Projects Mild custom '51 Pontiac Chieftain

A few cool minutes this evening before the sun fully went down.

The chrome is well past its prime, and sitting outside hasn't done it any favors.


Gentle application of light abrasives sees the large patches of staining gone, which account for most of the rusty look. The pits by themselves are quite small in comparison.

Couple coats of wax to try seal it up a touch. I'm going to come back to the big bare steel patch tomorrow with something a bit more aggressive.

Phil

 

Nice job on cleaning up the chrome,

 

Phil....been following your adventure for the past couple of years and always enjoy your posts. So glad that you and the family are back home and enjoying the old Poncho and milkshakes again. Cheers!

 

Try scrubing the rust with aluminum foil & window cleaner, you will be surprised and you probably all ready have some. Best thing I've found for rust on chrome.

 

I had tried that and found the foil to leave scratchy marks? Possibly the chrome is a bit thin (I know it is).
I have a light felt tool on my Dremel that allows me to carefully work with small areas with good control.

Did a little more tonight, finished when the Dremel got too hot.

Steady and slow, bit like the car.

Phil

 

Used the Size 8 method of aligning the front grille hood shut line. Better now.

 

Little more done on improving the look of the chrome.
I tell you this, it's too hot for May. I was burning my knees kneeling down to clean.

Phil

 

I'll say that too as it is going over 90 here today and last week we had an early heat wave in the high 80's. Very unusual for us up here in the NE. Will hide in my insulated garage which stays pretty cool for a few days until the heat soak wins over the insulation.

 

Times 2 on "the glad you're back home"........and man that's some nice looking chrome

 

Only because I took the picture from 15 feet away...!

 

It's that time again, where we play "burn the wrists".

Jacked the car up, pulled everything apart.

Took the chest covers off.

Found my go-nogo gauges.

The following happened. I got part way through then SUDDEN HEAVY RAINSTORM.

Finished up, buttoned it all up but I am soaked through and through. What is not fun is having very hot rain water dripping off the manifold as you are trying to secure things...

Exhaust no longer has a bup-bup-bup to it, 3 valves had opened up. It's really sensitive to valve lash, this motor.

Phil

 

@Tman has used some chrome polish that he swears is the best!
Might want to try that.

 

Yup. Quick Glow. Works wonders on old chrome. Read the link and try it
Quick-Glo

 

That looks pretty good stuff. I'll see if I can find it locally.

 

It was owned by someone down that way years back. Now I just order a couple cans at a time

 

So it appears, in Baton Rouge. Not gonna drive 2 hours there and 2 back to get a pot of it. I think I'll order it...

 

No matter what my feeler gauges say, I always have one clicky valve.

Also having a grump because I missed a car show due to work today. (Don't usually work weekends)

 

All the chrome is polished off, down to the nickel. Buffed it up anyway.



Phil

 

Quick Glow will help the nickel stay protected

 

I ordered a tub of it. For now it has a couple coats of regular wax.

 

Tonight, a bit of fun. Daughter has a couple of friends over, so after dinner we went for milkshakes.

Chuck Berry on the wireless, all the windows down, laughter and jibes.

Making memories.

Phil

 

Thinking, that scenario can mean a lifter bore prob.

 

That or a sticky valve; have had that before on this engine.

I'll break out the compression tester later this week and see.

Sunday edit: Found my compression tester, so if it's not raining tomorrow I can check.

 

A hot and sweaty afternoon gave rise to some troubleshooting.

Engine cold, sat 2 days without running.

Compression Test (dry, psi)

1. 115
2. 124
3. 95
4. 113
5. 122
6. 116
7. 105
8. 120

Compression Test (wet, psi)

1. 120 (+4.3%)
2. 128 (+3.2%)
3. 128 (+34.7%)
4. 115 (+1.7%)
5. 125 (+2.4%)
6. 115 (-0.8%)
7. 123 (+17.1%)
8. 120 (+0.0%)

So, cyl 3 is a touch low... and comes up real nice when oiled down, cyl 7 is a bit marginal and again comes up nicely when oiled.

Result? Yea, the rings are tired. Dry, none of the cylinders leaked down over 5 minutes. All took about 5 compression strokes to come up to peak pressure.

Do I want to do anything about it?

 

Pour a can of Restore in it and take it for a nice long drive.

 

Piston Rings In A Can?

I think the people following me to the store after oiling the cylinders down thought that might be a good idea. The exhaust was rather blue, to say the least.


The plugs aren't bad though.

Phil

 

Or, something else that had been previously mentioned, a valve spring or two going soft?

 

So I heard from my chrome plater that our year chieftains are the worst chrome on most cars because of the korean war and the nickel shortage. Thin thin thin nickel if barely any at all.

 

Your driving experiences with the Pontiac are similar to mine in the wife’s ‘62 Corvair. It’s happy at 55-60 which is the speed limit on most roads out here but even though it will keep up with the 70 mph traffic on the highway in town, it’s obviously not happy at that speed. On a recent outing, like you, I talked to several interested people and one said that years ago, she and her mother drove her mothers Corvair from Lodi, Ca to NYC and back again to visit grandma. I can’t imagine.
Tman’s right, that stuff works pretty good. My stuff was really bad so I used some Wax Depot liquid metal polish on steel wool to start, wiped that off, then hit it with Quick Glow to bring back the luster.
So glad to see you and the family out and about with your Pontiac.

 

I had enough mechanical malarkey.

Instead, it just got real. Out with the rotary.

Rear quarter, bling.

Going to carry on in the evenings when the day is cool enough.

Bumps and dinks and all, it'll be shiny.

Phil

Edit: The chrome polish came in too, it's pretty good, albeit seriously aggressive. Most amusing is the guy's email address is on my server at work...