Wascator

In high-mileage engines manifold vacuum can pull oil and air past the intake valve stems if the guides are worn and/or seals ate hard; often the first place for consumption to show up. I couldn’t stop the valve covers on my ‘85 from leaking oil but it ran great. I had a headliner installed and sold it to a friend. Quite a handsome car in my opinion. GM called it “the sheer look” and supposedly it derived from the original Seville which I also loved.

The driveline is reverse loaded on downhill coast. This may be uncovering wear which causes the shaft to wobble. I have also seen this on straight loading at times (as when pulling up the hill). Bet it’s a u-joint.

Are the wheels true? Is the steering mechanism tight (not worn)? Are you experiencing a steady, rythmic shake, as a wheel out of balance? Or an occasional violent shimmy? Tires can balance perfectly yet have a defect which amounts to variable stiffness as it rolls on the road: a stiff spot where there is less “give” or flex as it rotates. You will find this at a shop equipped with a Hunter road-force balancer. I have had new tires do this. I hope this helps you find and fix the issue.

Engine will run Ok with some choke; mixture adjustments don’t seem to make a noticeable difference. Possible vacuum leak?

I understand this is a modification to the Startix to leave it in place yet eliminate its auto cranking (normal) function; essentially it is turned into a starter solenoid.

Hi, my Startix clicks when the added pushbutton is activated ( to crank the engine) but nothing else happens. It cranks and starts reliably using the pushbutton on the right side of the Startix case. Please advise how I might proceed with corrective action. 1935 Pierce Eight; 6 V

Reading, the claim has been made that this is a hoax; I certainly hope so.

Replacement floor pans are available; don’t panic. Get some help if you lack the skills to replace them. Very common. I agree with rear axle: drain, fill to the bottom of the plug, and watch. It might have come from the transmission, OR it might have got water in it somehow ( the water will be under the oil); flood, or? Drain will tell the tale. These were good, durable cars, unlike the junk being made today. Engines are smoooooth and torquey.

What is wrong with documenting whatever was delivered to a shop, whether it is a set of rods for rebbatting, or an entire car, with a bill of lading, so there is some record of what was involved if there is a difficulty? I have documented parts sent to a plater, with photos and descriptions, but still have parts lost, so nothing is completely disaster-proof. The number of stories about problems like this is huge.

Saw this car on a trailer at Hershey this year; it was headed out the gate so I did not get a good look.

Hey, this is Randy. It’s the eight I got from MS.

Hi, I want to eventually find sidemount covers for my 1935. Is there a way I can recognize or identify them?

I hate to mention it but I may not be able to attend again without some sort of small ride-on. I understand both sides of the issue have merit, but it gets difficult to drag around when a person is “of a certain age”.

I got to see it today! Wow!

Have fun! Spend what you can afford and realize you have a good quality car but not sexy for sure. Take lots of kids and old folks for rides. Let some curious teens help you from time to time; it will help them too. It was new once but it was never perfect. Don’t let the desire for perfection stop you from doing what you can the best you can. I hate to see a car survive so long then be tossed aside and broken up for parts or scrapped. It’s lots easier to destroy than to build. oh; don’t forget to learn while you’re having fun!

Matt should make this story into a book. Took me hours but I’ve read the entire thread.

One day someone who has the means to do so, will want a car to restore; more and more it seems it will be a re-restoration. I’m glad someone is willing to do it; all great art has been funded by someone.

My experience has been a lot of ring wear or another source is pressuring the crankcase. one broken ring and the resulting vertical scratch of the cylinder wall. sometimes you can hear the leaking air if you bar the engine through the compression stroke on each cylinder. remove all the spark plugs the install one on each cylinder with the others out, see what you hear. All cylinders will leak but one may be a lot worse than the others, or all may be worn and leak badly (this may be hard to tell without experience of hearing a known good engine as a comparison). A compression check can show it also.

Wonder if a good freeze at 0 degrees F would kill them?

In retrospect, I wonder if all the regulatory pressures coming from the government at that time ate up so much of the budgets that product design and testing suffered?

And link. Fits the left-front of a 1931 Pierce-Arrow Series 43.

Already been there...

On my ‘51, the backup light switch got sticky and would fail to release when the transmission from reverse, so the lamps would stay on. I suppose age and lack of regular driving were the cause.

Hi, I am having the engine in my Series 43 rebuilt. The friction material in the crank damper needs to be replaced and information about this seems to be thin on the ground. There is a specification on the illustrated parts list I have for ‘29-‘30: adjust to require 30 to 40 pounds pull at the rim to cause it to slip. I have purchased material from several sources for the rebuilder to try. Meanwhile, someone surely has encountered this issue and worked it out satisfactorily. I would certainly appreciate a good word about this subject.

Hi, Dave, this is Randy Roberson. info about the dampers seems pretty scarce, even at PAS. I did find the spec to set the spring pressure: at least, on the Series C ( small eight) it should take 30-40 pounds of pull on the rim to slip it. It’s on tge parts list drawing. My engine rebuilder is asking me for replacement friction material. I am checking the dimensions of the material used by Rolls-Royce on their damper used on their inline engines until the V-8. happy motoring! Randy