MikeC5

An update on my generator; I installed new brushes and brush springs, sanded the commutator, checked mica, cleaned things up, oiled the rear bearing (which seemed fine). Put it all back together and... it does the same thing. I'm not surprised really since the brushes and springs I replaced didn't really look that bad. I also sprung for a new battery. So it starts great. I did some more testing with a volt meter on the generator output terminal. After start from cold the output is up to around 16 V (idle) and over the next few minutes it drops down slowly to around 14. When I put the lights on it drops to around 13.5 V. After idling for 15 minutes or so, I blip the throttle a few times and it drops down to roughly 2 V. Turned off the lights and it stays at around 2 and slowly drops to about 1 V. I shut the car off, wait a minute or 2 and re-start. It's charging again to 14 V (no lights) and 13.5 with lights. Run for several minutes, blip throttle and same thing happens again. I was able to repeat the sequence again before quitting for the night. Pretty strange eh? The throttle blipping was to simulate driving. I'm starting to wonder if it isn't some armature mechanical issue that only happens at higher RPM. I guess I could let it idle for a half hour and see what happens. Any ideas? I should also mention that I have upgraded the starter box to use a large diode instead of the cut-out points.

Excellent description of what goes on in there.

Cold engine mixture enrichment is the slightly more technical phrase. The fuel/air ratio needs to be larger for cold starting. This can be done by adding more fuel and/or taking in less air for a given amount of fuel.... The Detroit Lubricator uses the former method. When you close the choke on a more conventional carb (with a choke butterfly valve) it decreases the air entering (and the higher vacuum condition in the carb pulls more fuel through the fuel jet. At least that's how I understand it.

When you say you can't get gas to stay in the tube leading to vacuum tank do you mean from gas tank or tube from intake manifold? There should be no fuel in the latter tube (vacuum only). If you get fuel in the vacuum tube it probably means the needle valve is stuck open and carb is flooding. I would tackle one thing at a time. To get the motor started, pour gas into the vacuum tank as mentioned above (a half cup or so). If it won't start then work on carb problem before moving on to vacuum tank. Have you removed the fuel bowl cap to check condition of float and needle valve? It could be flooding. If you unscrew the little cap on fuel bowl cover you can check the needle valve action. With fuel being supplied to carb, pull up on the needle. It should be in down position and move up when pulled if needle/float are working correctly and the fuel bowl is filled (but needle valve could still leak internally causing flooding). If needle is already in up position then fuel is not getting into bowl or float/float weights have a problem. A minor drip on the line from vacuum tank to fuel bowl should not prevent starting. If mixture is way off because of rack/pinion, knurled knob adjustment or the dashpot/metering jet piston being stuck, it may not start. Once engine is running, if vacuum tank can't pull fuel it will most likely be a blocked or partially blocked fuel line (you did thoroughly clean out fuel tank?) or a vacuum leak somewhere along the line to fuel tank. It could also be the vacuum tank check valve is malfunctioning. Good luck!

You can get new ones at Restoration Supply Co. They have some other neat stuff in their catalog. http://www.restorationstuff.com/

It was used to determine the number of $$ discount on your new Dodge.... The rod in top of photo connects to the needle in some way?

Somebody must want a spare at $50!

Here are some tips on adjusting the carb. Also search on Dyke's Automobile and Gasoline Engine Encyclopedia, page 178.

A happy looking fellow!

If it were me, I would not attempt to have that fan repaired. Have you tried contacting Myers or Romar to see if they have a good used fan and support rod?

Are you going to get a replacement rod or try to straighten this one? Can they be straightened I wonder...

Ouch that hurts! It does appear to have been welded.... Someone trying to fix a crack perhaps. Poor judgement since getting a good replacement would not have been that hard to find. If the damage is confined to the aft row of tubes maybe it can be repaired.

Ditto.

Great idea and execution!

Hi Ray, I missed that you had replaced all pistons. The next time you have the head off it's pretty easy to stick a dial indicator (w/ magnetic base) on top of the block and measure valve lift. That would answer the cam lobe wear question. If you get the rod out of there I would expect a good machine shop could set it up on a milling machine table or similar and indicate it to see if little and big ends are mis-aligned. I would bring a good rod too for comparison.

I hope a distributor rebuild fixes things Ray but I'm wondering why would erratic timing only cause this noise to occur on number 1 cylinder? Could it be that the replacement piston has a shorter skirt and is thus more probe to piston slap?

Ah Vegemite... use it sparingly...

Will he re-babbit the main bearing inserts and rods?

Looking good!

Are you guys talking about indicated speed? Any idea how accurate the speedos are on these? I showed an indicated 50 mph this weekend and aside from the wind buffeting it felt OK.

Something to consider: if it doesn't have a radio there are advantages to leaving it negative ground. If he tours with it, having 12V DC negative ground (assuming it is 12V) lets you power things like a GPS or anything that you might want to charge while driving. If he decides to leave it negative ground, the terminals on the coil should maybe be switched because otherwise it may have an adverse effect on the points.

Sure looks like a barn find! It does look complete, no obvious rust, nice patina.

That is strange. It could really throw you if you drove Model T Fords a lot and then jumped into this... (the middle pedal on the T is reverse).

I think I read somewhere that the change to steel was made during 1924. My '25 came with steel (in very bad shape) but I plan to use oak. I made temporary ones out of 3/4" thick pine I had laying around.

I'm pretty sure yours would have been steel orginnally and that somewhere along the line someone fabricated the plywood versions. Romar sells repro steel running boards.