MaxwellFox

Wow! Thats amazing you had them made! My truck has a cast iron distributor housing already, I assumed thats what they all were.

Oh wow, the car version used external brake bands like a Model T?

I rebuilt the distributor on my 1920 last year, whats yours doing? I was checking my spark with a timing gun and a mark on the distributor drive pulley it was all over the place. Then I grabbed the distributor shaft with the rotor off and it wobbled all over. Long story short I rebuilt the bushings and it fires really clean now. Other than that it should be fixable pretty easily DIY if you're familiar with points ignition, it's a pretty conventional system.

I was looking forward to doing this job and making new kingpins out of some nice tough steel and Maxwell strikes again. Tapered kingpins? Eesh! Could you use a puller on the top end to press them out the bottom?

Are you the guy selling parts and stuff on the other forum?

It looks like it worked! Not sure of the bond until I start machining on it I guess, but it fully flowed and looks solid.

I dont know about the spark/throttle linkage on something so early, but mcmaster-carr has 10-32 rose eye/heim joints/tie rod ends that do wonders for taking up slop in my later linkage. Also in other threads of course, mine just needed that small size. The pivots are tighter, easy to adjust slack, any misalignment in the monkey motion levers is taken up by the swivels and they dont look out of place.

Whatever works, its really a matter of carefully looking at whats in your hands and figuring out what needs to be what size. My biggest fear was having them too long and having them press out against the manifold when I tightened it down and cracking it so I leaned toward making the rings short.

I just did (depth of the holes in the head + depth of holes in the manifold + thickness of the gasket material)- .020" or .030” to allow for sloppiness. I dont see the length as being absolutely critical as long as its seating into both ends to mostly seal and direct the gases through the pipes. So not too short that they fall out of the seats, but not too long to prevent bolting down.

Ive been sitting on my maxwell truck for a while but im getting back into it. The transmission is ready to go back together pretty much except for the output shaft bearing. I finally made the casting and machining jigs, so hopefully I'll get the babbitt in it and get this thing moving again.

They are the same thing as model T glands in function but not in size. I had to machine my own rings. And from there I had to make them again because they were different sizes from each other, and the head holes may be a different size from the manifold. Theyre not difficult but require a lathe and some careful measuring. I made mine a snug fit, tapped in with a rubber mallet. I think i had to hand fit them with a file and a dremel to lightly loosen things up enough for a clean insertion. Absolutely test fit everything before bolting it all down with the rings if they are snug because you dont want to crack the spindly cast iron manifold octopus. If theyre too tight or misaligned checkagain and again, or make a ring looser. I cut the manifold gasket out of high temp gasket sheet from napa as rings on each port, closely fit on the gland rings which held the gaskets in place for assembly. I put copper silicone on both gasket surfaces to be safe and as a check to make sure the manifold actually pressed down fully. No leaks yet, but Im still just test running.

Kß

Hold your hand over each of the manifold ports while someone cranks it over. See if they only suck or suck and blow. If you have a vacuum gauge stick it in a rubber stopper and shove it in each port and see if you have appropriate vacuum and pressure.

The way you were describing it as progressive makes me wonder if your valves went out of adjustment, carbon build up, or a valve seat wore out. My mini ate an exhaust valve and a seat on separate occasions. It started and ran for a while but eventually the leak got bad enough it would just woosh out all the air-fuel when it compressed and not start. A compression test would show a bad valve or seat real quick, just have to get the 7/8 adapter.

Does it spark a timing gun when all hooked up? Compression test? Have you adjusted your valves? I think a bad condenser would just be a flat no spark. If you have a port available try an intake vacuum test, or figure out a way to listen to the manifold for leaks while cranking, maybe you have a leaky intake gasket or carb flange gasket. I just fixed my moped that was sparking when tested but didnt have enough oomph under compression, so sparking can be frustratingly misleading.

I havent seen a period one, but i have seen the same mechanism for a diesel pressure steam cleaner. Maybe you could find a unit for a piece of industrial equipment and make a new gauge face?

Ive got mine greatly reduced at least. I think the valve cover is a lost cause without some sort of extra support, that's my biggest problem (until the clutch and transmission go back on and open their floodgates)

I love how they have drip pans even when brand new in the showroom.

Darn, that looks like a super handy book of lost info.

The gear was the worst part when i fought rebuilding mine. I suppose whoever gets it needs to do a careful count on their timing gear rotation to see what they need. Hopefully the guts inside will let it happen for whoever gets it. Where is that parts diagram from?

I dont remember who it was but someone was looking for a right angle drive for a later 4 cylinder. One just popped up on ebay. The distributor is a rough start but maybe you could copy my plymouth franken-spinner. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Maxwell-4-Cylinder-Distributor-Ignition-Igniter-/144203159073?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

Counting the turns on the nuts was about the only thing special when i did mine (1920). From there it was just drain fluids, remove anything in the way and slide it rearward and down on a jack.

One more with the housing dropped in position covering the hole.

Working on getting my transmission rebuild back together and im noticing the oil drainback hole for the rear bearing doesnt make alot of sense. The manual says the ball joint should get filled with grease (which doesnt make sense either) so you would'nt really want transmission oil getting in there anyways. But the drainback is right against the ball joint housing. I could carve a notch out of the gasket between the two but that would only give a drain the thickness of the gasket, and the universal joint would likely fill with oil because of slow draining through such a small opening. Im considering notching or drilling the ball housing to meet the drainback. This would allow oil into the ball and universal joint which seems better than grease, and would be a level controller to drain oil back into the trans when the ball has enough oil. Anybody seen this setup? Am I missing something?

Yeah. Ford used them apparently too in early cars. My only theory for the roller is oilite hadnt been invented in 1920, and the oil feed to the pilot area isnt great, so a roller bearing was better than the bronze alloys at the time for the situation.