Projects Mild custom '51 Pontiac Chieftain

I taught him that

 

So sparks are good,

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In moderation and at a safe distance.

 

Well, once I've got it finished I'll show y'all, okay?

Phil

 

Well hell yeah!

 

Step one. This arrived today.

Phil

 

Hm. The picture had the wires as plain black, but these ones have words all over them. They also said USA Made by MSD, the box is printed Made In Mexico.
I can't win.

I know they're rubberized, but if I were to put old style Bakelite or phenolic resin connectors the moisture in the air here (you ain't had humid until you've had down the bayou humid) cause the spark to track over wherever it can and make the engine throughly unreliable. I'll concede to this because it helps.

Ordered an ultrasonic bath and 4 more spark plugs to complete the set.

Phil

 

Can you use a mild solvent to remove the printed lettering?

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Probably, it looks like it should come off.

Phil

Edit:. Pencil eraser works nicely.

 

white spirit in a soft cloth removed the writing from my msd leads.love the build bud

 

I think I may take this option. I was wanting to avoid putting any solvents or chemicals onto the wires but it's taking forever.

Phil

 

Now I got a head ache.

 

Bought my birthday gift. I shall say that one of these should be in everybody's toolbox. An incredibly useful tool, ultrasonic cleaning bath.

Phil

 

I'll say it again : Packard 440 from The Brillman Company. They also have Rajah spark plug terminals.

 

That's pretty nice!
What's the price range for one of those?

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This one is very Made In China but it's screwed together okay and works well. $67 delivered so if it breaks, it's not horrible.
The next size up about 90-120 bucks.

This one is about your fingers-length deep, two by one handspans. Big enough to put basic, broken down stuff into. Noisy though, this one is going to live in the garage.

Phil

 

Hey thanks !
Was thinking about one to clean carbs.
Probably have to be a little bigger than what you have though.

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I just saw a good idea on the use of these, which I'm going to use. To save cleaning it each time, fill it up with water but put the item you want to clean in whatever solvent you want to use inside a plastic container and sit it in the water in the bath. Works well to transfer the energy (water being very good at that) and keeps the pan clean. Also means if you use gasoline etc it's all sealed while it's in use.

Phil

 

Crimped up the king lead.

Found a suitable solvent to remove the lettering.


Removed the wire carrier and pulled all the wires out of it. The engine had fallen over in the care of the previous keeper when they were doing the engine work. It dented all the sheet metal up on this side of the engine. You can see the dents there to the right of the lead-out.


I beat on it with hammers. Not perfect, but better. Unclipped the back of it. I need to make up the lower section of the lead-out, it's missing.
That was therapeutic.

Next up it needs a thorough clean.

Phil

 

I've used goop hand cleaner to wipe down plug wires and pretty sure it took the letters off. Nice car by the way.

 

It's been a few years since i dealt with vacuum wipers. I thought i put some vaseline in the wiper box. Made it seal so they would work.

 

Yeah, I had tried that. It makes a bit of an improvement but the rubber seal is so worn and hard with age all it does is draw the Vaseline past under load. It's at the point of no escape; it needs a rebuild.

Phil

 

Ok. It's cheap and cheerful but now I have a vise. Not sure if I'll have much time today to build anything though.

Phil

 

Cleaned the coil clamp, found a screw that fit, painted.

The rest is cleaning right now.

I like having a vise.

Phil

 

That's all the things cleaned and painted.

Now I have a headache. That's a sign of progress.

Phil

 

Don't worry about that vise being inexpensive ( politically correct as opposed to cheap) . I have had a vise for years that was no where near cheap, it didn't work one damn bit better than my cheap vise. I beat on it, weld crap to it, and have abused that cheap one for a long time it just keeps on keeping on.

 

A lot appear to be incorrectly heat treated. Cast iron is finicky enough at the best of times, when it's made poorly that really doesn't help.
I bought the $14 no questions asked replacement for a year, just in case I find the weak point. I don't plan on abusing the thing but I'd rather not be out of pocket and time waiting on a manufacturer warranty.

I do miss the big forged steel Record ones we had at school in the metal shop. I think anything short of a full swing with a sledgehammer would just be shrugged off. Those were proper 1930's ones, decent steel and nicely seasoned. They were also built like the proverbial brick outhouse compared to this one.

Phil

 

Phil, I agree with you about the quality of some of those old vise's. I have three mounted on my work bench, one is a Heuer german made forged steel vise, the second one is a Bessey 7" forged vise. The last one is a cheap $39.95 special that anyone can find anywhere. The Heuer and the Bessey both were very pricey, I have owned them for years and they both are fine pieces. But we do live in the real world the cheap vise I have without a doubt gets the most use, and does the job. I hammer on it, fabricate on it, weld on it and sometimes even forge on the damn thing. It doesn't stop working hell its a vise. Are the two forged steel vice's better---well yea they are better made, more precise in there adjustments and movements, and each one cost 20 times what the cheap vise did. I am not sure if in the using they are better for what I ask of a vise. That's the real world part.

 

Ready for a trip to the grocery store, right there.


Instead of that, I set about doing some metal work. Marked a sheet of steel out to size.


Cut it out to size and de-burred the edges.


Bend bend bend bash bash bash


Tweak, shrink, fettle


Squirt of black paint. That'll do.

Phil

 

There we go. That's what I'm talking about.



Phil