HarryJ

WILLYS58.....Congradulations on your purchase of your series 60 Chrysler. It was introduced in mid 1926 as a 1927 model. It has a small six cylinder engine displacing 180.2 ci and developes 54 brake hp @ 3,000 rpm mounted on a 109" wb. As for parts it looks like you have a good start if you are a member of the WPC Club. Also, pick up a copy of Hemmings Motor News and check out the ads; this is probably where you will find the speedo cable. The Stewart Warner vacuum feul feed system was the most common on automobiles of this era. It is a simple efficient way of feeding fuel to the carb. Engine vacuum draws the fuel into an inner chamber whereby when this is full it is drained to an outer chamber where it moves by gravity to the carb. If it needs a rebuild, there are several people out there that can perform this service. You can do this job yourself.Get a copy of Dyke's Automobile and Gasoline engine Encyclopedia,; as it has a good article on the operation of these units. By the way what is the body style of your newest acquisition?

28&61Olds......This question has come up several times on the web site. The first thing I would do is to refer to your owners manual. Some people recommend modern 90 & 120 weight oils for these units; however, the old style 600w has been remanufactured. From my limited experience I like the 600w as it tends to quite down the gear boxes and make them shift easier due to the dampening effect of the heavy oil. I have purchased a quantity from a local Model "A" parts house. If you know some "A" folks in your area you could ask them about their experience with the lubricant.

Hi Peter.........Wow, This is alot of information to digest! I grew up in Birmingham, Ala. and was arround foundries, steel mills, blast furnaces, forges etc. It seems that there should be a way to reproduce castings at a cost that is somewhat affordable. You mention ASTM A-159-83 as the type of iron for casting blocks; I read that Hudson used a type of iron in the early fifties that was superior to previous types ~ possibly with some nickle in it. Is the ASTM-159-83 better than this? I talked to a gentleman out in Texas or Oklahoma that ran a foundry and machine works that supposedly did work for Caterpillar,manufacturing castings on small runs. He indicated that in order to manufacture a casting such as an engine block drawings would have to be created and patterns produced. Once this process was complete, the actual casting process would be easy and somewhat inexpensive. I figured if the pattern cost could be reduced parts could be reproduced at a reasonable cost. This is why I thought about lasers and CNC proceses. Given that I am willing to pay the costs to manufacture say 500 engine blocks what would be the price, prior to machining? How many copies is the pattern good for? I am intent in figuring this problem out, because as time passes more and more cast parts for older automobiles will be required to keep them on the road. All of these will be required in small quantities. It seems we need to develope methods to address this issue.

Gunny.... An important question is, What is the tow vehicle? Older vehichles such as the Buick are quite heavy and would be dangerous to tow unless you have a very substantial vehicle. The additional weight would put more demand on the brakes and require more attention to steering and maneuvering.

The 1928 Series "72" Chrysler ran a Pemberthy Ball & Ball SV-37 carburetor. These units were dual throated and quite good in their day; however they were cast of potmetal and prone to crumble away. I have collected several examples over the years including a NOS unit, all are now fragile and broken. I would suggest running a Carter BB-1 unit as a replacement.

Frank.....Thanks for the insight, I haven't started working on the car yet. What do you think of drying it out and then blowing or sucking out dry powder and debris?

KenG You gave me an idea that I had not considered; that is letting the radiator and clogs completely dry out which may cause the wet clogs to turn to dust which could be vacuumed out.

DesotoFrank.....Thanks for the advice. I did not plan to put the unit under any pressure as I was going to run the water through the unit without closing up the other end using my garden hose and street flow/pressure. I was not going to use any chemical flushes just let it run through as your RR friend did. I did consider placing some laundry detergent in the water stream to encourage any debris to loosen up.

This doesn't have anything to do with the purchase of an automobile from me; however, I just received an urgent E-mail from of all places .....Nigeria! Folks, I was just offered $30,000,000. I,m retiring and moving to the South Pacific!!!!! Included with this bonanza were 17 spyware programs. Such a deal!! Nigeria must be populated with crooks. I have had several of my friends here in Atlanta approached with all sorts of wierd offers and cons coming from Nigeria. One had $50,000 stolen from his bank account because a Nigerian got to be teller at his branch. He got his money back; the Nigerian teller disapeared.

bargersfoot....There are only three systems that need to function to start an engine; spark, gas, and compression. The spark consists of timing, point gap, condition of points, and spark plug gap. Gas is very simple in that all you need is gas and air in the proper mixture. Compression requires the valves to seal properly and open and close at the correct time. I would check your compression and whether your points are burnt or pitted.

Haven't received mine yet..............anticipation.

Chuck..... Thanks for the response. Cellular both square and hex tubes were used extensively on low, moderate and high priced cars in the early years and I've seen some used on cars of the thirties. They were more effecient than tube types. I don't know if modern miracle flushes will do any good and I am leary of quick fixes. While soliciting for comments and suggestions I have been thinking about this quandry. My car has mud (rust and sediment) from the block clogging the small appertures between the tubes. This has lead to the overheating, is my best guess. I am definately going to disconnect the hoses and flush out the sediment in the block, to prevent as much trouble as I can in the future. At present without more advice my plan is to run water back and forth thru the radiator using house pressure and a hose. I also plan to use laundry detergent in a few of these low pressure flushes. This will be a messy process. By the way you still can obtain cellular cores and rebuilds on these type cooling units.What kind of car do you have?

DesotoFrank and Tigermoth....Thanks for your responses, On the last two wheel bearing repacks I have performed, ( "L" Lincoln, all four wheels and '21 Studebaker light six rear wheels) I have used either Castrol NLGI No.2 multipurpose wheel bearing grease or Valvoline multipurpose(part #608). The Valvoline comes in five different grades or types, some are reccommended for Ford products, some Chrysler, some Japanese automobiles, plus they have a couple of premium grades. See my confusion! I haven't put many miles on either of the cars, so I don't have any experience. DesotoFrank, by the way I adjusted them as per your method. In the past I used Quaker State fibrous wheel bearing grease and still have about one bearing's worth left. This can is 25 years old. I can't find any more of this on the local auto parts dealer's shelves. Are modern wheel bearings better sealed than older vehicles? Do I have to worry about slinging out newer greases in old wheel hubs?

Recently I have been looking into recasting cylinder blocks for "L" model Lincolns, as the originals have been allowed to freeze and crack plus even if they have been well cared for they tend to rust out from the inside. I would like to know if anyone has explored recasting blocks for early automobiles and what has been their experience. Given the great advancement in metalurgical science since WWII, what is the best alloy, should I explore investment casting, or stick with modern sand casting with modern sands? Is there a technology that can laser read the exterior of an exsisting casting into a computer then feed it to a robotic mill which will adjust for cooling shrinkage and carve out an investment wax copy that can be cast; or can a set of patterns be produced from a CAD system to quickly facilitate custom casting parts in small quantities? Are there CAD or other systems out there that can mill out parts that duplicate die castings of the past? Obviously, these need to be somewhat cost effective.

I have been wondering about what type of wheel bearing grease to use on pre-war automobiles, as today all you can obtain is what seems to be a slick albiet sticky lighter grease than the old fashioned fiberous grease of the past. Will the new type greases do the job or should I search out a can of the old stuff? Also, what kind of clearance should I give the bearings? How much play should the wheel bearings have? From what I have learned, one old mechanic passed it down to the other as to how the feel of a properly seated wheel bearing would would feel.

Joe.... Sounds like all you need is a honing and ring replacement coupled with a good cleaning and oiling of the parts before reassembly. I would also check for a ridge at the top of the cylinders and plastigage the rod bearings while I was attending to the rust problem. Might as well thoroughly check it out while you have it down rather than having to go back into it later on. You can probably perform these tasks by dropping the pan and removing the head with the block still in the car.

Peter....Thanks for the response, I was unaware of the use of the search selection tab in the title bar. I need to explore the options available in this site, everytime I use it I find features which I was unaware. Maybe you should prepare a tutorial in conjunction with the site. I looked at the referenced "search" posts; however, none give me the answers I need. All of these seem to refer to tube type radiators rather than the cellular type of which I am seeking info on. I am preparing to address this over heating problem in the next few weeks on this Studebaker, which means I'll be taking down the cooling system, flushing the block out, rebuilding and repacking the water pump, and trying to make the cellular radiator perform better. Thoughts and suggestions from those experienced with this problem are most welcomed.

I have a 1921 Studebaker Light six model "EJ" that is running hot; but not boiling over. From what I can determine, the radiator is not performing up to par. There may be some clogged areas in it. I recently acquired the automobile and have been slowly working through the problems it has. When I drive it for extended trips it runs hot according to the the motometer. Feeling the radiator some areas are hotter than others indicating restricted flow between cells. I was wondering what methods are recommended to flush out cellular radiators. I have taken off the water jacket cover and discovered approximately 3/4" to 1" of mud sediment in the water jackets. I have not taken down the water pump so I don't know the condition of the impellar. Point being, how do I flush out sediment in the cellular radiator short of a rebuild?

Joe.... The first thing you need to do is to determine how the water got into the cylinders in the first place. Do you have a crack in the block or head, or is there a blown head gasket? If it is just humidity that has settled on the cylinder walls due to car sitting for a long period of time, most penetrating oils will free it up; however, if it is serious rusting due to large amounts of water a tear down and rebuild will be called for. You did not mention the year and model of the Buick. Buick's have overhead valves, so, if the spark plugs were left out for a period of time without the hood on, the probability of water running into the cylinders is small. For flat head engines this is a scenerio for serious rusting. The bottom line is that once you free it up; and try to run it broken rings and scored cylinder will probably be the result. If your car is an older model I would tear it down, hone the cylinders and replace the rings at the very least.

I recently purchased a carburetor rebuilding business in the Atlanta Ga. area. Along with this came approximately 7000 to 9000 cores and 250 rebuilt and NOS carburetors. I intend to keep the business going as the gentleman who performs the rebuilds is quite good. The vast majority of the units fit 60's, 70's, & 80's vehicles. At present we have only inventoried 200 of the rebuilt and NOS units; however, I would like to offer the rebuilding service to the AACA members. We will rebuild mechanically, but not to Concours/400pt standards as at present we do not have plating, painting, or etching capability. If you have a driver or HPOF automobile in need of a carb rebuild please contact Bruce at 404-755-5416 during the hours of 8:30 AM thru 3:30 PM Monday thru Friday. We will also consider rebuilding earlier units including updrafts on a case by case basis if we can locate the kits. In the near future I hope to have most of the cores inventoried so we can offer them for sale or rebuild; however, at present they are in great mixed stacks, so don't ask Bruce to supply one,neither he nor I could say if we have what you need. For those of you that are in the Atlanta area you are welcome to stop by our shop at 1003 Dill Ave.

farmer_17....I own a '21 light "6" and it is equiped with AC-75 plugs. I think (don't quote me) that the light six would run a W-18 Champion plugs. There is a gentleman I heard about in Wilkinson, Indiana by the name of Donald McKinsey that specializes in old and obsolete plugs, he might be able to help. Also, I would join the Antique Studebaker Club.

Matt...Thanks for your response it addressed several issues that I had, in particuliar potential stress relief in the coated part caused by the subsequent heating to cure the material. I am still a little concerned if I coat sheet metal parts; although the horns in your picture seem unaffected. Is there a method available to remove the powder coating such as a paint type stripper,if for some reason in the future you should decide to do so? By the way in response to the comment of 1937hd45, yes it gives an over restored look to the car which production and even show cars of the day never had.

Hal, Didn't Model "A" Fords originally come equiped with aluminum pistons? I would think that the use of cast iron would throw the engine out of balance.

I would like to hear other members comments relative to using powder coating versus painting when restoring parts on early automobiles. I know powder coating is highly durable; however, how easy is it to repair in the future, and what exactly is it?

I'll take a wild guess.....Marmon....as it seems to have the running board/frame design.