Stude Light

I pumped up the tires and took the car out for a little driving. The clutch is still a bit tight. It has a clutch brake so if you stomp it to the floor, you can get it in gear while the engine is running but the shifts are a bit tough. It's getting better after a bit of driving and slipping the clutch a touch. The engine has a lot of torque and can run down to about 5 mph. It easily runs up to 40 mph but being a fresh rebuild, I'm mostly running to about 30 mph and down to 10 mph and going with various throttle inputs to break in the cylinders. Good oil pressure at 25 psi. First and second gear have plenty of gear whine/rattle but if you keep the engine revs down it's not too bad. The car steers and tracks nicely and stops really well. I'm pretty happy with it. Just working through little issues. Oh, the speedmeter lasted about 3 miles before it locked up and broke a link on the drive chain - oh well, I tried. Until I get it fixed, I have my phone app for speed 🙂. The weather has been very warm in Michigan this week so I took the opportunity to get a few cars out but primarily focused on the Olds. Most importantly though, after a few engine thermal cycles, I retorqued all the head bolts, exhaust manifolds and intake/exhaust manifold to head mounts. It's amazing how much relaxing goes on with all those gaskets after the first few runs. I'll do this a few more times. Need to order some tires on Monday and get rid of the vintage whitewalls.

After verifying no leaks, I was adding in No-Rosion. They recommend RO water as it is the purest you can get. I use No-Rosion in all my cars and have 8 years experience with it now. This car will be running water/No-Rosion as a coolant as does my 1923 Studebaker as they are both in a heated building in the winter. I replaced the coolant in my Stude after 5 years and it looked like the day I put it in. The benefit of glycol is freeze protection and higher boiling point (and corrosion protection with the additives) but it is a 20% drop in heat transfer ability and will ruin your paint if hot plus it breaks down and forms acids over time, especially in an open system. Water is a much better option for me. I use 20% glycol with No-Rosion in my 1939 LaSalle as I run it later in the year.

I've never seen that badge on any of the Lycoming aircraft engines I've been around. This is the closest I found On a 1938 65 hp, horizontally-opposed, air cooled, 145 cu. in. 4 cylinder aircraft engine at the Smithsonian

The 1909 REO Touring Car used a cutout controlled by a foot pedal. As mentioned, the exhaust was pretty restrictive and the cutout helped power at higher speeds. This was a two cylinder car. Here is a short video I shot when I was working on this car and you can hear with and without the cutout. The pedal is mounted to the far right of the steering wheel and can be latched open.

Last night, I filled the radiator with RO water, engine got it's 5 + quarts of oil, I filled the Stewart fuel pump and added about 5 gallons of fresh gasoline to the fuel tank. Amazingly, I only had one small leak of fuel at one of the flare fittings going to the carb. I was able to tighten that fitting a little and problem solved. Over night there were no leaks....yeah! That hardly ever happens, at least for me. I bought a new battery and installed it today and rechecked all the electrical - all good. I was out in the shop tinkering with a few items and my wife came out asking how things were going. I decided it was now or never so I got in, put it in neutral, set the parking brake, pulled the choke, retarded the throttle and stepped on the starter button. After a 3 second crank, the engine roared to life. I'll have to say that we were both amazed. I jumped out and immediately shot this short video. As it was running I noticed that a few of the spark plugs were wiggling around. Of all things I forgot to tighten! I had just run them in finger tight. Took care of that issue. It runs really well and smooth with no adjustments - and good oil pressure at 25 psi.

I finished up the wiring finally. Here is a shot of all the lights in the back on at once. The vintage turn signal switch also allows for a hazard operation and I was able to capture both the vintage turn signals (1918 patent date) lit. I plan to mount the Brakelighter in the rear window eventually. The hand windshield wiper that came with the car was in a womped out hole in the windshield frame so I opened it up slightly to a 3/8" diameter and fit this bushing that the arm fits in perfectly. Not much of a windshield to wipe but at least will afford a small hole to peer out of. Next, I installed the hood lace. I cleaned the paint first (what little there is) so when done you shouldn't see a discolored line. I start using an awl to punch a hole in the hood lace (centered) and in the correct location to match the hole in the body. You need to watch the end of the awl to prevent from puncturing the fuel line, radiator, etc. 😉. Next, insert the split rivet. I then took a screwdriver and spread the rivet slightly. I got this hand rivet tool from my friend Aaron. It has square handles though which are not that comfortable. Place the tool and squeeze hard. This is what the rivet looks like from below after using the tool. I didn't use a handtool when I did my 1923 Studebaker (actually couldn't anyway) so I had made an end for my airchisel that is shaped like the rivet head. To really pull up the split rivets tight I used the air chisel and bucked it with a piece of steel. It pulls the head down tight and flattens the bottom side. It will go flat if you turn up the air pressure on the air chisel which I did on others. After the first rivet is done, pull on the hood lace and line up for the next one. And keep going until done.

Okay. I’ll have to do some reading and see if they came on the car originally. Probably not too hard to rebuild. One is missing the spring strip so I’ll look for one replacement unit on eBay or here and find some strapping material. Thanks for the input.

I cleaned up all the radiator inlets and outlets, applied JB Weld to fill in the pits then sanded things smooth and painted them. With that all done, I installed the radiator.

I am almost done with all the wiring. It is rather boring to look at and tedious work but here you go if interested in some photos. I tried to use the same materials, routing, support, etc., although I did add a stop light, turn signals and a Removable LED Brakelighter Bar for touring. The car came with a vintage spotlight/ side mirror so I rewired it and reinstalled it. I ran my primary ground to the starter then from there I ran a 10 gauge wire back to the original frame ground and another 10 gauge ground wire up to the dashboard to tie in all the ancillary equipment up there. Here is the main switch with all the various wires. As mentioned earlier, I used cloth and armored cable and 3M friction tape which replicates the original tape used. All connectors are soldered....none of the crimp on connectors. The headlamps had an interesting Tee split to drop a wire to the right lamp while the run continued to the left. First, the main wire was stripped and the branch wire was wrapped around the main. Then it was soldered. Then the armor was tightened up and it was all taped well. BTW. I'm laying on my back on a creeper trying to reach up in hard to get places doing this. After all this, a protective metal piece is secured over the Tee fitting and then it is tucked away in the frame rail. I wanted to make it like it was originally. The wires then go up to feed the headlights. I was able to use all the original bakelight connectors in the headlight assemblies. This is a wire bundle I ran to the rear. Now I was able to reinstall all the floorboards

I took all the Gabriel snubbers off my 1921 Olds Model 46 Touring Car as all the straps were broken. My question is: Am I really going to see much of a ride difference if I get these restored and reinstalled? It'll probably cost $1000 to get the four of these restored and I hate investing much more in this car unless it's going to really enhance the ride. These are just one way acting on the rebound so not sure how much benefit you get. I've never had a car with these on it so I'm looking for someone with experience to help me make a decision. Thank you.

The rubber in my top bow clamp is petrified rubber so I removed it and was looking for a replacement. I'm sure someone on this forum has come up with a good solution in the past they are willing to share. BTW - I am still on the hunt for a mate to this one. It is number 439 and is rather tall. The rubber is a T shape with and wedges in the slot of the clamp. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Scott

It's been a while since I posted.....the weather got nice and my priorities changed. FYI - I ended up lubing the speedometer drive (above) with a combination of grease and engine assembly lube. I'm sure it will be fine. I had to build a new battery box and I couldn't find any thin steel angle without making a special trip so I just used aluminum plus it's a lot easier to work with. I picked up what I needed at Home Depot and cut and bent everything to fit in the opening under the seat. Providing a hand rolled Cuban cigar and some ground "bourbon" flavored coffee I picked up in Tennessee, I enticed my friend Aaron to do a little TIG welding. He did a great job welding all the miter joints and supports. Afterwards, I painted the frame. It fit in the access hole perfectly. If you notice it sits an inch or two above the exhaust pipe. I cut a piece of sheet metal and painted it with a reflective high temperature silver and dropped it in the bottom. Next came a piece of painted wood (a little insulation if you will) and the box is completed.

Kevin The key in the end of the axle shaft stops against the threaded end of the axle tube when the shaft is driven inwards so there is some damage to the end of that tube and some metal shavings. Nothing important is damaged in that area. While similar to the Model 45/46 axle, as shown in the illustration, the Model 37 axle is different and the shape of the third member is quite a bit different so I can’t be positive that there isn’t a retainer inside. The axle needs to come out of the housing to ensure we clean out any metal chips created by the keyway grinding in to the end of the axle tube so the diff cover needs to come off regardless (either remove retainer or check for damage) but we just ran out of time. The biggest issue is that poor Mike will be on vacation with this question unanswered until he gets back. I would have to delay my trip 🤔🤪 Scott

Looks like you have a full floating axle. This is for the 1919 Model 45 but I’m guessing the Model 37 is the same.

The biggest issue with ethanol is that it will attack elastomers that were not designed with ethanol in mind. So, fuel lines, “rubber” fuel pump diaphragms and seals, shellac coated cork floats all used before the introduction of ethanol will gradually fail unless they are upgraded to ethanol compatible materials. Ethanol may also tend to oxidize some metals, especially when there is some water in the fuel which ethanol will hold in solution. Although a bit too high an octane I use AvGas in any equipment that sits for a while as it has at least a 7 year life and never varnishes.

@Bloo …… FYI - The samples were all taken in February 1932/1939. There is no documentation on the test methods in the report. We would have to assume the standard method of testing used by the automotive industry at the time. I was also reading a test report from 1920 and there was a lot of discussion at the time about using ethanol to increase the availability of a fuel supply along with fuels from coal and oil shale. The understanding of pre-ignition, fuel chemistry, global production and processing, different crudes and alternative extraction techniques, other options for fuels was surprising well understood. According to a report from 1939, referenced articles on pre-ignition and fuel chemistry goes back to 1896 and the ability of alcohol to withstand high compression pressures without pre-ignition was discussed as early as 1902. By 1913, the antiknock qualities of benzoyl and cracked gasolines was known. Exhaust gas analysis of carburetor performance was established by 1908. According to the report, the understanding between knock and fuel composition really took off in the mid to late 1920s and was very well understood by 1930.

The octane averages from most of those same gas stations in 1932 were: Regular - 62 Premium - 72 Third - 53 So in those 7 years from 1932 to 1939 there was a significant increase in octane ratings due to compression ratio increases.

Maybe adding enough clothes pins on that Olds Rocket above, you can create a wooden insulating barrier around the fuel line 😀.

You may find this interesting. Detroit, MI fuels in 1939.

Other page of tire carrier part numbers

This is what one looks like. I no longer have it though.

That’s terrible news. I always enjoyed his posts and comments. I appreciate you letting us know Ed.

This is a 1923 Special Six showing the step plates (on top of the running boards) and the kick plates that would attach to the frame above the step plates. It also shows the visor. These were all standard on the Special Six for 1923. The wind wings attached to the windshield pillars and spotlight are aftermarket parts. A close up view of the kick plates that I owned but sold a number of years ago.

It turns out that a 3068908 serial number makes your car a 1923 Special Six 1923 production: 3039123 - 3075316 There isn't much difference between the 1922 and 1923 bodies and the primary clue I was looking for were the kick plates along the frame which I didn't see on your car.

I suggest you start your own thread. There are lots of places that will reline your old brake bands. I had mine done by The Clutch Doctor Phone: (651) 674-4175 Address: 40167 Flink Ave, North Branch, MN 55056 Website: https://clutchdoctor.com