MercMontMars

I have this but it’s off of an 80s Rochester carb and doesn’t fit quite right. I assume this coil type mechanism is what I’m needing. Am I looking at it wrong and a universal one will infact fit? Sorry for all the questions, this is the oldest car I’ve worked on and there are so many previous owner rigs it’s driving me nuts!

@carbking You were definitely right about the choke being wrong! I removed the cheap aftermarket cap and it’s all wrong.. thankfully the internal piston mechanism is still there but I unfortunately do not have the original spring driven cap and I’m having a hard time finding it. I will let you know what happens once I install the right part. I could put a universal one in but it’s a very shallow fit, I need a Carter WCD specific one.

@john hess Yup, I’ve found the crescent moon shaped weight. It rotates freely and returns to its position via a spring/coil. What does this do? First time I’ve dealt with one.

@Oldtech Will definitely time motor better when I have it running, I know for sure it is off but with all the carb issues it’s hard to accurately do this. Carb is squirting as it should, I had it rebuilt so that is all good there. Thank you for the reply!

That’s my goal, I’m just slowly fixing all the knuckle-headed “repairs” done by previous owners. This is my first flathead straight-8 and it’s sometimes hard to tell what’s rigged and what’s factory. I have the original, or what I think to be the original choke cap and it has lettering on it that reads “General Motors, Rich< >Lean.” I’m assuming it wasn’t doing it’s job if someone rigged it so ridiculously with a manual choke and everything, so I’ll try getting a new one to see if that helps.

@carbking Wow, I had no idea! I figured with the age of the car that was normal, but clearly I’m mistaken. The carb was already hooked up with a manual style choke when I purchased it and was hooked up with a cheap cable kit. Do I need to buy an electric conversion choke? It is a Carter WCD carburetor.

@john hess Thanks for the reply John! I haven’t oiled that yet as I figured the carb rebuilder would, but I’ll oil it again just to be safe. Haven’t had a look at the heat riser valve yet, but definitely worth checking out. Thanks again!

@Andy J My mistake, thank you. It was installed that way when I bought the vehicle, says a lot about the previous owner. I’ve never had good luck with previous owner monkey work. Will install it properly and see if that makes a difference.

@Rusty_OToole Thanks for the reply! I haven’t done a compression test yet, but I definitely will. With what I’ve done so far though, I got to experience a glimpse of that straight-8 magic. When I forced the linkage into the proper position, the motor idled so smooth I thought I killed it. Could balance a dime on the thing! Old cars are so picky!

Hi there, I am looking for an exterior sun visor for a 1952 Pontiac Chieftain and the small chrome piece that goes on the windshield pillar. I am also searching for an interior mounting bracket for the sun visor. Any GM part of this era for the same body style should work. Send me some pictures and asking price on what you have. Thank you!

Hi there, I have a 1952 Pontiac Chieftain with a swapped 1954 Pontiac Straight-8 as the original motor was blown (hole in the block.) Equipped with Hydra-matic transmission. I recently acquired the vehicle and have since done a lot to it, basically doing my best to remove the "previous owner syndrome." I was able to drive it to my shop but since it hadn't been up to temperature in at least 25 years multiple things failed such as the carburetor and the original fuel pump. I was amazed that this motor ran as it was because pretty much everything was beaten and neglected. But on to the problem. I had the carburetor rebuilt and I installed an Edelbrock 2-5psi electric fuel pump until I can rebuild the original mechanical one. Motor starts right up with the choke closed, I let it high idle to warm up then bring it down by tapping the gas. Everything looks and sounds good, but upon hitting the gas I hear a hiss from the carburetor and the motor dies if I keep my foot down. It will rev up if pushed up and down, but I can't drive the car like that. A couple observations I made is that the throttle linkage looks very rigged and it's always laboring the accelerator arm on the carb so the motor is never at true idle, idle screw isn't even making contact with the acc. arm. I forced it into place and the motor ran like a straight-8 should, smooth as butter. But I can't keep it there and still stall out after the carburetor makes a loud hiss on acceleration. It may be worth noting that the vehicle is still on a 6v system but I have it on a 12v battery w/ 12v coil for now just for cranking amps. I will run it on 6v once everything is tuned and running right, but the 6v batteries do not like partaking in turning the motor over again and again. Sorry for the huge paragraph, I'm trying to be as descriptive as possible. I'm hoping that there is a Straight-8 specialist here or someone who might recognize my problem, as I've tried almost everything and nothing works. Healthy motor and runs great but I can't use it and it's very frustrating! I will upload videos of the issue when I can.

Reposting this here since I had it in a general forum. Since writing this I have removed the carb and am currently rebuilding it as it looks filthy inside. Will see how she runs once the carb is done. - Hi there, I’m new to the forum and am needing help with restoring my 52 Pontiac Chieftain. The vehicle has a swapped 1954 Pontiac Straight 8 with a 1954 hydramatic transmission. The vehicle is in great shape for its age, I’m just trying to get it running. I cleaned out the motor the best I could, new thermostat, cleaned wiring, new spark plugs, etc. It ran and drove from the guy I bought it from to my shop no problems, just burnt oil. I went to start it the next day and only got a click from the starter, tried jumping it but didn’t work. Put a new 6v battery on and still low voltage, only clicks. I cleaned the wiring and ground and this seemed to fix it, I was able to turn the motor and get it to fire again, eventually achieving idle but the motor dies if I give it any throttle. I feel like it’s just a matter of tuning as the motor no longer burns oil and idles healthily. Summed up, need to know what to do to get my chieftain running and driving. Will idle but won’t take any throttle, weird because I drove it to my shop from the seller. I’m also leaking oil from where the oil pan and flywheel housing meet. It also looks like I’m missing a big part of the flywheel housing and multiple bolts are gone from my oil pan, likely the cause of the leak. I will be getting photos so I can show what is going on. I also need a good source of parts if anyone knows a place. Anyone out there a Pontiac Straight 8 expert? Thanks for any help!

@pkhammer Thanks! I’ll see if I can find one that’ll fit, I always hate when a motors component fails when I know it worked a day ago. Really makes diagnosing problems hard. 🤔

@rocketraider My mistake! Must’ve been thinking of the Harley hydraglide. Tank was run dry driving her back home, I filled her back up with some ethanol free fuel plus Lucas oil and system cleaner. I put a fuel filter back by the tank and she has the glass fuel bowl filter which seems to do it’s job well as I saw it collect a little. I’m gonna put money down on her needing a carb rebuild, as the carb is original and I’m sure it’s filthy inside. Is there anything inside the fuel pump I need to clean? I’ve mostly worked on cars from the later 60s so this is the oldest car I’ve worked on and some things are new to me, especially the glass fuel bowl. Currently has huge welder wires on the battery cables.

Hi there, I’m new to the forum and am needing help with restoring my 52 Pontiac Chieftain. The vehicle has a swapped 1954 Pontiac Straight 8 with a 1954 hydraglide transmission. The vehicle is in great shape for its age, I’m just trying to get it running. I cleaned out the motor the best I could, new thermostat, cleaned wiring, new spark plugs, etc. It ran and drove from the guy I bought it from to my shop no problems, just burnt oil. I went to start it the next day and only got a click from the starter, tried jumping it but didn’t work. Put a new 6v battery on and still low voltage, only clicks. I cleaned the wiring and ground and this seemed to fix it, I was able to turn the motor and get it to fire again, eventually achieving idle but the motor dies if I give it any throttle. I feel like it’s just a matter of tuning as the motor no longer burns oil and idles healthily. Summed up, need to know what to do to get my chieftain running and driving. Will idle but won’t take any throttle, weird because I drove it to my shop from the seller. I’m also leaking oil from where the oil pan and flywheel housing meet. It also looks like I’m missing a big part of the flywheel housing and multiple bolts are gone from my oil pan, likely the cause of the leak. I will be getting photos so I can show what is going on. I also need a good source of parts if anyone knows a place. Anyone out there a Pontiac Straight 8 expert? Thanks for any help!