zdillinger

One of mine is cracked and not repairable. I think shafts from at least 26 through 29 should work, maybe even into the 30s (not sure), and probably some 20s Chevrolets would work too depending on length and spline count. If you have something close, give me a call at 517-231-3374, if you would, so we can compare specs.

One of mine is cracked and not repairable. I think shafts from at least 26 through 29 should work, and probably some 20s Chevrolets would work too depending on length and spline count. If you have something close, give me a call at 517-231-3374, if you would, so we can compare specs.

Pulled the axle halves after doing some quick diagnostics... the remaining bit of the spline is still in the spider gear. This will be a fun part to find...

Breakage confirmed. The remaining stub is still in the spider gear. This will be a fun part to find....

Well.... pretty sure the passenger side axle shaft is broken. The axle nut spins with the wheel, I can see the shaft moving between the carrier and the case, but the splines end that goes into the spider gear does not turn at all, indicating that the end is no longer connected. Also, per Ted's test, I felt a significant amount of friction when turning the drivers wheel with it up in the air and the passenger wheel down, with almost no friction doing the opposite. I'm assuming that the axle shafts won't be able to be welded and that they will be difficult to find (like everything else for this car!). Guess I will just have to keep plugging along!

Good call on replacing the part. I would encourage you not to throw the old one away. Such things are plentiful now but that might not always be the case and, if necessary, your old solenoid could be rebuilt to like-new. Just put it in the new part's box and tuck in away on a shelf, you (or a future owner) might be glad you did that someday.

Thanks @dalef62, @chistech and @Bloo, you've given me some really good steps to take. Like I said, I'm comfortable with engine-related problems but differentials sometimes just seem like magic boxes to me. I suppose now is a good time to correct this oversight in my automotive education, especially since like Ted said, I'm still in the restoration process. It would have been a whole lot worse to have this happen (whatever has happened) somewhere other than my barn, so really I got lucky.

I drove my 1928 Pontiac on a short little jaunt the other day, all was well. The next day I went out to go for a little bit longer of a drive. I always leave my cars in neutral when I'm done driving, but in the process of hitting the starter button, I must have knocked it into gear, because the car jumped forward. I put the clutch in, popped it back out of gear and hit the button again. Car started fine, but when I went to put it in gear, the car didn't move. Since I got the car running and driving again, the clutch had been chattering whenever I started from rest (at least I assumed it was the clutch, now I'm not so sure). I thought maybe the jump from the starter had finally fried it, so I dropped the trans and replaced the disc with a NOS unit I had bought on the assumption I would eventually need it. No problems there, friction surface on the flywheel and pressure plates both looked practically brand new. After the new clutch, however, the car still will not go. I did confirm that the clutch is working before reconnecting the two u-joint halves, i.e. I could not turn the transmission u-joint with the car in gear, but could if I push the clutch in. If I jack the rear axle of the car up and run the car in gear, the driver's side wheel turns, the passenger side does not. I can actually grab the driver's tire and stop it in this scenario, which generates a clunky sound from the axle. I obviously only tried this once. I had previously changed the gear oil in the axle and, upon draining the new oil and pulling the diff cover, the oil still looks clean, no pieces of metal in it whatsoever, with no apparent metal in the case either (the old oil was nasty and opaque tan, but no metal in there either). While running the car briefly without the cover, it appears that the differential is working properly. The gear teeth all appear nice and clean, no chips or missing teeth, etc., though seeing the drive pinion gear teeth is a bit of a challenge. I'm assuming I must have stripped splines from one or more of the axle shafts, or maybe sheared a key somewhere. I'm just surprised that one time of rolling the car forward with the starter would cause damage, and I would think that stripped splines/a missing key would make it so the tires wouldn't spin at all, so I just don't know. My experience is in engines, not axles, so I really don't know how to go about getting started with diagnosing/fixing this problem. Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks, Zach

An new problem has reared its ugly head and I'm stuck... I drove back to our pond the other day, nice little jaunt with my favorite co-pilot, my 7 year old daughter Abigail. Drove the car back into the barn and all was well. The next day I went out to go for a little bit longer of a drive. I always leave my cars in neutral when I'm done driving, but in the process of hitting the starter button, I must have knocked it into gear, because the car jumped forward. I put the clutch in, popped it back out of gear and hit the button again. Car started fine, but when I went to put it in gear, the car didn't move. Since I got the car running and driving again, the clutch had been chattering whenever I started from rest (at least I assumed it was the clutch, now I'm not so sure). I thought maybe the jump from the starter had finally fried it, so I dropped the trans and replaced the disc with a NOS unit I had bought on the assumption I would eventually need it. No problems there, friction surface on the flywheel and pressure plates both looked practically brand new. After the new clutch, however, the car still will not go. I did confirm that the clutch is working before reconnecting the two u-joint halves, i.e. I could not turn the transmission u-joint with the car in gear, but could if I push the clutch in. If I jack the rear axle of the car up and run the car in gear, the driver's side wheel turns, the passenger side does not. I can actually grab the driver's tire (simulating ground friction in normal driving) and stop it in this scenario, which generates a clunky sound from the axle. I obviously only tried this once. I had previously changed the gear oil in the axle and, upon draining the new oil and pulling the diff cover, the oil still looks clean, no pieces of metal in it whatsoever, with no apparent metal in the case either (the old oil was nasty and opaque tan, but no metal in there either). While running the car briefly without the cover, it appears that the differential is working properly. The gear teeth all appear nice and clean, no chips or missing teeth, etc., though seeing the drive pinion gear teeth is a bit of a challenge. I'm assuming I must have stripped splines from one or more of the axle shafts, or maybe sheared a key somewhere. I'm just surprised that one time of rolling the car forward with the starter would cause damage, and I would think that stripped splines/a missing key would make it so the tires wouldn't spin at all, so I just don't know. My experience is in engines, not axles, so I really don't know how to go about getting started with diagnosing/fixing this problem. Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks, Zach

This past Saturday was a great day to drive a Model T (even if the roads in my county are awful).

Congratulations Matt!

Absolutely. I mentioned it only to support the claim that the totally rebuilt car will be accepted in that crowd.

A while back, I wrote an article for RM Shift Magazine about a Ferrari 340 America that had to be largely recrafted, and this was done using 3D scans of a sister car. The work was done by Touring, the maker of the original body, so it was rebuilt to essentially new condition by the original maker. If memory serves, it was Classiche certified with the red book and everything, so the Ferrari people are OK with recreations as long as they are done properly.

I appreciate your kind words. The T is pretty much my favorite daily driver, though I don't drive it to the office (I work from home three days a week). I bought the Packard the same year my daughter was born and it is her favorite car on the planet.

I dream about cars that don't exist in my own garage/barn, and I dream about the cash needed to put them there!

I'm sorry you have to go down this road. Hopefully a block pops up last minute and saves this car.

Last night I took a more serious look at the brake system and can report the following: As expected, lots of worn out clevis pins and pin holes leading to a fair amount of slop in the system. The pins are easily obtainable (5/16" for future reference) but some of the holes will need to be welded up/drilled out. Not a difficult job, just time consuming. For some reason, the wear seems to be worse on the passenger side. The driver's front shoes are in very good condition with plenty of lining life after a quick cleanup with some 320 grit sandpaper (outside since I'm sure they probably contain asbestos). The cross shafts are held to the frame in the typical brackets. If there are any bushings in them, they are pretty worn out. They still rotate properly but I could see this being a pretty big source of noise going down the road. This explains the several rusted out springs that were wrapped around the shafts and the long, screen door style spring that laterally connected two of the brake rods. Those non-standards springs are long gone but I may end up putting something similar back in place if I can't think of a better way to affix the cross shafts/repair the bushings. One of the challenges to overcome was finding brake shoe springs. After spending 30 minutes in the back of the AutoZone going through their bagged brake kits (the manager is super nice to me there), I can report that the large springs from a standard H7046 kit will work in the Pontiac. The spring itself is just slightly smaller in diameter but feels plenty strong and gives good pedal response (certainly better than the worn out springs that were in there). I did a bunch of cleaning and greasing, replaced a couple of the pins/repaired holes, and installed the new springs on the right front wheel. I then adjusted it per the manual and took a short test yard drive. I was able to lock up the driver's front with ease, something that did not happen before. So I'd call that progress. After just cleaning/repairing the pins and holes, the driver's rear is working as well. You can feel it grab, but not quite locking up just yet, and the condition of the lining is unknown. The plan is to tackle the passenger front brake then move on to the rears.

There is one example of the Dolson automobile left. I have a particular interest in it as it was made in my hometown of Charlotte, MI. The family that owns the local funeral home owns the car now, along with a fine collection of other cars. Interestingly enough, the Dolson factory and the home of the company founder still exist.

Damn shame it has been ruined.

Yes, they can.

I took a quick yard drive with the Pontiac tonight. The brakes still need a lot of work, but I took the opportunity for a "family photo" of sorts.... extra points if you can spot my 7 year old daughter "driving" my '39 Packard.

A couple of thoughts for you: Find a new carb guy, one that doesn't "lose parts". That's not OK. It wouldn't surprise me if he sold it. I hunted for a while for the "right" carb for my '28 but it wasn't to be. Call @carbking and he will set you up with the best possible replacement. I have one of his on my car and it works perfectly. You shouldn't be able to turn the motor over by just turning the fan. Either the belt is WAAAAY too tight (i.e. you will break a water pump shaft and they aren't commercially available).... or you have a major compression problem, like there are no pistons or valves inside the block kind of problem. Protect that radiator at all costs. New examples are not commercially available and would have to be custom made. Most likely it will cost more than you paid for the car. Your car should have an AC type 1 mechanical fuel pump, which is currently blocked off on your car. Examples of the type 1 are not commercially available. Looks like you have a rigged-up fuel tank inside the car. Hopefully you don't need a new rear tank because, as you guessed.... those aren't commercially available. The cut wire from the generator connects from the cutout back to the dashboard. The CPR manual will have a wiring diagram that explains how this goes together. You'll probably want a new wiring harness for this car. Unlike most things for this car, they are available but very spendy. I buy my spark plug wires from Brillman. They come in a kit and you custom make them to whatever length you need. Battery is easy, any farm supply store will have 6V Group 1 batteries. If it's in the budget, I'd go with an Optima. I'm slowly transitioning all my cars over to them, but a regular old lead-acid will be fine. FYI, this car should be negative ground if it hasn't been monkeyed with. I know this is down the road, but those spokes look sketchy. Set aside some budget for rebuilt wheels. Feel free to PM me if I can be helpful to you.

Just goes to show, you can fool some of the people all of the time.

Well, I couldn't wait.... the car lives once again! Runs good, went through my normal ring seating process and everything seems to be working great. Took a minute to get her to fire off but overall, I'm ecstatic! Now I need to sort out an exhaust system, she is way too loud.

Just a quick update. Since my last post, I have: - Installed all six pistons and rods - Installed the oil pan and put in oil (so I don't forget later) - Installed the carburetor and fuel line - Installed the two cylinder heads with new head gaskets from Olson's - Installed the water distribution pipe that bolts to the top of the two heads. Had to make a couple of gaskets but otherwise no big deal. - Installed spark plugs, distributor cap, and spark plug wires. Next up is figuring out how to mount the splash shield that goes under the radiator (it was off the car when I got it), then the radiator itself, hoses, etc.. Once that is done I can try to start the car once again. I'm very close to getting this going again and I'm combatting the desire to go too quickly which might cause me to miss something and make a potentially damaging mistake that could set me back. If all goes well, I could theoretically have this running by the weekend. Thanks for following along!