[camerjeff]

I personally would not use a Plastic bodied inline fuel filter, I have seen them crack and leak in a short amount of time with heat cycles and vibration. I would get a all metal disposable one. Granted you can not visually verify fuel flow. Bet there is much less chance of an engine fire.

[Onestone]

Originally Posted by camerjeff

I personally would not use a Plastic bodied inline fuel filter, I have seen them crack and leak in a short amount of time with heat cycles and vibration. I would get a all metal disposable one. Granted you can not visually verify fuel flow. Bet there is much less chance of an engine fire.

I am currently also restoring my '55 Pontiac, had the same idea. I used this fuel filter from Rockauto, its all metal:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...t=6200&jsn=594

Btw: I love this thread! I'm a mostly silent reader, but there is so much very good information here which helps me a lot too!

[Parkman51]

Great ideas, all. I'll schedule a hardware store run to pick up a grease gun and a tube or two of #2 grease, somewhere in the future.

Only a little bit of work today, I bought some adhesive solvent and cleaned the driver's side doors, then primed and painted the rusted section on the bottom of the rear door.

Tomorrow I plan to take the starter in to a reputable electrics shop for a rebuild, then mount some weatherstripping!

Today's two questions:
1. The manuals say to cut the weatherstripping to fit and then use some adhesive to create a butt joint, some research I did online indicated that it's preferable to create a non-contiguous overlap of about a half inch. What type of connection to use, and where should it be located on the door?
2. I've been long meaning to order a bunch of rubber stops and bumpers, but most places are quite expensive for tiny rubber parts. I'm looking at Ames and Steele Rubber, any other places I should look?

[Safari Larry]

1. I would follow instructions in the 1955 Fisher Body Manual, secction 2 (LINK). You won't be able to overlap. Per the manual, you create the butt joint at a specific place at bottom of door. You use adhesive only across bottom and a short distance up front and back. The rest of it, you just clip in. That will make it easier.

Here is my installation of weatherstrip on my Safari door, hardtop style, not sedan.



A friend that had a business restoring cars helped me. We installed a short section at a time with adhesive and taped it. then moved on to go all around the door. Per the instructions, you will not be using adhesive up the sides like we did.

2. I always check with CPR first, I've found prices are sometimes a little better than Ames, but occasionally a little higher. Prices for rubber bumpers will probably be close (also expensive).

[Parkman51]

The brakes are here! Thanks again to the good folks at White Post. Tomorrow I'll try to install them if I have time. Must pick up some brake fluid, and reread the procedure on bleeding the brake lines. My goal for the next week is to get the car in a condition where it can back itself out of the garage and run itself back in - if you recall, it's too close to the garage wall on the passenger side to allow much access, so I'll settle for bleeding the driver's side until I can back it out.



We are, I think, very close to have a running engine. The fuel pump seems to be working fine - there's gas everywhere I disconnect the lines now, and when I looked at the carburetor fuel screen there was gas in the well there too. However, the motor still won't run without gas in the carburetor.

I got greasing today, as well, filled up the connecting rod and the lower control arm pivot shafts. Couldn't find the steering idler arm, perhaps tomorrow.

Today's two questions:
1) The brakes returned with a new fitting that attaches to the vacuum line. I'll try to use it (the old one is still in the line) - but what do I use to seal the connection? A hose clamp, or is there some sort of vacuum line sealant?
2) As mentioned above, I think everything's working in the fuel system now, at least from the tank to the carburetor, but for some reason, we're still not making that last jump. I'm hoping it's not a carburetor problem (it's probably a carburetor problem) but I don't know what else it could be. If it's not the carburetor, what is it? And if it is, what do I do about it?

[Bill Hanlon]

Originally Posted by Parkman51

I think everything's working in the fuel system now, at least from the tank to the carburetor, but for some reason, we're still not making that last jump. I'm hoping it's not a carburetor problem (it's probably a carburetor problem) but I don't know what else it could be. If it's not the carburetor, what is it? And if it is, what do I do about it?

Crank the engine for a few seconds. Then loosen the fuel line connection at the carburetor. Gas SHOULD spew out. If it does NOT, gas is not getting from the fuel pump to the carb.

If gas does spew out, tighten the fuel line connection back up. Take the air cleaner off the carb. Crank the engine again for a few seconds. Look down into the carb with a flashlight and quickly pull the throttle linkage to the wide open position. You should see gas spraying from the carb down into the engine. If not, you'll need to fix the carb. (You may need to overhaul it anyway.)

If there is gas spraying when you manually operate the throttle linkage, I'd wonder if there is spark before I overhauled the carb. The easy way to find out if there is spark is to remove the center wire from the distributor and get your dumb little brother to hold it by the end while you crank the engine.

[Parkman51]

Today, I assembled the grease gun and loaded it, then spent some time reading the General Lubrication section in the manual. Boy, there are a lot of grease points.



Second, as the starter's back in, I checked the radio - and actually, it sounded like the buzz was coming from the speaker unit rather than the radio chassis. A little difficult to say for sure, but if I had to pick one, I'd pick the speaker unit. There is a distinctive little whine when I shut the radio off, almost as if there were a rotating device in the unit that was spinning down. More investigation after I do some greasing.

Jack, I think it's just wonky perspective on the starter photograph. In reality, the solenoid is probably half the diameter of the starter, if that.

Today's two questions:
1. How do I know when I've inserted enough grease into a zerk fitting (a project for the next couple days)? I assume it will ooze from somewhere.
2. There are specific procedures given in the manual for lubricating the generator, distributor, and carburetor, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for. They talk about oil cups, wicks, dust cover screw holes, and more and more. If anyone has pictures or a video of these processes being done, that would be amazing, but I'll happily settle for an explanation of the procedures involved.