Pete K.

I saw a restored Moxiemobile at a car show around 1978. It was a base 1930 or '31 Buick. (I did not see if it was a six or an eight motor.) Moxie began here in the Boston area.

There's been much discussion of the overflow pipe location on various forums and the consensus is the pipe should be low enough to not contact the radiator cap, of course, and towards the BACK of the neck, as we face the car. Works well for Model A's! My '25 Dodge's pipe is soldered in sort of towards the right of the neck as you face the front of radiator. Height seems to work OK. It seems that someone had pinched the tube opening into a tight "oval" shape, maybe to restrict coolant overflow. I'm leaving it like that. It seems to work too. WORD TO THE WISE--Be careful bending those old tubes in the neck. They are BRITTLE and will crack farthur down the tube where you don't want a HOLE! Don't ask me how I know this.

I think the '36 Dodge used a Philco radio that had a curved metal face plate to take the spot where the ash tray is on the left side of dash. It had the separate tuning head that it's cables went down to the radio chassis box under dash mounted to firewall. I seem to remember it was located between the pedals up above the steering column. This was years ago...

Some folks used to set a roofing nail in the overflow tube to keep a higher level of coolant in the top tank. I hope they had a good cap gasket! Just a slight amount of "build-up" of crud on the inside of the radiator tubes will be enough to keep the coolant from flowing fast enough through the core, therefore coolant will flow out the overflow tube since it has nowhere else to go. As the core becomes progressively blocked, the upper coolant level will drop until one experiences overheating. Usually, the water pump will keep doing it's thing with gusto, filling the top tank from the engine. Just a side note; 1930's Pontiac's used a "cross-flow" honeycomb radiator core like many of our modern cars use today. I never drove one so I don't really know if that helped with over-feeding the top tank of a radiator that has a build up in the tubes.

A couple of ways of getting a stuck head off; cram a single long length of soft rope, like clothesline rope, down each cylinder spark plug hole then hand crank engine over and it sometimes pushes the head up. The other way is to actually fire the engine up with the stud nuts off. It will only fire over once and you'll lose compression but head will come loose. Try to refrain from the old screwdriver and hammer prying method. Spray plenty of solvent around each stud and brush off any and all rust around them.

My mystery wrench has been solved! Thank you very much Jason and jpage. The logo on that wrench has got to be for "Whitworth & Barnes". I'm still learning something new everyday. Thanks again. Now get back under that comforter.

Scratching is always a big concern on a job like you are doing. The "Painter's tape" does work, but be careful if your paint is not fully cured, the tape may still pull it off in specks! Bob A. gave good advice. Have some touch up paint on hand if the worst should happen. Those things DID happen in the factory too. Good luck!

Here's something to gander on a very cold day like this WEEK here in Boston. I chose the coldest day of the year so far,(9 degrees F.) to remove my battery from the '25 Dodge. Could've done this on a balmy 40 degree day, but that would have been too easy. As I was digging through some old auto wrenches, I noticed there were two, supposedly 9'16" open-end wrenches laying there. On closer inspection, one was marked 3/8". It is actually a 9/16" wrench. It does not show any kind of "retro-fit" machine work in it's jaws. It is stamped on the other side with a diamond surrounding the initials, "W&B", "Made In USA". Where it is stamped 3/8", it also has a smaller stamping, "168" as you can see in the picture. I photographed the wrench with an old "Bonney", a true 9/16" adjacent to it. I also show a photo of a true, 3/8" modern chrome wrench with the odd 3/8" - 9/16" wrench showing how far off the two sizes really are for those of you that are in a Metric frame of mind. Was the wrench stamping guy at W&B Tool factory having a problem that day or am I missing something here? Jason, if you're reading this, get out from under your comforter and chime in--- Best regards, Pete.

That atmospheric vent has a by-pass channel to vent the "outer tank" where the fuel will rise and come out! Also remember, you are forcing fuel in reverse to what the system was designed for, pressurizing the tank instead of sucking the fuel with engine vacuum. A little too much air pressure in fuel tank, and you'll over-come the spring and valve system in vacuum tank. It WILL overflow.

Yep Ray, Sounds to me it would be a good day for "another cup of coffee and another piece of pie". Pull the distributor unit off and bring 'er home to rebuild. It may only need a couple of new brass bushings for the rotor shaft. Not a big deal. Good luck thawing out! --Pete.

Sorry about the very cold conditions Ray,You've been getting some good advice here, My little bit of input now is the question of your distributor being "worn". How worn and where worn? If you remove the cap, & rotor, then try and wiggle the vertical shaft back and forth, there shouldn't be more than .005" play. If there is more, the point setting will be all over the place, whereas fighting the moisture problem and if battery isn't up enough, car won't start. Forget about compression, valve sticking and those type problems...If it ran well, or even ran atall, It is a temporary problem, much as been discussed here. My '25 doesn't have the vacuum tank filler plug either. I would remove the input line fitting, use a tiny funnel and pour gas into tank like that. Measure the amount going in! 2 cup fulls are enough if it's dry. Pressurizing the rear tank works, but it's tricky by yourself. Too much fuel will come flying out your air vent pipe all over the place, or if shut-off valve is open, gas will force itself under needle valve and come out through main jet, flooding engine and floor. You may need Mother Nature's help to wait out the unusual dampness to dry the ignition system.

Please keep in mind, the weight of the pistons should be matched to one another. Same with the rods. It doesn't matter what they're made from. The crankshaft is balanced to "itself", not the pistons. Many of the early engines did not have a balanced crankshaft, so vibrations WILL occur. Many vibrations at speed originate from the clutch/pressure plate, pilot bearing, or the transmission input shaft bearing.

Surely not a Packard. I'm thinking it looks much like a 1914-1916 E.M.F. automobile.

With a warm hand, you should be able to feel the outside of the vacuum tank where the fuel level is. It will feel a bit colder where the fuel is. My guess is the dampness is the culprit. Try to dry off the wires Ray.

NO, Still fighting the RMV. I'm sure the sales tax interest charges are WAY high by now. Plan to go at them again next week.

According to my '25 having a build date of 1925, and came with the seventeenth edition for 1925, Book Of Information, some early registration paperwork stating it being a 1925, I'll keep with the flow of things and leave it lay as a 1925 Dodge even with a series date of 1926. Poor Finespine, you must really wonder what the heck is going on here! Title your Dodge whatever you feel like doing. Just make sure it matches up with any information the registry of motor vehicles has in their computer banks!!

Yes, I can get confused easily these days Jay. BUT... IF his Dodge has a # A745965, doesn't that mean the car was built in August, 1926? I am confused on what the SERIES really means. For example; I have a Dodge car, serial# A388850. Everyone is in agreement that it is a 1925. The series is a 1926. The differences between a '25 and a '26 are many. For example, the '25 was the last year for the starter/generator. The '25 had two door hinges whereas the '26 had three per door. 1926 saw the 6 volt system instead of the old 12 volts. If the "sales year" overlaps between two years, why would, or how could the salesmen foist a sale of a 1925 Dodge onto a buyer for the new '26 model?? I really need this explained to me. Best regards, Pete.

Welcome Finespine, Congrats on your new purchase! The early Dodge Brothers cars are built very well as you are sure to find out. Your title should read as a 1926 Dodge Brothers. Parts are not that difficult to find. Most can be re-built right in the garage. Some re-pro and original parts can be located through places like Romar, Inc in Titusville, Pa. and Myers Early Dodge Parts. Coker Tires along with others can help with rubber. We would all love to see a few photo's of your new baby. It's fairly easy to post pic's here, once you get the combination. Just hit "go advanced" then scroll down a bit to view "manage attachments" and your pic's should come up for posting purposes. Just follow the prompts and you'll be fine. Let us know what you plan to undertake first on you Dodge and ASK QUESTIONS. We are here to help out the best we can. A reprint manual is a primary thing to get hold of. Best of luck, Pete.

I see what you mean Ray...Those parts should be the same in the earlier carbs (J2B5) with the cast brass float cover and the later L-254 Series carbs. I have rebuilt both. The one on my '25 is a series B-264 and works well, again,same pinion & screw. Those parts shouldn't be too hard to find.---Pete.

Ray, I had this problem of a missing tooth on the pinion once. The pinion only moves about two thirds it's rotation, so you can assemble it so as the missing tooth will not even come into play so to speak, when choke is pulled and the rack & pinion does it's thing. The only thing you'll need to do is reset the choke lever in a different spot on the pinion shaft at the end. Have car running and warmed up. Back off the carb adjusting screw, near base of carb. loosen choke lever clamping screw and slide it off the pinion shaft (it is knurled) Get the engine to idle fairly well, on the "lean side" by turning the shaft. you may need a pair of needle nose pliers for this, and put choke lever back on & tighten clamp screw. Now you can adjust the fine tuning with the adjustment screw on carb. I've enclosed a photo of a Stewart carb with the rack and needle valve taken out to show another scenario whereas the needle valve has come loose from the rack gear. The needle valve is made to "float" when it is attached to the rack gear by a small peened flange. Many times this will break loose. It is possible to re-peen this needle valve by un-screwing the top of the rack gear to get at the bottom side of it. By using a "Dremel" type tool, one can successfully cut a tiny portion of the base of the needle valve, annular grind, maybe only the thickness of your finger nail, (How's that for a US Std.-to- metric conversion!), enough to accept the tiny washer and go through the rack gear top and have enough there to start re-peening. Use a good set of tools and slowly peen the new flange.

Be careful coating that tank with anything right now. "THEY" keep changing our fuel these days at the pumps and down the road the "new fuel" may dissolve what you've put in there. I use the proper amount of Marvel Mystery Oil mixed with the fuel for the engine and the slight oily coating on the top of the tank where the air space is, where the rust will start. Just keep an eye on it for now, in my opinion.

Not a gas stove part. I think it MAY be part of an old car heater that used the hot exhaust gasses piped to a heat exchanger in cabin.

Agree with Layden B, It is a natural gas valve for a lamp fixture. I still see them in old homes around here.--not in use though.

Also Stutz of the late teens used those "pokie-dot" lenses.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]171412[/ATTACH]Hey there Ray-- So far I've re-done 3 of those carbs, one of which is on my '25 & running well. That air valve un-screws from itself. The slightly earlier carbs are a wee bit different 'tho. I believe the air valve comes further apart on those, (with the cast brass float covers). The sheet brass float bowl cover type (as the '25 should have), you need to get at the bottom of the valve by removing the 4 screws of the choke assembly, otherwise called the rack&pinion. Don't forget to MARK the shaft where the choke lever clamps to it before you take it apart. This will help when you reassemble the monster. After you've got that off, you'll see the round base of the air valve piston. There will be two small holes where a special spanner wrench is used to un-screw the piston from the valve. I didn't have that tool, so I clamped a pair of needle-nose pliers in my heavy bench vise, opened jaws about half way, to align into those two piston holes. I then placed the carb "onto" the pliers and used the bulk weight of the carb to break it loose, then unscrewed it by hand the rest of the way--no problem.Just be careful not to scratch or nick any of the working surfaces of the brass parts of the carb. You will need a set of new gaskets and the packing can be found in your local hardware store's plumbing section. It is just the graphite impregnated string. It goes in the pinion shaft for the choke lever. Soak everything in a gallon bucket of "real" carburetor cleaning acid. You'll be surprised how spotless it comes out! Don't worry, the cleaner is quite caustic but won't hurt the brass. Best regards & happy New Year Ray, --Pete