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Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 7:56 pm
by DodgeRover
Could you spin it in a lathe and fine polish it to get a good finish?

Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 8:12 pm
by PhilA
DodgeRover wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 7:56 pm Could you spin it in a lathe and fine polish it to get a good finish?
That would involve having a lathe; the problem is mostly the casting not the valves. The valves are really hard, the body is some aluminum alloy.

Phil

Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 8:52 pm
by DodgeRover
Bugger it doesn't take much for things to get hung up, any chance you could have the body sleeved then reem it to suit?

Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 10:17 pm
by PhilA
DodgeRover wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 8:52 pm Bugger it doesn't take much for things to get hung up, any chance you could have the body sleeved then reem it to suit?
It really doesn't- the valves operate at about 15psi so they can get stuck fairly easily.
More modern systems operate at much higher pressure so the valves move with a more positive action.

However, I took it for a drive today to get groceries and it only got hung up one time and it wasn't bad so it's definitely made an improvement.

I'm going to look for a brake cylinder hone and try clean up the valve body a little.

Phil

Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2020 1:45 pm
by PhilA
[youtube][/youtube]
You can see it getting hung up a little when I pull out of the drive, then at the bottom of the street it works perfectly.

Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 1:07 pm
by PhilA
20201124_193010.jpg
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Put the second coat of black paint on the horn last night.

I'll wait for that to harden and flat it back again. Might do another coat, depending on how that one sits.

Phil

Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:04 pm
by AMCrebel
Like the video - are the headlamps original? They seem bright for 7" sealed beams - the ones in my Chevy were 45/60 watt but those seem to have superseded by 55/60 an eve more powerful units.

Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:14 pm
by PhilA
AMCrebel wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:04 pm Like the video - are the headlamps original? They seem bright for 7" sealed beams - the ones in my Chevy were 45/60 watt but those seem to have superseded by 55/60 an eve more powerful units.
Yup, they're real old-school non-halogen-capsule genuine 45/60 sealed beams.

They seem bright because they're being fed with 10ga wire all the way from the main busbar. No appreciable voltage drop across the wiring.

Phil

Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:49 pm
by AMCrebel
Tidy

Re: 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2020 2:02 am
by PhilA
20201127_194357.jpg
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Finished the paint on the horns. Gotta make a bracket for them now.

Phil