avantey

I just got my first piece back from the PC'er. It is beautiful except for the bottom. There are what appear to be scratches on it that the guy said are actually hairline cracks in the metal that just come through on old metal like this. Is this true or can I buff them out? Als my body man buddy said that PC is like procelain since it is hard and baked on. Is this a lso true in terms of hardness, gloss retention, etc.? thanks- Bill

I took my '16 Hupp front axle to a frame shop Saturday. The previous owner said it was out of spec and the shop confirmed it today. Where do I find any specs for what camber/caster to set (bend) the axle casting to? I believe I can only affect camber when off the car without kingpins, right? I have looked thru all the stuff that came with the car to no avail. Any help is great- Bill

Hi Pete- thanks for the ofer to help and info. I believe all of you that the 60-62C is too hard now. I actually have an entire extra assembled engine that came with the car but it is a big pile of rust! I was at at it again just now- took off the chamber side cover and can see eight complete tappet sets, just can't get them out...... The large plugs that screw in the top of the jugs are rusted in quite badly and quite rusty too. I could not make a pipe wrench stay on them to try and loosen one. If I could loosen one I could get the valve outand then the tappet. I really don't want to gt this engine for parts just yet as it is a great reference for reassembling the engine. This car came home in two truckloads and a trailer full so the extra assemblies are worth a lot to me as refernces! (I also have a frot and rear axle assembly) Any idea how to loosen the top plug? It appears to be about a 1 1/2" socket size but the rust would make it hard to stay on. thanks for the help- Bill avantey@excite.com

I am doing a '16 Hupp and the engine does not have the tappets. Are there any sources out there who can sell them by size/dims rather than by make/model? I will probably have to do it that way but know of no one seling them. thanks- Bill

I am missing the tappets for a 1916 Hupp engine and considering making them. I am not sure what stock and hardening to use though. Option 1 is a CRS and either case or pack case harden. This would give a case of near to .100" deep or almost all the way thru the 3/8-24 thread. Option 2 is either an A2 or S7 tool steel and a Rockwell of 60-60C. I have been told this is better as it leaves a 'soft' core that will take the repeated pounding of the valve beeter than the more brittle case hardened part. Any thoughts on this from a metallurgy point of view? Thanks- Bill

I have a 31 A and a generator problem. I have had two gens rebuilt and bench checked at 10 ampd output. One had a new solid state cutout and the other had an old original cutout. I also just put in a -20/+20 ammeter. When on the car both spike the meter at 20+ amps with the slightest acceleration yet go to -10 amps as soon as the headlights are turned on. I was able to adjust (3rd brush) the one with the new cutout to put out 0 amps at idle but it still spikes immediately. I suspect the new gauge is faulty and haven't checked the output at the generator yet and that will tell me a lot. I was tooo busy touring this month! The car ran well for a week on tour doing about 400 miles with no apparent damage to the battery by runnning for a while then turning on the lights for a while to prevent overcharging. It did act up badly one day coming home from tour when I suspect I had run the lights too long and discharged the battery too far. thanks for the help!- Bill

Mark- thanks for the offer! These all have grease cups on the end and most have a straight knurl (1/4") just behind the cup. The ones I need most are for the front of the rear springs to the frame. They are a 3/4" x 3 7/8 from the back of the cup. It has about 3/4" of fine thread for the nut. The others are 1/2 x 4. I have some that appear to be spares. they have threads at both ends like the cups thread on. Could this be right? The large ones above appear to be a pressed on part or turned part of the bolt. Either way thank you for the reponse and sorry about the delay in getting back to you. I do check this forum that often but I should!! thanks- Bill

Scott-thanks! I had not thought of the metallurgy possibilities from spray welding. I have considered machining new ones but I am not sure of how the grease cups attach. The current ones have a straight knurl that runs right up to the back of the grease cup. I have other bare bolts that have threads turned on both ends, drilled and cross drilled. This makes me think the cups are threaded onto the bolt which would make sense with the machining abilities of the era. However the shackle bolts in question are for the front mounts of the rear springs and the cup goes all the way onto this knurl like they are pressed on. I have to degrease them better and inspect them more closely. Could the cup be silver soldered to the shaft? Or just pressed on? thanks for the help- Bill

I have a problem with wear of the shackle bolts for a 1916 Hupp I am doing. They are drilled, cross drilled and fitted with grease cups. The wear is at the point of contact inside the bushing. All I can think to do is sprayweld to build them back up and turn them to size. Not sure what this would to the drill and cross drill for grease, probably plug them. Any other options out there for this problem? I would love to hear them! A couple of months ago I got GREAT feedback on whether to powder coat the frame for this car I am hoping for your insight and help again... thnaks- Bill

Well, after all the good advice here on PC, today I took the leaf parts/assy's I have and went to a spring shop to talk to them. They can do tapered and rounded ends, will work with some old main leafs for pattern and make new leaves as needed from spec. They also said they can do the alignment teats and assemble with cold rivets after PC, bushings, etc. so they will look very much like the originals. They also confirmed that PC is the best way to go for a finish which was good to hear! Now I just have to tear down the old incorrect springs (for parts) and write stuff up for them. I was pretty happy that they can work with me on this, are close to home and the price sounds reasonable. Any opinion on using the old leaves? The shop said use them by all means- better metallurgy than new material.

Thanks for all the info! In particular I like the photos and gloss info from Matt Harwood and the other hands on experience. I did not know you could vary the gloss only the color. The qualifications(loopholes) in the judging rules are also very good info. As I have never tried to do a high point car before I really like all the help here. It is my first time using these forums and I will contiunue to be here now. I have been in old cars over 25 years and truly love touring, especially in our 31 A cabriolet. The car I am starting is a 1916 Hupp N roadster which may be the only one around. I would like to do a great resto on it, show it for a year due to it's rarity and then enjoy the car on the road. I think the info here has told me I can use PC on the chassis area and be OK within my goals. I had considered even doing the whole frame as Matt has but I haven't even begun to learn of the workability of PC after the paint. I will try some small parts first I guess and get used to the PC. Thanks for all the help!!!! The adventure begins!

Thank you for the opinions! I realize the PC would be inaccurate for the car (a 1916) but I know that many of the winning judged cars today are doing basecoat/clearcoat and other unheard of finishes for the YOM. I actually do not really like the way show cars are done beyond the wildest dreams of the production lines of long ago. I drool all over the HPOF class just because it seems so much better historically! I did not know if PC was point deductible so I learned something already here- thanks! Does anyone have data on the flexibility and the heat to bake issues?

I am just starting a resto that I want to show first and drive after a year or so. I am interested in using powder coat on some of the chassis items for the drive part of the lifespan. I do not know the judging implications but I am also trying to learn the tech end of this too. Some sites have said the PC will not flex enough to last on the leaf springs, etc. and others like Eastwood show it being used on coil springs, etc. very well. Also one spring mfgr says the temp to bake the PC may be too high and start to anneal the spring temper in the leaves. Any thoughts on this seemingly contradictory info? Also any insight on PC and judging?

Hi! I am new to these forums so I have a question. Is this forum about "judge-to-judge talk" or is it for answering questions about how cars, car features, and tech questions relate to what AACA judging allows as I start a restoration? I have been in the hobby for over 25 years but never serious about judged cars. I am now going to do a car to high show standards so I need to learn a lot. Is this a good place to get help? thanks- Bill

I may be interested as I am doing a 16 roadster and have become very interested in Hupp. Tell me more- Bill

I am starting a restoration of a 1916 Hupp and need to have new rear springs made. Are there engineering/design reasons for the shaping and tapering of the ends of leaf springs? This will be an accurate restoration so I also need to find a spring shop that can still do this work. Modern shops seem to prefer square ends. Any ideas out there?

I am having trouble with a '31 Hupp that has a Stromberg UU2 carb. It sems to overfill even with a good float and new needle assy. Also it rains down the bowl to almost empty when shut off a short time. I cleaned it out, checked all jets for metering, new kit throughout, etc during rebuild. Any ideas on why it's doing this?