‘51 Special Build

[SkiDooFritz]

Hello, All. This is the beginning of a build thread on my 1951 Special Riviera, which I found sitting in a field in Virginia two weeks ago. It has a solid body and frame along with a motor that, as of a few hours ago, runs. More details can be found in my introduction post. I’ll be using this thread to document my progress as I get the car back on the road.

 

 

My goal for this build is not a show car, but a good presentable driver. I plan to split the build into two parts. The first, short-term part will see the mechanical and electrical systems restored, the floor pans replaced, and the interior reupholstered. Once I complete this, I can deal with the paint, pitted chrome, and rolled bumpers while I drive a functional car around.

 

The second part will probably have to wait until the future, but I hope to restore the trim, repaint the body, and focus on the little details to bring the car closer to factory specifications.

The interior as I found it, full of chrome.

 

This week, I started small by rebuilding the carb and the solenoid to try and get the motor to start while I wait for more parts in the mail. A friend’s ultrasonic cleaner and some fine wire made quick work of the carb. A rebuild kit and a soldering iron put the solenoid back in commission.

Before

After

With the rebuilt carb and solenoid installed along with new battery cables, I was glad to find the motor started right up on the first try running off of a fuel bottle. The exhaust was chopped off by a previous owner just a few feet from the manifold, but I found the motor remarkably quiet. 

 

Next up is a brake service including a master cylinder rebuild and tires. This should get the car moving under its own power for the first time in many many years.

[neil morse]

Welcome to the forum!  You will find a lot of knowledgable and helpful people here.  I look forward to following your progress on this project.

[Machine Gun]

Pretty darn good progress in only two weeks. Can't wait to hear when you get it on the road.

[EmTee]

Welcome!  This looks like a great project and you've really sprinted out of the gate!  It sounds like you have a good plan and obviously have the talent to pull it off.  You'll receive lots of help (well, virtual help) from the group here. 

[avgwarhawk]

Let's see that flame paint down the side and hood!  

[Robuick46]

Welcome! Nice to have you here with your project. The people here in the forum will always help as good as they can and that's a lot of help. Nice Work. The colour of your car looks very interesting.

Fritz is a German name.

I'm from Germany.

[SkiDooFritz]

Thanks, all for the welcome. It’s great to have support from all over the world. 

 

While parts continue to come in, I’ve kept busy and put the car up on jacks to replace the brake and fuel lines, pulled off the wheels to mount new tires, and rebuilt and cleaned the fuel pump.

 

Before I had the car in the air, I had it running on a bottle to try and move it a few feet. I found that it had no reverse. I can tell it is a linkage issue, as the shift lever positions do not line up to the actual transmission position (“D” is neutral, “L” is drive, and “R” is low). I went under the car to take a look and found that the linkage arm on the transmission contacts the frame when it swings backwards towards reverse. I don’t think it can use the full range of motion. I haven’t reassembled or adjusted the linkage, so I can’t say for sure if this is a problem yet. Has anyone encountered this or found it to be an issue? 
 

Anyways, here are some other photos I have from the day I brought the car home. I don’t have many, but once it is rolling again and I can take it out of my little garage I will get some more photos.

 

The flames might be fun for a while, but I think I’d like to see this back in its original green. I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

[JohnD1956]

Your trans lever alignment sounds more like you cannot get it into Park.

 

The reverse band on a Dynaflow is held in place by a strut that has no fasteners. Under some conditions that strut can be jarred and it will fall out of position thus losing reverse gear. The strut is at the bottom of the band and I have heard of it being placed back into position from removing the pan while the trans stays in the car. But I only have experience dropping the strut, not replacing it.

[SkiDooFritz]

Thanks, John. I’ll check the band if I still have the problem once the linkage is readjusted. I really hope I don’t end up needing to drop the transmission. I believe there is a band adjustment I can access through the floor- is it possible that a really poor band adjustment could cause the missing reverse? If so, I’ll check that before removing the pan. 
 

Regardless, I should probably finish up my brakes before I try to test it again… I’d rather not suddenly find reverse and slam into a wall.

[SkiDooFritz]

Spent the afternoon after work today with some tire spoons wrestling some new rubber onto the stripped and painted rims. Got two of them done. I know they’re just cheap radials, but tires are replaceable and I’d rather spend my budget doing the permanent things the right way now. Very happy with how the chrome polished up.

I’ll let that nasty master cylinder soak overnight and plan to rebuild it tomorrow night.