JV Puleo

If the paint was rubbed through to the primer that's a good sign that the car was pampered...and we know it hasn't been on the road since 1958...

It's from a MkIV...the immediate post war car. I think they were made from 1947 to about 1952. The later ones, known as the R Type, were a bit faster. It was the first car built by RR that came with a standard body. Until then, all RR & Bentley cars had coachbuilt bodies. As to what it's worth...I've no idea. Aside from being very well made, it's not a spectacular engine so unless someone had a MkIV that needed an engine (which is pretty unlikely) I've no idea what the market would be. Generally, the bodies fall apart much sooner than the mechanical parts. In fact, it's fairly common to scrap the bodies and build a fake "pre-war style" Bentley on the chassis. I doubt it fits anything else. EDIT...It's also been polished up a bit. The valve cover, intake manifold and carbs were all enameled black when new. It's basically the same engine as used in the RR Silver Cloud I although in that case it had a single downdraft carb. At one point in my youth I worked for a man that imported them. I'd fly to Newark, pick them up at the customs shed and drive them back to Mass. Some of them were in very poor shape...one had two of the three engine mounts broken and practically no exhaust. I had to drive with the sun roof open all the way back to be able to breath...and it was late September so it wasn't a "fun" experience. Another time I picked up an R type and wondered why everyone on Rt. 95 was going so slow...until I glanced at the speedo and realized I was doing nearly 100 mph. That car was in relatively good shape!

That is really a remarkable unrestored car. I've no interest in the late 30s but I'd have been tempted by that one. "Restoring" it would be a sin.

Mike's pictures right side up...

No...or rather, the few cars I'd like to have are so far beyond my means that it isn't even worth thinking about....A pre-WWI Silver Ghost, a pre-1905 large 4-cylinder French car, a 48 HP Locomobile... At the very best, if things go well in the future (which is hardly guaranteed) I might squeak out a 20 HP RR or some other big 20s car but I'm past doing another major restoration. There simply isn't going to be enough time left so whatever I get will have to be shabby and in need of mechanical work.

The American PIs also had the Bijur one-shot oilers. I wish they didn't...when the little felts get clogged (as is usually the case with an old car) they are a major headache to fix. I think most owners never pay attention to that and as a result the chassis lubrication suffers.

My late father had zero interest in cars aside from getting him to work. In fact, he regarded my interest in early cars as a minor embarrassment. To his long term credit though, he never made any effort to stop me from pursuing my interests...all of which he regarded as a colossal waste of time. He had a long standing aversion to anything to do with car-related work as well. As a child, in the 20s, he'd lived next to a combination garage/speakeasy with trailers out back that were worked by local prostitutes. It was loud, noisy and the scene of fights and police raids. That impression never left him. He'd have me change his oil but always added "I hate to see you doing this kind of work." One funny story though...When I sold my 29 PI RR he answered a call while I was out. When I returned he told me, in a somewhat amazed voice, "You got a call on the car and the man sounded very intelligent...I think he said he was a doctor!" It was a revelation to him. He always drove 2nd hand luxury cars..saying they were the best buy. He favored Chrysler products because he thought of them as reliable but his last car was a Subaru which is still in my back yard until I can sell or junk it. Shortly after I sold the Rolls I stopped to see my uncle, my father's older brother. I'd worked for him for a few years so we were friendly. He was even more caustic about the Rolls when I got it saying I might as well have burned the $3500 I paid for that piece of junk. I stopped mostly to say I'd sold it and I'd more than doubled my money. He was impressed but his reply was "now you can buy a good car, like a new cutlass".

I guess it depends on what you call significant value. I've been GIVEN several cars...all of them one step from the junkyard. But, if you have very little money and you need to be able to get to work I'd call that significant...a life saver in fact.

I think all connecting rods were forged. Cast iron would be much too brittle. In any case, the conventional shape of a connecting rod was determined by the need to remove it from a forging die. For maximum strength the thickest portion should be in the middle, not at the end (according to PM Heldt). Cast steel hadn't been invented, or at least perfected, in 1913. It doesn't really become a major manufacturing technique until after WWII. The aluminum connecting rods used by Franklin and others in the 20s and 30s were forged. I'd alter the rods.

I doubt the valves were hardened...if nothing else, the heat from the engine would eliminate any hardening on the exhaust valves. I think we've been over this but the only fear I'd have of using the original valves would be if they had cast iron heads and I seem to remember they don't. Valve grinders often had a second stone to grind lifters and valve ends flat so I doubt grinding the ends of the valves would be a problem either as long as the valve keepers still fit. Great job on the filler tube...that's exactly why I urged you to build up the machine shop. What would be a serious problem to most was just an inconvenience ...

What about the folks that collect and use antique machine tools? We have several right on this forum and they are in much greater danger of disappearing into scrap than cars are...and they are every bit as important a relic of our industrial past as cars are.

I can't say I have one but I remember my dad (born in 1916) saying that when the 1930 Model A came out he thought cars simply couldn't get more attractive. It must have really impressed him because he had no interest in cars aside from transportation.

The flywheel was statically balanced (since dynamic balancing hadn't been invented) so it may be that it should be aligned to the crankshaft so that the crank throws relate to the markings. If possible, I'd get it dynamically balanced before putting it on. Static balancing was the best they could do but it wasn't all that good. Of course, the markings also correspond to the timing so even if the mounting holes are placed evenly and it will attach in as many ways as there are bolt holes there is only one right way of attaching it.

It makes you wonder when the biggest health hazard to the poor is obesity. My dad had very short legs...he suffered from infant rickets as a baby. That was a rather stupid error on the part of the Reds...as poor as some Americans were they were far better off than the majority of the Russian masses and that would have been obvious to them but probably not to the party elite. A good friend of mine on once commented that you could tell the people whose parents grew up during the depression. They had a distinctly careful and frugal way of doing things and that often carried on to the next generation. My family was lucky in that no one was out of work though one grandfather was a letter carrier. Since they couldn't fire him from the civil service they kept cutting his pay. My other grandfather was a barber. He lost his house and had to move to the tenement he'd built on spec when times were good. When I was little my grandmother and two uncles still lived there. None of these people whined about their situation...they didn't embrace "victimhood". They went on with life and did the best they could. And...only one grandfather could drive and he owned only two cars, both used Chevy's. He never could stop on a hill. If he had to, he'd roll back and rest on the bumper of the car behind him to get it into gear. Apparently no one thought that was strange.

Not to mention just about all of the brass Renaults and any number of other French cars.

1931 is when the torque wrench was patented. It was probably 1935 or so before they were widely used so you will never find a "torque spec" for a 1931 car. This is one of the recurrent questions on this forum...folks look for the torque spec for a "1918 whatever" when no such thing ever existed. I'd be curious to know when automotive manuals first listed them. It wouldn't surprise me it it wasn't until the late 1930s. Oh...and grade markings on bolts are another recent development. l If you want to know what the original bolt was made of you should find a copy of the SAE Handbook (first published around 1927/28) That lists the various SAE steels and what they were used for. The grading system came much later.

I have no problem with them but I've driven a lot in the UK so, while it was a surprise to see them proliferating here it wasn't a challenge. The real challenge was the village of Leighton Buzzard with it's 5 roundabouts in a row.

I haven't said but I'm building a kitchen and I've about as much interest in cooking as I do in sports... which is to say none.

I don't have one but I do have an ancient 3 burner propane "stove" I could use. I intended to use it to melt a big tray of solder for the radiator I intend to make. I could block the crankcase up on a big tray. On the other hand we have a local company that does vapor degreasing and impregnates the aluminum with a resin that seals it. I haven't pursued that yet but I suspect it might be better still.

I hadn't thought of baking it but that is a good idea. I wonder if my crankcase will fit in my oven. If I try it I'd better do it before my gf moves in.😁

The Glyptal is a good idea. As you say, the crankcases are very porous and I doubt anyone who hasn't worked on early cars has a good idea of what we're talking about here. In period they painted the outside with aluminum paint. This went on for some time and many of the polished crankcases we see on "restored" cars are simply wrong if you take "as it came from the factory" seriously. They are certainly wrong on brass cars and unless you do something about it oil will literally seep through the aluminum.

We should keep in mind that Jeff is doing this with machines that are, for the most part, OLDER than the the car. If I remember correctly, his lathe (which he rebuilt) dates from the late 1890s. I'm adding this because many seem to suffer from the misconception that you have to have the latest and greatest equipment to do this sort of thing. You don't... and in many cases using the sort of machines that the car was originally built with is an advantage.

That's really an outstanding job. Upholstery is one thing I have never done but your success has given me the incentive to give it a try.

I would try to get the .002 clearance. It was designed as a crank start car so I'm sure it was never so tight that it couldn't turn easily. And I'm pretty sure those studs were made on a screw machine, likely a B&S and the little stub is a relic of the cutting off.

I recently gave away a perfectly good, running, camelback drill press. I did not want to see it scrapped but didn't have room to keep it. My solution was to put it up on the Practical Machinist Antique Machinery forum. It was gone in two days and I made a new friend as well. If it hadn't been spoken for I would have put it on Craig's List for a price just above scrap value...which isn't much since it only weighed about 300 lbs but it would have weeded out the scrappers. As far as car parts are concerned, I have no problem giving away things I'm sure I won't need and that includes things I've paid for but I only do it with people I feel I know, usually through this or another forum.