1927 EW Commander.

I recently purchased a 1927 EW Commander. It has taken me several weeks to prepare to start it due to it setting for many years. I now have it running and I want to repair some of the things that are not working. I am looking for a part to the front windshield opener assembly. I need the track that bolts onto the bottom inside of the windshield frame with 2 screws. I have seen one on a friend of mines car and it looks to have a slight radius to it. The regulator assembly has been repaired and is in good shape.

Does anyone know what the water temperature should run on these cars? On an 80f day the gauge runs at the top of the normal range. It does not seem to be running lean I think because the manual choke does not improve the performance if slowly pulled out, it starts to load up / run rich. The car has not boiled over in the 120 miles I have driven it so far. It appears there is no thermostat in the big 6 engine, would it be beneficial to install one? Thank you in advance for help with my project

Larry

My 39 does not have a thermostat either. Its runs hot with one. Lets see some pictures of your Commander.

Kenneth, if your car will not run with a correct and working thermostat then your cooling system is not working correctly. That can only get worse. Why do you think it runs hot? Your temperature gauge could simply be off and it is running cold now. Good article about how things are supposed to work here:

http://www.allpar.com/fix/engines/cooling-system-about.html

I plan on this fall having the radiator rodded out, flushing the block, having the heater core rodded out also. replace soft plugs where needed maybe all? I watch the temp gauge and it stays 160 to 170 which is ok. The heater cables are froze up for now. My car had sat since 1980 and that not good as you know. It take time and money to put a car back in top shape. I have kept a record of the expense on the car so far. Over 3,000 dollars and more to come.

The water pumps in cars of that vintage (not just Studebakers) really are PUMPS, not "agitators" as they are on modern cars. The water goes through the radiator and back to the engine before it has cooled appreciably. Slow speeds which reduce air flow through the radiator and hotter weather will add to that. So will modern gas which burns hotter.

Terry

I put a 150 or 160 thermostat in mine and drilled 3 weep holes in it. Mine run nice and cool (150) so far. I can let it just idle and does fine.

My 28 Stude

Rick,thats absolutely beautiful.