TonyAus

Thanks, but the fan bearing has nothing to do with the water pump. It is a bronze bushed shaft attached to the head which supports the fan. I am sure most of you know what I am talking about. Are you all covered in grease spots?

This might be an impossible task, but is there any way (short of fitting roller or ball bearings) of keeping the grease in my 1925 DB fan bearing? I was aware that the grease tends to splatter and hoped that use of a very hard waterpump grease would reduce the problem - no such luck, it still goes everwhere. I thought about reducing the thickness of the fan hub and fitting thin felt washers but remain unconvinced that this would work - the grease would probably still ooze out. What do others do - or do you just grin and bear it? Am I becoming paranoid about oil and grease leaks because of too much driving of Japanese cars? Tony

The point I was trying to make is that this forum is not the place to air your obsessions, real or imagined. Lighten up! If the DB people don't suit you, do your own thing. See http://feralsportscarclub.net/. I would commend this group as they suit themselves and do so with with self-deprecating humour. In contrast, I am an anal retentive who gets bogged down in detail and unrealistically seeks perfection - but I recognise this and can laugh at myself for being such a ratbag. Look at yourself occasionally. And no, I did not complain to the webmaster. Tony

And merry Christmas to all forum members from Australia - even to that disaffected individual who insists on messing up the 1916 Dodge thread. I hope he gets to realise that life is too short to harbour grudges. Enjoy it while you can - particularly at this time of year. Speaking of enjoyment, it has been 35 degrees C here (95F) today- enough to make your DB boil. Better than having to risk the hypothermia and block cracking which you in the Northern US are probably facing. Prawns and cold beer for Christmas dinner tomorrow - eat your hearts out! Looking forward to another year of useful info from a great bunch of people. Keep safe and warm. Tony

Regarding the rivets, are they are anything like those on the earlier Type B (E&J) light? I turned mine up out of brass, drilled them in the lathe and had them nickle plated. To install, use a countersinking bit as a punch from the back to split and turn over the rivet. Make sure the rivet is just long enough to hold the glass in place - too long and the brass turnover will break before it holds.

Thanks Bob I think this confirms my thoughts that there is no any easy way to tackle the problem - given that the ring is rolled into the rim.

I find a slow count to be the best. One - disengage clutch, two - shift to neutral, three - engage clutch, four - disengage clutch, shift to the next gear and engage clutch. The whole process should take a little over two seconds. One second is the time it takes .you to say "one ten thousand". I have yet to master the change down to second. Picking up the disengaged layshaft seems to be a matter of good luck rather than good management. However, the 600W equivalent oil I now use seems to have improved matters somewhat. It must give some momenutum to the otherwise idle layshaft. The standard procedure of revving the engine at point three of the forementioned process does appear to help a bit but not in the way it does in a conventional crash box or in changing from second to first (a generally pointless process in a Dodge unless you are towing a trailer up a vertical cliff face)!

No Rick, these have the rusted steel rings. Perhaps it is possible to pick up the dings through them. I thought about removing the rings but, alternatively, I could bead blast off the external rust and the plating process might remove the rust underneath.

My 1925 roadster, despite having only a two point light switch, is fitted with cowl lights. These were required by Australian regulations at the time and are locally made of diecast. Being diecast, I fear they will eventually die of old age so I picked up a pair of genuine DB lights as replacements. These are the nickle plated brass variety which mimic the shape of the headlights. Carefully tearing them apart in preparation for replating I have hit a snag. How do you remove the steel retainer ring which holds the glass in the rim? These will have to come out so I can knock out couple of minor dings in the rims. The ring looks as though it has been pressed in and the rim rolled over to retain it. I am not brave enough to push on the glass hoping the ring will spring out. Has anyone removed these or have you left the ring and glass in situ when replating? All suggestions gratefully received. Tony

Yor car did not have kick panels. The clips to which you refer held a draft excluding strip made from 1/2" cotton cord bound over with leather or vynide. This is the welting you found. It should extend from the top of the toeboards down to the pillar. Sorry I cannot help with the rest as my car had Australian content aft of the cowl. Hope this helps. Tony

ARRGGH. Why didn't anybody tell me about Photoshop - I could have saved all those years all that money on the restoration! BTW, for those interested, the body couloured running gear is original but the colour is not. It had been repainted a dove grey in 1957 but I found a yellow under that. Subsequent investgation revealed that the grey was original and the yellow was undercoat. By that stage I had decided on the yellow and painted the wheels - no turning back. The yellow I used is a 1980s Australian Ford colour and it will be enhanced by a single red/orange coachstripe along the belt line when I can get my tame sighwriter off the nether portions of his anatomy. The body was coachbuilt by Holden's of Adelaide and shipped to Sydney where it was fitted to a CKD kit. I think they also used the kit packing crate for the trunk floorboards - pretty rough. The same style of body was also fitted to four cylinder Buicks. The kit was probably built in February 1925 and the completed car sold new by my grandfather, a Dodge dealer in country NSW, on 24 July 1925. It was one of 13 Dodges that he sold that year. It was bought back from the original owner by my late father in 1957. The dealership, now the second oldest Toyota dealership in NSW, remains in my brother's hands. Total mileage is 40,000, but I intend to add a few more to that.

Operator error - refer to last message.

Another thought, perhaps someone might like to see the source of all this drama.

Looks like I stuffed up badly here. The book clearly states "between the marks"- I took that to mean the same as a modern dipstick - ie top mark is normal, lower mark is add. DOH! However, all is not lost in that I found one more bit missing which could compromise my attempt at total authenticity (read anal retention). Does anyone out there have a spare breather screen? And capacity still remains a problem in our communication - I notice in the replies a mixture of US, imperial and metric measure. I think I will just use five litres, which is our standard oil container here in Australia.

Thanks for the advice on the screen. There was certainly not one on the car but I do not remember having oil problems many years ago. Then again, she was pretty oily all over. I am using Penrite Shelsley Medium - an SAE 40 equivalent. But five quarts? By my reckoning that is only around 4.7 litres. I had to put in nearly eight litres to get the float rod up to the top mark. Could it be telling lies and causing my problem? If so, the oil level might be above the tray. I will check. Tony

Well folks, not without several million small dramas, my 1925 roadster hit the road today. However, a larger drama has shown up. It is blowing oil out the crankcase breather and making a most unacceptable mess on every surface visited! My first thought was blowby, but there is no blue exhast smoke and the rings are relatively new. In fact the problem looks like one of splash as the oil is deposited in lumps rather than as a mist. I am sure there was no baffle in the breather. My second thought was to fit something lke a stainless steel scourer in the breather to catch the oil. The third thought was that was that there is something fundamentally wrong - is there too much oil presure (very heathy at no less than 3 psi) or are the rod dippers going too far into the troughs - replacement pan of unknown origin and the gasket is relatively thin modern bonded cork. Help - before the EPA get me. Tony:eek:

Thanks again Jason However, overnight I has a rush of blood to the head. Today I managed to machine off the stripped thread, turn up up a replacement section of 7/16 thread in brass and sweat it onto the tap. Instant success! This will get me through until I can find an exact replacement. All this goes to show that one should not panic -rather, take some time to think matters through. Don't you love old cars - there is nothing that can't be fixed with a little thought. Regards and thanks to all Tony

Thanks for the kind offer Jason. I would appreciate if you could enquire at NAPA for me. However, I have been unable to see anything on their website that might be suitable. The range of fuel fittings they sell (Weatherhead) only seem to be available over the counter - perhaps an individual store may have the offending item. Please send me a PM and we can discuss suitable recompense. Regards Tony

Commander 1924 I sent you a message but it bounced back - is your address correct? FMF I would love to try my local NAPA store, but this is a little difficult in Australia! The problem here is that the local standard for stop cocks is BSP rather than NPT (one thread difference in 1/8'' size and 55 rather than 60 degree form. I will attempt to attach an image from the Book of Information. The item on the image I need is no 15. At this stage the style has become unimportant. What is important is the thread setup and flow direction - 1/8" male NPT at the top, 1/4" SAE male flare at the bottom (for 1/4" pipe) and downward delivery.

Thanks for that. However, the stop cocks that McMaster-Carr sell turn at 90 degrees rather than delivering downward - this makes the fuel delivery to the carb rather awkward. I was really after an original type which takes two 90 degree turns. Someone out there must have one. Now getting desperate. Tony

Please, can anyone help me with a fuel tap for my 1925 series. Like the fool I am, I cross-threaded the outlet when chasing a leak. The leak is now more like a flood! The tap I need screws under the vacuum pump with a 1/8" NPT thread (tapered). The outlet is 7/16" NF (parallel). It is turned with a clock key type handle. Now I am held up getting the car registered after a 30-year restoration - how unfortunate (or words to that effect). I can offer a huge reward (relatively speaking) for the right item. Thanks Tony

Success (possibly) I used Vern's method - a cup-type plug turned down to a five thou interference fit and well sealed with gasket cement. Looks OK but I will leave it to dry overnight before refilling the radiator. Resizing was no a problem - I turned up a tapered stub mandrel to hold the plug. This way I was able to reduce both the diameter and the length with ease. Thanks to all - will be back when this leaks!

Thanks a million for that Vern - just the info I needed. How do you hold the plug in the lathe for machining? I assume that it could be driven onto a tapered stub mandrel and light cuts taken. Thanks again Tony

I am having great difficuty in locating a welch plug for my 1925 series in Australia. The plug is the one under the exhaust manifold. What I need is a lens rather than cup type in an odd size. Being an American car, would have thought that the core hole would be an even imperial size. however, it measures .985" rather than an even inch. Consequently, a one inch plug will not fit - or am I missing something? I thought the idea is for the plug to be a neat fit in the core hole and it is expanded in place by flattening with a suitably sized drift. The undersize hole would clearly work with a cup type plug but the reverse is not true for a lens type. It must use a lens type as the recess is relatively shallow and the inner core hole is as cast. My bright idea was to use a 25 mm plug but alas this size is one made in cup type. As I am surely not the first person to replace a welch plug on a 1925 Dodge, someone out there must have solved the problem. Help

The dimensions of your hood (top) bows can be worked out reasonably easily. First, lay the irons into the rests. This will allow you to measure the width - which should be the same for all four bows. Secondly, fold the irons forward - keeping them the determined distance apart with some dummy bows made from scrap. Work out how far the front bow needs to protrude from the iron sockets to allow attachment of the windshield clamps in the right spots. In the case of my 1925 Australian bodied roadster the protrusions of all three bows was the same. This should also work for a tourer, given that the first bow lies horizontally, the second at about 30 degrees forward, the third about 45 degrees forward and the last about 30 degrees to the rear. What you want is for the second bow to continue a smooth line of top from the front, the third to be the highest point and the last to be slightly lower. Study of some restored cars or photos and a bit of careful eyball work with scrap timber and some old sheets will allow you to get the dimensions. Remember also that the last bow needs to be about twice the thickness of the other three. Hope this helps. Tony