sleeve-valve

I use battery tenders and am happy with them so far.

Thanks for the info Grant and John!

The owner's manual lubrication chart says 'Rear Wheel Bearings Lubricated by Lubricant in Axle Housing', but the parts book and service manual shows a rear wheel bearing inner seal. I haven't had it apart, so I haven't seen how it works. Does rear axle oil make it to the rear wheel bearings or do they run only on the grease they are packed with?

Stearns-Knights, at least in the late teens and early 20's were positive ground. Some had an interesting 6/12 volt system where the battery was 12 volt and had a third terminal in the middle which produced 6 volts. The 6 volts went to the ignition and the 12 volts went to the starter, horn and lights. See attached schematic.

My 59 Ford Custom 300 passenger car has lug nuts that take a 13/16 wrench and my lug wrench is more like 3/4. My parts book lists the lug nuts as part number B 1012 fitting all 1949-1959 but it does not give the size. Is either one of them correct, 13/16 or 3/4?

Agreed! There's no telling what the previous owner put in the cooling system, so I'll just replace it with the right stuff and distilled water.

Thanks for posting this. I was planning on doing some winterizing soon. I have some Walmart Super Tech Antifreeze/Coolant Extended Life up to 5 years or 150,000 Miles. It sounds like this is not to be used in the older vehicles. On the label it says: Contains ethylene glycol (107-21-1), diethylene glycol (111-46-6), sodium 2-ethyl hexanoate (19766-89-3), and sodium neodecanoate (31548-27-3). It says it can be used in ANY make/model. Can someone verify that this is not to be used in our antique vehicles? And what ingredients should be on a label that can be used in our antiques?

It's all making sense to me now. The torque ball mounts on mine are definately bad, allowing the side to side movement. I can replace them without pulling the rear axle, I'll be placing an order with Bob's tomorrow. The boot is torn and needs to be replaced, since I'll have to pull the axle for that, I'll thoroughly check out the internals. A big thanks to everyone for the detailed information and great pictures!

Sorry for the not so good picture. The trailing arms are a little further back and not in the picture. The threads showing are part of the torque ball mounting stud that goes thru the rubber lined torque ball mount (that torque ball mount is bolted to the frame) and then goes into an ear on the torque ball. Where those threads are showing, there is play, allowing the torque ball, and the forward torque tube that is bolted to it, to move side to side.

Thanks for the tip, Jeff. When I was under there last night, I was wondering what might be the best way to pull the rear axle. I will take your advise and disconnect at the springs. The picture is mainly of one of the torque ball mounts. It is taken from under the car. The bottom of the picture is the side of the frame rail. The bulged think is a broken seal around the torque ball. The threaded part that shows just off the frame is the mounting bolt and that is where the play is. Sounds the best thing to do is take it apart and get it all right.

Thanks for the info, Danny. I now see them on Bob's. I think the best thing at this point is just pull it apart and I'll see what's gone bad, I'll be sure to check the short shaft also.

When I bought the car i knew there was a clunk on deceleration. I thought maybe a motor mount but they all seem tight, I think it's coming from the torque ball area. Looking up from underneath, the torque ball is able to move side to side, there is a gap between the frame and the torque ball on either side, see the picture, where the thread is showing is where it can move side to side over the threaded area. I am not familiar with torque balls, have read the shop manual section about them a few times but still not sure, should it be tight between the frame rails? Am I missing some shims between the torque ball and frame where the threads are showing, maybe the torque ball mounting assemblies are bad?

I ended up ordering my belt from them. The belt was made for me very quickly, exactly the size I requested, and very reasonably priced. Thanks for the tip!

I cannot tell for sure if the hole is tapped, it is gooped up pretty good with the red gasket sealer. The head seems to be rounded around the back at that point, not flush with the rear of the manifold. I'm thinking the head is probably 39 but not the manifold. It's not leaking and it's running fine, so I agree, I will not touch it. Based on the W engine number, it sounds like the engine probably isn't original. It runs well so I'm not touching it now, but I'll be on the lookout for a more correct original one that I can rebuild over time and eventually put in. Maybe a rodder has one he's throwing out?

Here's a picture of the Driver's side rear of the head. There is no stud behind the rear exh port, there is no bolt either, but there is an empty hole for a bolt or stud. From the scratches on the firewall, it looks like someone has been in there recently. Should the hole be there, but for a bolt instead of a stud?

Dave: The frame number is 33537996, it seems to be in line with what you thought. The Engine Number starts with tilted 'N' or incomplete 'W' followed by 3693789. What do you think that first character really is? and does it sound correct?

The car is maroon with cloth interior, so that is matching up so far. Chassis number is 33537996. My son, with better eyes, thinks the character before the engine number is more like a W, punched heavier on the right, with the left side not really there, but neither of us are positive. Would the head stud be visible without pulling the valve cover? I'll get some pictures soon.

Wow, that's neat. I would have liked to heard some of their car stories! I'll bet she drove a lot of Stearns.

I just bought a 1939 Buick Special Sport Coupe yesterday, and joined the BCA online today. Can someone help decipher some of the numbers? Body tag: 1939 Mod: 46S Syle No: 39-4427 Body No: L2181 Trim No: 794 Paint No: 533 Engine Number: starts with crooked 'N' or incomplete 'W' followed by 3693789. My shop manual says all 39 engines started at 3572652, the 60 engine number should start with a '6', 80 with a '8', 90 with a '9', but does not mention 40. Does this engine number sound right for 1939 40 series? Thanks.

A WOKR member, who is not registered here, suggest this: A sleeve valve engine that has been laid up for a long time has to have the oil put back on the sleeves to have enough compression to start. Tell them to put about 1/2 cup of oil in each spark plug hole then try and start it. Since they got a few puffs it seems tha the timing is correct.

When I start my 21 Stearns-Knight, which has a sleeve valve engine, I set the timing at the steering wheel to fully retarded, throttle to low, and full choke. This is the same settings I would use for most any car of the era. The sleeves perform the same purpose as poppet valves, just by aligning ports instead of opening valves, so having a sleeve valve engine should not make those settings any different. In the almost 20 years I have owned the car I have never had to adjust the timing at the distributor, but the same procedure should work there as for a non sleeve valve car, setting the timing lever at the steering wheel to fully retarded, finding TDC by getting #1 piston to the top and rotating the distributor to the correct position. I do not know what the correct timing setting should be at that point. In case your engine is fresh, The Knight engines actually run better as they carbon up a bit, giving better compression. I have heard that a freshly rebuilt Knight engine sometimes will not start until some oil is poured into each cyl creating a little compression. Hope this helps, I am not an expert by far, just been keeping mine running, consider joining the WOKR (Willys Overland Knight Registry) www.wokr.org, there are a lot very knowledgable and helpful folks in the club.

I have been thinking of buying another car, somewhat specific. The type of car I'm interested in comes up for sale regularly, but I have thought about running a Wanted ad. For those of you that have run Wanted ads, what kind of results did you get? Did you get hit with lots of overpriced or misrepresented junk, or attempted scam, or did things work out well?

Steve: This is from the RI DMV website: "If a vehicle is more than 25 years old, it can be registered with an antique plate. An inspection is not required with this plate, although restrictions do apply to how the vehicle can be used when displaying the antique plate. The vehicle can be used solely for use in exhibitions, club activities, parades, and other functions of public interest, but not primarily for the transportation of passengers or goods over any public highway. The cost for registering a vehicle with an antique plate is $6.50 (R.I.G.L. §31-6-1 (a)(16))." I have installed seat belts and like to use it to take the kids where they're going, they like it and so do their friends. I doubt it's heavily enforced, but I'd rather not take the chance of getting pulled over for antique plates.

I have my 1959 Ford registered as a regular passenger vehicle, not an antique, because I drive it a lot and did not want to risk getting hassled for using it more than the law allows. It costs me a little more each year in registration fees, but here in RI the property tax is the same.

Frank: It's a driver but I like to keep things as original as possible.