VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 1950 Styleline Deluxe

So as you may have seen in the intro forum, I have come back after the loss of my 46. I now have a 50.


First order of business will be getting the weather stripping in the doors to keep the water out. (it's been garage kept up until now)

Some of the trim is missing, so as I go through it, I'll be looking for replacements. Then the oil guzzling 235.... my opinion is it needs to go. I either want a newer 235 that has oil pressure or a 250/261.

With a six cylinder and 3 spd, what rear gears should I use? I have both the standard and auto rear ends.

I would use the 3:55 gears which should be in the auto rear end. Looks like you are missing the windshield mouldings. There is a difference between Style line and Fleetline. Looks like a nice car.

Newer 235?...the car came with a 216. Most of the later 235's tended to use oil unless a better set of rings were installed.

Indeed it came with a 216 that was seized. This guy dropped a 235 in it, but said it was still a "splash oiler"..... This is the styleline, doesnt the fleetline have a more swooped roof into the trunk? And deluxe with the door spears only go through the front doors, etc... The windshield moldings are in the trunk. Curious actually how those go on... doesn't appear to be mounting holes except in the center. You think the 3:55 gears would be ok? I'm sure it would make highway speeds easier, but will I lose all my take off ability?

The fleetline 2 and 4 door ad the fast back. Nothing above the belt line interchanges between a Fleetline and Styleline. The windows, including the windshield is lower on the Fleetline.
The side trim below the belt line is the same for both as is the front clip and grille and front and rear bumpers.
Are you sure it is a Deluxe? The Special had a solid dark gray dash. The Deluxe dash is dark gray on top and light gray on the lower half.
The splash 235 has fewer oil burning problems than the full pressure oiling cars. Probably due to the cast iron pistons. If it does ues oil either the oil rings are stuck or return holes in the ring and piston grove full of carbon.

Yes it has all the trim of a deluxe (while most of it is in a box, the mounting holes are all there. The car has crazy silver flakes in the paint that you can't see in this photo, but in the sun it sparkles...Eh.
Looks like they didn't repaint the dash though....

Drove it a little more this past weekend. Still on the fence with where to even start. I thought having one with work already started would make it easier, but I think I'm more torn. I don't like driving it as-is, but do I want to finish it as-is or tear it back down and start over....

wndsofchng06, your '50 looks like a super nice driver with good paint and trim. That's half the battle! Your mileage may vary, but if I were you I would pull the 235 and re-ring it and freshen things up with gaskets and new clutch and drive the wheels off the thing

3.55 rear gears may be nice if you plan on driving it on the highway a lot, but if you're just doing around down trips the standard gears should be fine. Good luck with your Styleline and keep us posted on your progress.

Even with the dipper engine? I think I would like the other gears though.

Sure, nothing wrong with the dippers unless you're expecting a lot of speed or power. Lots of folks here tour with them and have driven theirs across the US without a problem. How bad is the oil consumption?

I think the dippers gave the rods good lubrication, the thing these old sixes don't like is high rpm. It will do fine just don't abuse it with high rpm. I used up a couple of them doing that in my youth and one was a '53 with pressure oil to the rods. (I mean rapping them up as far as they would go.) I agree with Chevgene there is no advantage as far as oil consumption with the pressure oil system.

Interesting to know. The oil consumption is bad.. I clear the area when I drive it, dragging a cloud of blue behind me! So it needs work at the very least.

I have a similar situation with my 51 Styleline Deluxe. Although the original babbitt pounder runs well, it is a little noisy. I installed aluminum pistons in the standard bores, deglazed the cylinders, installed new rings,installed umbrella vale seals, and adjusted the rod bearings with the engine in the car. Prior to this it was swilling a quart of oil every 150 to 200 miles.It uses absolutely no oil now, but is a little noisy due to excessive piston to cylinder wall clearance on a couple of cylinders. So when it comes time to rebuild I am really torn about rebuilding the original 235 or rebuilding a later 235 for a little more power and fuel mileage. The title for the car has the engine number for the VIN, making it worse yet

Matching #s certainly makes the decision harder. Someone already swapped mine though. My car was a 216 originally. You removed the pistons with the engine in the car?? Sounds like a PITA.

Preparation and clean up from honing/de-glazing the cylinders was the biggest time consumer. Checking and re-shimming the rod bearings took alot of time and patience also, and then I had to do it again!

Better man than I

All good cogent points made re: keeping your splash 235 vs getting a high pressure model. Also with the choice of rear gears, I think the big question you have to decide is how you're going to drive the car, where, and for how long.

A well done rebuild of the "babbitt pounder" will still yield good service. Those engines had a life of about 50-80K miles with careful maintenance. If you're going to do a lot of high speed driving, then a later 235 and the 3:55 gears are the way to go. Around town, the splash mill and the 4:11 gears will do fine. The Babbit Pot in Ft Edward, NY is a well known engine shop for the splash motors and has a good rep..

Check with your state DMV for guidance on the registration issue using the motor number.

Good luck.

Here in NC the motor # isn't really important unless you're bringing the car from out of state. Sometimes the DMV guys ask to see a second VIN. I've had friends that move to or sell their car to someone in another state, and believe me, if you do swap frames, engines, etc you want to keep your paper trail!

WHY is the motor number important, only if bringing a car to NC from another state ? That is not clear to me.

In state, OR out of state vehicle... what is the difference in the NC thinking if car is out of state, coming in ??

I'm bringing two 1951's to NC, from Georgia. Prior to "registering" my two cars in Georgia, (Georgia has NO title for old cars) ..... both PREVIOUS titles have the correct body serial numbers (now known as VIN's).

When registering my cars in GA., Georgia NEVER LOOKED AT MY CARS, only copied info from the titles I brought in. I could have had an armored tank in the parking lot, didn't matter to Georgia tag office.

Are you saying NC disregards the body serial number, in favor of the engine number, only on vehicles coming INTO NC ?

What could be the SECOND serial number that NC would want ?

This is all unclear to me. Please advise of what you know to be fact.

Thanks.

When bringing a car from out of state that's built prior to the 13-digit VIN, they REQUIRE inspection by a DMV theft officer. If the original Vin plate is intact with original rivets, the usually don't blink, but if it looks changed or tampered they will look at other Vin locations, usually the frame. It doesn't cost anything extra except your time. You will have to go through it coming from Georgia, whether or not they are already in your name....

Went and got a tree!

Both of mine are attached correctly, with correct serial numbers.
However, there is no frame stamping on a 1951, so I would be interested as to where they would uncover a second serial number, if needed.
You spoke of out of state cars and the importance of engine numbers ... can you expand on that statement?

Well two things... A: neat that the numbers matched. B: might be useful IF the DMV wanted extra evidence. If the car were suspicious ( no original date plate/ vin plate) and there's no other verifiable numbers you'd probably have to bond the car. They still give you tags, but hold using a title until they've completed a thorough investigation.

If you're speaking of matching numbers, as in body serial number and engine number, 1951 was before the time of matching numbers. Matching numbers arrived in the 60's.

Wanted your input to save any possible headaches, when I do this in January. I believe it will work OK for me and my '51's.

Thanks for the input/replies.

Since your cars have the original tags with original rivets, you'll be fine. They'll inspect it and move on...