Its getting to be a little quiet in the 46-48 Chevy forum lately but I am sure most of us are often working on our vehicles. Should it be an idea to let each other know what we are doing with our cars? It should be an interesting experience.I hope the moderators do not mind me starting this kind of topic.
Today I finished with installing a new muffler and the end pipe on my 48 and as it was a nice day I took her out for the first time this year for a 20 mile drive I enjoyed the ride and the new muffler proved to be a good choice as I was not sure that it should sound *right*.

Jianis

I looked at my 47 sport coupe as its winter here.Had to go to the garage to get more wood for the fire.

I was warm here in WV today, so I went out and started up my 48 and let her run until she was up to full temperature. Discovered I've got a valve tapping away. Guess it's time to break out the feeler guages and adjust them.

Regards:
Oldengineer

...Crossed paths with a fella and his '53 Belair w/powerglide...The first thing that caught my attention was how quite it was , he popped the hood and I swear I've never heard nor seen a 235 that ran as smooth and quite as his...as he left he commented that "some" consider the '53 or '54 Chevy's best year(s)...I wasn't there to argue...

Kevin

A 235 or 218 running quiet is not always good news it might be that the valves are lushed too tight ( that reduces the valve train noise ) but there is the danger of burning valves in the future.

Jianis

My new '47 Aerosedan arrived Friday evening, compliments of her prior owner, Chuck Gibson, who trailered her all the way to WI from NJ. Chuck stopped along the way to WI to deliver a transmission to Don Williams for his '53 convertible, and turned back around Saturday morning to give Don a hand on his way home. My heartfelt thanks to Chuck for the chance to get to know him and the '47 better. And my thanks to Don Williams for seeing my "Car Wanted" post and letting Chuck know about it!

Saturday included a trip to my mechanic's for a "look see" and to get it up in the air. This is one well-preserved and cared-for '47! We tightened the steering box and filled it with gear lube, which was about the only thing it needed.

Sunday morning was the next time I had a few hours to devote getting to know the car better. Soaked the throttle cable with Kroil to loosen it up, replaced the heater fan fuse, worked the horn ring awhile to get it to toot, worked the glove box lamp plunger awhile to get it to light. Put on my plates, and took my wife out for a maiden drive on a sunny, cold, pre-spring day.

The '47 rides and drives just right. My wife is looking forward to learning to drive 3 in the tree in this car, as my '46 Roadmaster is a bit too big. We stopped at the drug store and she stayed in the car while I picked up a prescription. When I got back, she said there were two ladies in their late 60's or early 70's she could hear talking about the car. "Look at that beautiful car! What kind is it?". The other one said "It's a Chevy!". They came up to the car and asked my wife if they could get a ride. I guess my wife didn't ask them to hang around for me, so I let her know that I'd be happy to give a ride to anyone who asked..

Thanks for starting this thread, and I hope to meet more members on the '46 to '48 forum!

Did you get a original jack with it and what colors are the jack base, handle, and jack tube itself? I have a 47 Fleetmaster coupe. Thanks

Hi Rich,
Sorry, I did not get an original jack with the car. Chuck provided a scissors jack, which is my preference anyway.
Thanks, Chris

Wow...Post some photos when you get the chance , love to see your new ride...!

Jianis, A 1953 powerglide engine had hydraulic lifters, they were much quieter than the solid lifters. 1953 straight stick cars had solid lifters. That is in the US, I don't know about in the Netherlands.

Well I didn't do anything today (thought about it a lot!) but the last few weeks I've been working to restore a few things like dash lights & turn signals to make our '47 more road-worthy. Thanks to Chip Sweet for his help with my flasher unit. I also painted the tail lamp housings in silver so they're nice & bright so folks behind us can see the tiny brake lights! Here's what she looks like now with parking lights on...



I also pulled off the bumpers and painted the backside to prevent rust and polished what I could. The guards & ends are shiny but the center parts are a little worse for wear. Winter has been slow & boring but its given me time to tinker with this thing. Radio is my next project. With a little luck we'll have an early spring and my wife & I can hit the road with her more often!

Ed

Good to know I thought Hydraulic lifters started at 1954.
Chevrolets from that era here in the Netherlands had exactly the same specs as in the USA other than indicating Km in place of Miles.
There was an assembly factory from General Motors in Belgium thats where my 48 Fleetmaster comes from.


Jianis

46 Chris,I saw that car in person on the 6 cylinder tour 2010 and there's no doubt thatt you got a great car there.I am kicking myself that I didn't get a ride in it.Enjoy it,it's a beauty!!

I'd had later thought that Hydraulic lifters might be the culprit...I mean this '53 was sneak-up from behind ya quiet...

Hi 53, Thanks for the kind words. Chuck Gibson takes meticulous care of his chevys and I am a fortunate caretaker. I will post some pictures after I get them on Flickr. If you have your namesake car, that's one I am on the hunt for - the '53 was the first car I remember as a lad. Dad can't remember if it was a 150 or a 210. I just have to observe the "cool down" period between buying cars, even though I tell my wife that I buy them all for her...

Would love to be driving it right now!

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjyYyxrX

Whoa , I like I like...Right down to the double pin stripes on the wheels...Funny , my Coupe only has Bumper Tips on the front , too ! Now , did it come in that shade of blue...? I really like the color...I'm still looking for fog lights , now I get a good idea what I'm looking for...Do they actually bolt to the bumper brackets though...? The chrome headlight rings work with the paint color , I think ! Thanks for the Photo's , Kevin

Hi 46Chris,

I sent you a PM.

I live in Northern Wisconsin. Therefore, my 1947 Chevrolet Stylemaster Sedan is up on blocks until Spring gets here. The last thing I did to it was install a rebuilt generator. Making some decisions on what to do with her this spring: Sand Blasting & Paint or redoing the interior. The interior is original. Any suggestions? I would add a picture of the car but do not know how.

Thanks Kevin! Not the original color, which was a darker blue. Repainted in the mid-'70's. I prefer this color (and so does my wife), even though it's not stock. These are the the correct fog lights. I'll have to look underneath to see where they bolt on.

Not today but for the last 10 days a good friend & I have been rewiring my 47 Aero. I had the dash out for regraining & saw how bad the orig wires were so I decided to replace main engine/dash harness, headlight harness, turn signal harness, heater/def wires, fog light wires, & backup light wires & horn button wire. When we were done everything worked except the turn signal indicater light in the TS head even though it did b/4. The wire going to it and the bulb tested OK. After much head scratching we decided the flasher must be bad so we replaced it with a new out of the box one. Indicater light still did not work. Now we are really frustrated. I went to my other 47 (4 dr Fleetline) and removed the flasher from it. Problem solved. What are the odds both orig one and new replacement were defective. Haven't finished the wire to horn button job but we are deep into that. Had to take out steering mast so now I have decided to repaint that before reinstalling. As usual, what started out as little project has expanded. Oh well, I guess we wouldn't do it if we didn't love the challenge and the car.

Well , it's only been 10 days...! Some of us "start" minor projects that end up spanning years...! lol
Glad to hear you made all the right ( and maybe lucky ) moves with that flasher...whoooo...Happy to hear everything else went smoothly , too...!

hey just joined,saw a pix of daryl scotts 47 sports sedan,I too have a 48 sport sedan got to figure out how to post pixs,bty nice car looks like you have some nice options on it.

Hi 48, thanks for the comments. I've always been a huge fan of the Fleetline 4 doors. What's the story with yours? Love to see your car!

(You can upload pix to a photo album as a member, or you could use an off-site image hosting service like Photobucket or Imageshack.com to share pix here.)

[img]photobucket.com[/img] hope this works still has all original drive train car is still 6-volts and 6-lug. [img]photobucket.com/my48[/img]

Here ya go:





Good to hear from another Fleetliner :)

thanks a bunch daryl I got to work on the photo dodad to figure it out.

the base was painted a blue as the car was and the handle looks black and thre tube is a silver type color and balck jack handle. want to get it right as car is 90% right. Thank You

Today I installed my repainted battery tray and tried to figure out what kind of oil filter I have (see other topic) I also thought about flipping over those rear leaf spring shackle plates (I realized the way I have them the 90 degree bend on the end of it stops the suspension travel (that can't be right...) Oh well maybe tomorrow

let's see what did I do to mine,Iv'e been driving it alot more since the weathers been nice.always get a thumbs up,It was funny the other day stopped at a light and a young boy pulled up beside me and said cool car that thing is SICK.I assume that was a good thing.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha...Nah, I think he meant sick. lol
I got out on the open road, today...Called my insurance co., but couldn't add the jolopy to my policy w/their online service...The form won't recognize VIN numbers of that era...Had to call it in...lol
Seemed to run kinda lousy, 'till I retarded it a bit...And the vacuum advance doesn't seem to rotate as far as I remember...Looked like it rotated about 1/4 of an inch is all.
I never did finish the registration ( resurrection they call it now ) Got a "one day" operating permit to drive it down to DMV so they can inspect my VIN numbers...I assured them they'd be the same numbers found on the TITLE they issued me 20 years ago, but....

Yesterday I went to collect a rear end from a 53 Chevy station ( One fifty Handyman?? ) Its got a 3.7 ratio. At the moment I am collecting information relative to installing it in my 48 Fleetmaster. When I know a little more I will post some questions to make sure I am on the right path.

Jianis

...To finish this story of my DMV "verification" of VIN numbers...The guy comes out, clip board in hand, says hi and as I "pop" the hood, he asks, "Is that where the VIN #'s are..?" I suppress my astonishment and sheepishly mention that "Sure, in California the engine serial numbers are your VIN #'s..." Now I'm trying not to insult his intelligence, he's the one with the clip-board and all...So, he peers in to the engine compartment and I feel it's my duty to point in the general direction of the numbers towards the back of the distributor . He looks at me and asks, "You got a flashlight...? I'm not sure how to react, I want to ask, "Do you work here..? Or are you a f***ing Volunteer...!!!
But instead I blurt-out, "No, but I have a picture of them...Would you like to see it...?" And to my amazement he says, "Yes, I'd like to see that..."

It was only a short time later, I was arrested and my car impounded...( just kidding )

It was only a couple of months earlier, I was standing at the DMV window and the "gal" says, "You'll have to bring your car in for verification, we need to see it." And I says, "See it...? Here, I'll show you a picture of it...!"
It wasn't good enough for her then, but it sure was good enough for him now...!

I forgot to tell his supervisor, that they otta invest in a flashlight...lol

Well after driving my car to the show in San Jose California. I got home and my car was sounding like a diesel engine lots of chatter ing coming from the valve cover. So I pulled the valve cover and found my Oil connector tube for some reason was pinched and not feeding the rockers with oil.

So after searching I found the replacement part a friend had

It appear to be the handy work of some one with "vise-grips"...
Have a talk with the previous owner and he'll tell you why...
He tried to improve it's oiling system...
Guess it finally clogged up is all...

Yeah you nailed it handy work hahaha..I have been going through this car from top to bottom fixing rigged things such as this oil connector.I should get better flow now I hope

Actually, I believe it was done TO improve the flow...Helps to squirt the oil out to the far reach's of the rocker arm shaft when the oil pressure is low up-top...It's an old "shade tree mechanic's" trick...

that's a new one to me.Yea we had our first Cruise In Last night there were prolly 75 cars and trucks there the oldest car there was in the 30's hot-rod of course.I'm itching to get some paint on mine might go back to original color,Oxford-Maroon would prolly look really nice with all the Fleetline Trim.

So I stuck my air hose in the oil line and blew it out. Do you think that I may have some other Oil issues related to why the previous owner pinched the line?

I'm just finishing up working on the valvegear on my 48. Still have to do a final valve adjustment. Anyway - if you start her up with the valve cover off, you should see oil dripping out from between the rockers, oil weeping out of holes on top of the rockers, and oil running out of the pipe on that oil feeder back into the head oil drain. That's the pipe on yours that was crimped. Mine's doing all this now. Some possible problems: Rocker arm shafts full of sludge, rocker arm shafts installed up side down - the lube holes for the rockers should be on the bottom. Plug missing out of ends of rocker shaft. Oil supply line plugged or some problem with oiling system causing insufficient flow up to head. My problem wasn't with oiling. I had a really bent pushrod, and, I had 3 rocker arms that were incorrect for my 216. You don't really need much pressure - what you need is sufficient volume to keep the rocker shafts full of oil

Hope this helps.

Regards:
Oldengineer

The rubbers of my 48 Fleetmaster rear shock absorber links were very bad so I had to replace them.The rubbers themselves are not expensive but shipping from the USA is 6 times their price so I was waiting until I should need more spares from the same vendor to save on shipping.
Looking at Ebay,as usually,I found a pair of after market links. Inclusive shipping they were cheaper as ordering the rubbers + shipping so I ordered them.
I removed the shock absorbers drained them completely refilled them, using automatic transmission fluid and finally reinstalled them with the new links.
In due time I will fit new rubbers to the original links and use them again saving the after market ones for spare.
I hope I will be able to drive the car this weekend as I am curious to see if the use of ATF makes any difference in the behavior of the shocks in comparison to their behavior with the original shock fluid.





Jianis

Yup. Sandblasted the frame.

Ok, so it was just the first blasting to determine any damage that needed repair and get 64 years of concrete hard mud off of parts.

Cleaned up real nice and only have one repair to make.

The diagonal frame member under the battery has had the bottom rust out. Should be able to manufacture replacement and weld it in yet today.

Other than that it is incredibly solid. Even after banging away with a hammer I got very little debris from inside the frame rails. (Yea!)

let's see,I checked and adjusted my front brakes and greased the front end and tightened the left front wheel bearing.getting ready for a 100 mile road trip,hope the tranny holds up,if not then ready to rebuild it.

Good luck on the "road trip"...! I can't remember...Is your "tranny" making noise or is it "popping" out of gear...?

I'm afraid to ask what a "doday" is...grin

JianisN1
How did the new shock links work??

I recently picked up some similar rear shocks off Ebay for $25...Oil & grease free...Then Charlie sent me the matching "links" to go with them...What a pleasant surprise...

I'm confused...! For why use "tranny" fluid instead of "jack" oil...? Softer ride...?

They don't leak do they...?

kevin47 the tranny is not poppin out of gear or whininng,just every now and then it sounds like it wants to bind up .I keep saying that I'm gonna drain it just to see what comes out,Sometimes I do hear a chirping noise,which is prolly a bearing,guess I'll find out soon.

Update,update,well I finally drained the gear oil out of the tranny and in the sun it looked like black metal-flake paint but with smell.took a magnet out side of pan and man o man did it really have metal in it lots.

48HC.... That stuff really tastes good over Pancakes...LOL...ED

BTW..There are magnetic drain plugs available for oil pans and transmissions..(I cant remember were from though).
Maybe someone else on the site will know...Good Luck...ED

Ah yes, the odor of ransid oil...haven't experienced that smell in a while...It was common in old machine shops...
Fine "metal-flake"...I wouldn't worry about, as old as that oil is...Bits an pieces are unwelcome...Fill'er up, should sound much better...you hope...grin

Chef-Chevy

I did not drive with the car so far. Just after I installed the links a Chevy 53 torque tube with 3.7 gears came here in the market so I am slowly installing it (no time and suitable work space)When I am so far I will come back with my comments.

Kevin

My shocks worked good and they do not leak. Here they dont have jack oil as known in the USA.I use ATF hopping to obtain a little *harder* ride I used it in my earlier days with good results on motorcycles and rebuilding car schocks.

Jianis

My 48 Fleetmaster is back on the road again.
I replaced my standard 4.11 differential and torque tube with a 3.7 unit I purchased from someone who is hot-roding his 53 Chevy station.I am also using a set of 700 x 16 light truck tires witch gives a total overdrive of near 1.2
After driving for a couple of days around town I took her today for a final test on the motorway.With the help of GPS I found myself cruising nicely between 60 and 65 Mph (2500/2600 rpm)with lots of *quiet* power to spare.

Chef- Chevy

The NOS after-market rear shock links seam to be fine but I do not think they will last long as the rubber is thiner and softer also the contraction in general is allot lighter as the originals.

Kevin

The Use of the ATF in the rear shocks improved their performance but I am still not happy with them.I have already got a NOS one so I am looking for a second one to show in the market then I will replace them.

Jianis

...Thanks for the ATF information, Jianis...

...Every time I read of someone changing their Differential to a lower ratio I have to heave a sigh...As much fun as it sounds, I have to remember the hills I have to climb...And the joy it brings when I can do it in second gear...!

You have accomplished alot in a very short time.I am glad to hear you have got her back on the pavement with great results!!
I am presently looking into the issues with my differential,quite sure it is bearings..Summer has not made it to the Pacific Northwest as of yet,so I have not missed out on much...

painted the floor board in the ole chev today,the floor mat,everytime I take it out it tears or rips in a new place so I think I will not be putting back in.

In my efforts to make life easier with my 48 I installed a 6 to 12 volt converter.
I found an old Blaupunkt converter that was normally used in VW beetles.
The converter was nicely worked away under the dash.
Now I can use it for the GPS instead of a motorcycle battery that I used to have with me.

Jianis