from the 60s repair (it had bathroom caulk in it) and I just got the rear quarter completely tack welded in place. This has been a huge battle with all the accident damage not repaired properly back in the 60s.  Its not perfect but it better than 1" of bondo and rust traps. Just a few more rust repairs to go might get it in primer before winter. Got to have a goal or I'm never going to finish.

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  • 1 year later...
On 01/11/2012 at 00:44, JP75 said:

Não aconteceu muita coisa ultimamente, apenas trabalhando para deixar o motor e o Trans prontos para serem removidos neste fim de semana. Eu ainda tenho que drenar os fluidos e remover os 30 parafusos mais para separar o motor e a transmissão. <!-- google_ad_section_end -->attachment.php?attachmentid=161076&d=1351736506&thumb=1attachment.php?attachmentid=161077&d=1351736536&thumb=1

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I can clear up some doubts about the pontiac engine and whether the crankshaft damper pulley has 2 pulleys to connect power steering.  I have some doubts why to install air conditioning in my pontiac 1952 8L.  this extra pulley on the crankshaft is original.  You can send photos and measurements.  Thank you very much.  mauro_trevizan@hotmail.com , mtrevizan79@gmail.com

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