W MacDonald

Wanted: 25" Firestone three-piece rim and associated beads and lock rings for 34 x 4 1/2 tires. All pieces were originally stamped "Firestone 34 x 4 1/2" as shown in the photos. Relevant dimensions also shown in case corrosion has erased the stamped marks. One rim and two sets of outer beads and bead lock rings are needed for this 1920 Brewster-Knight. What do you have? Thanks.

No, still in the collection, with some significant suspension work done in the last year or so. Now rides a good as a 1984 LeBaron ever did.

Here is a limousine body for a 1908/1909 Stoddard-Dayton Model F, as found in the upstairs of a carriage house in Chicago. Ownership of the residence is known back to that era, and there is no good explanation for its being there except that it was the winter body taken off for the season and then something happened to the chassis and summer body. The limousine body was just left where it was for nearly a hundred years before being rescued. Alas, there seem to be no remaining S-D Model F chassis in need of a body.

Dan, the photos are of the starter for my car, which also needs repair. In my case, just the reduction gear. I posted them so that you would be better able to answer the questions posted by others. If you end up with another starter and don't need the reduction gear, I sure could use it.

Perhaps this will be of some assistance to Danny, assuming that the Chrysler B-70 used the same starter in 1924 and 1925. The Remy starter number is 722-B The starter drive is Bendix part number R-11X The Bendix assembly does not include the reduction gear, shown on the right above. That gear is Remy part number 9665. Hopefully this will get Danny some leads on a starter drive. As for me, my 1925 B-70 needs the gear shown above. Should anyone have one of these, with or without the rest of the starter, I'd appreciate hearing from you. Here are the pieces of the starter assembly. I didn't have a photo handy showing the thing all put together. And, just for reference, here is the car needing the reduction gear. One final note: Jay Astheimer is certainly the go-to guy for early Chrysler parts. He has helped on several occasions on this car. But at last check he no longer has these starter parts.

Thanks for the previous three suggestions. All good ones, but not applicable in this case. The electrical system is exactly as built by Chrysler, including the six volt battery. Interestingly, the starter is held in the flywheel housing by a single bolt, which draws the starter into position via a tapered hole. (See cross section drawing in 3 December post above.) If loose, then there would be issues with the alignment between the bendix gear and the teeth on the flywheel. The problem at hand, however, is with the intermediate gear between the motor armature and the bendix drive. This gear is what makes the starter a 2:1 reduction unit and is internal to the starter assembly. And finally, yes, Jay Astheimer is the go-to guy for early Chrysler parts, and a fellow Pennsylvanian. He has been helpful in the past in providing parts for this car. But he no longer has these starter parts, as apparently others have had similar issues and the available spares have been used up. Sometimes the motors can be found, but the starter drives have long since been removed.

Disassembled the output end of the motor, with the results as shown. The bore of the driven shaft bearing is indeed cracked. Almost, but not quite in line with the separation forces between the gears. Externally extends about 2/3 of the distance to the end of the boss. Internally, reaches the machined oil groove, and then follows that. The gear teeth on the end of the armature show some wear, but to my eye don't appear to be badly damaged. Visual inspection only. You are correct, the gear center distance is 0.975, in my case measured over pins. So there would be a number of these castings, depending on the gear reduction ratio, and other factors. Here a two more views of the bendix drive.

No, there is nothing "fresh" about the starter or drive, and its possible neither has never been apart. Yes, one of the spring support clips is broken (the one farthest from the motor) and the pieces were loose in the bendix housing. The motor has not yet been disassembled nor the parts cleaned. (I stopped disassembly upon finding the gear issue.) But there are no teeth broken off the motor shaft gear, just some abrasion on one tooth where it looks like it "skipped" over the bent teeth on the mating gear. There may be more damage evident after taking everything apart. And finally, your point about a cracked housing. I don't yet know if it's relevant, but there is evidence of a crack in the bore for the bendix drive shaft (shown by white arrow in photo). Will clean up the parts and post the results.

Thak you very much Peter R. Now at least I know what I'm looking for. Perhaps Santa will put a #9665 gear in my stocking, and I'll be all set. If not, one will have to be made. I'm still curious as to what event caused that damage in the first place.

At the moment, the armature isn't the issue. The most obvious problem is with the input gear to the bendix, which is driven by the smaller gear on the end of the armature shaft. Photos show the gear, the damaged teeth, and the dimensions of the gear. Mr. $um Fun, or anyone else who might have this gear, or any pieces of this starter left over from your own rebuild project, please let me know. Not sure what happened. The starter was working fine, then I heard a fairly loud clunk while the starter was engaged. Now the motor turns (although maybe not a full speed), but the bendix does not engage the flywheel. The flywheel looks fine, as do all the other parts of the bendix, other than a broken support washer on one end of the spring (shown in lower left of first photo). For what it's worth, the last photo shows the B-70 touring that at the present can't be started (with the starter motor anyway). Car has been mechanically redone as needed, but is otherwise unrestored.

Thanks for the info. I can't speak to the listing by the Automotive Electrical Association you provided, but the Chrysler Master Parts Catalog of 1934 lists the same part number starter (#50180) for all the 70 series cars starting in 1924 - Models B, G(70), J(72), and R(75). Of course, this is a Chrysler number; and then as now, the component manufacturer's part number is not given. It's possible that Remy made small changes to the starter over the years which changed their model number, but didn't effect interchangeability as far as Chrysler was concerned. This is just conjecture. Tag in photo is from the starter on a 1925 Model B-70. It has enough issues that I'd like to find a better one before beginning the rebuilding process.

Looking for a complete Remy starter assembly for an early Chrysler 6 cylinder, Model B-70, 70, 72, or 75. In good or rebuildable condition. Will be stamped Remy Model 722-B. Thanks.

This 1941 Buick 46S-SE was my daily driver during college years, in the early 1970s. It has long since gone to a new home, but today I ran across these documents that would have come out of the glovebox at the time. Pennsylvania registration cards for 1952, 53, 54, & 55. Plus a few miscellaneous receipts. If anyone knows the whereabouts of s/n 14215623, the current owner is welcome to them.

Ran across this old thread today by accident. For the record, the maroon car shown in the attached is a 1912 Stearns-Knight Four touring. It has its EverReady spring starter and is believed to be the same car as the one shown in the previous photo from the 1928 silent movie "Show People". There are a few differences between this one (#5786) and the one in the lead photo. That one is missing its starter (added as standard equipment sometime late in 1912), missing a spare tire, and does not have the flat portion at the back of the rear fenders. The fenders do however match those used on the toy tonneau. The second photo shows these fenders on the example in the AACA Museum. Note that the toy tonneau body is considerably narrower, and the hand brake and shift levers are on the outside of the body. There are two known remaining 1912 touring cars and two known remaining 1912 toy tonneaus. More importantly, however, is the shape of the cowl in the lead photo. As far as I know, all 1912 cars had a flat wood dash with no metal cowling. The following year, the bodies were modernized and streamlined with a metal cowl. Shown in the third photo is 1913 advertising for the touring. Note that the 1913 models are the first to use the Knight radiator mascot. In the lead photo, yes, that is an aftermarket license plate holder attached to the radiator neck. I tried one on my car and it looked just as awful as the one in the photo. And, I could be convinced that what is visible on the radiator cap are the base and two broken off legs of the knight mascot. They were die cast (I believe), and fragile even when new. Stearns never produced cars in large volume, and they made changes as they saw fit without worrying too much about model year changeovers. So, there may be examples not shown in any literature.

Here is an interesting photo from the early days of the automobile. Photo location is our small town in south central Pennsylvania. Some fairly major repair is underway in a garage that also houses horse drawn buggies. Can anyone offer an opinion as to the make/year of the auto based on the mechanical bits on the floor or the details on the back of the body? Thanks.