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

The bling looks amazing Brew. It's really getting there. Planning a June drive are you?

That's "Dad's51" that is planning the June drive on his fresh restoration.

Mine is hopefully going to be on the trailer for the ride to Lake Tahoe in August, as well as the Six Cylinder Tour at Port Huron Michigan in September.

My guard sits nice and flush with the fender, so I haven't found an edge yet. I ran it over the buffer, so it's pretty smooth as well. Maybe sanding down the edges and buffing it would fix yours...

I started getting serious about this wiring harness today. The coil/starter harness is all in. I have to get a couple of grommets yet for the firewall, but I did make one creative save. The grommet with the vent cable going through it has been painted over multiple times over the years. The easy fix was to turn it around, as the inside is brand new looking. Now I have a factory original rubber grommet!



Lets take a quick look how far the passenger side of the engine compartment has come...

Before:


After:

Today the rest of the old wiring harness came out. After a quick look I'm pretty sure that the new one will line up with where the old one was. It seems to make sense... although I'm a little concerned about the wires for the horns and the cig lighter...



Afterwards, I pushed it out onto the driveway to do some cleaning on both the car and the garage. It's come a long way in 2 and a half years...

2013...



and 2016...



2013...



and 2016

The new Y'nZ's wiring harness has started to go in. Today I put the main harness in, getting it hooked up at all of the points under the hood and floor board, Now I've started under the dash...

Today I ran a backyard paint studio. The blasted manifolds were cleaned and painted with high temp "Steel" coloured paint...



Another thing I'm trying to do is keep all of the little Canadian details on the car. It looked like someone had bashed the factory voltage regulator cover on with a hammer. My search of the parts stash (neatly labeled bins) turned up one Canadian cover in worse shape, and two American ones. I'd given up on it, and painted my bashed in one, when I had to go parts scrounging again last night. Great Score! I found another Canadian one mounted on a firewall access cover in a different tote! It has now been sanded and primed for painting...

Peek-a-boo... Eye see you!

It's been a couple of great days for grilling!!

Years ago the factory rivets were replaced with torques bolts, so I cleaned and reused them. All of the phillips bolts are the originals, cleaned up. New rubber hood bumpers, new chrome, and one new horseshoe end piece from my spare '52 grille helped get this together. Having the '52 grille in the basement helped a lot... and I spent a bit of time cleaning it up too. Still a rusty wall hanger though! I just need to paint the "Chevrolet " script on the top bar, and it's ready to go...

Tonight I went scrounging in my parts bins looking for a couple extra of the factory rad hose clamps. I found some on the fuel tank hoses from the parts car, as well as a pretty nice gas cap. Also found a few heater hose clamps, and a dirty old glass bowl fuel filter.

There is no better feeling than finding a dirty or rusty part, and finding out it can be saved or restored with just a little elbow grease and a steel wool pad! The fuel filter I thought was too far gone... now I'm thinking of adding it to the car!

A couple of questions...

1) Was the rad cap bare metal, or painted?

2) Was the gas cap bare or painted?

3) I'm 99% sure these rad hose clamps and gas hose clamps are factory. Are USA built cars the same, or different?

4) Is there to be a screen or stone in the glass filter bowl, or is it just filtering heavy stuff?


Before:



After a bit of cleaning... (ignore the gas linkage)

Radiator cap was a shiney but not chromed finish.

Gas cap is a dull silver, probably some kind of platng.

The correct clamps were the ones with the clamp sideway pulling the clamp together. The wire type self tightning clamps were never used in 1951. The tower clamp with the screw going straight in was used by Chevrolet in the '60's.
Clamp wise it looks like an assortment of various clamps that Chevrolet used in the later years.....like by an old Chevrolet mechanic.

From what I can see the gas filter is a later AC and not made until the mid '50's. The correct filter for a US car in 1951 was a Morain filter made by a division of GM. What does it say name wise on the top of that filter?

I should add that the 1951 cars with standard transmissions did not have a pressure cap but Chevrolet said one can be used for heavy duty cooling. The Power Glides had a 4 pound cap.

Here is a photo of a USA made gas filter. It has a ceramic element inside. According to the parts book, this part number is for a 1952 w/AC. I plan on using it on my 1950 because my fuel pump does not have a filter on it.

It looks to be the same as Hawkeye's filter, but is missing the stone and spring. Do they sell just those two parts anywhere? Also, his fitting looks like it is meant for a corner application. Is it meant to go by the fuel pump? I wanted to put it right at the carb...

That is the correct filter. It does not have a ceramic filter which was used by Carter and looked like glass but rather a cintered bronze filter element. The filter element can be used over and over by blowing it out with air to clean. The reason the pictured filter is listed for a 1952 P.G. is because the kit came with an angle fitting so as to mount the filer sideways due to the automatic choke being in the way.The filter was mounted directly if front of the carb. Using a fitting with 1/8" male pipe thread on each end.

Were the rad hose and fuel filler clamps the same clamp? What finish or colour were they?

On my 1950 they are the same abd dull cad. plated or at least a dull silver plating.

I suspect the dull silver coating is electroplated zinc. Protects better than cadmium and paint particularly when moisture is present.

I've been spending less time on the forum, and more time in the garage recently, so my journal writing has been tailing off! It seems that I've hit this point where I'm turning 20 minute jobs into 2 or 3 day adventures in frustration! Even though I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, I am a little concerned about whether or not it'll be complete in time for Tahoe. Fingers crossed!

Today I had Dad (Kaygee on Chat) over to help me get some of the bigger parts back onto the car. I needed someone to hold the pointy parts away from the new paint! We tackled the stainless belt trim, window trim, and the visor. After a lunch out at A&W, we headed back to the garage to start soldering the turn signal switch together.

It's really starting to look like a complete car. Fuel lines & tank are all in, battery tray, radiator, reverse lights, and window channels are all complete since my last update.

Dad getting the clips onto the belt trim...

She's alive!!! She sounds a little rough without the exhaust on.

https://www.facebook.com/bruce.pearce.946/videos/10156966218535231/

First start since October of 2013. I spent today putting fluids in, then going out a few hours later and fixing a couple leaks. As for the wiring, I have to figure out why the interior lights don't shut off with the door switch, and why one tail light isn't working.

It sounds great. You just passed a big hurdle. You should be proud.

A good day in the garage today.

1) Fixed the dripping coolant leak by taking the lower rad hose off, sanding the neck of the water pump and tightening it back on.

2) Finished attaching the turn signal wires. Still have a problem. When they are activated to turn left, the right one comes on. May need to re-solder them.

3) Fixed the license plate light. Need a new bulb.

4) Fixed the connection for the rear tail light. Now all of the rear tail and brake lights work.

5) Hooked up reverse lights. Need to buy new bulbs, as I seem to have a bright one and a dim one.

6) Bled the brakes. Now it stops with the pedal!

7) Got the clutch working (as far as I can tell in the garage) It was seized from sitting, and just needed to be rocked loose.

Now I'm just waiting for the last batch of parts from the USA before I can button this one up!

Today I started getting ready for the new carpet to arrive and the interior to go back in. I replaced all of the floor pan plugs, washed the floor, washed the firewall pad, and replaced the rubber boot around the steering column. The old one was brittle and came off in multiple pieces. I found another one on my convertible, and cleaned it up. It was covered in some overspray primer paint, and was pretty clean looking after some scrubbing with a steel wool pad.

Old one vs new one...



Firewall pad & floor cleaned. Still have some wiring to do...



New floor plugs and a clean floor...

I've had a pretty big week this week, as the pressure of finishing in time for Lake Tahoe sets in! First, my final package of parts arrived from the USA. I ordered carpeting, trunk cardboard, an anti-squeek kit for the front end, and a couple more rubber grommets from National Chevy Association.

On Canada Day (July 1st ) I tackled the trunk. I washed up the original trunk mat. My car came with a black one, and although it is torn in a few spots, it cleaned up pretty good. The cardboard went in easy, and looks nice too. I still have to put in the spare tire and jack hold downs.



On Sunday I tackled my wiring issue with the interior lights. I made a huge mistake by not being there when the headliner was dropped out of the car and then re-installed. I had no idea that the door button wires ran up through the ceiling, or that they were clipped in. I ended up fishing the new wires up through the headliner, and running the door buttons under the carpeting like my convertible is wired.

Today I moved to the front end of the car. I installed the new front shocks, then loosened off the front fenders and installed the anti-squeek kit. Next I tightened it all back up, then put the splash pan and grille in.