[The Ressurection of Daphne - a 1932 DL]

And glad to see I'm not the only one that does these things!!

['29 DA pull cables]

What Nearcholatetown says is correct, that is how they were done originally. As usual, I did it differently (not by choice)!!!

 

Both inner and outer cables are available in whatever length you need in Australia from a company called Flexible Drive. They have premises in every state capital, but head office is in Melbourne. I am sure there would be an equivalent in USA.

Anyway, inner cable is about 1.4 mm (their part number 207145C) and outer about 4.9 mm (their part number 2003111C). I bought about 4or 5 metres of each from memory, for a total cost of about $20. For Aussies, this is the same as used for HQ Holden bonnet release cable, if you mention this to them they will know exactly what you are talking about.

 

This worked great. But there is always a BUT. When I tied to crimp the end with a punch, it would not peen, even after I bought a brand new punch. I think this is because the inner cable is much harder than original.

 

So what I did was solder it in. I used a large (1000 Watt) soldering iron and then tinned the inner cable and inserted it in the knob shaft. This can be difficult, as some knobs have a small hole in the end and there are at least two types of knob, with one type having a narrower longitudinal slot. It CAN be done without tinning first.

 

I then clamped both knob and inner cable to a piece of wood that I ground a slot in, so that knob and inner cable could be aligned. I put a piece of Aluminium (Aluminum) foil under the knob shaft, to stop the solder running out.

 

Then I applied the soldering iron to the cable and the solder to the cable through the hole in the knob shaft. You need to make sure that the solder is melting onto the cable. Then keep going to fill the hole with solder. It is not important that the solder fuses to the knob shaft, but obviously it is vital that it fuse to the cable.

 

Clean up any excess solder on the shaft and cable with a small file, blade, whatever, and that is it.

 

By the way, when replacing the outer cable, I “unscrewed” the old one out, but sometimes, especially after I had had the parts plated, it was difficult to get the new one in. I jammed a small screwdriver into the slot to spread the housing a bit and found the cable “screwed” in OK.

Hope this makes sense with the help of the photos.

John  

[Dodge Brothers sign]

Worked well for me and looks great.

Thanks.

John

[Powder Coat fenders?]

Agree with jpage, including that it's just my opinion.

[Replacement coil for DA6]

Thanks Keiser, be a lot better when its finished!!.

Over lunch I have been going over auto transformer theory in my head. Now I have just confused myself. The connection information I posted above came from a Bosch coil box, but the more I think about it the statement that they are not specifically made for positive or negative earth may be wrong.

Wish I had not commented now, but someone else may put me straight. My current thinking is that it may work, but may not give optimal performance unless you have, say, a positive earth coil in a positive earth vehicle. 

I'll go and draw myself some more diagrams !!!!!

[Replacement coil for DA6]

Don't have knowledge of trucks (only sedans) but would think it very unlikely you would have a ballast resistor, therefore you would need a "non resistor" type coil. Have never seen a 6 Volt vehicle with a ballast resistor, but that does not mean they don't exist. DA Sedan certainly does not have one. So any 6 Volt coil, non resistor, should do. They are NOT designed specifically for positive or negative earth vehicles, but it DOES matter how they are connected. For negative earth vehicles, connect the ignition switch wire to the + terminal on coil, - terminal to distributor points.

For positive earth, connect the switch wire to the - terminal and the + terminal to the distributor points. It MAY run if you get it wrong (an old Chev we were working on recently did), but not as well, as output voltage of coil will be less than it should be.

 

John

[Reconditioning of the 30 DA]

Thanks Bob, exactly what I need. And I also agree with your other comment to 30Dodge35, I wish mine was that far along also.

[Reconditioning of the 30 DA]

Nice looking car!

Have you still got the roof out? I would really like to know how much the cross bows actually "bow", in other words, how much higher they are in the centre of the car. I need to rebuild mine and it is too far gone to work this out. 

Thanks, John

[DA door seals]

Thanks Bob.

I guess yours may be a bit more difficult to hold under the steel panel screwed to the top of the door, will have a go and see what happens.

John

[1930 dodge DD6]

Not sure where you are located, but I am getting a new cable for my DA made by "SA Auto Instrument Repairs", at Strathalbyn, South Australia. Can give more details if required, but the bloke made an interesting observation. He is repairing my speedo as well, and pointed out the speedo drive "socket" in the speedo is warn and said he will make the new cable oversize to suit.

John

[DA door seals]

Bob, that would be appreciated. The measurements were as accurate as I could be, but we are talking about some bits of rubber that are 80 odd years old and just a bit hard!!! I actually had to cut them with an angle grinder otherwise they just shattered. I am not absolutely sure they have not shrunk in that time, so a second opinion of some that has weathered in a different climate would not hurt.

John

[DA door seals]

If you read back, at the start of this thread, I was not even aware if the rubber at the top of the doors. Thanks to Manuel for starting this and everyone contributing, it is all starting to dawn on me what we need. To that end, I have had a sift through my junk and found some samples that I did not even realise I had. I have tried various places in Australia and have not found any yet (including Fitch Rubber in Adelaide). Anyway, attached is a couple of photos and a drawing of what I THINK is required. If anyone has better/different measurements, or can confirm them, that would be good. For the top of door rubber, what I think we need is similar to the "T" rubber used in the channel around the front windscreen, but with uneven top to the "T". Anyway, let's see what others think.

John

[Gemmer DA steering Box More Help Needed]

No need to feel dumb, it happens to all of us. Having responded to your query, the steering wheel play was vivid in my mind when working on the DA today. Using the steering wheel to assist getting into the car, I noticed that there was LOTS of play. How could this be, as seen above, I put a lot of effort into setting the steering box right? The car is on axle stands and eventually dawned on me that the steering was on full lock, where the play is greatest. Back to the straight ahead position and all back to normal. WHEW. Had me worried for a while. Should know better, but in my defense, the front stub axles are covered up to stop me barking my shins and I could not readily see where they were pointed.

John 

[Gemmer DA steering Box More Help Needed]

Does it still tighten up/squeak when you turn with the steering wheel with the wheels off the ground?

John

[1930 DA engine dust pans needed or dimensions]

The panels round the exhaust, yes that is how I remember them but still can't find mine. Must have put them in a safe place, probably with the steering box that I still can't find either...........

John

[1930 DC8 Roadster Restoration Progress Photos]

For those who do not know, Peter Tomasini (and Tom Peach, who I believe used to make panels for Aston Martin) have made a number of videos on working metal and to my mind they are just fantastic. I am sure if one googles their names they will find where the videos are available if interested. Some excerpts  of these videos have also been shown on some TV programs. A few years ago I attended a "Metal Meet" in Melbourne and both these blokes attended and gave talks and practical demonstrations as well as offering advice and assisted in correcting stuffups by some of us amateurs. UNBELIEVABLE. One of my mates that I traveled over to Melbourne with is a very good panel beater of 40 years experience and was most impressed and said he learned a lot. He could not believe how hard Peter hit the metal.

Stewart, your Dodge could not be in better hands.

John

[Our continued...slow...progress!]

Pulled the camshaft out of one of my engines this morning. There is an oil hole in the camshaft bearing that lines up with the brass plugs (or in the case of my other engine, the 1/4 inch bolts that replace the brass plugs). I assume that during manufacture, the hole would have been drilled in the side of the engine block, through where the camshaft bearing would be, and into the oil gallery. This supplies oil to the camshaft bearing. Hopefully you can see enough in my photos to show this, it is pretty awkward to photograph. The actual camshaft bearing that is pressed into the journal has only one oil hole, the one shown, which is opposite side of the journal to the brass plug hole. The brass plug hole is blocked off by the bearing itself, although there is probably a groove around the journal to allow some oil to get around to dribble out the hole as you described. Hope this and the photos make sense. To go any further I would need to remove the bearing and maybe drill out the plug, which I would prefer not to do at this stage, but can do if you need me to.

John

 

[Our continued...slow...progress!]

Jesse's comments prompted me to have a better look at the two engines that I had previously said had no plugs and with a proper cleanup, they do indeed have little brass plugs, installed flush with the block. They were only visible when I cleaned off the paint. As my one engine that has metal thread screws (1/4 inch) inserted in the holes has been reconditioned, I now believe that the brass plugs were replaced with the screws during that process. It leads me to believe that they were removed to possibly clean out the oil galleries to the camshaft intermediate bearings. If I can shift enough junk to gain access to one of the engines I will try to remove the camshaft to check. 

John

[Our continued...slow...progress!]

You do ask some interesting questions!! I have three DA engines here, two do NOT have the tapped holes, one does. It appears that they go into the area where the intermediate camshaft bearings are located. They are also NOT shown in my owners manual. The engine that has them is in the DA that I am restoring, I have yet to run that engine, but it has two metal thread screws in those holes. Had never thought about this before. Do they go in and prevent the intermediate camshaft bearings from turning? Probably not, but do not understand why all my engines are not the same. Sorry, but I do not have an answer really.

John

[1930 DA battery kill switch,]

Great Idea. I had not seen the type you used, has a better look than the plastic looking things that I have used on more modern vehicles. Now that I know they are available, did a search and found them no problems. Half the battle is knowing things are available!! Thanks.

John

[1930 DA engine dust pans needed or dimensions]

Jesse,

mine are from 1929 DA but should be the same. They are also extremely rough and bent up. I intend to use them and straighten them up when I get around to it, but that has not happened yet! There should also be a separate piece that bolts on around the exhaust hole so that the hole is more snugly fitting around the exhaust, but I can't find it at the moment.

As you probably realise, most people threw them away years ago and this is the only set I have found so far. I would think it would be pretty difficult to make a set from my photos and measurements, but they may give you some idea. If they were in better condition it would be possible to provide a pattern, but not at the moment. Ideally if you could beg/borrow/steal a set locally it would be easier to work it out. Anyway, for what they are worth here are the photos. First three are LHS, last three are RHS.

John

[DA Interior Dome Light]

Well, the "something similar" that I thought I saw in my box of bits turned out to be just that. Similar but not correct, so I decided to make one. Turned up a bit of nylon stock with a collar to stop it going too far into the light socket. I measured this allowing for the compression of the spring loaded contact. I then cut a piece of clear perspex to the diameter of the light socket and, when inserted in the socket, allowed me to mark where the contact was positioned when switch was "on" and "off". Note that the switch has more travel when the cover holding the glass dome is not in place, so it must be in place to get the positioning correct. I marked these positions with a marking pen, then removed it and drilled a small hole at each mark. I then used it as a template to drill two corresponding holes in the machined nylon piece. The "on" hole I tapped a 1/8 inch thread and screwed in a brass metal thread screw for the contact. The other hole just provides a position for the contact to locate the "off" position more positively. Marked the socket and the nylon piece to align the correct position, the pressed it into the socket. It was pretty firm, but allowed me to re-position if I had not got it right, but it worked well. I then drilled and tapped another hole through the socket to ensure it would not loosen with use and that was it, a bit rough, I know, but it works well. So thanks again to the above respondents for showing me what I needed.

John

[DA Interior Dome Light]

Thanks for all the replies and photos, it is really helpful.

Re the glass retainer, that's what I thought but better to find out before I wreck anything.

Re the part of the switch that is missing, I think I may have seen something similar in one of my boxes of bits, but did not know what it was. Will go and see if I can find it again!!

John

[DA Interior Dome Light]

Decided to refurbish the interior light but have come up with a couple of problems I hope someone can help with.

1. It appears there may be something missing where the wiring connects to the switch. Is this the case and can someone show what it should look like, or should I attempt to change the switch for something else?

2. I want to remove the glass lens to get the surround re-plated, but it appears that the light surround is soldered to the backing plate. Is the only way to remove lens by unsoldering this and if so, what about replacing it after plating? I know it should be Nickel, but will probably chrome it to match some other fittings that are already chrome. I don't want to damage/discolor it after chroming.

Any suggestions appreciated.

John

[Our continued...slow...progress!]

Thanks Dennis, I agree about the original felt and in one spot on my frame it promoted the rust very well!! I am about to fix it but it won't be easy.

John