VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 My 1951 Deluxe Sedan Restoration Journal...

Good luck with the project ..... and best wishes for the BIG event in April.

Just a quick update with what's happening here. No, I have not given up on the '51 yet! This winter has been the coldest and longest we've had in years, so I've really accomplished nothing out in the garage on the car. The garage itself is another story! All of the chrome has now gone to Cambridge Custom Chrome for refinishing. I told them that I'm in no hurry, so I expect they will take their time. As for the garage, here's my new scene. The door guys worked in -25C weather to install the door, and the siding guys backed out and waited a month for it to "warm up" to -10C to work. And I have a special surprise coming for the wall inside later! In other news, we've spent the winter working in the house on a new baby's room. Jane is doing well, and our baby bundle is due to arrive next month.

we have a lot more snow here in wisconsin.

Let us know when the little one arrives. One of the biggest joys in live. They do make you a grandpa & grandma you know.

I got out to the garage and finished up the cap on my work bench. Now all of my baby's rooms are finished!

When is the due date?

April 23... I'm hoping the week before so that I can get off of work for the Easter rush!

boy? girl?

Has anyone out there used the front end suspension rebuild kits from The Filling Station? Any comments or suggestions? Are the parts quality reproductions, or are we looking at Made in China crap here?

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~Z5Z5Z50000014a~Z5Z5Z56777~P375.00~~~~S4451D7DLA70511004950F~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50000014x#

Dang, I was just there on Friday and I could have looked at it for you. Too bad.
(But I'm not driving 11 hours again just to look for you.)

My suggestion is to call them and ask what they think the quality rating is?
Example: A-Excellent, B-Good, like original, or C-Poor quality

I have never found a "C" grade product from them... And... I found that their RETURN, or EXCHANGE policy to be very fair.

Give 'em a call.

You might check your local automotive warehouse as those parts may still be available and NOT overseas repro stuff.

Big undertaking this week, as I push to take it to the painter next week. First, the remainder of the stainless, the door handles, and the rear splash pan came off. Today the front seat, the engine and transmission came out…

After a bit of time with the power washer. Factory yellow grease pencil markings on the bell housing. Above the "1" was a "3", and on the other side where the "1" is, was a "2". Anyone know what they were for?

Today was the big day! I started by hauling out all of the parts from the '52 parts car, and picking what I thought Kerry would need for doing the body work, and what would fit in the truck. I'll have to take another trip to get the rear fenders there, as my load was pretty full. The front fenders are much nicer than what is on the car. Beside each other, you can really see where work was done on the original ones incorrectly. The wheel lips are the wrong shape, and there is a lot of Bondo. I took it all down to Kerry… about a two hour drive. We spent a couple hours unloading it, going over all of the parts, and discussing strategy.

That sheet metal looks pretty good! Are you sure you cut up the right car?

The lips of the fenders have all been replaced, and rebuilt. The fronts are the wrong shape, and the stone shields don't line up with the edges right. On the other side of the fender you can see where the patch was welded over the original fender, with the rusty edges of the original still showing on the back! The visible side was filled with Bondo. The inner fender liners are like new under the undercoating, with all of the factory black paint still on them. The upper corners where there was no undercoating have rusted away. The parts car has surface rust, but are all useable. There are pictures back on the bottom of page one.

A quick paint question… was the spare tire rim painted the body colour, or were they all black? Also, were the front and rear licence plate holder painted body colour or black?

The original spare tire rim on my '51 was painted body color with a contrasting stripe as well.

License plate brackets were black

Thank you, Guys!

Just had to add this picture of both of my babies…

A lot has been happening this week! I've got the engine all stripped down for the replacement of the gaskets, and painting. My question is: have I gone far enough? Are all of the oil leads to the filter, and the rest of the parts left on it painted grey? My strategy for painting is going to be this: give the oil pan, side cover and valve cover a coat of paint separate from the block. Then install the gaskets and covers, then put final coats of paint on.





Another thing… does this look okay? I don't think the pan has been off in years, so I'm hoping this bit of sludge isn't too much. All of the oil troughs had clean oil in them, and although dented in a few spots, the pan looks good.

Besides engine paint, are you planning an engine rebuild or a good desludging OR ....... ?

The oil filter lines are not painted. The copper line for the rocker arms is painted.
That is a 1952 block as it has the bosses on the side for ataching the 1952 style motor mount brackets.(three bolt holes)
The late 1951 Canadian 216 engines had the low side cover....so what is the casting number on the right side of the block?