1954 Pontiac Chieftain

[Yokomo99]

My sons and I have just picked up a 1854 Pontiac Chieftain to restore to driving condition. The six cylinder engine runs fine with 35 psi of oil pressure at 450 rpm hot and we have just repaired the braking system. There are a few strange things about the car though like the under seat heater and the defrost system are on the right hand side of the car ( this appears to be opposite to the picture in the manual.) and the heater controls are mounted under the dash instead of being in the dash above the radio. Where the heater controls are supposed to be there is a gold lion emblem. I have looked at a lot of pictures and I haven't seen this setup in another car. Here is a pic;

Can anyone can shed any light on these issues TIA

Matt

[Larry]

Congratulations of a great hobby car.

You are correct about the heater being sort of odd. I have had a number of '54 Star Chiefs over the years and all were as described in the manual (see our On-Line Reference Manual Library).

What I would suspect is that you have an after market heater/defroster installation. Although it seems like a lot of work, it wasn't unusual for warm climate cars to come without and have them added later either after the car resold, or the owner figured out what a boneheaded idea it was to buy without it.

The underdash panel is sort of the giveaway here, plus the fact that the factory controls are missing.

The gold lion looks like an add-on also, probably from an old DeSoto (I think they used that symbol years ago). They have also added a handle on the glove box door. Probably a "V" from the same DeSoto (V-. Is it gold too?

Other than that "V" which would tear your knee or face off in an accident, I'd leave everything as is. It adds to the unique history of your particular old Pontiac.

Good thing you have a 3-speed because that 6-cylinder would struggle with an automatic.

While some of the chrome trim is hard to find for the '54s any more, there is a boat load of mechanical stuff available. It's a great car that should be loads of fun!

[Yokomo99]

Thanks for the update Larry. We have been cleaning and painting various parts of the engine bay and I have run in to another small problem fitting the oil bath air cleaner. It doesn't seem to fit the carb top. Here is a picture of the carb and the filter.



My question is there an adapter or something between the carb and the filter or is this not the correct air cleaner for this car?
PS I know that we painted the engine the wrong color but we figured that it would look better painted and at least it is a GM Flathead paint color.

[Larry]

Paint looks good. The right color is what ever you want it to be.

I don't remember the air cleaner on my '54s, and that one doesn't ring any bells either. I know that it was a "direct" fit with just a wing sort of thumb screw (I think!).

If the one you have it too big (I assume, as opposed to too small), it probably isn't the correct one.

Go up into our On-Line Reference Manual Library and check the '49-'54 Shop manual to see if perhaps they have a photo of the '54 air cleaner assy. Or, do a Google search and see if you can fine a picture of one.

[Larry]

Did a little Googling and found a couple photos of '54 air cleaners. I think you might have the wrong one. See below.

I don't know why these two are different though, but each are quite different than yours. Gonna have to keep checking around.