Still no go

14/01/28 at 9.06am   /   by angieweaver   /   0 Comment

The 51 still won’t start. We figured out the little gremlins…it was a tiny little insulator between the distributor and housing that someone had used black tape to repair. We had a spare distrbutor and I took the one off that. We went ahead and got new cap, rotor, points and condensor. The coil was ok. When we tried to fire it it wanted to go…..even tried to run….so we think timing is off. We will be back at it tomorrow. Wish us luck51

Fuel filter

14/01/11 at 9.18am   /   by angieweaver   /   0 Comment
stock 51 chevy fuel line

This is how it looked stock.

IMG_20140110_203803I added a fuel filter to the chevy today. The original dealer accessory called for a 60 degree fitting that I could not find….but National Chevy Association has a kit that is the fuel filter and also the pre bent lines.

This is what it looks like with fuel filter installed.

This is what it looks like with fuel filter installed.

Here is a link to what it would have looked like with the fitting that isno longer available.  http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/accessories/1951am/51aim19.htm

Idler Arm

14/01/06 at 10.34am   /   by angieweaver   /   0 Comment

idler arm componentI had to drop the Idler arm bracket to get the pan off the 216 motor in the 51 Chevy. I was having trouble locating the bolts under the few inches of crud. I posted pics on chevytalk.com. Someone there noticed my idler arm had an add on component added sometime to take the slack out of the steering.

Turns out there were a few makers of these parts to jerry rig the steering without having to rebuild the idler arm. I am ordering the kit to rebuild the idler arm myself. I may have to get it machined but otherwise I will be doing it. Wish me luck. Feels good to be making repairs that should have been done long ago. It does look like this add-on did it’s job….there is no slack in the steering.

I spent today cleaning crud. It finally is starting to look like a frontend.

Thanks for reading,
Angie

Banty Coupe update December 2013

13/12/29 at 9.47am   /   by angieweaver   /   0 Comment

Well, I had wanted to get it fired up before the new year but doesn’t look like that will happen. I got the fuel system all hooked back up. My friends over at Chevytalk have suggested I put an inline filter in though….and that’s the holdup. I want to add one as they would accessories in 51. Thing is they don’t make the parts anymore. I need a 60 degree fitting…..here is the link to the chevytalk.com discussion about it all….some great knowledge over there… http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/306290/
I have the oil drained but need to pull the pan to look at the sludge that has sat in there all these years. I also noticed today the pan has a huge blow out and has needed a new gasket for a very long time. I asked Chuck if he replaced it when he got it running in 82 and he doesn’t think he did…..Judging by the stuff to get the pan off I am pretty sure nobody wanted to tackle that job. The book says I can just get rid of the steering knuckle or whatever its called in the middle and take one tie rod loose….and the flywheel cover off….and out it will come….It don’t look that simple…..plus there is 65 years of sludge all over everything down there. Stuff I have to pry off. You couldn’t even see the shape of the tie rod ends….ugh The gasket was ten bucks yesterday so I can imagine how cheap it would have been to fix it back in the day. And imagine how many courts of oil it cost. I’m sure if Uncle Banty would have thought of that part he would have talked somebody into replacing the silly gasket. He also hated oil leaking cars so I can’t even imagine why he didn’t fix this….er I mean have it fixed….He wasn’t one to enjoy working on cars.

I sprayed round two of degreaser on and will rinse it off in the morning and try to pry more sludge off. Another exciting find was the silly pan bolts are regular screwdriver heads up under all that sludge…..ugh ought to be fun getting ten of them babies out…..wish me luck!