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Got her running!


Profyrfyter

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Well I've had my 1926 DB Sedan now for two weeks now and prior to me getting it, it sat in a garage for about 20-25 years without running. After performing some repairs and asking A LOT of questions I made new vacuum tank and radiator cap gaskets then dropped a piece of fuel tubeing into a jar full of fuel and hooked up the battery. I cranked it over for what felt like and eternity stopping once to make sure the fuel level in the jar was lowering which it was. So I cranked it over some more and viola, she fired! In my excitement I forgot which lever was the throttle and which one was the spark advance so I killed the engine. I tried again and she fired right up a second time, that's when my wife came out and watched me sitting behind the wheel with an ear to ear grin while the entire garage filled up with exhaust smoke! grin.gif

I was laughing so hard! I started it a few times since it kept dying on me and I noticed that it was very loud. My wife saw "sparks" coming from underneath around the middle of the car on the passenger side so when I got out to look I discovered a gapping hole approximately 6" wide in the muffler. I also noticed water dripping from the same side. I figured it was probably a water pump packing that needed tightening but when I attempted to tighted the rear most packing nut it came loose from the threads. The entire packing nut threads are gone...... Now I am on the hunt for a reverse thread water pump packing nut, anyone know where I can find one?

Thanks!

Dave

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Congrats on getting your car running. I feel your happiness. When I got my '31 running for the first time (I was 15 at the time), my mom came running out of the house because there was so much smoke, she thought the garage was on fire! Yep...it made me smile, too. I got my driver's license a week later and drove it to high school. That was 40 years ago almost to the day. It was my very first car and I still have it.

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I know what you mean Keiser, I'm a firefighter and my wife and I were laughing because the garage really did look like it was on fire! The last time I was surrounded by that much smoke I had an air pack on and a hoseline in my hands! laugh.gif

I have a question about oil changes now, what weight oil should I use and do I need to worry about non-detergent/detergent oil? Most modern oil is detergent oil so I want to make sure I'm not going to use something I shouldn't. I looked in my mechanics manual for the oil weight and all it says is medium so would that be something like a 30wt?

Thanks

Dave

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Lately, I'm running with 40W non-detergent in my '25. The oil pressure seems to stay a bit higher in the Summer after a 10 mile run (at idle). My garage seldom drops below freezing in the Winter so I've been running it year round. I buy it in 5 gallon drums from a local oil/lube distributor. I used to run with 30W without any problem. My suggestion is to use non-detergent only.

Best of luck with your toy !!!

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This discussion has been hashed through many times and I think we all agree to disagree but I ALWAYS run detergent oil with no bad effects. Then detergent suspends the contaminents in the oil so when you drain it the yuck (technical term!) drains with the oil. I run 30W in good engines, heavier in tired engines.

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I was thinking about detergent oil after I rebuild it, I figure since it will be starting clean it wouldn't be an issue. I am afraid of running detergent oil with an old engine (with 75,754 miles on it) as I don't want to loosen the crud up and get it stuck somewhere it shouldn't go.

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Profyrfyter</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was thinking about detergent oil after I rebuild it, I figure since it will be starting clean it wouldn't be an issue. I am afraid of running detergent oil with an old engine (with 75,754 miles on it) as I don't want to loosen the crud up and get it stuck somewhere it shouldn't go. </div></div>I agree.

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Guest Bob Call

I don't think you have to worry about "detergent" oil cleaning the sludge out of your pan. So called "detergent" oil does not clean. It has additives that keep solid particles, like carbon and dirt, in suspension in the oil so they are carried to the oil filter, if you have one, and drained with the oil when you do a routine oil change.

Mon-detergent oils were used back when cars didn't have oil filters so the solid particle contaminants would settle out of the oil to the low points in the engine, usually the oil pan.

If it would make you more comfortable, do as Dave Wollam suggests, pull the pan, scrap and wash out the sludge in the pan, and then run your favorite brand of 30 or 40W detergent oil. Change it every 3000 miles or 90 days, whichever comes first, and you should have no or very little sludge buildup in the pan between overhauls.

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