63 YEAR OLD CREAMPUFF

Greetings! My son Skylar met a gentleman named Gary while working out at the gym. As they were talking the topic of collectible cars came up and the man mentioned that he had a '51 Chevy Business Coupe sitting in a storage unit that he'd like to get back on the road. Skylar then told him about my shop and that I may be interested in helping him do that. The three of us met at Gary's office to see just what he wanted to be done and the following Monday we towed it from the storage unit to my secret hideway.

After getting the '51 home I took some time to wash it and look it over closely in the light of day. The interior is very nice, done by a local upholsterer 20 years ago. The paint was fair. There were several areas where I noticed signs of body work such as grinder marks or dual action (DA) sander marks through the glossy black paint. In addition, the painter decided to leave the trim and weatherstrip in place and just masked everything off. I saw paint on the stainless steel trim and could see the original red paint when I gently moved the upholstery bead away from the door jamb. There was also DA marks in the upper grill bar. I think paint jobs are sometimes done this way for a number of reasons:

1. The car owner haggles with the paint shop owner for a discounted rate
2. The paint shop owner takes something in trade for the paint job
3. The paint shop is paid in advance
4. The paint shop owner falls behind and rushes this one on a weekend
5. The paint shop gives this job a low priority
6. The paint shop isn't capable of a better job
7. The guy who prepares the car for paint is lazy or incompetent

I happen to know which shop did the work and won't mention the business. I know the customer who paid for the paint job and can probably rule out reason #1 above. The application of the paint seems to be good; I don't see runs or dry spots and the car doesn't seem to be heavily rubbed out. After sitting for 20 years it had a pretty fair shine to it as you can see. 

Gary and his sons worked on the car, as I seem to recall him telling me. They had the chrome redone on the bumpers and grille and they're still very nice, except for the DA marks in the front. This means that the chrome was done before the paint job and the shop left the chrome in place when they painted it. The chrome work seems to be of high quality, as does the cloth interior. The carpet shows slight signs of wear but everything else looks great. The radio had been carefully removed as well as the speakers in the doors and rear package tray. 

 Someone had added a 3rd tailight along the way, which is a great idea on a black car, but the shape is a very modern, high tech rectangle with sharp edges and corners - nothing like the voluptuous shape of the fenders and deck on this baby. I'll try to talk Gary into springing for a more appropriately shaped unit if I can find something.

Under the hood Gary has the stock 216 cubic inch inline 6 cylinder engine. He reported that it had been rebuilt when he and the boys were working on it 2 decades ago. Wikipedia reports the following on this version of the Chevy six cylinder engine:

This engine had a 216-cubic-inch (3.5 L) displacement with a 3.500” (88.90 mm) bore and a 3.750” (95.25 mm) stroke. A four-bearing crankshaft was added, along with 6.5:1 compression pistons, for 85 hp (63 kW). A new cylinder head in 1941 increased output to 90 hp (67 kW), and 6.6:1 compression gave the 1949 model 92 hp (69 kW). This generation did not use a fullypressurized oiling system. The connecting rods were oiled using an "oil trough" built into the oil pan that had spray nozzles that squirted a stream of oil at the connecting rods (which were equipped with dippers), thus supplying oil to the rod bearings.

Rod bearings were made of babbitt cast integral with the rod. The bearing was adjustable for wear by removing copper shims placed between the rod cap and connecting rod. In this way specified oil clearance could be maintained. If the crankshaft were to be turned undersized, or if the bearing was damaged or worn out, rod and bearing were replaced as a unit, typically at the dealership.

This engine is coming out and will be replaced with a fuel injected 305. Gary mentioned he wants a manual transmission but wants to shift on the column. This means I'll have to use a 3-speed with an overdrive to give him the option of traveling comfortably on the freeway. Maybe I can talk him into a 4-speed automatic with a column shift. We'll see how he goes for it.

Doug