avantey

Try Roman here. He makes a lot of clips and sells retail/wholesale. He can tool up just about any clip if there is a need. RJ&L Obsolete Automotive Fasteners

Thank you for responding Dave. I will try to get, they are out of town for the weekend.

As of this fall our phone supplier, Verizon, has quit printing and mailing out white pages phone books. They say it is too hard to keep up with cell phones, frequent number changes, no land lines, etc. and no one uses a book anymore. They are still doing yellow pages but , of course, they get paid for listings in that......

A friend is working on a '37 Roadmaster and we can't ID the year of this engine. My '38 and another '37 Roadmaster look different at the front of the block. On them the thermostat housing is a blockish body that is part of the pump casting with the heater hose outlet off from it. The hose conection points up to the top radiator inlet. On this one the pump outlet points down, the heater connection is directly off it, we do not understand the large hose pointing up or the two bolt opening on the front of the block above it. Since the serial number verifies as a 320 CI I am guessing it is a post war engine but I am not familiar. Any thoughts on this configuration would be appreciated. Thanks and happy Thanksgiving!- Bill

I was talking to friend today who owns a '70 Avanti with air who is completely computer illiterate so I am helping him on this one. He has the Mark 4 AC on this car and years ago had a broken alternator bracket welded to repair it. He cannot get the pulleys aligned and running true to the crank. So he tears up a belt every year, is on his fourth alternator and the car makes terrible noises. I am not familiar with the setup but I guess the AC has some bearing on the alternator bracket form or something. Where can he buy this bracket? He says they are unavailable and is a long time member of AOAI and I think SDC. Thanks- BIll

I have been to Hershey for many years and have seen many odd thigs for sale. My unusual fid this wa sin the Chocolate annex near the Hershey Drive entrance where we used to cross to the White field. A guy had an under the counter dishwasher, a refrigerator and a front door with sidelights for sale!! Maybe looking for an RV restorer in the crowd....... I still think the oddest thing was the wicker funeral home basket- with a skeleton!- a few years back!! Sat up on a roll off watching the crowd go by all week!

I opened up the Carter pump for the Avanti tonight and have stopped to be sure I understand what I am doing. I am in the lower valve body and tried replacing the metal valves with spring and washer underneath. They came out easily with a light tap from a punch but go back in just as hard which is where I am concerned. The shop manual is no help and I do not understand these valves. If they are a press fit on the shaft what is the spring and soft washer for? The fit would preclude any motion. Also, would I seat them to flush/flat on the gasket? The shaft was flush on the backside but I can seat them so it protrudes a little if needed. If they should move in a pumping action how much clearance should the shaft have in the hole? What retains them in position in this case? Thanks- Bill

You might also try RJ&L Obsolete Automotive Fasteners . He tools up and makes a lotof the clips others sell. If he doesn't have it Roman is always interested in possibly expanding his offerings.

You might also try RJ&L Obsolete Automotive Fasteners He tools up and makes a lot of the clips that others sell and is always interested in expanding his offerings if he doesn't have it.

On my 1913 Stude I have a Splitdorf mag model 1011 with a problem. The housing on the end of the shaft with the points in it has a broken ear or lug on the side. It is half round with a hole thru and broke off the main housing. Now the only thing properly placing and holding it in place is the matching notch in the cover. This ear mounts the stationary point in the ignition point set, has a screw thru it to the outside and the wires from the point to the ground (I think) on the coil and the back of the mag connect to it. Is this housing unique to this mag or a "common" Splitdorf part? I need to know what to look for at Hershey next week. I could probably use a good epoxy to glue it but if I can find the part I will replace it. Any help here would be appreciated as I know little about mags. Thanks for the info-

Terry- Thanks for the pictures! We were having so much fun last week I kinda forgot to keep this updated. It was a great tour in a beautiful area. Saw many things but most importantly reunited with a lot of Gliddenite friends. We had not done a Glidden since '03 so it was a week long reunion in between making new friends!! Tours are about the people and some of them we only see on tour. The Stude did OK, about what I expected. We had some trouble but it ran 400+ miles out of 484. It was a "sorting out" experience for me and now I know what to fix (wiring) and what is strong (entire drive train). I think adding no oil or water in a 97 year old original car is a great thing! I think coming home on a roll off Tuesday is a terrible thing..... Getting the cloisonne on Friday was truly an undeserved honor. In the original I believe cars had to run the entire tour without opening the hood to prove their reliability. Mine was open quite a bit but we still had a blast!!! Touring is definitely the favorite part of the hobby here! Now on to Hershey!!!!!!-

We did it! We just completed the 125 mile day and the car did very well! Only broke once- a linkage to advance the distributor lost a cotter pin, fixed at the morning coffee stop. After stop we lost a body part- a knob to hold the top irons vibrated off. An eagle eye by friends following saw it, we retrieved it and put it back. So today is a net zero dayallbreaks fixed, all parts still attached. The Kalamazoo Air Zoo was very good and there was an afternoon ice cream stop, all in all a good day of touring. Spent some time talking to Terry Bond and Hulon McCraw and some other folks as well. Bring on tomorrow-

We got here Saturday after having the interstates in Mi shake every tooth loose . Went out yesterday for the optional tour and Holland is a charming, great little city! Very well done downtown, especially the streetside pit fireplace for people to gather by and enjoy. Also a great brewpub, chocolate shop and a couple of ice cream places. May have to stay all week.... We also got a demo on making wooden shoes at a Dutch goodies shop. Pretty uncomfortable to wear but interesting to try on. Today we start off big. 125 mile day we the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, we'll see how the Stude runs. I figure if we get this one under our belt we will do OK the rest of the week. All for now, got to hit the shower and get down the road-

Here we go again, leaving tomorrow for the Glidden! We haven't done one in a few years now so it will be good to catch up with old friends and make new ones. I think the last was Mackinaw. It will also be great adventure along the shores of Lake Michigan as we try to tour the 1913 Stude almost 500 miles next week! Hope the weather plays nice...... Has anyone had any recent experience with the Port Sarnia crossing back into the US? I also heard there is a ferry nearby that might be quicker? Hope to see you there-

Having had to work on landaus for the cabriolet I have some familiarity here. The buttons are separate from the arms They are on the ends of a center shaft that is inside a bronze bushing. Originally they are a press fit that locks on the shaft I believe. When I repaired mine I used a spring pin of proper size and pressed this in instead. It has worked fairly well but occasionally I have to gently put the assembly in a vice and re-press the sandwich as vibration seems to loosen it. For a really good discussion and pics of a well done repair got to Cabriolet - Message Index and search for 'landau repair. This is a Model A Cabby forum and a guy there named Kevin did a great job on his repair. He also documented it for the rest of us with instructions and pics that are very good. There is probably a couple of threads on it in that forum. Kevin lives in NJ also so you may be able to hook up with him even. Good luck-

Thanks for the info. I guess I was thinking of high pressure grease cups which is why I went to the Ind Rev. That era involved more refined metal shafts, higher RPMs and more heat generation needing pressurized lubrication so it wasn't displaced as easily. I always thought that lubes in the earlier (medieval) times with animal fats, etc. was done by brushing it on a wooden wagon axle. Too many old TV shows showing a 'smithie' slopping it on with a mop type brush or a stick/paddle I guess. After all it was before my time!

Probably not the healthiest thing on the grounds but I have to have Bricker's Fries once during Hershey. Not as good as the fries in Harbor Place, Baltimore, but they have a good unique flavor that has become a bit of a tradition for me. Most of Hershey's food is only OK to me.

As I spent the day doing routine maintenance on the '13 Stude to get ready for the Glidden I became very familiar with the many grease cups on the car. This got me to thinking about how little I know about the history of grease cups and their application to the early automotive industry. My guess is they are a product of the American Industrial Revolution in the 1860-70's. It was probably a natural extension to use them for lubrication of the many shafts when the auto manufacturers started using bearings and bushings and the like. Any history buffs out there who can help? Was there any standardization of cups or threads or size or? Was there a major supplier to dominate the market or only regional machine shops who churned them out for the local auto makers? I went looking at the cups I have for the '16 Hupp and they are all different from the Stude's. When did they phase out of the auto business? I know I screwed a lot of them in and out all day today! I also found two cracked caps that won't hold pressure so I will be looking for them too. Thanks-

Actually Dave one of the things I got was a new cap and I noticed the 'button' on the inside was much taller than the old cap. It was at least an 1/8" taller, domed rather than flat, etc. I used the new one with a new rotor and distributor body. Just figured the old girl deserved the new parts after all those years of touring! While I am sure it is better now the cap was not the root cause of no spark. I was not getting any snap when cracking the points or any jump fromn the high tension lead to a head stud when cranking. I now think the original problem was a bad condenser and I just didn't do the analysis right or something. Either way the upgrades are good and probably overdue and hopefully will put many tours under our belt with little problem! Again, thanks to all for the help and guidance- Bill

Hey Matt I bought some parts from Bratton on Thurs afternoon and the FedEx truck showed up at 10:30 this AM! Very good service by all IMHO! I finally got to play with it this PM and she is running again!!!! The bad part is that I do know what I did to fix things. I was going over things again and reread the book, specially the part about "no snap" at the points meaning a bad condenser or very bad point contact. Soooooo, even though they are new points, I took a fine stone and dressed the faces of the points. I immediately noticed a snap when I broke the points. I put things back together, pushed the button and she lives! All I can think is that there was a coating on the points- to prevent corrosion or something and a little stone work cleaned them off. Needless to say I am a happy camper!! Now I can move on to other work (adjusting the brakes, new tires, etc) as I get the car ready for the Glidden in Sept. But then we had another conversation this evening about taking the '13 Stude instead.... Thank to all for all your help - Bill

Thanks Matt, I will do all those things. I do not really think it is the switch either as I have voltage at the breaker arm. I believe any disconnect(break) thru the switch/cable would prevent current at the arm. All data I have found for bench testing the coil says all three coils are out of spec and no good. However none of it is Model A specific numbers and I can only get generic, one size fits all 6V coils. Even the new generic one from Bratton is not spec'ed for A's apparently. As for timing I have timed it a few times now and thought about maybe it jumped timing. However when the pin drops in the recess the piston is at TDC (I always pull #1 plug and check by reaching in with a screwdriver to feel for it.) And I feel compression as I come up on the recess when hand cranking so I am guessing the valves are closed properly. I also smell gas (strongly) when cranking with the starter and a couple of plugs out so I feel it is getting fuel. Like I said I am stumped. I will go do the reading homework you suggest and see where it leads me. Thanks- Bill

Matt- I had 6.4 at all points- battery, term box, coil, points arm. That is why I am stumped. Everything says I should have spark. I ordered a new switch and cable at lunch as well as a backup coil from Bratton. They may be here by the weekend but probably Monday.

Thanks for the input guys! Matt- I do not have a fuse in line. That is the procedure I followed per the book. Dave- I saw this toy in Bratton's last nite, wondered how well it worked. I have Bratton's with me today and was going to order a new switch at lunch. Maybe I will get this tool too. Again, thanks!- Bill

My old reliable Ford has finally stumped me! It has got no spark in the system and here is what I have done so far: new points & condenser (Nu-Rex plate w/ newm1970's V8 Ford parts) point gap= .019" new coil- bench test 1.3 ohms across terminals, 8,530 ohms across terminal to high output center re-timed (a few times now!) 6.4V at each coil terminal and at arm of points with switch on and points open plugs cleaned and gapped to .035" checked pigtail from upper plate to lower plate for shorts no spark jump from coil lead to block or from brass strip to block when cranking. Also no spark snap when closed points are broken. car cranks strong, lights are bright can flood it and smell gas when cranked with plugs out so i think it is getting fuel. All I can think to try next is test the switch. It is the new thin cable type, not the original pop out but has been very reliable for 10+ years (like the points/condenser setup). Any ideas or tests I have missed? This car has been our favorite tour car for years because it is so reliable but she has me stumped at the moment. Thanks- Bill On Ahooga I read a thread about a battery condition where it could crank or spark but not both. New battery, problem fixed! But I on't think that applies here as I get no spark.

You might also want to try Lab Threads and Gear works in Conn. Custom Gears, Worm Gears, Spur Gears, Helical Gears, Miter Gears, Bevel Gears,Lab Threads and Gear Works Jerry Chase, the owner, is a great guy and a certified brass car nut that has made gears for a lot of early cars. If I had an extra transaxle I might have been able to help...... - Bill