VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Introduction

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would introduce myself. My name is Wayne and I've been lurking here since I bought a 1951 Chevy Styleline Deluxe 2 door sedan this spring. I'm still new to old cars, although I'm learning fast.

The car needed some work, but it was very sound and needed little to pass our government safety inspection. I've slowly been working away at it as I find time. With any luck I'll have it ready for inspection by the end of today.

I bought the car with three things in mind. Drive inn movies, cruising around when its too windy to go boating and to pull my polished aluminium boat to antique outboard motor club meets. Antique outboards and Feather Craft boats are my first love. I like to collect and restore both.

Here is my car and a couple photos of my 1957 Feather Craft Ranger III and 1955 Mercury MK55 outboard.

Wayne,inpresive toys,hang in there you never know the 51 may become your 1st love some day?Inspections,what are those,not here in Washington for vintage cars

Love the car,I have never been into boats but that`s a pretty good looking boat also.

You Know those old beatup Boats could be cut up for great extra fender skirts..:) Welcome to the site. Be Strong

Glad you've been here to check us out, Wayne! I really have to drop by and see your car sometime. It looks really nice and original. I love that colour… it's the same that my convertible is supposed to be. Let me know if you want to join us on tour someday… Our first one is this Saturday (the 14th)!

Wayne -- You've got the fever!!!


Welcome!!

Nope. They are aluminium. They are too thick to bend without annealing and they don't like to be painted. They are a great way to draw attention away from the many flaws in the car, though. :)

Thanks for the welcome, everyone. Bruce, I'd love to go for a cruise sometime, but it won't be this weekend. I'm having a little trouble with the rebuilt master cylinder I installed. Its shooting fluid out the end when I pump the pedal. Hopefully, I will have it out and repaired this weekend. Its sad because the brake bleeding went really well.

Brakes are fixed. One of my new stainless steel brake lines is leaking and I can't get it to seal. Oh well. I guess I'll have to make one to replace it.

I have a 51 and was talking to someone in a restoration shop regarding the new stainless lines I am going to install. His comment was that the stainless lines are a real pain to get them to seat and be leak free.

My '51 has made it 63 years, without stainless lines.

When the time comes for any replacements, stainless will not be on my list, for the same reasons mentioned above.

I agree, I had a problem with stainless lines on other years. No need to use them, if the car is stored inside, and used in a limited hobby use they will look new and last. I did the lines on 60 Impala over 20 years ago, used steel lines and they still look as good as the day they went on

The last brake job with all new or rebuilt parts lasted 12 garage stored years and 10K mi. Everything was a rusty mess. I don't regret using stainless lines at all. I only wish it wasn't prohibitively expensive to have the wheel cylinders stainless sleeved, like the master cylinder. I am also happy with the Dot 5 silicone brake fluid I used. The wheels now lock up when I jam on the brakes.

This isn't a show car. Its a driver.I plan to use this car a lot during the summer so I want everything in top working order.

"The last brake job with all new or rebuilt parts lasted 12 garage stored years and 10K mi. Everything was a rusty mess."

Many of us have been doing this type of work on antique and restored cars for many, many years. Too many to count, in my case.

To get such short service out of brake work, as described by you, would indicate inferior materials, possibly parts being manufactured outside of the USA. Lots of those "cheapo" manufacturers out there willing to take your money.

I would tell you others, like me, have had good fortune of purchasing quality products, not necessarily the highest priced products, but products known to be manufactured within the USA, by a company with a good reputation behind them.

Good products are available, without going to stainless .... and the headaches stainless can create.

You are personally experiencing the "stainless headaches" now.

An informative quote from "Inline Tube Company"

"Is stainless steel harder to seat than OEM steel?


Both materials seat the same. The tubing is not what causes the line not to seat. Most of the time you are reusing a master or wheel cylinder and the seat in the used component has a seat ring from the old line. When reusing old components with new lines, either stainless or OEM steel, they must form a seat in the component. To form a good seat, loosen the line slightly and retighten several times. This allows the two materials to re-form together and create a strong seat."

Thanks for the follow up. That's exactly what I did when I put them on so that gives me some confidence in my work. I deal with pressure fittings at work so I'm familiar with how they seal. My concern was that the flare wasn't good or was cracked. I reseated the line again this afternoon and everything seems to be good.

Now to find a garage that understands how these old cars work to get the safety inspection.

Thanks for the help, folks. I appreciate the comments.

PS. I think the reason the brakes were so bad is because the previous owner didn't do any maintenance on them at all. He just bought the car and used it. I think he assumed it would be fine since he didn't drive it much. I promise I'll do a better job maintaining her.

"PS. I think the reason the brakes were so bad is because the previous owner didn't do any maintenance on them at all. He just bought the car and used it. I think he assumed it would be fine since he didn't drive it much. I promise I'll do a better job maintaining her."

That explanation make more sense, as to why the brakes were questionable.

Success! The brakes are working perfectly. The car passed inspection today and is now licensed for the road.

Thanks for the help.

Wayne… Did you go with historic vehicle plates? That coupled with Classic car insurance is really cheap for a year...

No. I got YOM plates with classic car insurance. I want to use my car more than the historic plates allow. The YOM plates look so much better, too.

They do look better! I've got the set that came on my car new, but one is pretty damaged and won't pass. I've also got a commercial set for '51. I'm not sure if the license office would know that they are commercial though… they look the same, the digits start with a "C" though…

I thought the use restrictions were tied to your insurance, not the plate…

According to the MTO, historic plates are not for general pleasure cruising. My concern is that I'd get in an accident and they'd decide that my historic plates were being misused since I wouldnt likely be driving to any shows or parades.

Here is what the MTO says about historic plates...

In order to obtain Historical plates the owner must sign a declaration stating the following to be true. The vehicle in question,

(a) is at least 30 years old,
(b) is operated on a highway in parades, for purposes of exhibition, tours or similar functions organized by a properly constituted automobile club or for purposes of repair, testing or demonstration for sale,
(c) is substantially unchanged or unmodified from the original manufacturer’s product, and
(d) does not have attached to it year-of-manufacture plates.

I used s/s lines without a problem on my 51. However, I did replace all the wheel cylinders and master cylinder so that's probably why I was trouble free.

You folks in WA state are lucky to not have to deal with inspections. Here in VT it's a challenge as most garages have no clue when it comes to pre-60s cars. What a headache. If the front end is not perfect, no sticker.

I replaced/rebuilt everything. The brass junctions were the only parts I reused and that's where my leak was.

Interesting. My reused brass junctions didn't leak either. Guess I got lucky.