PhilAndrews Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 (edited) Howdy, all. I have a '51 Chieftain that arrived new to me without its air cleaner, so I took a dig around on Google and saw that the Streamliner eight has a nice intake muffler. I liked the idea of the engine being quieter so found one on eBay that needs a bit of restoration. My question is thus; how is the filter end of the assembly supported? It's far too heavy to be only held up by the carburetor. Squinting at some pictures shows a bracket coming off one of the head bolts but I can't see under it to see how it's supported. Does anybody have a photo of the support bracket assembly? I'm either going to make one or try and source one depending on the design. Thank you Phil Edited September 29, 2018 by PhilAndrews (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted September 30, 2018 Author Share Posted September 30, 2018 I do believe I may have answered my own question. I continued cleaning 60-odd years of dirt from the exterior and discovered that the lower plate that the wing nut rod goes into isn't quite round, it has a fractured edge that looks about the size of the bracket on the picture. Further investigation needed, but it may be a case of getting a new piece of steel welded to it. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfeil Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 For the intake muffler there is a bracket underneath that attaches to a cylinder head bolt that has a threaded top for a nut to bolt onto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 Thank you, that's exactly the angle I had needed to see! Someone has replaced the bolt in that corner on my engine but with a washer underneath- trying to figure that one out right now. It doesn't have the thread on top to attach the bracket to (and then secured with the nut). Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 This being the air cleaner, as purchased from South Dakota. I'm working on improving it. Still need to clean up and paint the oil bowl and get some new woven mesh to put back into the filter element. Phil 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryB Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 You have really made that air cleaner look great but...I could not recall having one like that on my 1951 Pontiac Chieftan. Looking at the 1951 Pontiac sales brochures on eBay confirmed my recollection of mine having the typical round oil bath air cleaner that had a support arm coming off a head bolt to the air cleaner body. My car had a bad distributor cap when I first bought it that would cause a backfire through the carb that would in turn pop the air cleaner off the carb. The support arm kept the filter from becoming road kill until I was able to find and fix the distributor cap problem. Post a pic of your car, I’d enjoy seeing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 (edited) It is the incorrect filter for the year; the big muffler canister was ditched for 1951. I liked the idea of the intake being a little more quiet so instead of the on-top-of-the-carb type, I decided on the earlier variant. The car in question. I'm working through some of the fun problems, namely a badly done 12V conversion (retaining 12V but doing it right) and the gearbox needs to come out to have the valve block and servos seals replaced, then just regular service stuff like adjust the brakes, new steering ball joints, adjust the steering gears and fit an exhaust pipe that's not one big rusty hole. Phil Edited October 4, 2018 by PhilAndrews (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfeil Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, TerryB said: You have really made that air cleaner look great but...I could not recall having one like that on my 1951 Pontiac Chieftan. Looking at the 1951 Pontiac sales brochures on eBay confirmed my recollection of mine having the typical round oil bath air cleaner that had a support arm coming off a head bolt to the air cleaner body. My car had a bad distributor cap when I first bought it that would cause a backfire through the carb that would in turn pop the air cleaner off the carb. The support arm kept the filter from becoming road kill until I was able to find and fix the distributor cap problem. Post a pic of your car, I’d enjoy seeing it. There were three types of air cleaners. The one with the muffler is a extra cost option. My Pop's 1950 Chieftain Deluxe that he bought new had one. Standard one is the one on the very bottom; Edited October 4, 2018 by Pfeil (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryB Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Bottom one looks familiar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 Interesting. Well, mine has the deluxe interior code and trim on the Fisher build plate, so quieter, huge muffler intake it is then! Only problem is it's the cleanest part in there, especially after the radiator has been leaking and staining everything brown... Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryB Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Looks like your car is solid, that’s a great starting point. Thanks for the picture! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 It's not too bad. There's some horrors hiding it the bottoms of the doors and in front of the rear wheels, but overall it's not so bad. Certainly a good starting point. It's fairly "honest", if you will. I had an epiphany tonight after it was mentioned about the special bolt with the nut atop. There we go. Torqued back down and in the correct location. It had been put in the wrong place, used to attach an assister spring for the throttle return. I bought a length of steel bar, drilled a 3/8" hole in, I need to borrow a vise to bend it over to the correct shape. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfeil Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 1 hour ago, PhilAndrews said: It's not too bad. There's some horrors hiding it the bottoms of the doors and in front of the rear wheels, but overall it's not so bad. Certainly a good starting point. It's fairly "honest", if you will. I had an epiphany tonight after it was mentioned about the special bolt with the nut atop. There we go. Torqued back down and in the correct location. It had been put in the wrong place, used to attach an assister spring for the throttle return. I bought a length of steel bar, drilled a 3/8" hole in, I need to borrow a vise to bend it over to the correct shape. Phil Great! now you are in business! They are great cars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 Hopefully. The manual says to coat the threads in white lead and oil- I cleaned them, ran them in and out a couple times then torqued them down; I'm thinking possibly I should pull them and put some sealant on them being as at least the front one goes into a water gallery? Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 6, 2018 Author Share Posted October 6, 2018 (edited) Had a little time to do some CAD (cardboard aided design) and made a start on the bracket to hold the front end of the air cleaner up. Coming along, needs a bit of adjustment on the bench and the prongs extending a little so it can clamp down more evenly onto it. I picked up some aluminum mesh filter material, but I'm not sure if it'll be too coarse. Phil Edited October 6, 2018 by PhilAndrews Speeling (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 Made a few adjustments. Need to clean it up properly but I think that's done. Quiet, too! Does anybody know the correct position for the return spring for the throttle mechanism? There's a point on the lever arm on the other side of the engine but I do not see anything to hook it to. And, on a wild side-note, does anybody know how to remove the horn slip-ring from the column? I want to replace the wire to it. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfeil Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 (edited) What about the picture on # 8 thread I posted? About as good as your going to get. I suggest the service manual for even better detail. How about this?; Edited October 9, 2018 by Pfeil (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 9, 2018 Author Share Posted October 9, 2018 Okay, that's what I was thinking- that's the attachment point on the linkage, but I don't see anything in the far side. I'll have to get a set of steps and haul myself over the fender a bit further I think. Thank you for that. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straight8pontiac Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Phil, This is a photo of my 1953 Pontiac linkage return spring setup. Is this what you are referring to? Do you need a different side or angle? Hope this helps- Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 9, 2018 Author Share Posted October 9, 2018 Dave, What does it hook into at the back? A small threaded insert? I didn't get a chance to look last night, I'll have to look again if mine has that (or if it's gone missing). Thank you all for the help. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straight8pontiac Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Phil, It hooks into a steel dowel pin on the raised boss of the flywheel cover. The pin has an appropriate hole to receive the spring. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 9, 2018 Author Share Posted October 9, 2018 Therein lays the root of my confusion. I'll get a bolt with a shank, trim it down, lop the head off and drill a hole through for the spring. Thanks! Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 10, 2018 Author Share Posted October 10, 2018 I need to shorten the threaded section, but I made a start on a boss for the spring. Also looks like someone has shortened the spring, so I'm probably going to be in the lookout for a replacement. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 11, 2018 Author Share Posted October 11, 2018 Shortened the thread. Found a spring that works. It's a little bit light but it does correctly return the pedal. Thank you everybody who has helped. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfeil Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 Great job and thanks for saying thanks to all of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straight8pontiac Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 Phil, Just arrived back home from this last week in Hershey. What a professional job- I'm glad I was able to point you in the right direction. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 14, 2018 Author Share Posted October 14, 2018 It was most helpful yes! Thank you. Only little things but that's how they were designed to work; I can't see a way to improve upon it so that's where I'm an advocate of original design. Little things like redoing the dash illumination with LED's however I see as an improvement that doesn't impact negatively- they hardly run warm at all, significantly less load on switches, so on. Things like that I'll change but I'm going to be asking a bunch of questions because the original engineering is in most cases perfectly adequate. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 On 10/4/2018 at 10:19 PM, PhilAndrews said: Hopefully. The manual says to coat the threads in white lead and oil- I cleaned them, ran them in and out a couple times then torqued them down; I'm thinking possibly I should pull them and put some sealant on them being as at least the front one goes into a water gallery? Phil The white lead and oil compound is called litharge or pipe dope. Used to be a common item in a plumber's toolbox. You can buy a stick of pipe dope at the hardware store, or use Permatex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 On 10/4/2018 at 10:19 PM, PhilAndrews said: Hopefully. The manual says to coat the threads in white lead and oil- I cleaned them, ran them in and out a couple times then torqued them down; I'm thinking possibly I should pull them and put some sealant on them being as at least the front one goes into a water gallery? Phil The white lead and oil compound is called litharge or pipe dope. Used to be a common item in a plumber's toolbox. You can buy a stick of pipe dope at the hardware store, or use Permatex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 On 10/4/2018 at 10:19 PM, PhilAndrews said: Hopefully. The manual says to coat the threads in white lead and oil- I cleaned them, ran them in and out a couple times then torqued them down; I'm thinking possibly I should pull them and put some sealant on them being as at least the front one goes into a water gallery? Phil The white lead and oil compound is called litharge or pipe dope. Used to be a common item in a plumber's toolbox. You can buy a stick of pipe dope at the hardware store, or use Permatex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 I'll keep an eye on it. I'll have to get some, though I do have some Renault engine thread sealant used for the same purpose on my other car. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now