mrcvs

Okay, I would LOVE to have an EARLY car, such as the 1913 Pope-Hartford for sale in Hemmings for $275,000 right now (although can it be worth anywhere near that much)? Or, the 1910 Maytag, unrestored (!) that comes up on the main photos page is really neat. (What is that car worth these days? That IS a genuine question). So, I have a college education, have a decent job, above the average income in America, I am a 'doctor', but not a 'real' doctor, as I am a veterinarian. But, despite that, to just frivolously spend $275,000 on a car, or anywhere near that, seems unfathomable, so how do YOU all do it? Is there some sort of creative financing out there, or are all of you simply the top 1%? I just don't know how everyone else does it, AND, why, despite my years of education, owning one, or several of these cars, is not an option? Or maybe, the REVERSE is true--why are they SO incredibly expensive, as not everyone is like Jay Leno. I HOPE MAYBE as the last truly GREAT generation passes on (sad to see this happen, or even mention this), MAYBE in 25 or 30 years, no one out there (other than a few souls like me (and I will be a septuagenarian then), will even want this 'junk'. Comments, anyone? With student loans, a mortgage, stagnant wages in this country, just doesn't seem possible. The ONLY way this 'might' happen, unless prices come way down, is if I sold a rental property I own some day and used the funds to purchase a car like this. BUT, that rental property took a lot of scrimping and saving to make it happen, and it has been a 21 year ordeal now, so it seems rather foolhardy to sell it some day and blow it on something this frivolous (and, due to depressed real estate prices these days, I could sell it and still have to come up with a huge chunk of change to afford that Pope-Hartford.

After ALL this, I had a friend over yesterday who has worked on cars before, and it STILL appears that it is the carburetor, despite replacing components within. I do have the new condenser, as the old one wasn't right, so THAT needed replacing, though was likely never the issue. I am half-tempted (or, more than that), once the car is running, to replace the Bratton's coil with the old one that was on there, probably from the '40's or '50's, made in USA (!!!!!), by P & D company, L.I.C., NY. Seems so much more substantial and better than the new one I bought, and probably will last forever! I am going to hire a fellow who works on Model A's to come over tomorrow and fine-tune this, as I think this is where we are at at this point. Probably he will have it running in no time like it should. I will say that I DID NOT replace the carburetor with a known one that works because I did not have one to do so with, and because the float, ball valve, filter, etc., were replaced and the carburetor was thoroughly cleaned and the jets are in working order, so I don't know why it does not work properly, but, such it is! When do you think that sort of coil was manufactured? Bottom portions look like it is Bakelite(?) With regards to the quote I included, yes, this is the plan. Right now, I am trying to get it running. Everything is there, it is a well-used, but not abused car, other than the fact the head was replaced once due to frozen water, so it should run. I have heard of stories of these cars being run several hundred miles, maybe thousands of miles, without problems, maybe even more! So, how do I, in addition to finally maybe getting this thing working right, do I get RELIABILITY? I would love to be able to run it 50 or 100 miles, maybe park it for a few hours, start it up EASILY, and run it back home, with NO issues relative to RELIABILITY, or the thought of that it is 4:30 in the afternoon on a Sunday, and I am 100 miles from home, I need to get up for work the next morning at 4:15 am, and I won't have to spend the night dealing with being towed, or even the remote possibility of thinking of being stranded or having to get towed. I do have a 1917 Maxwell, and, other than throwing a fan blade, which I fixed, and replacing a wire going to the distributor, I have not been stranded with this car, and have bailed myself out by myself. I have driven it maybe 150 miles since owning it. Right now, the only issue is that the leather fan belts stretch and cause the fan blade (with a 'wire' around it) to ride up against the radiator intake. However, the thought of being stranded has made me never drive this car further than 10 miles from home. This is always the fear. SO, once this is running, how do I get it to be RELIABLE?

Matt Hinson remains ever helpful. Here is where we stand now... Okay, first....this whole thing has made me learn a lot. I ripped apart the distributor today and put it back together, did the timing, etc., all stuff I knew of in theory and never did before. So, the problem with the condenser--turns out, after I ripped the distributor apart, the old condenser is smaller than the one obtained from Bratton's AND that screw I never could get out was not the right size. I had to drill it out! So, I installed the new condenser, checked the spark form all 4 spark plug wires and from the coil wire, and it is strong and white! Have gas on, gas in tank, key on, timed correctly with rotor pointing towards #1 spark at about 4 o'clock as facing from the passenger side, and...well, turns over, but won't fire. Before, when only dealing with the carburetor, as you recall, it would fire for 20 or 30 seconds. We have got to be INCREDIBLY close here!!!! Anything come to mind before I hear from Mr Hinson? I have learned a lot here. Evolved from a whiny my car won't run to just what I wrote now. Right, though...if the sparks are firing, I have gas, carburetor works, AND, in order to get sparks the coil and condenser must be working, it seems to me, according to the laws of phyics, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to not fire, but, here we are!

Matt Hinson is helpful. I will call him again... In the meantime, parts came from Bratton's yesterday. I replaced the coil. Still no improvement. A friend who knows about cars helped me adjust the timing a few days ago, before the crank arrived. By depressing the starter, we were able to do it. Next, I guess, replace the condenser. Easier said than done. I don't want to remove the distributor, because, first, it is adjusted, and secondly, I cannot get it off anyways, and fooling around with it messed things up in the past. Nonetheless, no matter what I do, I CANNOT get that screw that is parallel to the condenser out, the one that is in the direction of the driver's side!!!! What do I do? I even drove the old condenser out, reasoning it needed a new one, anyways, and, what remains behind (or what differs from the old one and the new one) is that the brass metal part that contains threading on the new one is separated from the old one, and, hence, remains behind. This is all that is left, and I STILL cannot get the screw loose or remove this piece from behind (in really constrained corners). Now what do I do? Something tells me that even once I get this fixed, however I do it, the car still won't run, as nothing else seems to work, either!!! By the way, what do you think of the quality of Bratton's parts? I don't know how long a coil will last, and if the old one was original or not, but the one from Bratton's is not identical. Also, the new condenser is longer than the one removed, independent of the brass threaded part. We are approaching a year now without a functional, running Model A. It seems confounding that it simply quit for no apparent reason nearly a year ago, and here we are, still, today. I am not totally mechanically illiterate. I can take something and replace it with something identical, or similar, like the coil. I can back out a stuck screw, usually, but not just this one!!! I can take a wire with a broken clip, which is unable to be used again, and strip it and wrap it around the positive point of the coil, e.g., I can improvise. But I lack the ability to figure out what is wrong with this car and the patience to get it to run. It just seems like to me it quit for no apparent reason, so it should be a simple fix, of a simple car, with good results.

I had 15 minutes to spare, but hope to work on this tomorrow evening. In the meantime: Question: Not having a crank yet (on order from Bratton's), I am trying to adjust the ignition timing. You can do this using the fan. I have tried to do so, and the timing pin does not go in despite turning the fan pulley. Presumably, it is because you must actually turn the crank pulley, which makes sense, as this is where the crank goes and because this is near the timing pin. I can easily turn the fan, but cannot turn one bit the crank pulley. Is in neutral, spark is retarded... How ever do you turn this without a crank shaft? Thank you.

Yes, I should not need to remove the distributor. But I cannot budge that left-facing condenser screw, even with Kroil. Screw starting to be such that screwdriver cannot bite screw. Don't know why it won't turn easy!

Okay, pulled rotor off and I think I found the centre head stud nut. Backed this out completely and backed out the Distributor Locking Screw and the distributor fails to budge an inch....Ugghhh!

How do you get the distributor off? You have the distributor locking screw. What else. Les Andrews' Book doesn't show what else to remove. I cannot get the left facing screw out of the condenser. Sprayed Kroil in there and it still won't budge. NOTHING seems to be easy with this car. I have learned a lot, and continue to struggle. Why don't they teach you how to fix your car in High School? Something useful and practical? Re-reading: Where is the centre head stud nut?

Any ideas where to get this condenser? I could try Bratton's, but anywhere locally that might have it or is it that specialized?

Gas is fresh, no crud! Gas comes pouring out of the carburetor when the plug is removed, obviously not the carburetor. Guess I had better get a new coil and condenser? Someone else suggested I keep this to the Model A forum, but this started out as me questioning whether I should have just saved for another decade and gotten a perfect car. It 'evolved' into what it is. Maybe check out the Model A section and post responses there?

Well, I let this thread die, as I was getting more responses on the other forum (General Discussions). You resurrected it, but the other forum gets more responses a LOT quicker. If I don't have a carburetor to borrow, how can I do what you suggest? Anyways, the carburetor was completely rebuilt yesterday, and it is not the problem. If you open the nut at the bottom, gas comes pouring out, so no occlusion anywhere! Gas is fresh and good. Just started it and I got about a minute out of it, or nearly so, a few other attempts yielded 20 seconds. Now what?

Okay, some responses: Flow was good before I had this problem, but we did shorten the line at the sediment bowl end, and no improvement. There is part of the line that is plastic and it cannot have collapsed internally, as flow is good. I drained the tank yet again, all clear, no sediment in sediment bowl or in portable gas tank, tried starting again, and, again she wants to start, but then fails after 10 or 15 seconds. Feel like if I could depress the accelerator about 3 inches beneath the floor boards, all would be okay. Drained 4 gallons of fuel, and, at the end, a slight trickle for 15 to 30 seconds, and then the end, but nothing worse than I would expect after draining an 11 gallon tank. I don't think anything is in the tank, and, if there was something, how ever would you get it out. Have no one here today to check out the coil, but I think we did this already and it was fine. I know the coil was disconnected and checked. My friend is pretty thorough, so I don't think we missed that. Question: How ever does one get a car running, especially after sitting for 50 years and not even seen or known to run? It must be an amazing feat, as I cannot seem to make this work after a much shorter period of time.

Okay, took said carburetor over to my Model A club friend, and he pulled it apart far more than I did , and replaced some parts, including the float, which was dented on the top part, where I did not notice it. Carburetor is definitely clean. Go to start it...and...okay, it runs every time, pretty much, but then quits after 20 - 30 seconds. Flow remains good, sediment bowl is CLEAN, GAV has been fiddles with from 3/4 to 1 1/4 turns open, idle mixture screw open 1 1/2 turns. So, much better, but still no cigar. Now what? By the way, thank y'all for being so patient with me! How to fix your car ought to be mandatory training in high school.

So, a 1910 Maytag. Anything to do with the washing machine Maytag? e.g., the same company? How many pennies would a car like that set me back? How many were made and are believed to exist today?

I am certain it is the carburetor now. Cleaned it up REAL good, ordered new gaskets today, and sprayed gas in where the air filter is and it ran. No such luck afterwards. I will try cleaning her up again.

Any thoughts, anyone? Anyone else out there have the same problem?

Yes. I sprayed gas in just like you said and it ran for 20 seconds. Not the two minutes we got out of it yesterday, and not the two seconds I was getting out of it before I did this trick. Okay, what does this mean and what do I do now?

Yes! THAT car is AWESOME!

Right now, when you bring up the main page, there is a faded red car from the brass era that shows up as the FIRST photo, at least for me. What is that car? I LOVE it, especially when they look like that! You can see what I really like: My 1917 Maxwell, unrestored:

Here are some photos. 1930 Fordor. Not a complete basket case, but not the best, either. Would be nice to have it outside and get good photos of it. Beautiful day for a ride!

I didn't get a response to one of my comments. Looking on Hemmings, other than a total basket case, you cannot get a Model A Ford for under $8,000. When I got it, it was running GOOD, sounded good, started really easy, does need painting, interior not bad, could use repainting and has some rust/rot at the base of the quarter panels. Got it locally, did not have to pay to get it towed, originally, decades ago, came from Ohio. Did I pay too much? But, then again, the aggravation is a 'price', and the push-button perfect Packard or Brass Era car I wanted, may have been worth more in the long run, to me. But, then again, $8,000 is a lot of money for me at this time until the mortgage is paid off.

Okay, I do have a spark going from the spark plug wires to the engine block head, using a screwdriver. The spark plugs were out the other day, but they could use replacing, I suppose. Maybe this is the problem! I have AC Delco C77 spark plugs in it. Went to Autozone, and they don't have them, and cannot order them, but they are supposedly $3.29 each, if they could get them. They said other options, again none of which they have, are Champion 429 and Autolite 3076. I tried finding them on the internet, and here is about all I could find: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Spark-Plug-Copper-Plus-Champion-Spark-Plug-429-fits-28-31-Ford-Model-A-3-3L-L4-/181681926385?fits=Model%3AModel+A&hash=item2a4d1630f1&vxp=mtr $48.76 a plug seems real steep, and considerably more than the $3.29 I was quoted. Maybe, perhaps, I have an ounce of gold I might wish to sell you for $5, but, oh, by the way, it's not in stock and I have no way of ordering it, either! By chance, if anyone is passing through Macungie, Pennsylvania, and has half an hour to spare and is looking for a free beer, and knows what the quick fix might be, I might be interested. Have no idea what else to do at this point, if it doesn't improve with new spark plugs.

I wish I could get that far! Stepping on the accelerator/advancing the throttle yields no results. This is why I feel powerless. At least, if it did something, I would feel like all I needed to do was fine tune something.

one full turn

Yes. I DID have someone go over things with me. Timing is particularly difficult to do for me. I did not have a crank, and he said that would help with it had I had one, but we did the best we could. It was running for about 2 minutes when he left the other day and thought fresh gas would work wonders, but I can only get 2 - 5 seconds. I am going to get new spark plugs today and see if that helps anything.