MikeC5

Thanks Guys, Jay had a decent set and I bought them. I'm sure there will be a roadster person that will come along looking for those Pete. Mike

That car was heavily beaten with an ugly stick....

Thanks, I did mean the bow sockets. Unfortunately, there seem to more cars than bow sockets due to the relative fragility of them... I know the correct top rests are quite rare. I have a pair that look fairly close but will need to be modified to mount properly.

I'm still trying to locate a pair of top irons for my '25 touring car. Anyone have a spare set?

CAH, I only applied it to the bottom pane and on my (touring car) they do close on the same plane (do not overlap). It sounds like things are different on the sedan.

I did install the M-molding and it does the job. However, when driving at speed the wind pressure on the top windshield would begin to push the molding off (I have it mounted on bottom windshield). I found it necessary to glue the molding on to stop this from happening (I used black silicone). I think I need to put stiffer springs in my windshield angle adjusters because the top window will not stay angled due to same pressure (it pops back down to closed position).

These guys really separate the men from the boys in sheet metal fab and repair. Outstanding work!

It could be the SG. Have you tried crank starting it? Or maybe just to verify that the engine has no internal issues, remove the spark plugs and check that it is easy to crank by hand. It isn't all that hard to remove the SG but you must be careful not to drop the chain into the engine front cover. There is a procedure on removing it that worked well for me. If a search doesn't turn it up, I can post a copy. It is possible to check/replace the brushes with SG installed but access to one of them is quite difficult.

If using a digital volt meter put either meter lead on the SG terminal (the one with the starter cable on it) and the other meter lead to ground (ground can be the engine block, frame, outer housing of the SG, etc. Put the lead in an area where paint is missing). Depending on if your car is hooked up with a positive or negative ground, the meter may read negative volts. No problem; just switch meter leads or ignore the minus sign. If using an old volt ohm meter, you may need to swap lead positions to get a positive reading. One other thing you can do to bypass the foot switch is to use jumper cable direct to the battery (check first to see if it's hooked up as positive or negative ground; if the cable on the "+" terminal of the battery bolts to the transmission cover or frame that means it's positive ground. If negative terminal does then it's negative ground). If it's positive ground, connect black jumper cable to "+" and red jumper to minus on battery. Then connect the other end of red jumper to the SG terminal. Now when you touch the other end of black jumper to a ground (which completes the circuit to battery "+"), the starter should engage. If it turns at normal speed then problem is in the foot switch or cables, which you bypassed. If it still turns slowly the problem lies in the SG (assuming battery is fully charged). If the car is negative ground, jumper hook up is opposite to above.

I think he means the starter foot button/cut-out switch box. The first thing I would check are for tight connections on the box. They are difficult to get to. It may help to remove the two screws that hold it to the toe board and pull it out enough to get a wrench on there.

You're right.. that vacuum tank doesn't belong there...

If it really is a 1914 is an older restoration like this really in that price range? http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/dodge/unspecified/1834802.html

Mine came with a honeycomb rad too but it was clogged and they can't be rodded. I was under the impression they were aftermarket replacements too.

Try the Tar Pits in downtown LA!

Yes, I'm going to back it off just a bit and see.

I finally had some time to fiddle with this and found that further adjustment of the 3rd brush was the ticket. It will now keep a positive 1 - 2 amp at idle with lights on. With light off the voltage climbs up to 16 - 17 volts but voltage does decrease with increased engine speed (which is how it should behave if I understand correctly). I guess it's a little surprising how much the voltage varies under different operating conditions. I'll be keeping a close eye on the battery to see if it's being overcharged.

Yes, that would be my guess too.

I tore my SG apart over the winter and replaced the bearings, found a short in armature, etc. Sourced a good used armature, checked the field windings for shorts to ground, put it all back together and it seems to be working OK. I still have some questions on charging though. The dashboard amp gauge shows +4 amps at idle/slow speed without lights on. It shows a slight discharge (~ 1 amp) with lights on. I realize the accuracy of the 90 year old gauge is probably not great so I added a couple of temporary wires to the battery terminals to watch what the voltage was doing while driving (using a DVM). Sitting at idle with no lights, the voltage creeps up to around 17 volts. When I turn on the lights it immediately drops down to around 14.5 but then slowly drifts down after a few minutes to 13 v. While driving at 20 - 25 mph, no lights, the voltage varies from 13.5 to 14 or so. With lights on, it will drop to 13 withing a few minutes. I know the charge rate is supposed to drop off with speed but I'm worried that I'm not getting sufficient charge with lights on. I'd rather not find out the hard way. Does anyone have any measurements I can compare with?

Nice photo! How is the driving going?

Gauges come up on Ebay frequently. You can try Myers Early Dodge; they sell new and used parts. Also look up Romar.

Hmm interesting...

Thanks.

On this subject, I carefully re-set the static timing this weekend and started it up (also testing rebuilt starter/generator). It runs fine but just for giggles I put a timing light on it to see how steady the mark was. I set the lever to full retard at a slow idle and... I see no timing mark. Anyone else try this? Is it because the centrifugal advance weights are too weak?

Thanks Ron.

Stretches the car out.... ha ha! Does anyone know what type/make/model of 1925 period shock absorbers would have been commonly used on a DB (in US)? I get some rear axle hop that is a bit scary if I hit a bump in mid-corner....