Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

BLyke · 1K+ Club

1952 Pontiac Catalina Hardtop

BLyke · 1K+ Club

A little before and after on the "Painless Wiring" 12 volt conversion

Wire after.jpg

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Getting the Car ready for spring and summer.
Cleaned the interior with an upholstery cleaner
Installed the seatbelts
Reworked the passenger side wheel opening to properly fit the skirt

Hopefully today's rain will get the roads pretty well washed off.

Lost in the 60s · President

Now you're making me jealous, getting all this work done. Car looks great, Bruce, and I'm looking forward to seeing it !!

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Thanks Mitch, it won't be too much longer before we can be out and about with our old cars.

BLyke · 1K+ Club

The Catalina has landed.
It was finally, was time to get the car back on the ground, as all the necessary additions, repairs and rework are done (as far as i know at the moment)
Pulled the "H Guard" off the rear bumper, prefer the simpler look and it is in poor shape (at least in my opinion).
hoping to do some test driving fairly soon.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Lookin' good Bruce! Most of the salt is off I think, so get her on the road.

Looks like you went with a personalized 'regular' MN plate instead of a collector plate. Is that so you can drive it to the grocery store or for ice cream and not worry about being pulled over by a bored cop like I did with collector plates one time?

BLyke · 1K+ Club

SShink wrote:
Lookin' good Bruce! Most of the salt is off I think, so get her on the road.
Looks like you went with a personalized 'regular' MN plate instead of a collector plate. Is that so you can drive it to the grocery store or for ice cream and not worry about being pulled over by a bored cop like I did with collector plates one time?

Thanks Stan, will be taking it out soon.

Was planning to register with some old 1952 plates, that meet the new restrictive letter and b=number format, however someone else had it on an old car already (consider the odds?!), so I called an audible

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Good to be at the point where there is time for the "Nice to have" upgrades
Made a dual drink holder

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Guess it is time for a bit of an update, have had the car out several times when the weather was cooperating.
replaced the old original Speedometer cable and it seems to be very steady and accurate now, hopefully it will stay that way.
The TH400 Kickdown seems to shift as it should, and the Quadra-jet Secondaries also seem to operate properly now that the vacuum lines have been sorted out....

However, when it is floored to WOT and the RPM's are getting pretty high, there is a bit of a high pitched whining sound. let up on the gas, it upshifts and its fine. anyone familiar with this sort of thing?

67ss · 1K+ Club

Maybe engine cooling fan noise? Can’t remember if it is a solid fan or clutch fan.

BLyke · 1K+ Club

67ss wrote:
Maybe engine cooling fan noise? Can’t remember if it is a solid fan or clutch fan.

Sounds more like it is under the floor, maybe near the tail shaft area of the tranny? Can't find any evidence of rubbing

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Well, the initial shakedown process is complete, and the Catalina should be ready for the summer and increasingly longer trips. Drove it to the store today, went on the highway and repeatedly verified the TH400 would dropdown to low and take off. The squealing was the fan belt slipping at WOT and found some helpful information on that.
painting the fender skirts is the next larger task, but it is in the nice to have category

-- Edited by BLyke on Thursday 19th of May 2022 08:17:05 AM

Lost in the 60s · President

Glad to hear you are making progress and are happy.
Strictly personal preference, but I would leave the skirts off. Those wide whites with trim rings and caps are awesome...

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Lost in the 60s wrote:
Glad to hear you are making progress and are happy.
Strictly personal preference, but I would leave the skirts off. Those wide whites with trim rings and caps are awesome...

They come off in just a few minutes, so it is fine either way

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Got my "New Radio" back, AM/FM, Bluetooth Etc.
Now if there are troubling sounds, I can always just turn up the volume

Needed a "Parts radio" to get a good one for the swap to a new system

-- Edited by BLyke on Friday 20th of May 2022 02:01:32 PM

Lost in the 60s · President

Hot dog, you are really living the high life now...

Any way to connect more speakers in the rear deck ?

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Lost in the 60s wrote:
Hot dog, you are really living the high life now...
Any way to connect more speakers in the rear deck ?

Yep and I have a set, the trick will be cutting out the holes, no "standard option provisions" in the rear shelf where you just cut the cardboard with a knife

BLyke · 1K+ Club

So, I finally got the new stereo system in and the car back together.... and started the car up for a drive...
It had been running great 3 weeks ago, to starting right up but running rough and unable to idle

even when warmed up and the idle screw turned all the way in, still bad. will hopefully start trouble shooting, starting with the plugs, wires and distributor
It's a 74 350 with a Quadrajet if you have a suggestion based on your own

The PO had a set of valve seals still in the package and thing he may have forgot to install them, it will smoke a bit if it has for several days, there was less yesterday, maybe the worst cylinder (s) have the plugs so fouled they are not firing? 15 days to Back to the 50's, thought it was all set to go, time to thrash on it

On the Plus side, I can listen to a lot of great tunes while it sits there

Bobs_Place · Vice President

Bruce

I would check the choke, there is a choke pull-off that opens the choke some at cold startup, the choke should be fully opened warm. If choke is good, look down the carb with a mirror and see if there is any fuel dribbling from the boosters or fuel puddling in the carb, if so, there is a hole in the top of the carb between the choke valve and air cleaner stud that you can gently push down the float and hopefully flush the needle and seat.

Chris S · Active Member

I’ve had that same thing happen Bruce, a piece of crap got in the needle and it wouldn’t stop leaking into the carb. A quick clean and I was back on the road. Hope your situation is that easy.

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Thanks guys for the tips, I hope to have time to work on it tomorrow.
It might also be a vacuum leak that i thought i heard when it was running.

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Finished up on the car this morning and it appears it was a leaking needle valve as some suggested
The car is running better than ever after taking the carb out cleaning it and replacing the needle valve, accelerator pump, Float and the gaskets
Should be all set for BTT50's in 11 days
Thanks

ghaasl · Active Member

Bruce-

Where will you have it parked at BTTF? I'll be there with my dad on Saturday and I'd like to stop by and check the car out.

BLyke · 1K+ Club

ghaasl wrote:
Bruce-

Where will you have it parked at BTTF? I'll be there with my dad on Saturday and I'd like to stop by and check the car out.

Dan Patch and Ligget is the corner I park near.

if it open i park on the NE corner in front of the BBQ , should be there all 3 days, (see below)

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Picking up a rebuilt Quadrajet at 10:00 AM tomorrow.
Hopefully it will go well, and I will be back in shakedown mode tomorrow afternoon
The main event for this car is Back to the 50's
I will be working at the south registration on Thursday and plan to drive it there too.

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Rached up around 50 mikes and it ran well, lots of power and acceleration.
Speedo worked again briefly, then stopped
Made a bracket to hold my phone and use a speedometer app
The other front hubcap popped off going over some RR tracks, for the weekend they are all coming off.

So, looks like my 52 two tone green Catalina hardtop will be the one with no wheel covers.
Doing a few more checks on fluids and such and then perhaps get it cleaned up

-- Edited by BLyke on Tuesday 14th of June 2022 10:35:29 AM

Lost in the 60s · President

Take the covers with and pop them on after you park, just remember to remove before leaving.

ghaasl · Active Member

I saw the car at the show today. It’s in pretty darn good shape. My dad really liked it.

Lost in the 60s · President

I looked it over yesterday and agree, it's a pretty decent car and all of Bruce's work to get things working and corrected has really brought it to life and the next level.

BLyke · 1K+ Club

ghaasl wrote:
I saw the car at the show today. It’s in pretty darn good shape. My dad really liked it.

Thanks, sorry we didn't get a chance to visit

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Lost in the 60s wrote:
I looked it over yesterday and agree, it's a pretty decent car and all of Bruce's work to get things working and corrected has really brought it to life and the next level.

Thanks Mitch, a lot of the work is not easy to see by the untrained eye.

-- Edited by BLyke on Monday 20th of June 2022 09:40:28 AM

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Up to around 400 miles on the 52 and still working on a few bugs.

Had some bolts on the driver's side manifold to exhaust pipe that loosed up a bit and were making things rather loud.

Also did some adjustment to the (non-functioning) horn button to get it to quit rattling.

Went to Henderson Tuesday night, a Cruise to Webster Wednesday morning and to buck Hill Wednesday night.
Next up is Pan-O-Prog cruise night, Friday 7/8 in Lakeville

-- Edited by BLyke on Thursday 30th of June 2022 07:00:16 AM

-- Edited by BLyke on Thursday 30th of June 2022 07:01:09 AM

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Pan-O-Prog cruise night, Friday 7/8 in Lakeville downtown after the cruise
Lights on to let folks see the hood ornament

Larry Lucast · Active Member

Beautiful!

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Larry Lucast wrote:
Beautiful!

Thanks Larry!

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Minor update, added some of the smaller bumper guards (after getting pricing on re-chroming the whole rear bumper including the wings and larger 3-piece guard)
Like the look and for now it works for me. Rear Bumper guards.jpg

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Racked up some more miles, finally tried out the USB port for music. The sample song is a classical piece my wife has played cello on in the symphony I can use the port to charge my phone, now if I can just figure out how to load some favorite road tunes

-- Edited by BLyke on Thursday 25th of August 2022 12:29:44 PM

-- Edited by BLyke on Thursday 25th of August 2022 12:30:16 PM

BLyke · 1K+ Club

It is nice to have the Catalina to the point that we can just hop in and drive to a car show last night at Buck Hill in Burnsville

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Guess its time to decide which car is going to get "First dibs" on the heated shop as winter sets in.
Finished up on some things on the Catalina today and think I will swap it out of the shop for now and Pull the Chevelle in.
Need to do an oil change, rotate tires and replace the driver's door switch (again!).
Was hoping to take the car in to Big-O for the first two but dealing with family matters took precedent.
Then perhaps it will be time to replace the bushings on the front end

On the Plus side, i seem to have got the switch over on the site done

Lost in the 60s · President

When doing the front bushings, consider Global West parts. The nylon bushings will make a difference in steering response and handling. A little more expensive than QUALITY rubber bushings, but worth it for the handling. I don't recommend buying any rubber bushing/product from china as the quality of rubber is very poor and they fail quickly.
https://www.globalwest.net/chevelle-el-camino-malibu-monte-carlo-1964-65-66-67-68-69-70-71-72-control-arms-bushings-shafts-susp.html#top

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Better Bumper look, thanks

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Finally got around to addressing the brake pedal, turns out it is from a 90's Ford Truck
the Pedal was ~1" from the gas pedal and on occasion I would hit the gas when braking (with a 5" wide tennis shoe)

old Pedal.jpeg
Pulled it out and straighten it and then repositioned the bottom of the pedal.

pedal 1.jpeg

pedal 2.jpeg

Used an Induction heater to heat the bar.

pedal 3.jpeg

pedal new.jpeg

Much better

Lost in the 60s · President

Wow, that looks perfect now !!
Ingenious use of the induction heater too...

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Thanks Mitch, the Induction heater is quite the invention.

Thanks for the introduction to the "coal/oil/solar/wind' powered electric torch!

BLyke · 1K+ Club

CAC 2023.jpg Well, it seems i got a little overextended as I was trying to get my passenger windows adjusted so the flippers would work.
I'm offically in the CAC again...
Good news is its over a month to the meeting here, and 4 months to BTT50's.
All the side glass will be getting replaced, mechanisms sorted and some new seals.

-- Edited by BLyke on Friday 10th of February 2023 10:10:17 PM

Lost in the 60s · President

But, it will all be better when it's it's done..

-- Edited by Lost in the 60s on Saturday 11th of February 2023 07:16:49 AM

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Lost in the 60s wrote:
But, it will all be better when it's it's done..

-- Edited by Lost in the 60s on Saturday 11th of February 2023 07:16:49 AM

I'm defiantly in "infomercial mode", "But wait... there's more.

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Getting there

Installed new glass

-- Edited by BLyke on Thursday 16th of February 2023 06:15:31 PM

BLyke · 1K+ Club

Progress continues, was not quite sure how to do this.... so, I decided to just "Wing it".