Rusty_OToole

If the pedal does not have enough free play the brakes will not release. There is a little hole in the master cylinder that lets the brake fluid flow back into the reservoir when you release the brake pedal. If this hole is covered the brakes will not release. You won't notice until you use the brakes a few times. But once they start to drag, heat expansion makes the brakes drag worse. If you leave the car set for a while the pressure oozes out and the brakes return to normal, until you use them again. The brake rod that pushes the master cylinder must release completely and have a little clearance. This usually translates to an inch of pedal travel before the brake cylinder is actuated.

Easy way to take off the front drums, leave the wheel right on. Take off the hub cap, center cap, cotter pin, unscrew the nut until it is flush with the end of the spindle but leave it on. Give the wheel a wiggle and the bearing will pop out. Now you can take off the nut, and the bearing, and set them in a safe place such as on a clean rag. Lift off the wheel and drum assembly and you can service the brakes, or lay the wheel down and use a hammer handle to pop the inside bearing and grease seal out. It is a good idea to repack the wheel bearings and install new grease seals when doing a brake job.

A solution of lye will clean brass perfectly especially if it is hot. You may need to experiment a little to find how strong to make it. Always add lye to cold water. Tie a wire to the brass object soak it in the hot lye solution for a while then take it out and wash it off with water. It should come out looking like new. Obviously the carb has to come completely apart for this as the lye will attack other materials and dissolve aluminum completely.

The lower the compression ratio the lower the octane. Your car will run best on the lowest octane regular. It was made at a time when gas had very little lead added. Typical octane rating back then was less than 70 compared to 87 for today's regular. A little upper cylinder oil added to the gas will help prevent wear but is not absolutely necessary.

Yes the fuel stabilizer is a must if the gas is going to be sitting in the tank for more than 6 months.

A little Redex or Marvel Mystery Oil can't hurt. But many old cars need no additives. The cars that have a potential problem are the high compression OHV engines made between 1955 and 1970. These are made to run on leaded gas which is not available anymore. You shouldn't need to worry about cars made before 1955 or after 1970. The only ones that have a real problem are the very high compression high performance models with over 9.5:1 compression. They are the only ones that need lead additives or special fuel. An engine that has been rebuilt since 1970, probably has the low compression and hardened valves and valve seats installed. The others don't get enough use to burn out the valves. But if you are concerned, as I said it can't hurt to add a little upper cylinder lube to the gas. Bardahl, Redex, MMM there are several brands to choose from.

If the price is too high you can often get good used books at a discount. Ebay of course but there are many used book stores on the web.

I don't think an engine gets hot enough to require a special paint or primer. Especially a 1934 model. Regular paint will burn off the exhaust manifold but they make special paint for that. If the cooling system is working the engine should not go above 200 degrees. A car's bodywork can get that hot in summer in Texas.

Some cars have a hole in the rocker that is supposed to squirt oil towards the valve. At idle the oil just oozes out. Rev the engine up and it flies off the rocker arm. If oil is getting to the rockers it will slop around and get on the valves don't worry about that. When driving down the road everything will be covered in oil. The real worry is oil going down the valve stems and burning, once the engine gets worn.

If the man is old enough bide your time until he croaks and buy whatever you want at the auction. His widow or heirs won't be able to dump the stuff fast enough. Last saturday I attended an auction of a lifetime car collector. A 49 Chrysler, 59 DeSoto, 40 Dodge, 55 Dodge, and several other cars went for scrap. They were in poor shape but nobody wanted them even for parts. The widow's attitude was "good riddance to that old junk".

For a one of a kind item like that it is impossible to say as there is nothing to compare it to. Such items usually don't bring really big money. Tuckers for example, were $20,000 cars until the Tucker movie came out in 1988 then they suddenly became $200,000 cars. For an empty body shell I would guess a few hundred $$$ bucks or maybe one or 2 thousand? It's all according. If you can get enough bidders you can run the price up. If only one person is bidding it's different. By the way how are things in Kokomo?

I remember the story of the Dale. A 3 wheel car designed by a female engineer that was going to outdo every car on the market on low price, fuel economy and safety. The female engineer turned out to be a man and the whole thing was a scam to sucker investors. A fascinating tale nonetheless. Might make a good movie except if they told the true story it would seem too fantastic. No idea what a Dale body might be worth. Should be worth preserving as a historical artifact. I expect someone should be interested in doing this, as there are clubs for Davis, Tucker and other obscure autos of the past. Some information on the Dale project. Automotive article :: The Mysterious Dale :: By Sharon McLellan & Mona Nath

The Skinner Oil Rectifier was not exactly a filter. It used the exhaust manifold heat to boil off water and unburned gas from the oil. It worked like this. Engine vacuum was used to draw off oil from the base of the cylinders, actually from the piston rings when the piston was at the bottom of its stroke. This oil went to a reservoir on the hot manifold. The gases were drawn off by intake manifold vacuum and burned in the engine. The oil was returned to the crankcase. It was thought that this would improve fuel economy, reduce oil consumption and extend engine life by eliminating contamination of the oil. Some expensive cars including Packard used it in the 20s but it went out of use in the 30s. The company that made them is still in business but now is known as Purolator.

"The Commander V-8 was 232.6 cubic inch engine rated @ 120 brake hp. That doesn't seem like much power for an overhead valve V8" Not now but you have to put it in terms of 1951. At that time the hottest performing car in the low priced field was the Ford flathead V8, recently increased to 110 HP. Other cars with similar HP were much larger and heavier such as, DeSoto Chrysler or Pontiac. The 120HP Studebaker was low in cost, light in weight and was a sensational performer compared to such cars. There were more powerful cars like the 135HP Olds Rocket, 160HP Cadillac or 180HP Chrysler OHV V8s but they were all much more expensive, and heavier cars. The Studebaker would outperform the Ford, which was the class leader in performance and give many more expensive cars a run for their money. As an aside, the Stude V8 was easy to hop up and responded well to the hot rod treatment. Gober Sosebee made 117 MPH on Daytona Beach in his then new Commander sedan. This was significantly faster than any stock car that year but of course, did not count for an official record as it was not a stock car.

Chryslers had quite a vogue in England and in Europe in the twenties. They competed successfully in racing, even finished in the money at Le Mans. One of the Rothschilds remembered his khaki Chrysler roadster fondly in his memoirs.

Took a closer look at the carb today and it was wrapped in newspaper from 1965, in the original box. So that is probably when it was rebuilt.

Serial number?

Upholstery supply outlets have thick black cardboard. It is normally used for the backs of sofas and the like. But it also makes good door panels package shelves and possibly firewall insulation if you add some padding on the back.

The spring is bimetallic. It holds the valve closed when cold, then relaxes and lets the valve open when hot. This should tell you how to hook it up.

A classic is, who knows what. There is no hard and fast definition. To the classic car club, an expensive car built between 1925 and 1941 but even there, there are exceptions. A hot rod, well any modification could get you yelled at on this board. Let's say any modification from stock that improves performance. A rat rod is a cheap hot rod. It is not a classic.

Here is a listing for General brand filter gaskets General Fuel Oil Products - Manufacturer of high quality oil filters These are for furnace oil filters and should be available at furnace repair shops and industrial and plumbing supply wholesalers. Grainger's has oil filter gaskets. I did a search for neoprene gaskets and found these. The first and the fourth on the list seem to be the closest to your size. http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/ecatalog/N-/No-0/Ntt-neoprene+gasket

Not exactly a junkyard find but today I bought a 1966 Dodge Coronet 440 at an auction for $400. This car and I have history. It was bought new by a local man who drove it sparingly until he died. His grandson inherited it, had it fixed up and drove it to work for a few months then put it in the garage for 13 years. Then, he moved it out onto the paved driveway to make room for his sailboat. That is when I spotted it and moved in for the kill lol. When I knocked on the door a teenager with a Sideshow Bob hairdo answered. He said the car was his dad's and he didn't know if he wanted to sell, but his mom was after him to get rid of it. At that moment I knew I could write my own ticket. So, I ended up buying it for $50 bucks. Took it home, got it running, redid brakes, exhaust and a few other things. It was ready for the road except for some bodywork. So far, I had it a month. Then we got a spell of hot weather. I thought I would wait till it cooled down a little before suiting up to do the sandblasting but never got around to finishing it. 5 or 6 years later, sold it for $2000. Then the guy I sold it to traded it to an antique car dealer on a 53 Chrysler. I met him at the sale today, he told me he got rid of it because the frame was cracked (not true). The reason he knew the frame was cracked, the back door would not open. Gee wonder why that would happen after not being opened for 40 years? Anyway the dealer died a year or so ago. His widow held an auction of all his leftover parts, cars, and tools. The Dodge was one of the shabbier looking cars ( half done bodywork remember?) and went for only $400 bucks. The kicker is, the original owner put less than 34000 miles on the car. When I bought it today, the odo read 33998. I can verify that is original by the condition, and because I got all the grandfather's receipts when I bought the car. Today I got back the file I gave to the guy who bought it from me, with receipts going back to 1966 including the repairs I did in 2001. This time I promise to finish the bodywork lol. PS Dodge Coronet 440 is the model. The engine is a slant six. This I like, as I will be able to drive it to my heart's content and not worry about gas mileage, or wearing out the engine.

Today I was lucky enough to buy a rebuilt carb at an auction. It is a Carter B&B carburetor for a 1951-54 Chrysler six. Age unknown but probably predates the introduction of gasohol in the 80s. The question is do I need to rebuild the carb again with new alcohol resistant parts? Which parts specifically and where can I buy them? I have rebuilt carbs successfully before or at least cleaned them in carb cleaner and installed carb kits. I find the secret is to go right to headquarters and get the rebuild instructions from the factory manual and don't go getting ideas of your own. Follow directions exactly especially as to settings and it should be fine. That and go easy, most parts are brass and pot metal and can be damaged if you go at it like King Kong.

Sounds like a bad connection someplace. You might try poking around with a non metallic probe and see if you can find it. Or, there are some good tube radio and antique radio web sites. Car radios and house radios are nearly the same except for the power supply (6 volt and vibrator).

Incidentally when you go to pick up the car look around the garage for spare parts and put them in the trunk. There may be repair books, owners manual, ownership and spare keys in the house as well. You will be glad you did this when you come to put it on the road. Or if you sell it, give the buyer a lucky break.