PhilAndrews Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 Oh, on the topic of accessories What is the correct under hood trouble lamp for '51? I can see where there used to be a lamp, and there's a tongue on the hood to push a switch down but the previous keeper(s) removed it. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 4, 2020 Author Share Posted May 4, 2020 Also, another question... Under seat heater return pipe. Mine comes up under the transmission cradle and the hard pipe ends there.. from there to the radiator lower spigot, what's the routing? Is it just a rubber pipe all the way back from there? I'm guessing it follows the frame and then goes up over the suspension assembly to the rad? Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 On 5/2/2020 at 12:16 AM, PhilAndrews said: Not sure if the '54 is the same. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 5, 2020 Author Share Posted May 5, 2020 Ok so the hard line that runs up and along by the engine- is that supported anywhere along the way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Just by a double clamp thingy that I don't have a pic of. Keeps the two hard lines together down near the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Just crawled underneath. Forgot about a support. Hope this could help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 5, 2020 Author Share Posted May 5, 2020 Appreciate that very much. I have some bits to make! Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 Received a call today, my wiper motor has been rebuilt and is going to be on its way back soon. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 12, 2020 Author Share Posted May 12, 2020 There we go. Wipers that work properly. Phil 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GARY F Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 Good job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 I've put the radio back on my workbench (first time in over a year) and plan on getting back to the conversion and rebuild. Just had a head-scratching moment but found the power transformers have a fairly significant revision change between the years so I need to re-draw the circuit diagram to account for that. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 There we go. With the exception of the 6 prefix on the tubes (going to replace them with the 12 variants) that's what's getting built. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 Nope. This is. Minor revision, helps if you actually look at the chassis to see what's fitted when there's alternative choices. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 21, 2020 Author Share Posted May 21, 2020 Getting a collection of parts together, preparation to rebuild. Phil 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONTIAC1953 Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 On 2/19/2019 at 6:54 PM, PhilAndrews said: Is there meant to be a lower bellhousing cover? The manual picture looks like there should be. Phil yes, pontiac used a sheet metal lower inspection cover to protect the flywheel/torus from the weather. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONTIAC1953 Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 12 hours ago, PhilAndrews said: Getting a collection of parts together, preparation to rebuild. Phil phil, i have several 53-54 pontiac chieftain parts radios, so if you need a replacement tube for one that's bad, call me 4176935219, charles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, pontiac1953 said: phil, i have several 53-54 pontiac chieftain parts radios, so if you need a replacement tube for one that's bad, call me 4176935219, charles. They'd have to be '56 onward- this is going to be (probably) the only 12V '51 radio out there. (Unless I'm getting my years wrong, when did Pontiac go 12V?) Phil Edited May 22, 2020 by PhilAndrews (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 55er Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 Pontiac went 12 volt in 1955. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 Ok, I thought it was 55 or 56. I've bought the 12V heater variants of the tubes the '51 radio uses. The B+ power supply is now natively 12V. I didn't want to be running the radio through a voltage dropper circuit. They get a little too hot for my tastes. The radio gets warm enough as it is. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 14C5 power output tubes arrived. The rest of the bits that I actually need to start are typically first to have been ordered and last to arrive.... Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share Posted May 23, 2020 HT supply rebuilt. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 Volume and tone control. Made a fair bit of headway tonight. More tomorrow. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 Component parts complete (apart from one bit which isn't a showstopper). Plays okay. Not bad reception for around here. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 Resolved a number of issues with Delco's design that would have resulted in horrible whine and chatter from the alternator and ignition circuits. Also got the Bluetooth hooked up and working nicely. Might fit a more modern speaker with a mid and a tweeter. Phil 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summershandy Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 That's too high tech for this guy! I ended up buying a RediRad to hook up to my IPod to play 50's music that way. I also love the crappy sound the original speaker makes LOL. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, Summershandy said: That's too high tech for this guy! I ended up buying a RediRad to hook up to my IPod to play 50's music that way. I also love the crappy sound the original speaker makes LOL. Barring the 12V conversion (which is done the way Delco would have done it if it were required to have been from the factory) and a few extra filter capacitors to shut it up from external interference on the power input, it's rebuilt to original spec. All I did was hook a Bluetooth doodad into the volume control (and isolated it in case the grid collapses in the tube or arcs out). Real straightforward. This was an enjoyable rebuild compared to the Zenith. All in so far to convert, rebuild and upgrade has set me back about $200. (Bought 2 radios, a full compliment of tubes, resistors and capacitors, plus the Bluetooth board). On AM it's as crackly as ever. On Bluetooth it's genuinely HiFi, the power amplifier is a very good design. Much better than I would expect from an AM set, to be honest. The speaker's response is geared towards 2-4kHz peak, which is where the audio from AM lives- with a full range speaker this has proper 20-15 performance. Props to Sylvania for the design. Just looked at RediRad's website- nice touch. That's a sensible idea though they could do with a Bluetooth option in there too, rather than solely plugin options. Does make it sound authentic though! It's limited not so much by the speaker but the bandwidth of AM radio, which is 8kHz, giving a maximum Nyquist frequency of 4kHz to your ears, about the range you get over the phone. I bypassed that and connected in at the point the radio circuit ends and the audio amplifier begins. As with most AM radios, the power amplifier and speaker are capable of significantly better performance than AM can supply, but you never really get to hear that. For this, I didn't have to gut anything (didn't want to, either because as soon as I took a look at the schematic I could see it wasn't a bad design) instead merely rebuild and tweak slightly where required. I added a few pieces they supplied with the radio to be fitted externally because they were quite big. Modern ones fit inside the radio. Phil Edited May 26, 2020 by PhilAndrews (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Test fit. Success. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Not bad at all. Editing blip isn't smoke and mirrors, I just cut 6 seconds of awkward silence as my old phone decided to take that particular time to be slow to pair to the Bluetooth. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted June 3, 2020 Author Share Posted June 3, 2020 Hopefully the last reassemble, made a foam rubber cone like it would originally have had. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted June 7, 2020 Author Share Posted June 7, 2020 Question, how does the rear seat pull out? Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONTIAC1953 Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 57 minutes ago, PhilAndrews said: Question, how does the rear seat pull out? Phil pull the front of the rear seat cushion up and forward, then unfasten the bottom of the rear seat back rest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted June 7, 2020 Author Share Posted June 7, 2020 Thought so, it just doesn't want to budge. I didn't want to be forcing something the wrong way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONTIAC1953 Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 Just now, PhilAndrews said: Thought so, it just doesn't want to budge. I didn't want to be forcing something the wrong way. you may have to push inward to pull up the cushion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted June 9, 2020 Author Share Posted June 9, 2020 Dremel Dremel Dremel. More to follow. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 Chief too. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 Necessary evil yesterday, in the heat. Tidied, vacuumed, organized. Bought some 8ga wire for the alternator, need to run that in place of the 12ga that's there right now (all I had to get it working at the time). Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 A box arrived in from California today. Need to make some new foam gaskets and refit the heater now. Phil 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONTIAC1953 Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 6 hours ago, PhilAndrews said: A box arrived in from California today. Need to make some new foam gaskets and refit the heater now. Phil i have 2 of those for my 1953 chieftain, yours looks nos too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 12 minutes ago, pontiac1953 said: i have 2 of those for my 1953 chieftain, yours looks nos too. Yup, Jim did a good job on it. It's all fitted up now, need to put the air direction control linkage in tomorrow. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilAndrews Posted June 22, 2020 Author Share Posted June 22, 2020 Got the heater back in, connected up. Replaced the alternator primary wire with something of a more suitable gauge. Getting there, slowly. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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