Pete K.

Truly Amazing! I fell for it again! Right off the bat when I saw the top photo, I thought it was a real picture. Love seeing these pictures.

Mike, I was in such a rush to answer you, I did not notice your cap IS brass. Mine were EXACTLY same appearance of construction, but pot metal. Also, as I remember, the boxes AND cap were marked "Neva-Lost", not "Never-lost". Musta been a Boston thing aroun' heeah. Were mine after-after market???

Yes, The cap is an aftermarket. I had a few of them (NOS) in boxes about 25 years ago and the boxes were labeled to fit different cars that had the exact diameter and thread as the Never-Lost cap. My caps were "gonzo" since they are pot metal. That little square spot on the thin cam lock plate is part of the little handle which is peened at factory. This is where they break really easily.

Only in my opinion, most wood spokes on all cars were painted originally. many were pinstriped too. It seems to me I've seen natural wood spokes only on restored cars. "They do look nice".

This is where you would use a strap wrench. they can be found very "cheaply" at Harbor Freight Co. 3 different sizes for a couple of bucks.

hardtail; I may have this door. I believe I have a set of all 4 doors from a '31 Pontiac 4-door six cyl. I don't know if the coupe door is the same but we can measure. My doors are in excellent original shape. Wood is good. I believe I have the regulators and glass and hinges too. Trouble is, I don't have the wherewithal ship things this big. It could be retrieved/picked up by a shipper I believe. If still interested, PM me.

Interesting stuff indeed. I seem to have seen a Ford radio, ('33-'34) that used an electric motor driven power supply in two deep metal buckets cut into the rear floor pan, being on either side of the driveshaft. I don't remember the manufacturer but I thought it was sort of antiquated even for 1934. Have you ever heard of this?? I carry a portable old crank up phonograph in the '25 Dodge. & you think texting is bad while driving??? Try changing needles & records.

Your plugs sound OK. These low compression engines usually show plenty of very thin black soot on base of plugs, not so on the actual anodes of the plugs. They will have a sand color to the little area right at the center electrode. A couple of things to check in that carb is the metering pin in center of the mushroom valve is not broken loose from the dashpot & floating on it's own. The bottom end of pin has a tiny pin that is slightly peened to the dashpot, not rigidly peened. In other words the metering pin should flop around a bit if you held this assembly in your hand, out of the carburetor. Also check for any broken teeth on your rack gear in carb. If you had the carb off, you may not have the choke lever back on the right place on it's shaft, meaning you need to pull the choke out to keep it running. Forget the timing light on the '25. Time it by the book, it's much easier.

Yes, my car has the original key for the center ignition switch. It is a KLUM switch & key. I suppose the label "OFF" would be for the lighting switch AND the ignition key. The ignition key turns a quarter turn to the right for "ON". The transmission lock is a separate deal altogether. Ray, The Dodge headlamps use a single filament bulb (at least on the '25's), as you know, so a resistor coil like yours is needed to bleed off "current" for your "dims". If you lift off one end of the little coil on back of your switch, an Ohmmeter test will show at least if the coil is "open". If this is the case, a new coil is needed. Today, a much easier solution is to install a carbon resistor OR a ceramic wire wound resistor in it's place. It has to be hefty enough, maybe a 10 Watt resistor? The Ohm rating would be the same as the original coil. Somewhere I may have this information but I will have to search. I'm still using the original resistor coil. Re-wiring for different bulbs seems like a lot of extra work. I would go for a new resistor on the back of the switch.

The light switch should be separate from your ignition switch, even though your key switch is in the center of the light switch, they are two different switches. You may be having problems with the guts of your switch where the movement of the lighting lever is dragging your ignition contacts to an open point within it. I have worked on my '25 Dodge Klum switch and I can say there are weak points within that key switch. It can be a delicate operation to get it right if the switch is worn or has been monkeyed with.

To answer part of your question; I don't believe any '30 Buick had the rad. shutters (louvers) chromed. They came painted black.

I believe the deluxe also included bumpers that were also plated. The cowl lights as we call them have a single wire from the back of the CLUM switch running to each cowl light. The positive voltage side is the steel body mount at light. The clum switch lever will have one left detent labelled "PARK". This will light the cowl lights and tail lamp. The lever is moved to the right one detent for low beam, second detent will be high beams. Hope this helps--Pete.

I've been "tire-ing" from the old split rims for many years. No easy way other than using the 3 point crank spreader ALONG with tire spoons (irons) and my miracle lube, dish soap & water in a spray bottle. (no big secret). In the shade on the grass. If you have access to junk leaf springs, they work so much better than big screwdrivers or even tire spoons. Carefully (and I do mean carefully), "undo" the leaves of an old spring. I use big C clamps, clamping the leaves in place, then cut off all retainer parts with my angle grinder. Slowly remove the C clamps. Pick out a couple of good leaves as you do picking out tomatoes in the store. I cut them down in length to about 20 " for easier handling. Now grind all edges smooth and round the ends. Follow with sanding out your grinder marks. Small rust pits don't matter on the flat areas. Don't forget to powder the tube/inner casing/flap before mounting tire on rim. I use the big yellow shaker bottle of Gold Bond body powder on the tubes, and my tubes thank me for it.

Don't know if this will help but here's the hinges installed on my '25 touring. first pic is the front passenger side door, next is the rear passenger side door outside and inside of hinges. A close up of the rear outer hinge near fender. I haven't had these out of the car, so you may have to carefully measure the length of the hinges to accommodate the curvature of the body/doors. Apparently these hinges are riveted in place. If you don't have the rivets, they are available at many places. Good luck with that job.

OK,... The '25 dodge Brothers radiator is made up of tubes and fins (on most I believe). The core is 20-3/4" HIGH from where the tubes are soldered onto the tanks. There are NOTCHES in the core at both upper corners, allowing the curvature of the SHELL to fit the core. These notches are 1-1/2" down from top, and 1" in at the sides, leaving 17-1/2" core width at the very top. The core is 2-1/2" thick. It is made up of 100, quarter inch tubes. It is a FIVE ROW core, staggered tubes, starting with three tubes on outside row, then two, then three again, and so on as you look down from the top of the core. There are SEVEN flat copper fins per inch. I don't think the honeycomb tanks will work with tube & fins, but I may be surprised. I don't think your overheating troubles have anything to do with your timing and spark advance, as you stated it is quite "right on" anyway. It takes quite a ways to motor in the heat to really see an overheating problem from that. I say you've got a clog somewhere in system. Before you go to the trouble of a recore, could you try Liquid Plumber or something strong in the core to dissolve any hair from nests?

I would think George Bachleda of "OLCar Bearing Co." would know about this.

Had my '25 Dodge running and I can hear that odd noise too. Last year I took the chain inspection cover off and saw "nothing" out of the ordinary going on. Buttoned it all back up and passed it off as gear/chain noise only. Car runs great, water circulates great- IT SEEMS ALL THESE DODGES sound like this? Mike, it sounds like your water pump is OK to me, without seeing it though. Even with half rusted away impellers, if yours were, it would circulate enough when the water gets hot, with the natural help of the convection circulation like the old Fords had--"no water pump at all".

Not that I know of on the flywheel. Your timing is set to fire #1 plug when your crank is 5 degrees PAST TDC., or 5/8" measured on the flywheel. I would mark this spot on your flywheel while you can and if you can reference that mark in a place from outside it's housing would be nice to have for future timing issues.

Pour in straight white vinegar. I buy it by the gallon jug just about any place. Some guys run it for a couple weeks, I don't. I worry about the head gasket and others. Several days should do it, but you have to run it. Purge it and run your garden hose thru for a while. I even put in a tablespoon of baking soda to help neutralize it after draining vinegar without any foaming while it does it's thing with the water. Purge that and fill with 50/50 mix of Sierra antifreeze which won't FOAM at driving speed in these non-pressurized cars. Question; What did you do to inspect/clean your honeycomb earlier? Juan, there's a picture of the fan in your owner's "Book Of Information". That should answer your question about what it's supposed to look like. There should be more like 1/2" - 3/4" between your fan blades and core. 1" sounds a bit far away. This distance does make a big difference. Do you have the engine "splash pans" in place? Is the fan belt slipping?

For a time tested way to really clean your cooling system, fill it up with white vinegar and run it for a few days. Drain it, flush it, you'll be surprised how clean it will be.

Mike, that paint you did on the rad. core will not make that Dodge overheat on any normal driving day. I say that is an urban myth the radiator shops started! After owning more that 22 old cars over a period of 44 years, I never had a problem with the coatings on some of the old jalopies I drove. Some overheated sure, but it was a clogged up or crud infested system. Go to a radiator shop and you will see many different looking paints they put on the cores. I've seen thick, tar-like goo one shop used, another one looked like they used high gloss black enamel paint, ALL over, not just the front. These were busy shops, in business for decades. I don't recall reading or seeing anyone returning to these shops from overheating after they got their car back. They did old car cores too. I cleaned my own '25 Dodge core and gave it a spray coat on the front of the core with semi-gloss black. It never overheats. It is not a honeycomb core but an original fin & tube core. Watch out putting too much coolant in. It should just cover the tops of the tubes inside, usually just below or at the level of the baffle plate. The overflow pipe will act as a siphon if it gets submerged for a short period, spewing a lot more coolant out. Some people have put a roofing nail in the overflow tube so the nail head covers the opening of the tube. I don't do that tho. There is no need to burp your system either. Once filled, it all goes in all the places it should. Only some heater cores had an air bleeder. I once had a '30 Buick six with a honeycomb core. It would overheat at the drop of a hat. One day it blew like Old Faithful. It never overheated again for the 19 years I drove it. Never could figure that one out. As far as electric fans go, there is much talk about them over on the Ford Model A group. Maybe Juan can find something there.

Give Bob's Speedometer a call @ 800-592-9673 in Howell, Mi. They've been rebuilding gauges since 1929.

The short window riser handle shown was for the Ternstedt windshield lifting regulator, the "VV" crank up windshield used in many cars, '29-'31 era. Those are fairly rare in good condition, as only one was used in each car that had that assembly. They snap off easily if there is too much strain on the cranking mechanism normally caused by the pot metal gears warping and no lube in the windshield header assembly. I'll bet a lot were broken in fender benders back then, as it was right in line with the driver's head, if the steering wheel didn't stop him first.

I would think one could restore his existing cowl lights for a lot less. $175./pair would be more in line I think, since they are NOS or possibly NORS. I wish him luck, as I won't bash him for asking that price.

My '25 has the bolts 15-1/2" apart. The core flanges hold the core to the shell, the shell holds everything to the crossmember at bottom. Mike's radiator shows the correct one. The early Dodges had a much shorter radiator. Not sure when Dodge changed to the taller one. I don't see an early, short shell here for measuring purposes. Either way, a short shell won't do you any good, as the hood and other things won't line up at all. Perhaps someone put your bottom bolts in wrong or different holes in the correct shell?