CliffordK

Hello Henry, Where are you located? Do you have complete wheels in good shape, bare rims, or something in between? I haven't done much on the truck for several weeks with the wildfire evacuation (no damage here, but a hassle), and a few other projects. My rims were 24" (bead seat) x 5 1/2" (internal width), I think. I think there were 12 spokes on the front and 14 spokes on the rear, with an external band brake on the rear. No front brakes. Spokes have a generally square profile with rounded corners. I am missing all the trailer rims. However, I believe the American Locomotive wheels were originally 14 spokes, and rebuilt at some time to 12 spokes. If I was doing it a century ago, they could have been hard rubber wheels from pre-1913, then rebuilt to pneumatic to match the truck in 1919/1920 or so. One of the ALCO hubcaps is cast metal (bronze?), and the other is rebuilt steel. So far, think I found some similar 25" rims, somewhat narrower.

I've promised @bullrun (He is from the DC area) to meet him in Fort Collins or Denver at the end of this month... The check is in the mail. I'll be traveling light going East, and not-so heavy westbound. If I can get some juicy bits... Tools? Then I might be able to make the trek to California, then carry some items to Salt Lake or Denver. He'll being doing a return trip to DC, although one would have to talk to him about places and cargo capacity. Mid sized items? I still haven't decided if there is anything good enough to come to California to pick up. I might take the carburetor above, but the wheels don't appear to be quite right. I am hunting for a frame machine/rack, and every once in a while an interesting one pops up in the South. There was a piston lathe mentioned above. I'll probably try out some babbitt sometime, and so, I'll need to consider some kind of line boring for the babbitt. I may be able to make something work here when I get to that point. Anyway, the trip east from Eugene is happening. I just have to decide if I also want to go south.

Ok, back to the drawing board. The dash switch appears to be headlights only, and is in really bad shape. The Ammeter is marked "Roller-Smith Co", and "Bijur" (which matches the Bijur generator). There appears to be an oil pressure gauge that is in really bad shape. No close-ups at this time. No other dash switches or gauges. Crank start. Kill switch would be elsewhere. I think there is a "choke cable" attached to the steering column. Perhaps it is worth inspecting that more.

One thing that many forums have is a pass-through to subforums. So, one then builds a tree: Sales-->Cars-->(Ford/Chevy/etc) Sales-->Parts-->(Ford/Chevy/etc) So, if one looks at "Sales", one gets all ads. If one looks at "Cars", one gets all brands. Or one can plunge down to a specific brand. etc. The problem with this kind of a tree is that it gets complex if one wishes to do multiple attributes, such as adding in age. This is one of the annoying things I have with E-Bay. For example, with bicycles, they have "general", and "Classic/Vintage", but I can't just get say all frames without checking both places. Interesting items also get hidden under something like Classic/Vintage Transportation which just doesn't pop up with general searches. And, they often try to narrow searches based on categories, skipping interesting stuff. Even with Hemmings Motor News, I'd prefer to look at cars & parts, rather than doing independent searches. One could also add check box attributes. Brand (Ford,Chevy,Buick, etc) Age (1800's, 1900-1920,1921-1945,1945-1969,1970+,undated) Cars, Parts, Misc If parts are selected, then there are the major OEM brands, but then literally thousands of small brands for specific parts. (Bosch,Mopar,Champion, etc). Then there is the problem of getting sellers to spend the time to correctly fill out the attributes. Done right, and it would be pretty sweet. Done wrong, and one gets the "Garbage-in, Garbage-out" problem. Does AACA charge for some ads, but not others? The other thing I find annoying about some sites is when sellers use a bunch of unrelated keywords, or apparently intentionally miscategorize items. BAN USERS?

Is the truck Right hand drive or Left hand drive?

Oh, that would be fun. I'm very tempted from the other side of the country.

That engine also has the head and block cast together as one piece. So there is no separate head. Pistons are installed through the bottom of the engine. Valves are accessed through bungs around the spark plugs, and a second bung. It is very similar to the Continental engine in the truck I'm working on, although the block casting appears to be deeper, and the upper water jacket cover is different. I suppose many aircraft engines use a slightly different approach with a single cylinder/head casting and overhead valves.

Oh, that looks interesting!!! However, that is a Monobloc, and not an L-Head!!! Or, can one have an L-Head without having a "Head"?

I'll look at the dash switch a bit closer once I get moved back home. It has 2 gauges and one switch, I think. One ammeter or voltmeter. One oil pressure gauge, I think, And the switch. All three are in very poor condition, and I think the contacts in the main switch had mostly fallen apart and crumbled.

@1912Staver Thanks for the scans. As mentioned above, I've been "Evacuated" for fires for the last week. I think the fires have stopped short of my house, but it has put the disassembly and cleaning work on hold for a bit. I see the confusion on sizes. Firestone is sizing the rims based on tire sizes. So, on the second page of scans it lists a 36x6 tire on a rim that is 4.3" wide, and a 38x7 tire on a 5" wide rim. I think mine currently have that "steel band for wood felloe", although from the image, the steel felloe appears to have a simpler construction. I'm going to go poking around the Springfield Wrecking Yard as soon as I get a chance.

Thanks for the response. I was informed that the book: Branham Automobile Reference Book At least some copies are online (1925) https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112054727372&view=1up&seq=5 Had the serial number information that I needed, dating my Commerce truck to late 2019.

I know the Model T had a spark advance. But, I don't remember seeing anything going to the magneto with a spark advance. I'll have to look at it a bit closer. I had assumed that I had two levers coming off of the steering, but that "quadrant" looks like it could match.

That may well be similar to what is missing on my Commerce truck. I don't know if I took a photo of the steering. So the lower part is rigid, and the upper part turns? Throttle?

Not much progress for the last few days. Monday night, storm and lost power (possibly intentionally shut off by utility. A forest fire started about 4 miles east of me.... and expanded about 20 to 30 miles in the first 24 hours. Tuesday... progressed through Level 1, Level 2, and finally Level 3 fire evacuation (technically drop and run). However, Wednesday they were allowing people to continue to haul stuff out. The truck remains. I decided that it could largely survive a fire, and loading and unloading the cradle it is sitting on using hand tools would be a major task with other easier and more valuable stuff around. It looks like the fire is stalling short of my house, but it remains a potentially dangerous situation.

Someone mentioned a Canyonville Swap at the end of this month, and I may head down there. It should be fun, especially if I make a list of things to hunt for. @1912Staver A copy of the Firestone catalog might be interesting. I'm pretty sure my rims are about 4 1/2" wide on the inside, but perhaps there are different ways of measuring. Nonetheless, 5" would fit well. I think the Coker rims at 3 3/4 would be too narrow in general, although I suppose I don't have to build the truck for carrying much weight. Nonetheless, I don't want to spend a fortune on parts, and a ton of time building them up to only do a half a job. I'll work on getting a rim disassembled and cleaned up in the next couple of days. I think the felloes are primarily wood, although perhaps there are both wood and metal components. While I may have a couple of reasonably solid spokes, all the wood components will need to be replaced. The truck came with 6 hubs (truck + trailer). 3 rims/felloes/outer wheels. 1 rim appears to be far beyond saving. The other 2 rims are also very rough, and probably should be replaced, but I'll inspect closer soon. The 3 wheels that I do have appear to have good wedges/clamps. But, that means I'll need twice as many as I have... I.E... a bunch!!! Another hurdle as I get a little further along.

I picked up a couple of fairly large pottery wheels a while ago. It shouldn't be that hard to make something that could spin a fairly large piece of wood, but not as easy to cut large steel circles, although one might be able to grind steel circles.

Oh, as far as using old truck rims. I have thought about that. However, "Modern" truck tires come in a few different sizes. 10x20 (available in split rims, including Dayton demountable split rims). ...R22.5 (I think these mostly replaced the 10x20. I think drop center only). ...R24.5 (I think also drop center only). Pickup and light trucks also had a 19.5" lockring split rim with almost usable tires. I have also found 24" drop center tractor rims which I might be able to cut down to 4 to 5" wide (essentially reverse banding). However, at this point, I think I'll try to keep with the lock ring split rims, in part because I think they may have designed this to change the tires while still on the truck, and that will be easier to do with the lock rings. I haven't gotten one apart yet, but these seem to use the rim+small triangular split ring+larger complete circle band. No matter what I do, I'll build a portable safety cage to seat the rings. I might consider going to 20" wheels. That would make things a lot easier, but at this point, I am wanting to stay fairly original with the 24" wheels.

I'll try to get some photos of the bearings once I get them cleaned up. Like I said, they are a fairly chunky roller bearing with a small ridge on the inside face of the inner bearing and on the outside face of the outer bearing. But, because they are pure flat bearings, they are quite loose. Otherwise they were in a grease and are in generally good shape. Although one of the inner races just accidentally fell out, so it was loose too. However, as mentioned, I'll look at tapered roller bearings if I can find the right size. They would be completely hidden from view, and make the wheels very tight. Nonetheless, there are springs in the steering, so some flex is expected.

Your wheels look a lot like mine, but with the the difference of solid rubber vs pneumatic. Coker says they'll rebuild the wood on wheels, with good metal parts supplied by the customer. However, nothing mentions prices. And, with all their other prices, I'd expect them to cost an arm and a leg. Several people have mentioned that I need to look for Amish wheelwrights who might do it for a reasonable price. But, I need to get my metal parts sorted out before I try anything. Of course, you also have to deal with the solid rubber tires. It looks like these guys can take a pile of bits and pieces and return some pretty looking wheels and tires. https://overmancushion.com/ In my case, I'm currently hunting for the rims, but may try rolling my own (or modifying what I do find, if I can't find any I like. Then I'll try my hand at building wheels. The basic concept seems pretty straight forward, although I'm a bit worried about cutting perfect miters. Like yours, my spokes, both front and back are primarily a modified square, and should be within what can be made with simple tools.

I realize that I'm still new here, but can I suggest a subforum dedicated specifically to automotive related tools, and classic/vintage automotive tools? Or perhaps homemade tools. I've bought a couple of Schramm air compressors, and thinking they might be of interest to park here... somewhere.

Thanks for the notes. Both trucks were missing the carbs, and with suggestions from another member, the models of carbs were slightly different. I'm not familiar enough with the different models to know the differences. My truck did indeed have the intake, middle of this photo, and I've mentioned it to @blastermike My intake is a different design than Mike had posted earlier. I don't have any ability to cast iron, but I might be able to cast brass, bronze, or aluminum in the near future (noting shrinkage). Or, a simple curved steel pipe could be bent and get two flanges welded on. It should be a pretty simple build. I did send a note to @Ovalrace25 about the rims, and am waiting to hear back. I fear that car sizes, or modern truck sizes will be more common than teens/twenties truck sizes, although I do see what appear to be two solid rubber tires in the pile. I think all of my hubs are good. Just the rims are bad. I took off the front wheels. They have roller bearings mounted flat, and were loose. But, everything looks like it could have races replaced with modern tapered roller bearings (if I can find the right size). I have pneumatics on the truck. Mike has solid tires on the truck. I don't know what was on my trailer. I believe that the trailer wheels had been rebuilt from 14 spoke to 12 spoke at some time in the past, and may have had solid tires changed to pneumatics at that time. I've determined my truck is a late 1919 model, and there is a good chance that the trailer axle predates 1913, and likely has evolved over time.

Is there any way that this could all be sold as a working business/machine shop/restoration shop? I realize finding the perfect match for equipment and buyer would be tough. And, there certainly would be benefits of modernizing during a transition, but there are some things that would work well with "old school".

Is that the Zenith 04 Carburetor that I was told would match my project? I've been avoiding California like a plague. But, it would be fun to head down there and poke around a bit. The piston machine sounds interesting. Perhaps some other machine tools. I've been wondering about boring vintage engines. For something like a Chevy 350, one simply bores and buys new pistons. However, a note I saw online suggested cleaning up iron pistons, brazing a fresh layer of brass or bronze on them, then machining to size. It sounded like an interesting way to reuse the old parts. I presume there would be a need to periodically completely recast a badly damaged piston or other parts. I have a badly damaged water jacket manifold on my Continental engine. I am hunting for some 24x4.5" lockring split rims (or something close).

I think I could use the windshield wiper motor on my Ferves... whenever I get back to that project.

@blastermike I'm glad you've found your carburettor. Unfortunately my truck also seems to be missing the carb, so that will be on the list shortly. Based on previous conversation, it seems as if I have a 1919 Commerce. Just one year older (and different builder) than yours. Mine has a simple curved downdraft intake manifold with a mystery pipe fitting on top. The pipe seen in photo right is an exhaust manifold air preheater.