keninman

I have managed to adjust the headlights a bit better on my 29 Dictator but they still fall far short of what is necessary for safe night time driving. Keep in mind this is not highway driving but county roads though other cars are often traveling 50mph or faster. Hopefully someone can answer a few questions. 1st, I took the screw out of the lens cover but could not remove the ring. Rather than force it I thought it more prudent to ask advice about removing the ring and lens. Perhaps it has to be rotated a quarter turn or some such trick. 2nd, though the "brights" setting produces a white light the "dims" are not really any better than a modern auto's parking lights. Even the "brights" setting is not really safe at more than 25mph or you overdrive its lights. 3rd, though not necessarily correct for the period, what replacement 6v headlight bulbs are available such as LEDs that will produce many more candle power (in the interest of safety). 4th, What do you do about safety from behind. I move faster than the 25mph for a SLM emblem but with only a single tail light I am afraid that an auto traveling at 50 to 60mph might not notice me and rear end us. I considered clipping a flashing bicycle tail light to the bumper or using reflective tape.

I found these pictures of a 28 Dictator GE engine at Volocars.com and added ones from mine. The appears nearly identical to my 29/30 Dictator GL. the water pump, distributor, generator and drive to them are the same. The spark plug wire routing is different as is the carburator mounting. This one appears angled and mine the air horn points straight back. When I look at the specs, though they are rated at nearly identical horsepower, the 28 says it used a 242ci displacement while the GL shows only 221ci. This is accounted for by a 3/8" shorter stoke in the GL. Unless the transmission mounts differently I would imagine this might open up more possible engines you could use.

Perhaps it is like a Ford, which seemed to use whatever parts were available that day. Of course someone could had been swapping engines or parts to keep a vehicle running. I would imagine during WWII parts and cars would have become very scarce forcing mechanics to become very ingenuitive, utilizing mix an match parts to create Frankenmobiles.

I have never seen jack stands like those before. I may have to make me a set.

Is the Evenrude impeller rubber, that is what I am most experienced seeing. Also I would think that filling the deep pitting in the housing would be necessary to provide a good enough side seal to pump much water. Have you had a test with it yet?

I also posted this of FB and I think a friend of mine probably came up with the most likely use. He thinks it was for a frost free water hydrant. I haven't dug down to see if I can find a water pipe and don't intend to. There is an old metal water pipe under the house that goes under the foundation in the correct direction to head for this hole. I am just going to buy some concrete and fill it in.

The garage is too high to need a sump pump but a friend of mine suggested a freeze proof water hydrant. Any spills or leaks would soak back into the sand.

This is not the first one I have heard of so who can tell me what a hole like this in a garage floor was for. It is 2'4" x 2'3" and filled with sand. The floor drain does not go to it. The garage was built in 1945. It is just a 2 car detatched garage with 6'8" overhead doors for parking.

Boy I love to come and get this car if I had the $7500 and it wasn't 2100 miles away.

Based only on the radiator shell it looks a lot like a Stewart. Perhaps it was fitted with a cab built to Russian specs. Did Entyre outfit trucks or only build the distributors? Sorry but I am not going to reply by email. https://myntransportblog.com/2014/10/31/the-stewart-motor-corporation-of-buffalo-new-york-usa/

I didn't make the end of my first parade. The condenser failed and I fought the engine most of the way through but finally decided to drive off early . I almost made it back to by buddy's home before it quit me. Luckily Oreilly's was open and I picked up a new condenser and filed he points.

This post from last year has almost the same as the 1923 engine other than the magneto. It's the one posted by Stude Light.

Sorry I don't have any info about tie rod ends but I shared the picture with my boy and he reminded me that he has a birthday coming up in a little over 10 months if this hearse is for sale. I will agree it is a very nice funeral coach.

I checked it at 5 and then 10 gallons then topped it off. It read close enough to suit me. I am just tickled to death it works at all. Thank you Tinindian for the heads up. I wonder how much temperature will affect it when setting overnight?

Whoo hoo, it finally works. Turns out the gauge line was cracked right in the bend just like the fuel line was. The easiest fix was using gas line hose. Perhaps not quite original but neither is my electric fuel pump that I use to prime when the fuel pump vapor locks.

Well I have had the sending unit out, because I coated the tank. I cleaned the gauge with acetone and tested it with the fluid I got from Mac's to make sure that the level would change. The tube to the rear is clear of obstructions. I put just enough fluid in it to be just below the reserve level with the tank empty. I first put in 5 gallons and drove it through the country to the gas station. The level never changed. I filled it at the station and drove it home. Still no change. My guess is either an air leak or a problem at the sending unit. Since it rained on the drive the undercarriage was wet I did not investigate further.

Looks like universal has your tires, tubes and flap for $364 (each) + shipping. Before I ordered I would dismount all and see what condition the tubes and flaps were in. I had two tubes that I believe are better than the new ones I bought. Two flaps also would have been okay but the newer ones were heavier duty and offered wider protection. I used one flap and old tire for my spare but used a new tube. I tried running around on the tires my 29 had on it, I ran over a stick coming into the driveway and ran it through one front tire. I still have the darn stick just to show people. If those are split rims like mine and you aim to replace the tires yourself a Hercules Rim Tool is necessary in my opinion. They can be had for $40 to $50 on Ebay and make life so much easier for changing tires and preventing damage. Whatever you do don't damage one of those rims, you'll be sorry. As for your valves, I am no expert on this old of an engine but I have freed up engines by pouring the cylinders full of kerosene and letting it set a bit (like overnight) then rotate by hand. I am sure though that there are many here better suited to advise you about this than I. I am jealous of your find and it is a good one. It is a shame you can't just rent space where it is to store and work on it. It looks like it fits in with the building. Note: the tire in the picture was on the car as thespare but was way too big for the car.

I can see the wheel now, it sure looked like the end of a muffler though.

Just a question about that exhaust. It looks like you have the muffler under the fuel tank. Is that original or even a good idea? Mine currently ends amidships but my manual shows only the tailpipe going under the fuel tank.

It has been years ago that I replaced the clutch in a 1966 Jeep. The new clutch would not release. I got it up against a tree, started it, jammed it into first and let it hit the tree while holding in on the clutch the whole time. I just kept revving the engine while pressing on the clutch pedal. The smoke rolled off of it but the clutch worked perfectly afterwards. Looking back I should have chained it to the tree but the Jeep's bumper was pretty tough

Nzcarnerd, the bumper of the 1930 Erskine matches the bumper of the car in Murphy's Romance. The bumper on my Dictator is slightly different, so the car probably a Model 53. Thank you for the pics. I am always eager to learn more.

Chanin was scanning the channels last evening and spotted a car that looked very much like our Dictator. The movie is, Murphy's Romance, starring James Garner and Sally Fields. I rented the video on Amazon. Some websites I have found allege it is a 1930 Model 53 and this is a rebadged Erskine. Murphy states that it "came off of the assembly line in South Bend, Indiana in 1927". There are also several problems with this car. Someone has painted the whole thing red and etched its side and rear windows. It has a Flying Atalanta on the radiator cap that Murphy calls "the goddess Venus". When he is showing the car to Jake, he points out an eight day dash clock that to me is mounted wrong. I thought this should have been in the dash with the long stem to allow winding and setting at the bottom of the dash. When Murphy takes Jake for a ride he comments about traveling 30 mph which ironically seems to be about where my car is most comfortable. At any rate I make several screenshots of the car so maybe everyone here can help decide what this car really is. There are several similarities between this car and the one we have. The engine cowl louvers in sets of three. The dash is identical except for the clock. The rear tire carrier and split bumpers. The small view of the engine is identical except for color. The seats are the same, down to the color. I doubt the Atlanta was used on standard sedans and I don't have one. When the front windows are rolled down they stick up at the rear, mine do this and I assumed it was because of wear in the mechanism but I could be wrong. The movie car does it too. So for my two cents worth, I am going to say that this car is a 29 or 30 Dictator Six.

So since they started at 1,46xxxx this one would be the 5019th one built. Still how many GL sedans were built in 29? I really got to wondering because the info I have found says they did not open up all of the colors to every model until the 1930 models. Mine says Limousine Blue under the seat and I do not see that as a Dictator color for 29.

I have a Dictator 6 GL series with the frame serial number 1465019. It is titled as a 1929 but I have a suspicion that it might be a 1930. Does anyone have any information about this?

If it weren't for Ford, GM and Dodge I don't think we could get any parts for these old buggies. . I didn't realize that auto manufacturers all using the same suppliers wasn't a modern phenomenon.