[Rachelsdad]

Originally Posted by Bill Hanlon

I still use a manual gun. On a stubborn zerk it needs at least 3 hands. Sometimes 4.

Been there, done that. Sometimes a foot braced against something (other than the jackstand), too. These things fall in love too easily!

[Parkman51]

Dropped the starter off at a starter/alternator shop today, one of the guys was looking at it as though it was a relic from the Bronze Age. I found this shop with excellent reviews online, and a local classics/customs auto shop gave them a glowing recommendation - said they did an excellent job on a starter from an early 40s Packard.

Now we grin and hope that they find things to fix when they open it up! I would much rather the starter itself be the problem than an unspecified electrical gremlin.

Did a lot of further driving around town, and finally found a way to re-register the car's old license plate in my name. It would certainly qualify for a current copper 'historic vehicle' tag, but I admit I vastly prefer the outdated maroon style (see below for examples).



And last... new weatherstripping! I'm very glad I didn't start with the driver's door, it was beneficial to learn and work some of the kinks out on a smaller, less-used, and simpler-shaped door. But ah, how good it feels to make some concrete, measurable progress!



Today's one question:
1. It was pretty darn difficult to get the plastic clips into the door holes. For most of them, I ended up lining the clip up, aligning a rubber mallet carefully on top of the weatherstripping over the clip, and delivering the mallet a stout smack or two with my fist. I cannot help but feel that there must be a better way. Ideas?

[OG68]

I made a small mark on the rubber over the head of the clip. Then I tapped them in with a short socket extension and a small ball peen hammer

[Parkman51]

Now that the weatherstripping has had time to cure, I checked the fit by closing the door. It popped a few clips on the hinge side, but I re-seated them using OG68's socket-extender trick and it worked fine.

There really is an amazing amount of room in that back seat, by the way. This is the first time I've sat down in there just to enjoy the space, and it's excellent - even with the front seat all the way back.

Tomorrow, I hope to either do the driver's door or continue removing the radio (which is a bit of a project, but there are instructions in the Shop Manual).

Today's one question:
1. What's the best way to check if I have a bad tube? Any standard checks I should perform on the radio?

[Bill Hanlon]

First thing to check is does the radio make a humming noise when turned on. Not from the speaker, but from the radio chassis. If not, the OZ4 tube is probably bad. Or maybe it was a 5Y3? It has been a few years since I've been in a GM tube radio.

[Parkman51]

Today I fit the weatherstrip to the driver's door. It went mostly smooth, though setting the clips on the hinge side was quite a trick. (I did break a couple, but I laid an inch of weatherstrip glue around the hole to hold it down.)

Tomorrow I'll see if I can find Grandfather's old grease gun and a locking fitting, and I'll try to call the starter folks to see if they have an update. Onward!

[Parkman51]

Well, none of the above today, unfortunately, though I do know now what I need to buy (perhaps tomorrow on the way to work). I did find another relic of the past, though - a pump oiler!



However, I did get a package today - a spare fuel pump, just in case. Found it at a bargain price online, and figured it would be just as well to have it, in case.

The driver's weatherstripping seems to have seated itself nicely, so I closed the door to let it acclimate, and did some cleaning up around the car.

Now, about the radio - I recognize belatedly that I didn't notice if the hum was coming from the speaker or the radio chassis, and with the starter out, there isn't an easy way to test that. So... I think I'll leave it alone until I can answer that question. After all, if I can save myself work (and save the equipment handling and jostling) that's probably a good thing. And when it (inevitably?) transpires that I DO need to haul it out, I'll at least be better prepared for the job.

Today's one question:
1. I was looking around the car's exterior today, and noticed that the V8 emblems on the rear quarters are a bit out of condition. I don't know what material and coating they originally had. What's the best approach to restore them - just a standard sand and paint with a Home Depot gold-metallic, or something more specialized?

[Rachelsdad]

Originally Posted by Parkman51

I was looking around the car's exterior today, and noticed that the V8 emblems on the rear quarters are a bit out of condition. I don't know what material and coating they originally had. What's the best approach to restore them - just a standard sand and paint with a Home Depot gold-metallic, or something more specialized?

Okay, so:

Larry has some excellent info on these on his site:

https://pontiacsafari.com/L1PontiYakin/index.htm

Scroll down to the section on 1955, 1956 V8 Emblem.

On my '63, the rear quarter crests are gold anodized aluminum (note Bob's description of the type 2 emblem). Since I was a kid (my dad was the second owner of my '63, in January of '65, so I grew up with the car), I never remembered mine as being anything but silvery aluminum in color (washed out), but sure enough, between a couple parts cars and removing my originals and looking at the unweathered/unexposed back side, it is clear that these were anodized gold.

I had mine re-anodized, and the result was really amazing (I then had a pinstriper re-do the white border - a border which you may have on your V8 emblems - and they really "pop" now):



That having been said, I attended a Buick show over the summer, and one fellow had his '53 there. He used a decent gold leaf paint on his emblems, and they looked quite acceptable, so you may want to go that route for now, at least.

For care, I use spray wax on my chrome and on my anodized aluminum (lots of spray wax on the anodized things, and on those, no metal polish of any kind, as the anodizing is very susceptible to being simply "worn off," so, I wash carefully with a sponge, then schpritz with a good spray wax). The paint may or may not hold up better, depending upon the primer you choose. Also, if you have the white border and want to detail that, you can surely do it yourself (I used a pinstriper because I didn't trust my hand at this point, but I probably could have just done it myself).

[Parkman51]

Got me a grease gun and a cheap tube of #2. Now to order the locking fitting off Amazon.

I am constantly and continually amazed by how much information is on Larry's website. My V8 emblems appear to match the ones Ames offers, being open-8 with the white lip. I don't want to remove them from the car right now to get them replated, so some gold leaf paint will be just the ticket. I will also try my hand at applying the white border - if my hand proves unsteady, I'll compensate with a liberal use of masking tape. We'll see how it goes!

[Rachelsdad]

Good luck!

WRT Larry's site, it would be truly great if every era had a site with so much in-depth information (e.g., '61-'64). I have yet to find anything quite as useful for detail items and overall research.

[Parkman51]

Well, the starter folks say it'll be a few weeks. So I expect to get the brakes and starter back around the same time - and I really hope I can install the starter once for all before I put the master cylinder back in. It is so much easier having access to that one starter nut through the floorboards. But if not, then oh-well. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, and I'll see about the emblems tomorrow.

[Safari Larry]

Reproductions of the55 Pontiac v8 emblems are available at CPR, https://www.pontiacparts.net/product...-w-white-edge/

Ames probably has them also.

[Parkman51]

Today, I...
Removed the emblems (tapped them out from behind with a square rod)
Cleaned and polished behind them to remove any buildup (the adhesive remover I got last week does wonders to knock stuff loose)
Drilled a wooden jig to temporarily hold the emblems
Wire-brushed to remove flaky white paint, cleaned up the corners with steel wool
Primed
Painted



Tomorrow I'll let the paint cure all day. The day after, I'll do some very careful masking and then paint the lips white, then top with a clearcoat.

[Parkman51]

Decided to advance the procedure slightly, and masked this evening. White paint tomorrow and clearcoat.



Plus, great news from White Post - they shipped me something today! Wonder what it could be...

Tomorrow, I think I'll order a hatful of rubber from Ames, I've got a few bumpers and stops to replace around the car.

[Parkman51]

Added the white paint, but unfortunately it bled in places under the mask I added, so the finished product is rather sloppy. Still, valuable experience was gained - I'll strip the paint and try again!

[Parkman51]

Good news! I got a call today from the starter place - it's done and ready to be picked up. I can run down and get that tomorrow, I believe, and mount it back where it belongs. Then the brakes should be here next week. After a few quiet days, looks like it's about to pick back up!

[Parkman51]

It's here, it's installed, and it's working! They did pretty much a full rebuild, and it looks (and sounds) great. After running the car for ten seconds, I checked to see if we were pulling any fuel from the tank, and I got a dribble from the hose when I disconnected it - excellent news. This means that while the pump is likely still pulling air, it is definitely pulling, and once the gas makes it all the way up to the pump, we are likely to be satisfactorily in business.



Also got a few packages in the mail - the grease fitting and the brake tool kit.

[Jack Gifford]

It's been many decades since I had a '57 starter, but I don't recall the solenoid being such a large diameter. ???

[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.

[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?