FNG but long time lurker

Just an intro post, been a long time reader and finally joined the message boards. Been a car guy since i can remember because of my dad he always tinkered and had some cool rides when i was a kid. What made me finally join was my new to me purchase of a 1949 Pontiac Chieftain silver streak. Its a solid car minus needing front and rear floor pan but no serious rot anywhere else, its a straight 8 with a 3 on the tree (first time driving a column shift manual) plans are to lower it, disc brake conversion, update wiring harness and convert to 12v and redo the interior. Straight 8 seems to run decent but need to iron out some carb issues, shifts decent also but hangs up shifting sometimes. Her name is Black Betty (aka the mistress) wifes name is Bettie lol. Hope to learn some things and add the the forums if I can. Few pics of the mistress.

 

Hi & welcome. Nice ride. On your shift linkage problem the first thing to check is raise the hood and look where the shift rods attach to the 2 levers from the steering column. If the rods are a sloppy fit in the levers there is supposed to be a plastic bushing on the arms to take up slack. If those bushings are worn out or missing you will have very sloppy shifting & problems. Not sure if local auto parts will have the bushings but I would bet the farm they are the same as on the Chevie's & you can get those from www.chevsofthe40s.com You could measure the diameter of holes in the levers for bushings and shift linkage diameter to compare.
Their shift linkage bushing set is part # 365244 for the 49 - 57 set.

Good luck, Jimmie

 

Thanks Jimmie, will check the shift rods and levers for bushings. My guess the bushings are gone most likely as the shifter does have some play in it.

 

Another thing to check is with tranny in neutral the 2 shift levers coming off of the steering should be relatively in the same plane - side by side. If they are too far out of being even with each other the linkage cannot engage properly into all gears. This is something you can usually see & or feel with the shift lever when you shift. I need to adj this on my 46 coupe right now although it goes into all gears when I shift to second the shift lever inside barely moves upward into second from neutral position. It is working but could be better with that adjustment. Next time I do something under the hood I will check that on mine.
The first thing I did when I bought my 46 was to search Ebay for a factory shop manual. Originals do pop up there but there are reprints also there. Well worth the money.
Jimmie

 

Welcome from ga!

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

 

Welcome!

And while there are lots of really sharp folks here, you might want to also check out a Pontiac-only forum:

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com

And, if you have not yet found them, probably the best supplier of parts for that straight 8 would be Kurt Kelsey Pontiac parts, in Iowa Falls, Iowa.

And the original carb on that Pontiac, if kept clean, is virtually bulletproof! Parts are readily available.

Jon.

 

Thanks! will check it all out soon enough, about to get the front end torn down for a full rebuild as i dont think its ever deen apart since it was originally put together in 1949 lol!

 

Thanks Jon! This information will help me alot! As I'd really like to keep the straight eight in there and make it run as good as possible for the long haul. Will check out those two places and hopefully the carb just needs a rebuild and the carb issues will be fixed.