Projects Mild custom '51 Pontiac Chieftain

Rubbed down half of the grille and bumper for comparison. The sun is at an unkind angle right now, illuminating all the rust... But it does bring it up nice.

It removes dirt. And the chrome. Oh well.
The nickel is pretty poor, the chrome really hasn't adhered to it well.


The sun is at a poor angle for the chrome, but good for the paint; I'm quite pleased with how it buffed up.

Phil

 

I think that's about as good as I can get the brightwork.
Some parts have definitely been plated better than others; the teeth are stainless by the looks of it, and the center piece that holds the red badge is really quite good compared to the rest. The headlight and parking light bezels were definitely done by the same company... They are terrible.

Phil

 

I have also had an interesting thought on tidying up the parcel shelf behind the rear seat. Watch this space.

 

First stage cut complete on the side of the car.

Phil

 

Cleaned up now.




Phil

 

Big difference!

 

Yeah, it's a good twenty-footer.

 

Or in pictures!

 

Divided opinion time!

Refitted the sun visor.

Phil

 

I'll bet opinions will heavily favor the visor!

 

This should tell you my vote…your car is looking good!

 

Yours too.

Though, yours has quite the different look; if I'm not mistaken, those are '54 front fenders which have a really sweet shape to the wheel arch.

Phil

 

My car is a Canadian version called a Fleetleader Deluxe.. basically a Chev Fleetline that had originally had a flathead 6 and the Pontiac trim. That makes it easy to get suspension parts etc. I actually put a Chev fender on the one side when I first built it in the early 70’s to replace a banged up original…only required a few holes drilled for trim.

 

NO..Leave them to the lowriders

 

Yes to the visor!

 

So, the other way around. Pontiac gained 1951 Chevrolet fenders for '54

That sounds much more like GM.

 

That’s an awesome picture with the girls, the llok like a fun group. I got three of them things myself!!!

 

Fun... Let's go with Highly Animated!

Was a fun outing though, short enough for them not to get into any arguments, which seems to the way most traveling devolves.

 

Ok, so a serious question now.

The car is sitting on short front springs, about 2.5" low (blocks at the back so n/a to this question).

I need to redo the front suspension, all the bushings are worn. It'll be taken apart, so putting it back together- what should the geometry be set to? Same angles as if it was sitting at factory height?

Most of the vehicles I have owned haven't had the adjustability in the front suspension- lower the vehicle and you're stuck with the additional camber. This has camber, caster and toe adjustment.

What say you?

 

Alignment is going to depend on multiple factors. Start with what are the factory specs? Where is it now? What tires do you have, radial or bias? Do you like the way it drives? Working with a knowlegdeable alignment shop can make all the difference.

Devin

 

I’m thinking that as long as the rake is similar to the factory rake, I would start with factory settings and see how it drives. If it was seriously low in front (or rear) it would change the angle of the A-arm mounting points requiring some compensation during alignment. But I’m no expert.
I vote no on the visor. It ruins the smooth, rounded lines of that body style and gives it that “grandpa’s car” look. Leave it for the lowriders who seem to have to have every exterior accessory ever made all on one car. JMHO.

 

Hello,

Having a good friend owning his first car back when we were teenagers, his 1951 Pontiac sedan was a classic. It was not as fast as our Chevy sedans, but a solid cruiser. We all knew and saw almost daily, the lowered sedans that had almost every accessory attached to their sedans.

Even if the lowered cars were old style Fords and Chevy sedans, the more accessories that were on the cruiser, the accolades were given. In most cases, it was not our teenage hot rod style, but everyone had their own way to add or customize their cruising sedans.

The windshield sun visor was not the most popular thing, but the ones we did see, were on some stock versions on dealer lots. They were hard to keep clean and made noises due to the wind being trapped in the alcove of the shade and windshield glass. But, the lowered cars just had to have that accessory as well as the outside passenger window water cooler that looked like a JATO motor.

Despite the fact that the sun visor makes the car look like a baseball cap force fit on someone’s head and the outside water cooler dripping water all over the place and making those inside wet… it was a choice.

Jnaki

My friend’s 51 Pontiac sedan was left white and the only addition was a custom floor shift for his transmission we made in our high school auto shop/metal shop classes.

He did have plans for his Pontiac, which included me trying to pinstripe flames on his hood and fenders. He also wanted a bright color to make the white sedan stand out.

Here are some ideas we threw around.

Thin pinstripe scallops to a contrasting color or... a full color paint with wider scallops with a faded paint pattern. The outlined flames did not look good. The pinstriping was subtle enough without being too garish.

The ideas were free and they got thrown around… But, based on a teenager’s income, and the not so expert skills of another teenage pinstriper/flame artist.

So, the 1951 Pontiac sedan remained a classic stock white.

Here is a similar in look and style, Pontiac sedan. No sun visor looks clean and cool.

 

But, doesn't the visor adds a touch of "mild custom" ? Kinda goes with the name of Phil's thread "mild custom 1951 Pontiac Chieftain". Might have to change the title to "stocker 51 Poncho".

 

Mild custom would indicate cleaning up the factory styling. Adding garbage to a car is not customizing, it's decorating ...

 

My vote is for the visor. It looks good either way but the visor is just a trademark of that era.

 

I have to say, Phil has done a great job fixing up the old Poncho. The Hydramatic rebuild was especially interesting.
But if a JC Whitney visor is all that makes it a mild custom, it doesn't seem like HAMB material to me, per Ryan's rules.
I suggest that Phil trades wheels and tires with the guy from Canada with the visor equipped fastback. Throw in the skirts too. Then, if Phil rakes it a bit more, adds a split manifold and glasspaks, he'll have a perfect early 60's California mild custom.

 

So noted.

Between times, I now have a new parcel shelf. The old carpet went bad so I pulled it out and had been driving about with just the street metal showing.


Blue broadcloth, about the same color as the roof.

Phil

 

Factory spec:
Toe is ⅛"
Kingpin inclination 4°
Camber ½°
Caster ½°

Mine is way off. It still drives reasonably. Running Coker bias ply tires. About 2½" lower than factory, running a shortened spring.

Phil

 

Absolute yes. Looks awesome.