Project Delmae Update

[Walter Joy]

It has been over a year since I have updated my progress on my 1971 Polara named Delmae. So here’s the update (will post all photos and videos at the end)...

From December 2017 to May 2018, nothing happened. My father would keep asking me when I was going to go pull the car. Well May 2018 was the time to do it. We jacked the car up to pull the front tires and wheels off so I could get new ones that held air. Well that didn’t go as planned and ended up with two newer tires that leaked badly. Well Memorial Day weekend I had gone on a cruise in the truck and still had the tires sitting in my yard. Dad and I went over to put them on, and my uncle Jody (uncle who previously owned the car) said to just pull it out now. And that’s what we did. Hooked a tow strap to the car and pulled her around the road to my grandparents, where the car currently is. First step of the project done.
At the beginning of June, I began to dive into the car. First step was to patch the major rust holes. Mother nature had not been kind to the car, and as a result, the A-pillars were gone, and the bottom of the rear window looked like Swiss cheese. A quick squirt of automotive spray foam and duct tape fixed the problem. While I was doing that, I cleaned the trunk out in order to inspect the damage there. Surprisingly, there were a few pinholes and just some surface rust.

The rest of June the car sat. July comes around and I go to Carlisle. There I picked up an original factory service manual and two Carter 4 bbl carbs (I bought a 400 4bbl intake off Facebook. Picked up an aftermarket AFB and a factory correct AVS for cheap). So when August rolls around, my spirit is rekindled, and I have the added help from my Uncle Glenn, who used to work on the car when it was new. It was then that we began the revival.

 

[1978 NYB]

Sounds like you have a plan.


Good luck!

 

[Walter Joy]

Beginning of August, we started going through what was needed to get the car to start. First step was hooking a battery up. Using the old battery from my mom’s Pathfinder, we hooked it up to see if anything happened. We flicked the headlight light switch and the exterior lights came on and buzzer buzzing away. So we knew Delmae wanted to live.
Next step was to check if the 383 big block was free or if it had locked up. So we spent a few hours getting down and dirty pulling the sparkplugs out. Once they were out, a quick tug yank with the breaker bar told us the engine was free. We put it back together and tried to see if the original starter would work, but when we turned the key, nothing happened. A quick troubleshooting and bypass of the neutral safety switch made the gear reduction starter whirr away. We next checked to see if we had spark. To keep it short, we had spark after replacing the distributor rotor, cap, points, and a cobbled together spark plug wire. We also went ahead and rebuilt the Carter BBD 2bbl, as one screw was gacked and the condition of the carb was unknown. But on August 26th, with a fuel can hooked to the fuel pump and my truck hooked to the battery, Delmae cranked over and fired up. Backfired only once through the carb and would not want to idle, but it ran on her own. However, we were a very long way from clear, as there was a hidden disaster we had just created.

 

[Walter Joy]

Oil had been steadily streaming from the valve covers onto the manifolds, causing it to smoke. It was time for new gaskets. Took the driver side valve cover off and noticed nothing wrong, just a very worn out gasket. Took the passenger side off and as we were inspecting the valvetrain, something was off. The rocker to the intake valve on number 2 was able able to be rotated around the shaft. One flashlight and magnet later, we pulled out the culprit: a bent pushrod. The valve had been stuck closed due to sticking valve guides, and when we started the car, bent the one pushrod. All over valves were fine and my uncle proceeded to push the valve to open position....and have it get stuck. So we spent the next three hours beating and banging on the valve spring to get the valve to close and let us pull the spring off. Luckily we did (using a Chevy big block spring compressor) and got it freed. One new rocker arm and a quick straightening of the Pushrod in the vise brought the car to running decent. We jacked the back end up and found out the transmission worked, but had no brakes. So in a time span from late September to early December, every single metal and rubber brake line on the car had been replaced, along with two new (to me) tires put on the front, and the interior of the car cleaned a bit more.

 

[jason99]

Good progress. Any pictures?

 

[Walter Joy]

When cleaning out the ashtray, I found gas receipts, with the latest being from March 1993. That gave me a rough time line of when the car last drove. Hidden behind a mouse nest in the glovebox were two more artifacts: a warranty card for the battery dated 1973 (when my great grandmother owned it) and a Led Zeppelin- In Through the Out Door cassette tape (at one point there was an FM-Cassette add on in the car). It was also at this point I got a good sense of the floors. The front floors were covered in rust but only had a few pinholes. Not too bad for a car that had been unloved for decades. The final treasure I found was the main hidden gold that I love: the all elusive Broadcast Sheet. And tucked in the seat springs in the back of the rear seats was a good 40-50% of the sheet.

December 2018 rolls around. Weeks of driving to and from the auto store, breaking old lines and bending new ones, and a lot of bleeding later, the car was ready to finally move. So on December 19th, we took some glass cleaner, cleaned up the windows and cleaned the rear lights off, and I took her for the first drive. In a span of 7 months, I had managed to get a car that was rusting away to be turned into a running and driving car....with a few more snafus.

 

[Walter Joy]

On that first drive, I managed to leave a trail of ATF about a half mile long because the line had split going into the cooler on the underside of the radiator. The day we replaced the lines was also the day I did the first oil change on the car in 25 years. I took her out on a half mile drive through my neighborhood (no tags, no insurance, no brake lights, no problems) and finally breathed some relief.

So now it’s January 2019 and here is where I’m at. Currently the interior of the car is apart. Managed to get the front seats out and pulled the rest of the carpet out, to finally see the extent of the rust. End result: it has some minor and major holes in the floors, but not bigger than a dollar coin and will soon be filled with bondo. The steering column is also apart, as we finally got all the lights to work yet still no brakes. That problem was tracked to a bad hazard switch, and a replacement is on its way. Finally, the original gas tank was dropped out of the car and drained of the rancid gas and grime. However, that tank had holes in the side and I had found another tank within a few hours journey of me to hopefully replace it. However, I paid way too much for a tank that actually was in much worse condition. So hopefully I can get one of the tanks brazed and patched and thrown back in the car.

 

[Walter Joy]

Pictures of everything I just said. Will be split up into multiple posts

 

[Walter Joy]

 

[Walter Joy]

 

[Walter Joy]

 

[Walter Joy]

These are the two uncles that are mentioned in the above post. The one in the gray hair is my uncle Glenn and the one in the hat is my uncle Jody.

And this is Delmae in front of my house. My great grandmother Delmae lived in this house when she was alive. And off picture next to the car is a shed that used to be where she parked the car.

 

[Walter Joy]

Videos:










1971 Polara Fixed Pushrod

1971 Polara Working Driveline

1971 Polara First Drive in 25 Years

1971 Polara Crusing

 

[LeBaron1973]

With all due respect, you're just wasting your time filling rust holes with bondo as the rust will continue, use a rust killer and then replace the missing metal with metal.

Others will offer their advice and experience.

 

[jason99]

I had a thread some time back about trunk rust repair, but a lot of the comments are probably relevant to what you have going as well.

Cleaning up floorpans/trunkpan

 

[thrashingcows]

I understand budgets and while replacing rust with metal is the best way to do it, if welding is not in the cars right now I would use fiberglass matting for now. Clean to bare metal and then install the fiberglass....will last longer then bondo and will actually give you a bit of structural integrity.

Also make sure you pick up a good un-bent push rod to replace that bent one. Your fix will work for now but that push rod will be more likely to bend again due to the damage it has already suffered.

Glad you got it running and driving....it's a great feeling!

 

[Fratzog]

Thanks for the updates. This is an interesting thread seeing the old girl get some love. While I cringe at the idea of throwing bondo in rust holes I understand your priorities. It sounds like you know someone that can braze. That would likely be a better option if patches can't be welded.

 

[71Polara383]

He is using the term bondo loosely. It's an all metal type filler he plans to use. Sure welding in patches is the only way to kill the rot, without a welder or donor metal or a shop thats a huge obstacle. Its a 4 door 71 Polara Custom being resurrected on an young man's budget...with that said. GREAT JOB saving her and bringing her back to life. I think everyone here would have parted her out after seeing the a pillar. But the history and story is great. Proud to see this car coming back regardless of how it gets to the road. I'm doing my car the right way and Walter here is gonna have 3000 miles on his before mine even makes a noise other then rust crumbling. Good job kid!

 

[LeBaron1973]

Thx for the information, yes, it's a great thing to have grandmas car done up again.

 

[Walter Joy]

Thank you all for the positive feedback. Wyatt (71Polara383) has been helping me a lot and was the one who is sending me a new hazard module for the car. The body filler I’m using for the floors is a Bondo brand metal infused body filler. And the entire floor is going to be covered with rust neutralizer.

Now once it’s put back together and I get the gas tank brazed, I will be saving up for tires and Torq Thrust D wheels. I’ll also be gathering up parts to hop up the 383 including: 452 heads, 1971 383 4bbl intake, headers, meatier camshaft, 3.23 Suregrip. Just a little life into Delmae