Projects Mild custom '51 Pontiac Chieftain

Not many pictures tonight because this is dirty work.


Put the car back up on stands. Pulled the front passenger brake off.


Removed the old flexi pipe, cylinder. Removing the cylinder showed it had been leaking too.


New hoses checked; they don't catch on the wheel at any steering position on full droop. I'll check again on full bump when it's down on its wheels. There's a bit of adjustment available.

Phil

 

Hey Phil, I've been slacking on checking in here, but if you have that door glass out again, trace it on a piece of paper, fold it up and send it to me. I'll get a new piece headed your way. Glass is free, you can pay me back for the shipping someday

 

that is going to earn you some cred--good man!

 

I've gotta lift the glass back out to do the channels properly, so I'll trace them out then. Thank you.

You need an acid etch to stamp your auto glass with. Hm.

Phil

 

Anything i can do to help you know I'll be there

 

Hey Lloyd your slowly convincing me you are a good guy! Lol. Seriously nice thing to do


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Hey those door glass aren't that big, I've got tons of scrap out there in the rack that'll cut a door glass. Worst part might be that it's green tint??? I save those pieces to help out my friends when i can just doing my part, hell my 57 would be sitting there if it wasn't for a couple of guys here. Great bunch of people, for the most part

 

Nope, whoever bought this didn't fork out for tinted glass, it's fully clear.

Phil

 

Let me check but I'm pretty sure all i have is green tint Phil. But I'm sure i can come up with a piece of clear if i don't have any.

 

Granny always said that I was her favorite, but she was a heavy drinker good woman though....

 

E-Z-Eye glass doesn't become an option on Pontiac until '52

 

That'll be why then. I guess that was "the next big thing", single piece front window, tinted glass...?

Phil

 

Just ordered a length of 2/0 welding wire, so I can finally relocate the battery out of the passenger footwell.

Phil

 

Old. Faulty. Missing parts.


New, greased, all good.


#$&+.

Need some 1/4" brake line and a flaring tool, then.

This was "all new" in 2015, according to the advert...

Phil

 

That was almost 6 years ago! Whatya expect out of this new steel Phil

 

I shouldn't be upset. It's the first fixing that's broken during my tenure.

Phil

 

Went shopping. Ready for tomorrow.
Brake line to front right looks pretty new.

Front left.. ropey. To the rear, also ropey. Should have enough on the spool to redo to the back.

Phil

 

I can already smell the brake fluid

 

That I don't mind.

My future contains EP-90 gear oil. Old EP-90. That is easily amongst the worst smells on a car.

 

Work begins.

 

"New".

... I don't think so.

 

Work brought to a halt by the thread on the flaring tool stripping.

Great

 

So the "Lifetime" guarantuee of the flaring tool referred to the lifespan of a mayfly.

 

Pretty much. I got a refund and went bought another one, still the same basic idea, still the same basic junk but hopefully between the two I'll finish the job. Only got two more flares to make.


Still, got the car jacked up, the front to rear line put in, front left pipe done.


Looks a bit better coming off the master cylinder now.


I cleaned up the rear tee block, that was just a wad of gunge with a few pipes coming out.


Made up a new pipe for the rear left wheel.


Got the wheel off. The shoes didn't look that old but they were falling apart, the top bias adjuster took a good leg-heave on a 8' breaker bar to free off.

Cleaned it up, greased it and now it rotates correctly.


Got the lot stripped down to the backplate, reassembled it all and forgot to take a picture before putting the drum and wheel back on.

Rear right is left to do. I'll call California Pontiac Restoration on Monday and see if they have an expected due date for the right rear cylinder.

That's definitely enough for today. I hate brakes.

Phil

 

Yup. A length of tube, all the way out from under the back of the car, given a shove.

CLANG! It went off with quite the report. I thought I had broken my socket to begin with.

 

I also really should invest in a proper spring tool. Grabbing brake shoe springs with my channel-loks and fighting with the springs is less than ideal.

Wind is picking up here, getting the back end of the storm that's in the gulf right now (beta). Tomorrow the plan is to run a new hard line from the tee to the passenger side rear wheel, replace all the hardware and grease everything up, including freeing off the adjusters, in preparation for new hydraulics.

I might adjust the other brakes up if I have time, too. I need to get a cable grommet while I remember, also.

List is getting shorter.

Phil

 

Slight change of plan. Backordered brake cylinder has shipped so I'm putting a halt on work until that arrives.

Phil

 

Just to say I did something today, I cleaned my hubcaps.


Grubby, and I hadn't polished the red after painting it.


They're old and hazy but at least now they're clean, and the red has a bit of a sheen to it.

Phil

 

Look what was in today's mail. More toys!

Phil