Normal / safe cruising speed for an 88 year old Dictator?

[keninman]

Just wondering what speed people normally operate these vehicles at. 35 seems pretty fast to me.

 

[nzcarnerd]

We drive our one at 50 mph on good roads, although it requires lots of concentration. At that speed it is doing about 2500 rpm - plenty fast enough. The original con rods are a weak point as I discovered in 1995 when one broke just below the piston and destroyed a block - and I was only doing just over 40 mph at the time. The crank from that engine is now in the newly rebuilt one, which has had .080 removed from the head to bring compression to 6:1. The car is currently off the road having body repairs which may take some time.

Edited June 13, 2017 by nzcarnerd (see edit history)

[Guest]

My Pontiac has a similar type of engine and the old rule of thumb was 1200 ft/min piston travel was the optimum speed.  For mine that is 41mph and there is no doubt that at that speed it just purrs.  However in the 58 years that it has been my daily driver I have put 400,000 miles on my Grandfathers 99,000 mile vehicle. I have had the car in every state west of the Mississippi except Hawaii and most everywhere in Canada west of Lake Superior.  I used to usually travel at 50 to 55 on the Trans Canada Highway or on your interstates.  The truck lane now seems to be 55 most places so that is where I drive and that is just about 2600 revs.  In  58 years I have had to overhaul my engine three times.

Drive your car at the speed that you feel most comfortable.  It will surely run faster but certainly will be noisier than anything post war.

Happy hobbying.

[keninman]

20 hours ago, nzcarnerd said:

We drive our one at 50 mph on good roads, although it requires lots of concentration. At that speed it is doing about 2500 rpm - plenty fast enough. The original con rods are a weak point as I discovered in 1995 when one broke just below the piston and destroyed a block - and I was only doing just over 40 mph at the time. The crank from that engine is now in the newly rebuilt one, which has had .080 removed from the head to bring compression to 6:1. The car is currently off the road having body repairs which may take some time.

Did you ever discover why the rod failed? I tried to test the compression this afternoon with a push in gauge. Since its rubber was too small for the plug hole I built it up with electrical tape. I could not hold it in with one had while engaging the starter with the other. It would just blow it out of the hole since one arm was not enough to hold it. 

 

Out on the road I have a couple of issues. I am going to have to check more on the front end and balance the wheels, it is real shaky above 30mph. The engine is pretty smooth to a point then becomes very rough as rpms increase. I took out all of the plugs, they are very old and found one did not fire even when I swapped it to another 

 

I have not checked on the back brakes yet. The front I have cleaned and adjusted. The seal leaked on the passenger side and though cleaned the linings were soaked with grease. It takes all of my leg power to stop very quickly. If something were to run out in front of me when I was doing 30 I would probably run it over. 

 

I have new plugs I am installing this evening to see if the engine improves. It runs fine at low RPM but misses and shakes at higher rpms. I hope this helps but I fear I may have to take the carb off and clean it thoroughly. I will also check my front wheel bearing to see if I got everything back tight when I reinstalled Saturday. Right now 40mph is a hard top speed. 

[keninman]

I put in the new plugs and tightened up the linkage. I took two plugs out of the bottom of the carb and cleaned them. They appear to be jets of some sort. I tried it out on the road and it rolls much smoother. The engine is smoother but I maxed out at 39 mph. Pressing more on the accelerator only results in the engine becoming rough and loss of speed. I also have to keep it idled up or it will die. I believe I am going to have to take the carb apart and clean it since I already tried filling it with Gumout and letting it set several days. Wish me luck. 

[Stude Light]

I worry more about stopping in my Light Six. The brakes work fine but having just two in the rear keeps me very focused on following distances and potential issues down the road.

[nvonada]

keninman,

It sounds like you certainly are chasing two separate problems.   So I have two separate thoughts:

 

First you are not developing anything near full power.  I doubt very much it is a mechanical problem.  It certainly feels like a carb problem but don't rule out ignition.  For instance your vacuum advance could be contributing.  For the carb check carefully for vacuum leaks.  If it is leaking and someone adjusted the carb to run OK at idle with a big air leak then it will probably be super lean as the throttle opens.  Your car should hit highway speeds no problem (OK, the engine RPMS will be high but it should do it).

 

Steering and suspension are the second issue.  Every bearing and bushing on your car is suspect (just ask a 88 year old how their joints feel!).  I could not believe how much better my car drove after rebuilding the front suspension.  To get a feel for how bad it is crawl under the car with a bright light and have someone wiggle the steering wheel.  I bet you see lots of movement at the joints long before any actual steering happens.   Old tires (especially bias ply tires) also contribute to a crappy, wandering ride. 

 

Nathan

[ply33]

Following up on nvonada's comments, which I agree with, it was only relatively recently that I learned that the more pressure there is in the cylinder the higher the voltage needed for the spark to actually spark. I learned this on a tour when there was a car that acted like it had a fuel system problem and just couldn't climb a hill or get up to speed: The problem turned out to be a weak coil. Idled fine and ran fine at low throttle openings (relatively low amount of fuel/air being admitted into the cylinder) but would hesitate and lose power when the throttle was opened wider (more fuel/air being admitted so compression pressure was higher).

 

So, in addition to checking the fuel system, you might want to examine the ignition system a bit more closely. . .

[keninman]

Here is what I foundin my carburator. Pretty nasty, it kind of reminded me of ash. The accellerator pump was frozen. Also thanks for the advice about the coil, I may need to get one. 

[Spinneyhill]

5 hours ago, keninman said:

Here is what I foundin my carburator. Pretty nasty, it kind of reminded me of ash. The accellerator pump was frozen. Also thanks for the advice about the coil, I may need to get one.

One thing at a time. Fix carb. If OK, no coil required.

[Grimy]

1 hour ago, Spinneyhill said:

One thing at a time. Fix carb. If OK, no coil required.

+1.  It's important to test run the car after EACH component change/repair/rebuild, so you know exactly what malfunctioned, rather than after multiple parts changes/repairs/rebuilds.

 

As to the coil, you can temporarily substitute a known-good 6V coil by taping it in position and moving the leads to the new coil.  If the coil is the cause, only then remove the one that's there.

 

Have you checked the points and their gap?  Ohmed out all the primary wiring?

[keninman]

After thoroughly cleaning the carb and repairing my break I took it out on the road and it still maxed out at 38 - 39 mph. Beyond that it gets rough but does not go any faster.

 

 

[Grimy]

Have you put a vacuum gauge on it yet?  Use the port for the wipers' vacuum feed.  If you get somewhere in the 17-20 inches Hg range at idle, that's good.  Use the vac gauge at idle to adjust the idle mixture.

 

I have seen several instances of vacuum leakage, causing lean conditions, due to deteriorated vacuum hose under the dash feeding the wiper, and to a leaking wiper motor itself.  Try capping off the vacuum port as close to the manifold as possible and see if that helps.

 

And if by chance you have other vacuum-powered accessories, cap off their feeds as close to the manifold as possible.

[keninman]

No Grimy, I do not have a vacuum gauge anymore. I guess I will have to purchase one. I pulled the carb back off and removed the fuel pump so I can access the lifters. I will set all of them and see how it goes. Another thing that confounds me is that it idles better cold than after it is hot. That put me in mind of a stretched valve. I have never seen it in an automobile but then I am not used to solid lifters in a flat head. I had a Suzuki 160 that would do that and a quick adjust of one of the valves, it escapes me if it was the intake or exhaust would put it right with the world for about a year. IT however would not start. The Dictator starts easily but you have to choke it every time you start the engine. It has lots of low end torque and speeds up quickly. It seems smooth up to about 30 mph. Now some is the tires are not balanced. However as you increase you can tell the engine is getting rough and seems to miss. Now the damn thing is so noisy that I cannot tell what is suspension noise or engine noise. I did make it all the way to 42 mph for a very short spurt on a long straightaway. The thing seems to run best though at below 35 mph, it is so low geared that it throws off my sense of what the engine should sound like. 

[Grimy]

Adjusting the valves is one of the first things I do to a new acquisition, so I agree. The Stude guys can tell you how much clearance to add to the factory specs--I generally put an extra 002 on the exhausts. Please let us know what clearances you find (as set by previous owner).

 

What gear ratio do you have?  My 1925 Pierce 80 (junior varsity model) came with the deepest of the three ratios (4.45, 4.65, 4.88) mandated by the factory for sales location.  It was comfortable at 36-37 mph as a cruise and screaming at 40-41.  I finally put a 26% Mitchell OD in it and changed the car completely--now 49-50 is a comfortable cruise speed.

 

Try subbing (1) condenser and (2) known-good 6V coil as previously suggested.

[nzcarnerd]

Remember that old cars always sound noisier than newer ones because they don't have the sound proofing or the other noise and vibration reducing features. Also old cars cruise at near their maximum speed because of the limited rev range. I would think that 2800 would be max for the Stude. Our Dictator had the 4.66:1 rear end but my son has replaced it with a 4.33:1 gear set from the same model. I have not driven it but he says that it is quite comfortable at 90 kph (about 55mph). The car is currently off the road and might be for some time, having some body repairs done. 

 

[maok]

Make sure the points gap is giving you the correct dwell angle.

[keninman]

The owners manual says valve clearance should be .006 warm, I was told by someone who should know that cold it is .007. I really doubt the previous owner who bought the car in 1998 ever did any maintenance. Last evening I took off the carb and fuel pump so I could get the valve adjustment cover off. It looks like it has had a non detergent oil for most of it's life. I have a 10w-40 high mileage oil that I plan to use when I change it. I checked only #1 so far, the intake was right on .007 but the exhaust is wide. I have not tried to adjust it yet.

 

I have replaced the points and condenser and checked the gap twice. It is right. When I got the car someone had replaced the coil wire with a modern one. I used it's ends and put on cloth wrapped wire. I was looking down in the rotor cap and found that the original wire's end was still in there. I removed it and cleaned and retested the car. That was the run that I made 42 mph but the engine was very rough above 35 mph. 

 

I have no idea what the gear ratio is and don't know what the possibilities are. When I pull the rear end out I can count. I can tell it is very low geared though. I might be able to get a rough estimate turning the wheel and counting. 

 

Another thougth that struck me is the exhaust system. I have had the tail pipe off and painted it but did not really do any checking. The engine makes a putting sound and at a certain point increasing the throttle makes the car act like you are stepping on the brakes. Back when I was much younger I bought a used Honda Civic in Princeton, IN for a few hundred dollars. I got it out on US 41 but could not get above 30 mph, increasing throttle only resulted in worse performance and the engine would carry on something fierce. when I took the tail pipe loose I found that a heat diverter plate had rusted loose and was blocking the manifold. This car reminds me a lot of that little Honda which would run pretty well at low RPM but dogged out when you tried to increase RPMs. Possibly I could have a plate loose in the muffler that inhibits the flow. I blocked the diverter on this car open for now but I don't see how it could cause my problem as there is another path for the exhaust. 

 

Thanks for both of your replies, I will keep the thread updated. 

 

 

 

[Grimy]

IMHO, you're doing all the right things.  Many newly acquired cars need some degree of sorting.  Recall Reagan's "Trust but verify" but when you find previous maintenance hasn't met proper standards (e.g., wire terminal left in cap), it's necessary to go over everything with a fine tooth comb, correcting issues as you find them.  Recommend you log all you have done, with settings, as a baseline.  One of the advantages of this is that it will inform "next maintenance" intervals for each activity.

 

Valves:  If it were mine, I'd set valves cold at a loose 007 on intakes and a loose 008 on exhausts, at least initially. I've found that some aftermarket repair manuals (e.g., Reed, National Service Data, MoToR) sometimes specify a slightly wider gap for valve clearances than do factory literature.  I speculate that factory specs were seeking quiet engines, perhaps at the cost of more frequent valve jobs.  Where aftermarket manuals reflect differences from factory specs, that's from experience with cars running under real-world conditions.

 

Exhaust:  Very good thought!  At age 17 (MANY years ago), I unnecessarily junked my first car, a 1948 Ford 6, for what I later determined was probably a clogged muffler.  Here's a quick, non-invasive way to check for a clogged exhaust system:  Hook up a vacuum gauge (the essential tool for vintage iron).  With the engine warmed up and the car stationary, run the rpm up to about 1500 (or the equivalent of 30 mph or so), perhaps using an assistant to maintain a steady rpm, and monitor the vacuum gauge.  It will take 20-30 seconds for the vacuum gauge to stabilize after you reach the desired engine speed, and jot down the initial stabilized vac gauge reading.  Maintain that engine speed for a full two minutes at least, maybe three.  IF the vacuum gauge reading slowly drops during that two minute period after initial stabilization, that's an indication of building backpressure in the exhaust system.

 

Please continue to report your findings!  And best wishes for success!

[keninman]

This past few days I have now checked the valve clearance none were  much off, certainly not enough to cause problems. I took the exhaust off and using a leaf blower determined that there are no obstructions (Hoosier ingenuity :P). I replaced the coil with a brand spanking new one. I checked all of the spark plug wires again and did find a solder problem with one. I played a lot with the timing and even found that when I reinstalled the carb I did not get the choke adjusted right so it stayed partially  engaged. That caused me a bit of grief when the engine ran worse than before. I bought a vacuum gauge and found that anything above idle I have low vacuum. I replaced the rear tires, tubes and flaps but don't have any weights to balance them with so I didn't check that. I'll buy some but I am burning through cash right now. I checked the differential ratio using the tape method. I tried twice, turning the wheel 10 times and using my cell phone to record the number of times the drive shaft rotated. I came up with 4.75 : 1. http://classiccardatabase.com says 4.78 : 1 so it is likely correct. 

 

We took it on a long Sunday drive and found that it runs very well so long as one stays below 37 or 38 mph but the idle is unreliable and it might die when you have to stop or turn unless you are quick with the steering wheel throttle ( I am getting real good with this). Other times it might remain too high and there is no happy medium. Pick up is great and she is very smooth just tooling along. I am doing good with double clutching up by my downshift still sucks.  The speedometer works pretty good but gets to bouncing now and again, I use a GPS speedometer  on my cell for accuracy. My temperature stayed normal and the oil pressure stayed around 20lbs. I am beginning to wonder if I have "gummy" valve stems because its performance worsens with increase in RPM. I need to get Chanin to help me so I can test compression, my screw in gauge is too small and I am not strong enough to hold my push in with one hand, it just blows it out of the cylinders.

 

 I am not sure where to go next, I really don't want to pull the head but I might have to. I have not replaced the rotor and cap, I could do that. I bought a carb on Ebay, a Stromberg SFM-2, I will check it out and install and see if that changes anything. Heck I could be fighting a carburetor. Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions, I really appreciate it. 

Edited June 19, 2017 by keninman (see edit history)

[keninman]

Bah Humbug. After changing the oil I fired the engine back up, it ran pretty well. I shut it off and the carb started to run gas, it ran, and ran and I had to unhook the gas line from the tank to stop the flow. WTH, just my luck.

 

[maok]

Are you running an electric fuel pump? If so, you will need a fuel pressure regulator between the pump and carb.

 

If not, then check the needle&seat, and float level.

 

You are probably over thinking the problem(/s) at hand. Most problems are ignition related then carb related.

[nvonada]

Moe is right.  Nothing you have said so far says "pull the head".  You have fuel or ignition problems to sort out first.  The fact that it runs smooth in certain conditions means you have at least a marginally healthy engine. 

[keninman]

I am using the car's mechanical fuel pump.  After refilling the oil I ran the engine just a minute at idle. I noticed a lot of gasoline dripping from the carb. I shut off the engine and it began to pour out. I had to unhook the fuel line to the tank to get it to stop. I felt around the repaired area and it does not feel like that has failed. I will take it back off this evening to see if it has failed in another place. It is the UX-2 which from what I can find is very fragile. I have the SFM-2 which the ad says is brass but it might be cast and should arrive this week. Hopefully it is in good shape and I can mount it or order it a kit and repair it. 

[keninman]

So far I still have not found why this thing won't go above 40mph. I need a tach to tell at exactly what RPM it starts cutting out bad but there is a clue when it is idling. I have posted three videos to YouTube. The first of it idling, the second is with me driving, Chanin recording and trying to rev up but the sound did not come out well. Third is Chanin driving and just tooling along. It does real good at tooling along as long as you stay at or below 35mph or so. You cannot trust the idle and better be quick with the steering accelerator or it might die, or idle way too fast. Also by the sound in the first video my read is that one of the exhaust valves is not seating. I only checked #1 when I timed back after replacing the rag joints but feeling with my finger I could tell that the exhaust valve head was not flush when the cylinder came up for compression but I did have compression. 

 

1929 Studebaker Dictator at idle

Cutting out at higher RPMs

Just tooling along through the county roads.

[Grimy]

With 4.75 gears, you're about out of string at 40 mph, just as I was in my 1925 S80 with 4.88s.  Have you checked the distributor weights for freedom to advance (move), not constricted by hardened grease?  Condition of weight return springs?

[keninman]

There are distributor weights? I have not had it apart and have no idea how this one works. It is pretty small to be able to advance by itself. 

 

 

[Grimy]

I'm almost certain you have centrifugal advance (2 weights plus return springs), below the points plate.  Of course, no vacuum advance at that time.  The grease cups providing lube have the downside of having the grease in that chamber harden over time and restrict the movement of the weights. 

[keninman]

Grimy, did you happen to listen to the engine at idle, especially the part at the exhaust. I also cannot get the vacuum up regardless of where I set the timing. To my ear it says valve problem. I ran the through them to make sure they gapped correctly. Unfortunately to me it seems one is not sealing. I hate to destroy one of my original plugs so I might buy another new plug and tap it so I can pressure test since the hole is much larger than any fitting I have. Perhaps I could tell if a valve was really leaky, what do you think?

[Grimy]

Ken, I just viewed all of them, and the idle video twice.  The good news as I see it is that the vac gauge needle is not bouncing around much, as it would--regularly--if you had a valve losing a significant amount of compression. Is that as slow an idle as you can get?  I'd be checking idle at 450-600 rpm, and the gauge reading will be higher at that speed.

 

My first thought on hearing the exhaust is that the ignition timing seems retarded.  You may have some bad connections (increased resistance), but we know there's no dead short.  In no particular order (and you may have done some of these):

* use a volt-ohmmeter (VOM) on all the primary ignition. Check voltage at battery, then at power supply entering the ignition switch, then power out from the ignition switch, jotting the readings down and looking for drops, and work your way to the coil, to and into the distributor and points.

* try the old "power tuning" trick of setting your timing by vacuum gauge:  Loosen the clamp, advance the distributor to the highest vacuum reading, then retard 1/2 inch of vacuum from the max reading, and re-secure the clamp.

* I'm a little faked out by how spotless the engine exterior is, yet there's a goodly amount of sludge in the valve chambers.  Due to this, I'd run some Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO--buy a gallon at Walmart for under $20) or 2-cycle oil in the gas to prevent sticky valves (4 oz per 10 gallons of gas).  Many here will disagree, but I used that stuff every other tank in two Pierce series 80s which would otherwise develop sticky valves once a year.

* have you checked for vacuum leaks at intake manifold?  Shut off the line to the wipers for now?

* if you can find anyone in your area with old test equipment (Sun, for example) with an oscillioscope, they can pinpoint any ignition problems.

* clamp the inductive pickup from a timing light on each plug wire in turn near the plug (you have to power the timing light from a 12V battery), point the strobe light where so can see it well (not on timing marks) and see if there's any hesitation or skips in the strobe effect. Start at idle, then have someone slowly raise the revs to the 30 mph level.

 

Hope this helps!

George aka Grimy

[maok]

On ‎16‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 6:30 PM, maok said:

Make sure the points gap is giving you the correct dwell angle.

This dodgy bloke has a good point. Did you check the dwell angle with meter?

If you haven't got one and wish to stay with points ignition then buy one, they are not expensive and you will uses it a lot.

I have a similar one to this;

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HAWK-DWELL-ANGLE-METER-RPM-X-100-/201951997802?hash=item2f0546ef6a:g:wyIAAOSw1~JZPDYz

 

Just because you have the points gap at spec doesn't mean the dwell is correct.

[Grimy]

Hi Moe, the problem is that there were no dwell specs published for 1929 cars.  True, the point gap is a mechanical expression (or what it takes to get) the correct dwell.  Correct dwell is what makes the engine run right.  However...

1.  Cars of this vintage have a very wide range of acceptable point gap. For example, my 1925 Pierce books says 017 to 025.  What they don't say is that you set new points wide because the fiber rubbing blocks wear in and drop the gap 002 or 003 in the first 1000 miles.  So I set USED (i.e., rubbing block worn in) points at 019-020.

2.  Wear on the lobes of the distributor cam mean you need closer / lesser point gap to make the proper dwell / make the car run well.  Over 50 years ago I had a 1950 Pontiac 6 with 90K miles that was supposed to have 022 point gap, BUT to get the right dwell I had to reduce the gap to 014.  Only then did it run well.

 

So, Ken, try setting the points to the low end of the point gap range.  If the Stude clubs have some info on what the correct dwell should be, adjust points to get that, using a dwell meter.

[maok]

If its a 6 cylinder then aim for about 38-40degrees.

If its an 8 cylinder then aim for about 28-30degrees.

 

If the dwell is way off, you will have sluggish performance.

 

 

[nzcarnerd]

Don't forget that your speedo is likely to be reading at least 10% slow. Something to do with the loss of magnetism in the works.

 

That gearbox should shift silently - just need to practice, practice, practice.  Just feel the gears in - don't rush it. 

 

The rear end ratio is probably  4.66:1 but you need to check it. Usual story, jack up one wheel. Mark the pinion end and the drive shaft - chalk is ok.  Get your helper to do two turns of the raised wheel and you get under and count the number of revolutions of the drive shaft. Simple.

 

Attaching a tacho to the engine is simple enough - they are readily available and not expensive. From memory I think at 40 mph it will be doing around 2,000 rpm.

 

We will have to get our one going and work out the revs now that it has a 4.3:1 rear end in it.

Edited June 29, 2017 by nzcarnerd (see edit history)

[keninman]

I am using a gps speedometer to check speed. The one in the car is pretty accurate but bounces sometimes. The engine case is clean because I have been cleaning and painting it as I go. All wires, points,  condenser and coil are new however i have not replaced the rotor and cap. I will hunt again for my dwell tach and timing light on the 4th. 

[Grimy]

We are concerned about being able to maintain a safe speed for traffic but we must also be concerned about a safe speed for the ENGINE.  This vintage engine is a slow-turner by modern standards,  What does the owners manual or other literature say about maximum rpm?  In the absence of "redline" (max safe rpm) information, look for the rpm at which  max horsepower is developed.

 

For example, literature for my 1925 Pierce 80 says the max rpm is (only) 3,000.  I believe that a safe-for-engine sustained cruising speed for cars of this vintage is no more than 80% of redline, or 2,400 rpm.  In my case, the car has the lowest (=highest numerical) ratio of 4.88; other ratios available were 4.45 (most cars) and 4.64.  As mentioned previously, a comfortable (for the engine) cruising speed is 36-37 mph and it's screaming at 40-41--and this is with 22-inch wheels and tires. I dreaded having to get on roads with 55 or 65 speed limits.  After enduring this for 17 years, I installed a 26% Mitchell overdrive, and now 48-49 mph seems comfortable.

 

What I'm suggesting with this parable is that it might be useful, using a tach--probably with temporary extension wires running into the passenger compartment, to determine your rpm in high gear at 20 or 30 mph, after which it's a mathematical exercise to determine your rpm at any given speed.

 

That said, from your videos, I strongly believe that your engine is not yet performing optimally.  If it were mine, I'd exhaust (pun intended) all other possibilities before pulling the head.  In my post last evening, the inductive timing light test determines whether the spark to the plugs is consistent.  I'd substitute a new or known good distributor cap and rotor.  Are you getting a fat blue spark when you ground each plug?  If you're getting a weak yellow spark, more work on the distributor or wires is needed.

[Stude Light]

Here is the engine torque/hp curve on a Light Six engine which is the basis for your Dictator

Studebaker Light Six Engine Dyno Test.pdf

[Grimy]

Thank you, Stude Light!  This is very helpful.

 

Note that torque peaks at only 600 rpm--but remains in a pretty flat curve with increased rpm, and brake horsepower peaks at 2000 rpm, and the chart essentially stops at 2400 rpm.  From these data, I infer that the "sweet spot" for cruising speed is only 1600-1700 rpm.

 

We should all bear in mind that cars of this vintage were engineered for the "highway" speed limits of the day, about 35 mph.  This is what I was alluding to in my recent posts:  Don't expect this (or similar period engines) to perform like, or have the cruising speeds of, mid-1930s cars with higher rpm capabilities.  And therein lies the problems we face with wanting to tour these cars on today's roads.  ONE solution is to install an overdrive, which is suitable for cruising on generally flat ground.  You'll need to shift back to direct drive for hills.

 

One more task for Ken:  Suggest that, in your spare time :-), you look at the viscosity of the transmission's gear oil.  Some of the clashing may be attributed to too-light gear oil.  You should have 600W (= approx SAE 180) or even SAE 250 (= approx. ISO 680), WITHOUT EP additives unless they pass the copper #1 and #2 tests.  Shift slowly and early.  Do not wind the engine up in lower gears unless necessary--these engines are low-rpm torquers.

[keninman]

So I guess tbis engine might be tooping out around 40mph. I will being back a tach to check the rpm with.

 

Last night we went for a night cruise. With both headlights on bright I still did not feel safe driving much above 20mph. Ibwas also glad I already new the roads well or we would have been doing 10mph.  20mph is a speed too fast for 2nd and a bit low for 3rd. The engine seemed to give a uh uh uh sensation when cruising about 20mph that you don't feel at 30mph.

 

I will say it is much improved from that very first test cruise when it backfired, carried on, would die at idle and refused once to restart and had to be pushed out of the road. I have also learned that it is a gas hog and I need to check the fuel level before cruising.  I have not checked the distributor for weights yet. It is still my feeling that it should not cut out when reaching a certain rpm even if it becomes dangerous for the engine. The good news is that I never bought it for cruising at highway speeds only tooling the back roads though I would really like to go 45mph. Our back roads here are pretty nice. 

[keninman]

I did find this on Cleveland.com about historical speed limits. The article was discussing changing the modern speed limit to 70mph in 2012. These numbers lend a lot of credence to what Grimy said. From 1926 until 1940 it was only 35mph then reduced again back to 35mph for the war. 

 

History of Ohio speed limit, and top speed limits by state: Statistical Snapshot

 

• 1926 - 35 mph
• 1940 - 45 mph
• 1941 - 50 mph
• 1942 - 35 mph (x)
• 1945 - 50 mph
• 1958 - 60 mph
• 1963 - 70 mph
• 1974 - 55 mph (y)
• 1987 - 65 mph
• 2011 - 70 mph (z)

x - Reduced for fuel savings during World War II.
y - Reduced for fuel savings during energy crisis.
z - Change for the Ohio Turnpike only.

Source: Ohio Insurance Institute