MikeC5

I will follow up on that idea Pete. It sounds plausible.

What would it cost to ship over the pond though?

I suppose some sort of lights could have been mounted there but there was no electrical going to these areas (and harness looked original). As for a re-born touring, I don't think so. I would expect some evidence of cobbling the back end of a body back on there. The rust under the rear seat sure looked original...

A good story for sure. So far I have managed to stay under the local constabulary radar when doing test runs...

It does. If only these cars could talk...

Right, the only thing that will really improve stopping is adding brakes to the front wheels which, on modern cars, do the vast majority of the braking.

Good luck Ray, I hope it can be salvaged.

Now that you have it out of there you have some options Ray. The edges could be weld built up and re-machined to proper threads or maybe oversize the hole for an insert that could be welded in or even installed with super loctite (the stuff that has to be heated in order to dis-assemble). Depending on shipping/duties costs that refurbished mount may be the most economical route. Here is another closer shot of the same area. The water pump gear has angled teeth that mesh with the cam gear (I believe this cam gear is a fiber one). There really is no adjustment for the gear backlash except for trying different gasket thickness on pump housing to block.

Possible although I have scrutinized photos I have of 3 other 24-25 touring cars and I see no such hole (while they do have the sockets in the door tops for side curtain rods). I'm thinking they must have been drilled for some sort of aftermarket accessory. A little welded patch will take care of them...

Hi Ray, here's what mine looked like with it removed.

The photo is looking at the top of the narrow panel between front & rear doors. The hole is about 3/8 diameter and is on left and right side of car. I can't figure out what goes in here...

Can anyone post a few photos showing where the fender welting is supposed to start and stop on the rear fenders? It isn't terribly obvious...

Thanks Pete. I will have to try with the crank hole cover off and see if that sheds any light. I'll have to read up on the cam thrust bearing too. Nothing obvious with the fan belt but then it only has a handful of miles and is a modern, serpentine-style flat belt. Maybe I'll drag the laptop out there and try to get a recording...

I once knew a man from Nantucket.... oops, wrong forum!

Or at least use the yellow teflon tape as it is supposed to be gasoline resistant.

Hi Ray, I have been asking myself that same question... It could be it's more obvious when running the car in the garage (door open!). I'll have to see about when driving it. It is definitely an irregular clatter but the engine seems to run pretty smooth so I don't think the timing is jumping around too much. I might put a timing light on there and see if anything is revealed with the strobe.

Thanks Pete. If I make a guess at the water pump gear diameter and measure the arc traveled on water pump pulley to take up slack, I should be able to get an approximation on backlash. When I rebuilt the pump I don't recall the key being sloppy (and it was a new shaft) but it sounds like it would be worth removing it and getting a closer look. Did yours make a very noticeable clacking sound Ray?

I pulled off the cover and inspected the chain. Nothing obvious, tension appears O.K. I started it with the cover off (makes a mess) and saw no unusual motions in chain or sprocket. The noise was also more random that I remembered, more of a clacking noise and with cover off it sounded like the source was on other side of engine. I found that the water pump has a little bit of backlash, I assume with drive gear meshing with cam gear. When running, and the stethoscope on front gland nut the clacking is very clearly heard. Just standing in front of car with engine idling the clacking noise is very clear... Should there be zero backlash for water pump gear?

Thanks, that does sound like the prudent thing to do.

I fired up my '25 after sleeping all winter and while it started up fine, I noticed a loud ticking noise (louder than the many others) coming from the front of the engine. Closer inspection with engine stethoscope indicates origin at or very near generator end of starter chain. It is slower in frequency than the other ticking noises which may be something tied to the passing of one section of the chain. I did adjust the chain tension last year and thought I had it in correct range. Any ideas? Engine runs fine otherwise.

It's a good question.. I would estimate mine at roughly 1 rps (revs per second).

Yikes, sorry to hear that things are not going well with the D.B. Ray. Do you have one of those Might-Vac hand vacuum pumps? They can be handy in trying to diagnose vacuum leak problems. You can disconnect the fuel line from the tank, block it off with a pipe thread plug or some other substance (wax, modeling clay) and then apply vacuum to the vacuum inlet port on vacuum tank (disconnect from engine). After several pumps you should be able to build up 10 inches or so Hg (different unit over there I suspect). If it fails this test, disconnect fuel line and plug fuel inlet to vacuum tank and try again. If you can build vacuum then the fuel line itself may have a pin hole or bad connection. You can even test the line itself this way. 1/4 inch copper tubing isn't isn't too terribly expensive and is easy to bend. The vacuum pump tool with misc rubber fittings/hoses sells here for around $50 for plastic ones (Mityvac Vacuum Pump - Save on Mityvac Pumps at Harbor Freight!). I use it to bleed brakes and clutches too.

That really is a magnificent looking D.B. Congratulations on your purchase! All of the body details such as hood/front cowl, fenders, side aprons, radiator, doors, and windscreen look exactly like those on my '25 touring car. If you google pictures of a 1922 D.B. you will see the differences very clearly. Either way, it is a beauty. Best of luck with it and good touring.

There's your problem Ray, the steering column should be on the other side... Sorry, I couldn't resist... What about the pulg wires? Gap on the plugs? Big arcs like that can only come from the coil secondary. How do your cap and rotor look?

True enough Ray. I haven't been able to source a decent pair of top irons over here... Still, one could drive and enjoy this car with paying a bit more attention to the weather forecast.