Re: Larry's 1951 Club Sedan Project

Posted by Larry51 On 2015/5/21 18:54:41

Now I have driven my '51 for over 600 miles and wanted to give a brief report on how it is performing.

We have enjoyed driving her very much, and have only had one minor problem with her mechanically, which was a bad spark quench (ignition) condenser that caused the engine to lose power and after-fire when it heated up. Initially I suspected the coil, which was a NOS from Kanter, so I bought a new 6Volt coil locally and fitted it. Same problem persisted. So swapped the condenser which I had not suspected as it was a new one, and the problem went. Wish I had done that first and saved myself 80 bucks!

The issue with the Ultramatic moving out of direct drive into converter mode very late (- at around 5mph) is still present despite me cleaning the governor and trying adjustments of the kick-down (throttle control) lever, which didn't fix the issue. Still, it is not a big problem, and I can live with it.

The car drives very well, and has loads of power and is comfortable. In heavy rain the front quarter windows leak and I feel this is due to the new rubbers used, which leave gaps in a couple of places. I have pressed some dumdum (3M caulking strips) into gaps to see it that will reduce or eliminate the leaks. If not it will need silicone squirted in as well.