oldiron

Antti; Has your engine been rebuilt? If not, you could be smoking due to worn rings and sleeves. You are speaking of a sleeve valve engine I assume? Regards; oldiron

Arm49; go to corkstore.com and click to yoga cork blocks. You will find blocks of cork as large as 9inches long, 5.5 wide, and 3.5 deep. There are many other sizes and shapes. Goodluck. regards; oldiron

Dan; it sounds more like vacuum tank problems than those of a faulty carb.. But to be sure, it's easy enough to remove the inner vacuum tank, fill the remaining outer tank with fuel, and let the engine run. You came close to doing this, so it could be supposed that everything out side of the tank is fine. Problems with the inner tank could be the float; which should be air tight, but could have a leak. If this happens, the float would not rise sufficiently to close the vaccum valve, thus allowing fuel into the manifold and in turn would choke the engine down. Your flapper valve might be stuck, The manifold conections might be loose, thus allowing for air to be drawn into the carb.. Finally the suction valve or air valve might not be seating properly. Best guess would be to check all connections for tightness so that air can't be pulled in instead of fuel. regards; oldiron

Y6469; it's timing. You are firing very late, and the fuel is still burning on the upward exhaust stroke. The final part of the burn then, is taking place in the exhaust manifold. Adjust your timing and things will be fine. Regards; oldiron

Hey; sdbraverman.... The headlight buckets of acetylene lamps can be satisfactorily painted with a generic high temp. enamal. Yes, the flame is hot. However, it is concentrated and reflected away from the painted shell. On the other hand, the chimney should carry away the soot and heat. Regards; oldiron

Hey, T in Dixie. A 'T' can in fact run very smoothly. First, leave the plugs alone; i.e. just clean and gap properly. Most important however is to properly check your coils and make sure they are in good working order, and clean and adjust the points while your at it. Secondly, make sure your mag is putting out properly too. And, of course check the condition of your timer, not only for improper or too much wear, but also for cleanliness. Buy yourself a favor and buy a Dyke's and/or a reprint of a Ford shop manual. Good luck; oldiron

Hey; MochetVelo; put your cars in a container. They will be much safer. Many of the guys doing 'London to Brighton' have had great success with containers.You should be able to get a good response from the "Horseless Carriage Club" website. Good luck, and regards; oldiron.

The doors posted appear to be of late teens to early twenties construction; i.e. rather handsome at that. The idea of no outside door handles was rather common. One just reached over the door top, or throught the side curtain and over the door top to find the inside handle. Regards to the hinges, they too are not uncommon. They are found on bodies whose designers were looking to achieve something more; i.e. a way to get rid of the unsightly 'swinging gate' type of hinge. Many years ago I had a Farhnam and Nelson custom built body from the period.It too had similar hinges as to what your doors show, and a similar door construction excepting that my skins were aluminum. I think a little further looking and you'll find the car that they fit. Regards; oldiron

Tom; look up Ben McAdam, West Virginia. He's got quite the inventory of old ignition. His inventory consists on new "old stock". Also, check out the various ignition suppliers listed in Hemmings, as you will find various vendors offering either new old stock or replacement items for your car. Good Luck. Regards; oldiron

Hey Patrick; looks like it might also have a commercial application. Time frame; late teens to early twenties. Regards; oldiron

Hey; Bill. Your car is a Model T Ford of the late teens and perhaps as late as 20-21 time frame. Regards; oldiron

SDBraverman and AVS619; Sears it's not. Sears jugs I believe were threaded on bottom. It does have some resemblence to the early Brennen engines. But only resemblence. Regards; oldiron

FLM; I'm not so sure about Chevrolet. It seems that the v, and the tank top appear to mimick Chevy. But, if memory serves, the core should be deeper; i.e. meaning the radiator should be higher or taller, overall. Finally, the early Chev radiators of this shape should be nickel plated for '12 and '13, that would be the six cylinder jobs. Regards; oldiron

When Hemmings was the size of the Readers Digest, or when Austin Clarke opened the "iron range" or when you can remember seeing the brass cars displayed in the Stadium at Hershey

Tom; thanks for the lead. I will contact Roy. Regards; oldiron

Gene; usually the brake drum is held in place by bolts that run through the hub and then through the brake drum. The nuts are on the inside surface of the brake drum. Remove these nuts , tap the bolts out and the drum should be able to be worked off the body of the hub. I've worked on several cars that were set up this way; i.e. Buick, Ford, Marmon, to name a few. This is covered in Dyke's if you have a copy. Regards; oldiron

West; I agree with you on both Matheson and Palmer Singer having fours and sixes in the era of this picture, but not the Simplex. Simplex did not have a six until they came out with the Crane model 5 for 1915. On the other hand this was a great job you just pulled off with these pictures. Very nice pix indeed. Regards; oldiron

The question you need to ask yourself Rick, is not why you can't use brass instead of babbit, but, rather, can you afford to replace your crankshaft if something goes wrong.(Consider that the coefficient of friction is reliant on the fineness of the surface and not necessarrily the material that the bearing is made of; but also that the oil, as the lubricant, separates the surface of the journal from the bearing shell,thus taking the various metals coefficients of friction out of the discussion when oil is present. When oil is not present, then the problem arises as to the considerations of coefficient's of friction of the materials, and as to their strengths.). Here's the point as to why babbit is considered over brass/bronze. If oil is kept from being delivered to the bearings, the brass will do much more harm to the journals than the babbit, what with the galling and surface tearing thats done with the build up of heat due to lacvk of lubrication. The babbit will be torn up before the crank journal when lubrication is taken away in this instance. And, so what can happen to the crankshaft is the main concern, not why you can't use one material over the other. I restored a Model F Buick severasl years ago and machined my own bearing shells from brass. But, understand that motor's lubrication is supplied by an oiler, and not by splash. Also it is a lower RPM motor, a two cylinder job, and not much damage will be done if the oil stops flowing. It should slow down as it overheats from lack of lubrication, and stop. Upon cooling off, it should restart and run fine. A four cylinder is a different story, as it is a higher RPM motor, and has different needs. Finally, why not use babbit anyway. Just get some help on the pouring part of it, and then do the line boring yourself if that's what you'd like. Regards; oldiron

Rustfever; DO NOT SOAK YOUR WHEELS IN ANYTHING; i.e. including linseed oil. Send your wheels to an accomplished wheelwright if they need attention, and your not capable of it. I too have used Calimers with great success. Regards; oldiron

Hey fellas; note the painted radiator. Not that, that by itself, has to mean anything. But again, some of these cars were put through change/modification even back then. Anyone consider ALCO or Chadwick? Look at the hubcap closely, and again, the rear wheel construction. Also, consider that it could be chain drive. Regards; oldiron

Gentlemen; what's the deal with the current 10% enthenol gasoline. What concerns should we have regards to rubber parts or hoses in our fuel systems. Also, what is the concern for fuel tanks that have been coated with a sloshing compound? This is something I need to sit back and listen to. (never too old to learn.). Regards; oldiron

Gentlemen; to me, it's too light to be a '10 Hudson. On the other hand could it be an early 6-54 Hudson? But look at the rear wheels, are they trying to tell us something about their strength? Could this be a chain drive brute? It certainly is a heavy car; no toy here. As for the Pierce, granted it's as big as a 48, but unless it's custom, would that be the correct cowl? We'll keep guessin; regards; oldiron

Gentlemen; would not a second cowl on the "phaeton", make it a "dual cowl" phaeton ? Whilst inclusion of folding trunk rack, dual sidemounts, and other non-body accessories take us from phaeton to sport paeton, or from dual cowl paeton to dualcowl sport phaeton ? Regards; oldiron

Great picture West. Yes a Baker Electric "flat front" is what it appears to be. I know of a 1910 Baker Electric in original condition that came out of the Henry Ford Museum about 20 years age, and it's almost the sister to what you are showing. The two primary differences are the chain drive in your picture, as opposed to a shaft drive on the one which I am speaking of. And, the second difference being the interface of the front, upright windshield post to the side of the body. On yours, there exists a 'faired' or rounded corner. On this other, there is a more squared off appearance. Finally,it could be possible that the chain drive predates the 1910 of which I am referring.Regards; oldiron

Need two heads for Curved Dash Olds engines of 1902 and 1903.Will buy good usable originals or reproductions. e-mail jerry at antqcarz@optonline.net or call(cell)201-259-3308 or post here as I check often. regards oldiron