DavidMc

Sagefinds, yes I have one, this is my 1922 Sport, that rear section fits both 6 & eight cylinder Packard Sport cars up to around mid 1920. That small reverse sweep in the tub where it meets the chassis is the giveaway , you can see it in the drawing. Unfortunately I do not know of anyone searching for the rear tub

Early 1920's Packard Sport. The 4 passenger Sport body is very different from the 5 & 7 passenger models and rare.

MochetVelo: Those side curtains on the Metz look the same as the ones on my Maxwell except you have an extra piece to fill in the gap. This tends to confirm that mine are a copy of the originals (but without the extra pieces) , as I was told. I only used them once and never again, visibility is too restricted. A raincoat is better.

This is a photo of my 1912 Maxwell taken about 10 years ago just after I bought it. The previous owner had fitted side curtains and a roll up front screen, all copied from originals. The side curtains only partially cover the sides. Visibility is awful particularly through that front roll up screen. I have never driven it with the front screen and used the sides only once, the lack of visibility was dangerous .

There is an ad on the HCCA site under parts for reproduction magneto switches: https://www.hcca.org/classifieds.php?parts Magneto Switches available at Mark's Magnetos NOS Early Eisemann Magneto Switch, $200.00, Limited Quantities NOS Bosch Magneto Switch, $150.00, Limited Quantities

That's good news and an easy fix. Thanks for the update. I have never seen an original coil, my coil box had been stripped and the Harley coil along with a new condenser, fitted by the previous owner.

Thanks Keith, I do have two earlier editions of Dykes and have read the information about valve timing and it was most interesting but I could not find anything that explained the effects of a weak exhaust valve spring. My question was more curiosity than problem solving because the heavier spring had fixed the problem. Its easy enough to understand how the valves and pistons work together but what is not so easy is thinking about the dynamics when engine RPM increase to where things are happening many times per second and other factors such as inertia come into play Anyway , at lease I have learned its not an unknown issue.

Wow, "Cut your gasoline bill in half", why are they not still used, must be a conspiracy by the gas companies.

The original coil condenser has been removed from my coil box so I have the Harley Davidson coil inside the original box and use the original switch wired as shown on my sketch. I have the condenser attached to the magneto alongside the connection to the points , it can also go in the box if preferred. Have you measured volts at the points terminal, mine can be hard to start if there is anything less than 6v at the points, more is better eg 6.5v. if its say 5.9v and it can be hard to start. I have had mine show spark with a plug removed and resting on the cylinder but it would not start so I believe it did not have enough voltage to jump the plug gap, under compression. I made a spark tester (see below) by welding an old plug to a small steel plate with an adjustable gap. Mine will jump about 3/8" maybe more but I did not want to risk shorting in the coil windings. If yours will jump say 1/4" -3/8" then I would say its not a spark issue. For a test with the new HD coil you can simply sit the coil on the floor and run temporary wires bypassing the everything. One side of the coil to the battery, battery to earth, the other to the points and a pair of high tension leads to the plugs. I would also connect a new condenser to the points terminal, the size does not seem to matter , they are not voltage specific. Stay with it, I have been there!

On a 1912 automobile EVERYTHING is a known issue! No - that can't be right especially with the Maxwell. Maxwell assured its buyers their cars were "Perfectly Simple, Simply Perfect

Thanks for responding and confirming that weak exhaust valve springs are a known issue.

Have you tried putting a little fuel in each cylinder? If it fires but will not run that indicates a fuel supply issue. The next things I would be checking are coil and condenser. Are you running the original Splitdorfs. Many of us have now fitted the 6V Harley Davidson coil and a modern condenser. its easy enough to temporarily wire in a new coil and condense as a trial. Attached is rough schematic of how mine is wired. Let us know what you find.

I have a 1912 Maxwell 2 cylinder car. The valve springs for the inlet valves are much lighter than the springs for the exhaust valves. Both valves are cam operated. Other owners of these cars have advised that the engine will not run properly if these springs are reversed. I inadvertently did this recently after an engine strip down and can confirm that the strong springs must go on the exhaust valves and the lighter spring on the inlet valves. With the springs reversed the car would start normally, idle well and rev moderately. But if the throttle was opened wide the revs would not increase and it appeared to be backfiring lightly in the inlet manifold. It ran fine on flat or moderate hills but would not pull on steeper hills. Reversing the springs to heavy on exhaust and light on inlet completely cured the problem. Why? The problem has to be related to valve closure. The cam positively opens the valve at the correct time, the spring closes it . A weak spring could delay closure but would that not be the case for either valve? Perhaps the intake stroke assists the closure of the inlet valve and the exhaust stroke resists the closure therefore requiring a stronger spring? Some very early cars had atmospheric inlet valves that were not cam driven. They had a light spring that allowed the valves to open & close in response to cylinder suction or pressure. So do the same conditions apply to cam operated inlet valves as on the Maxwell in which case the spring can be lighter? Why not just use identical heavy springs or is the benefit to having a lighter inlet spring? Anyone care to explain what was happening? I guess it does not matter as the problem has been solved but I would still like to understand it.

Cut the large hole with a hole saw and drill the small holes. Use low speeds so there is no risk of sparks. If its an original older tank it will likely be made from terne plate so it will have a tin/lead coating which further reduces any spark risk and terne plate is an ideal material for soldering. Any other form of welding or brazing will burn off the coating exposing it to rust especially inside.

Why not soft solder it on using only a large soldering iron. No flame no risk.

Make a new float using Nitrophyl available from Restoration Supply C. See page 20 of the online catalog. https://www.restorationstuff.com/pdf/RestorationSupplyCompany.pdf

All of the ones I have seen were fully plated, they are not particularly rare. I think the ones fitted to Chrysters had a small Chrysler insignia on the face

Its not an accessory light it is standard on a 1929 Packard and a Chrysler, not sure which model. There is a plate screwed to the inside that holds the lenses in place

Lotus: Lots of trouble usually serious

I have had Optima batteries in my 1920's cars for 20 years. The red top is the one you want, its a starting current battery, the yellow top is a deep cycle battery more suited to use in an RV. I had an Optima last 11 years and another only 3 years but I was not keeping them on charge at all times. I now use the correct smart chargers left on all the time the cars are not in use and I expect this will give them a longer life. I bought a 6V red top recently for a friend and had a lot of trouble finding a vendor with one in stock here in Australia, maybe they are more available in US. They use to be readily available here a few years ago. If they are allowed to run flat they can be re-charged but not with the typical home charger.

I have had similar problems with a similar car , it was a wheel alignment issue. I took the front axle to a truck axle repair company and had them re-align the king pin inclination relative to the flats faces where the springs fit. It was way out. I had the same done to two others 1920's cars and they all steer well now with none of the problems you describe. You need to tell the truck alignment guys the king pin inclination.

Six or Eight cylinder?

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Similar to an Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane but the grille badge does not match?

Good question, firstly I have always understood that it is standard practice to have the throttle fully open. Thinking about it I guess that if the throttle is closed , the intake stroke will not fill the cylinders as much as if it was open resulting in a lower pressure compression stroke. That said I have never done a comparison, might try it. What do others say?