Jump to content

'51 Chieftain


PhilAndrews

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, PhilAndrews said:

Do I want to do anything about it?

If it were mine, in the absence of any symptoms, and it's all in the rings, and there's nothing to suggest a broken ring, and the oil consumption is not off the charts.... Not a chance.

 

You've got a 25% variation. Is that ideal? No. Is it at the very tippy-top of what might be considered "not broken"? Yes. When I was working in auto repair, 3/4 of the cars on the road were like that. Valves are a big deal. Rings, not so much, unless the oil consumption is completely out of hand. Even then you can get away with it practically forever if you have the discipline to keep it full of clean oil, and you continue to change the oil regularly.

 

3 hours ago, PhilAndrews said:

Dry, none of the cylinders leaked down over 5 minutes.

That cannot be, not even if the engine was brand new. You must be getting fooled by the equipment. RIngs have gaps. If they didn't. they would break from heat expansion. Those gaps leak. When doing a leakdown test with a leakdown tester and compressed air, you should not really hear hissing in the intake or exhaust, as valves are expected to seal. You will always hear hissing in the crankcase. 

 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe rings in #3 are stuck?  How many miles have you put on the car since you started driving it?  You could try running a quart of Rislone (or similar) to see whether it helps free-up #3 and possibly #7.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained and it won't hurt anything to try.

 

https://rislone.com/products/high-mileage-engine-treatment/

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, EmTee said:

Maybe rings in #3 are stuck?  How many miles have you put on the car since you started driving it?  You could try running a quart of Rislone (or similar) to see whether it helps free-up #3 and possibly #7.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained and it won't hurt anything to try.

 

https://rislone.com/products/high-mileage-engine-treatment/

Possible, they're fairly new rings. It's done about 4000 miles or so since I started driving, the last 500 of those since it was parked up for the storm. 

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20220527_083530.jpg.fc8d5c2a2b853abd9ad6f62608da9af0.jpg

Somebody recommended Quick-Glo chrome polish. So I bought some.

 

Now I recommend it. It cheered the old, pitted chrome up no end, got rid of a lot of the white marks in the pits which was making the metal look dull.

 

Phil

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Andy J said:

Man,that is fantastic! Is that the original paint?I love that color,too.

Sadly no. It's close to the original, a little more sky blue than the stormy blue it was.

 

Somebody spent a fair bit on paint, way back in the day. It still buffs up ok on the sides, the top surfaces are crazed.

 

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's really a nice shade of blue and it suits the car well.  ;)

 

Have thought about whether it's possible to smooth the 'bump in the head' she suffered from the storm without getting into body filler and paint work?  Can the headliner be released above the driver's door to allow you to get a dolly on the backside of the roof?  Even if not,what's left of the dent isn't too noticeable - especially now with the shiny lower body...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, EmTee said:

That's really a nice shade of blue and it suits the car well.  ;)

 

Have thought about whether it's possible to smooth the 'bump in the head' she suffered from the storm without getting into body filler and paint work?  Can the headliner be released above the driver's door to allow you to get a dolly on the backside of the roof?  Even if not,what's left of the dent isn't too noticeable - especially now with the shiny lower body...

It can, but without removing it completely, access is quite poor because it's a fairly heavy material.

 

Plus, the bottom of it is up against the inner strengthening panel along the top of the door.

 

I might make some calls to the paintless dent people and see what they think. The metal has stretched so it'll never come completely out with ease.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

By all means talk to a paintless dent technician.  I had one address a host of dings and one ~1/2" circumference divot  in the quarter panel of my '64 GP.  The result was really amazing - dents are gone without a trace.  They will need access behind the dent, but they have a plethora of specialized picks, spoons and dollies to work in odd places.  ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/14/2022 at 7:46 AM, PhilAndrews said:

The rear wheel trims were staying to look worse for wear.

20220613_111530.jpg.f9a48a463a83e67d75a50bd514a2f652.jpg

So, I stripped them down and repainted them in red lacquer.

20220613_153421.jpg.2efa7efd3ed9fa0dd7ed351c315c6f33.jpg

They look nice now.

 

Small things!

Be surprised how all those small things add up. Often they get overlooked by many, but they can make such a difference. And they don’t cost much and keep you motivated. Hope you put a name and phone number on the back of each cap!

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tried a different car wax. Had used Meguiar's Carnauba before, and it was good.

20220706_081305.jpg.f75d79292213470e98bd82aac6f4f392.jpg

Tried Meguiar's ceramic wax instead. This morning, the dew burned off without leaving stains.

20220706_103011.jpg.bc8c96d0728ffa3da447efec7ecec576.jpg

It then rained. That beads very small and rolls off quickly. Quite impressive.

 

20220706_093334.jpg.895160f8f2c23505d07cf5fca55694a4.jpg

Stuck a fan up in the vent, drawing air into the car to circulate because the windshield seal doesn't seal at all any more and the carpets get real wet in a heavy downpour.

 

Phil

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Read the plugs today, that's not doing too bad for a high (55) speed run to town and back.

20220713_092858.jpg.8c672e8c6fc5f994e68e2250a79c9c76.jpg

Next up, need to check the front wheel bearings. Sounded a bit grumbly on the way back, might not have been quite tight enough, they've done 3000+ miles with no adjustment.

 

Phil

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, PhilAndrews said:

Next up, need to check the front wheel bearings.

Yes, those ball bearings like to be fairly tight.  Snug them down and back-off to the first cotter-pin hole.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, EmTee said:

Yes, those ball bearings like to be fairly tight.  Snug them down and back-off to the first cotter-pin hole.

Yeah, I'm more used to taper rollers which don't like being wound down quite so tightly. I've had those bind up from being a fraction too tight before.

 

Either that or the carrier has fallen apart. We'll see. I didn't get the chance to do it last night because of the rain.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Managed to drain the torus. The drain plug was far too tight and already quite deformed.

20220928_180422.jpg.e368f1dba30336eda6c7250960ef1bf8.jpg

Dropped the lower pan. 

20220928_182154.jpg.80360f51a93682bbeabf63ee743cf2fb.jpg

Not too bad. A few errant metal shavings that must have been hiding in pressure lines, stuck to the magnet. Overall quite clean though. 

Refilled with new fluid. Still doing the hold 1st/dump to 3rd/slow to change to 4th thing when it gets hot so valve block needs to come apart again. I have a feeling I know what's causing it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Someone has 3 flat-pan Hydra-Matic transmissions they're willing to strip for parts; data plates are as follows:

Red, C9-35753

Yellow, 050-107524

Red, C51-35366

 

Mine is a Green, D51- transmission.

 

Are any of those the same valve block as mine (ie not a dual-range), with the uprated/variable pressure handling for line modulation and reverse boost?

 

Thanks

 

 

Phil

Edited by PhilAndrews (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Ugh, the heater motor has gone on the fritz again. I'm getting power up to it, it's just decided to not turn any more.

That's a pain, it's so much fun* to pull out of the car.

 

I've lost the link, didn't somebody say there's a modern 12V motor that fits this housing correctly, from a different vehicle?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...