VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Ready for the drive train, or not?

Well it's almost time to drop in the engine and trans.

Other than I know the overflow decal may not be correct? The cowl tag should be painted the cowl color not black. And the serial number on the door frame rivets are black plastic. I have a potential fix for that using my parts car's rivets if I can cut through the frame and remove them from underneath.

What else needs correcting?....

Radiator cap wrong, shift lever knob should match other plastic parts and the decal you mentioned.

Thanks the knob is a little off as I think it was new old stock where the rest are repops

What should the radiator cap look or be like?

You need a non pressure cap. 52 was the first year that I recall had a pressure cap. It was a 4 pounder.

the 51 looks fantastic. Can't wait to see what it looks like finished, which seems like it's just around the corner. Although are they really ever finished?

1948 was the first year to have a pressure cap....Then it reappeared on the 1950 and 1951 Power Glde models and all 1952's.
Was a "heavy duty option" for 1950 and 1951 sticks.
The correct cap has no "paint" on it and had the AC logo and the words never open when hot..

The cowl tag was painted? That may be an American thing, but up here they were all bare aluminum. You may want to check that out a bit further…
Are you going for a two-tone paint colour, or are the rims being repainted? It looks fantastic… any plans on having it judged for a VCCA Oval?

Dads51,

I think it is ready for the engine. The things pointed out are minor and can be taken care at your leasure. Drive on.

May want to show us a pic of the engine. We may have some suggestions about it. Who knows?

Charlie

All one color like "dads" and grandpas before that.

VCCA Oval? Not sure what that is all about? But I'm flattered I guess.

Couldn't have gotten this far without all your help, thanks

Shown before but not shy about showing it off again.

Boy am I going to keep my mouth shut from now on! this is the second time Gene has caught me in an error is about two days. In defense of my comment I was under the impression that the pressure cap was introduced in 1952 to off set a change in raidator capacity due to the Korean War Materials act.

The engine looks great! Here are the things I"m not sure about.

The bracket for the coil,

The off set of the hose clamps. Don't know about one being on the right side and the other being on the left side or not.

The cover for the brushes access in the generator

The fan of the generator

More than likely you got all of that just right. Like I said I just not sure about those items.

You've done a great job there. Grandpa would be proud of you.

Best,

Charlie

Generator band should be black. Pulley a dull dark gray.
1951 did not have boots on the spark plugs. Wires black lacqured cloth...can see a bit of the cloth texture under the shiney black lacquer.
coil bracket is correct.
Gas filter up against carb. - not out in the middle of the line.
The only writing on the oil filter was on the outer raised area on top of the lid. Blue lettering with instructions....no AC.

I wondered about the shinny band too.
The fuel filter I noticed it didn't match the accessories Manuel but that's the way the gas lines came from National Chevy parts?
I've not seen the cloth wires? This is my second wrong set then?

So national chev parts shows a plain cap with the verbiage about not removing it.
However they are either 4 lb or 7 lb?
Don't. I need something special with the overflow?

The 1951 PG would have a 4 pound cap. The only thing special for the overflow tank is a gasket that fits in the cap. The gasket came with the overflow tank installation kit.

Didn't see a gasket? Can you describe and maybe I can make one?

Ps I unhooked the wiring on the ignition switch and tried and tried to get the key mec out. Saw the plunger, etc, it just won't come. Ordering a new switch and lock instead.
Thanks

Beautiful engine! I have a question regarding the oil filter. I recently rescued a '51 Convertible from 40+ years of storage. It appears to be extremely original, but I noticed that the oil filter is piped backwards from the one that is on the display engine. I checked the lines I had removed and find that they are not of a proper length to reverse the hook-up.

Is this a problem for me? Should I order new lines from one of the suppliers to accomplish the change?

Thanks once again,

From what I can see in the picture the lines look correct. The inlet line originates at the oil pressure gauge which is taped into the main oil gallery on the lower block.It fills the filter from the side. The oil passes through the out side of the filter element into the center. In the center it passes through a small opening in the center tube and exits at the bottom of the filter and dumps in the pan via the fitting on the side of the block. If it were to go the other direction you would have a very small filtering surface in the center of the filter element.
The 1954 and prior filter mounted forward of the carburetor so the line comes in from the rear side of the filter can. From 1955 and up the the filter mounts to the rear of the carburetor and the line enters at the fron side of the canister.
The air cleaner was in the way so the mount location had to be revised.

Gene; What you describe is how mine is piped. When I looked at the display engine, it appears that the line from the pressure tap, oil pressure gauge, connects to the bottom of the canister and the return line, to the oil pan, is coming off the side of the canister. Maybe my "old eyes" are continuing to play with me, but the lines sort of cross over each other and make it a little harder to follow.

At any rate, how you describe the connections is how mine are, so I feel OK.

Thanks again, Gene

Gasket for radiator cap that comes with the overflow and used with cars with pressure caps is a tough rubberized material abou .015" thick. It fits behind the gripping ears on the cap and about 1/2 " wide.

Geez anyone got a visual of that gasket?
Thanks