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Thank you for your kind and encouraging comments gents, much appreciated.

The car's heaps quieter now but I did like the powerful sound with no exhaust - like half of a Packard Merlin!

One of the jobs yet to be done is the final polishing. (I'd like it to be as shiny as the finish on yours Henry but I doubt it will be).

Intending to head down for the Christmas Party Mal. Wheel alignment happens Tuesday, then we'll do a few short drives near home to see how she performs. The cross-ply tyres cause a fair amount of 'wandering' so I guess we'll have to put up with that. New radials will have to wait a while because of budget constraints.

Hi

Congratulations! Sure sounds great, especially under acceleration. Bet it will be a ball to drive!

Steve

Thanks Steve. Waiting for the wheel alignment then I can do a 'proper' drive. Fortunately we live in a regional area so there are plenty of quiet scenic road trips to take her on.

We took the '51 for her longest drive yet, about 10kms (7 miles) and all was well until I got home. While backing into the garage she boiled. It was a nice warm day here but not hot . . . .

I had arrived back from a relatively 'fast' (- up to 55mph) drive and left her idling in the driveway for around five minutes so that didn't help.

Has a new radiator and new thermostat, so shouldn't be any problem there. I will check timing and see if that is in spec. Dwell is 38 degrees which is a few degrees high (- should be 21 - 30 for Delco Remy) so will adjust points also. Radiator cap will need to be checked to see if it has 7psi pressure relief.

I haven't accurately tuned the carby yet but exhaust colour is dark and car doesn't hesitate on acceleration and starts easily so I doubt it is running too lean.

If the new radiator has stock type tanks and fill opening also verify the radiator cap is long reach and not a modern standard short type.

Congrats! The car looks great and I'm so glad you can take her on a drive. You have worked so hard and I'm glad you have had a great result!

Larry, don't forget to check the ignition timing when you readjust the dwell. At 38 degrees the points are barely breaking. 21 degrees sounds like too little. I would go for something like 28 degrees. 30 degrees is a common setting for an 8-cylinder single point distributor, but do it by the manual. Adjusting points and timing may fix your over heating problem too.

(o{}o)

Thanks for your helpful comments (- and kind comment Charles).

I checked timing late yesterday and found points wide at .021 so adjusted back to .016. Then checked dwell and - meter said "41" (previously 38 with points at .021), so that was a step backwards! It is a 'new' automotive dwell meter so I'm wondering if it reads 6V dwell OK, or is set for 12v. Doubt it would have a problem as it's just measuring pulse lengths isn't it -?

Next I checked timing with a strobe light . . . as I already knew, it was well advanced. Previously I'd tried to set to 6 BTDC as per Manual but it wouldn't idle. Same problem again as I rotated the dizzie . . . almost stalled. Rotated it back again and idling returned to being OK. (Vac advance was unplugged and blocked. My idle speed was 'unknown' as the you beaut combo meter I bought refused to give me an RPM reading. Once again - is it expecting a 12V car?).

Timing appeared to be around 16 degrees BTDC so it could be that idling was too fast and the governor was cutting in and advancing the timing by around 10 degrees. This is speculation, as to advance by 10 degrees seems strange at near to idle revs.

I'll place the Ultramatic in "H" and chock the wheels, to get the idling lower, to around 375rpm as per the Manual.Then will check the timing again.

IF governor is operating at low revs, that would tend to make me think I need governor springs renewed on dizzie.

Regarding the radiator cap - the top tank is the original but the cap might be a replacement one . . .Will get NatRad to check it and measure the pressure.

Would it hurt to increase the pressure to (say) 12psi?

Also, in times gone by, some would remove the thermostat in summer and run without one until the cold weather returned.

Is that a reasonable interim measure until I get things sorted out?

12 was officially sanctioned in 53 and was made a retrofit available to 51s so it should be fine. The new radiator core would handle it but if the heater core is old that might be a problem in waiting.

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Thanks Howard. Looks like a 12psi is a good idea and I'll hope it doesn't cause any leaks to spring forth. Shouldn't do so because all hoses etc are new.

I must say that I have no fear a all regarding popping the heater core - my car doesn't have a heater!!

I purchased an under-seat heater some time ago, which I'll fit sometime before winter