Rusty Heaps

I spent yesterday and the previous day attacking one of the most onerous tasks in the antique auto hobby, sound deadener removal from floors! This is a 1946 Chevrolet Fleetmaster coupe. I pulled the interior to have it redone, then set about scraping the old underlayment off the floors. Things went better the second day when I used Xylene and then mineral spirits to help remove the material. I found it best to soak the material and walk away, scrape, then repeat, let the product work into the tar. I cleaned up with Prep-All. Here are the during and after pics. I hope this makes it a little easier for someone else.

And the down side to this is what? Perhaps they’re cheaper by the dozen?

You may have to repair what you have on hand. It would be nice if you could get someone with a 3D printer to pop them out, but not likely. I just had to find the best ones I could in a junkyard and will attempt to make repairs to them.

Tractor Supply sells a GL-3 that’s marketed for older Ford tractors. I’m using it in my older GM transmissions and rear ends as it is safe for brass bushings. Also it’s a lot cheaper than Sta-Lube. Not that there’s anything wrong with that brand. I’ve used them too.

I had the US sedan in the same color combo as a project car. Unfortunately I had to sell it before it was road worthy. If I do it again, it will hopefully be a Canadian built car.

Those are the same as Chevrolet of the same body style.

I usually like to slide the tires and rims under the car for added safety, or use what I call “hillbilly jack stands” , 6”x6” cribbing, it doesn’t slip or collapse. Glad you weren’t injured. Short sections of railroad timbers work well, too.

It was mentioned on another site that you could put a radio tuned into a talk show in your garage, it may help. The person swore that they never had mice in their garage.

Sorry Larry, the knobs I have aren’t a match.

I have some spare knobs for Buick radio, not sure what year. Do you have a photo of the correct ones?

I believe there is still one in the junkyard I frequent. It would only be driver quality. If the other parts don’t pan out for you, let me know and I will look next time I’m going. It may be a little while before I go.

There’s a junkyard nearby that I frequent which has two or three ‘53 Special Buicks. I don’t remember if there were any hoods. I can look when I’m there next if you haven’t located one beforehand. I’m located in Knoxville. You would have to come this direction to retrieve it.

I’m not a fan of clear coat either! Make it mechanically safe and reliable and drive it. Then perhaps paint and body work later, or not.

Front floor pans also had a lot of help rotting away due to wet shoes on rainy days. Our old cars were once all daily drivers. You’ve got a good start to a fine automobile.

The 389 is a good vintage engine choice. I’m glad to see that you are keeping your car all Pontiac. Regarding your distributor I am thankful that you didn’t have the problem I had with an SBC, I broke the aluminum distributor off in the block and had to pull the oil pump and beat it out from the bottom.

I have seen an add on assembly like you are describing on a car (‘52 Buick) in a local junkyard. I figure it’s an aftermarket from JC Whitney or similar made as an alternative when the lever action shocks give out. I thought about grabbing it for future reference.

The quality of a product is remembered long after the price is forgotten.

There are two 4dr Special parts cars in a junkyard close to me that I frequent. If I can be of service let me know. Many parts interchange. Looks like a good solid project. Keep us posted on your progress.

The headlight switch being a 6V is not a problem. It can handle the extra amperage. The problem could be with the headlights themselves. Modern high output halogens pull too many amps for the older switch. Try the hard to find regular bulbs, or install a relay. Either should correct the problem, unless you do have a short.

If the fuel pressure is a bit high, you can adjust the float level a little lower giving it a little bit more resistance to overcome. I had the problem on one of my vehicles and was given this course of action from another site. No more flooding of fuel over the manifolds. I also just rebuilt that same carburetor, easy peasy. Good luck. I’m glad the fire was not any worse than it was.

A good looking project car! I’m betting that a little 000 steel wool and elbow grease on the grill and it will look a lot better, not perfect, but better. Hopefully you will give the original drivetrain a fair shake before a decision is made as to swap to a modern one. There’s something to be said about the feeling of driving history.

I haven’t pulled the head off yet. At the rate I’m going it may be spring before it gets done, (three Chevrolets with their own issues). I have too many irons in the fire. I have pulled the rocker assembly previously when I found the bent pushrod and cleaned the Quaker State paraffin from the top of the head. I always keep the pushrods in the same place as they came from, no sense in adding more variables to the equation.

I have tried many different things to free the valve including trying to rotate it, but nothing has worked. The pushrod was bent nearly like a Z and unfortunately I tapped the valve with a hammer in order to free it up and only succeeded in putting it in the open position. The engine ran well enough that I didn’t realize that it was only running on 7 cylinders. Only upon removal of the rocker cover to assess a valve adjustment was it obvious.

Yeah I had planned to pulled the rocker shaft, I’ve had it off when I attempted to free up the stuck valve.

I found this car in a wooded area 30 years ago and recently decided to put some effort into making it look a bit better than it was. It’s not perfect or “drivable “ but a far cry better than it was when found. Any ideas on a ballpark estimate of value?