garnetkid

Our car club had it's 43rd annual car show in the mall in Penticton. Just 9 of our cars were there, and it took the honours of being the favourite amongst the voting public. Drove it to and from, a total distance of about 40 miles. It ran well, but needs a wheel balance as I put new shoes on it last December..I had put balancing beads in the tubes but am going to need more or find some other way of balancing them. Years ago, with the original tires I put on it, I had them done with one of those machines that spin the wheel on the car and balance the whole wheel. It worked well but no one around here has or uses those machines.. Any other ideas of how to balance them? Leon

Way to go Kyle, don't you just love it when you bring an old engine back to life!! Leon

Kyle, I assume you are trying to loosen the dist. Did you forget to loosen the small (3/8"or 7/16"?? can't remember which) bolt at the bottom of the dist that is there to loosen and tighten the dist? Leon

This is one article that I found interesting and prompted me to go with the steam oil. Besides it looks like and smells like the old stuff I cleaned out of the trans and diff. Can't see it doing any harm. leon http://www.southernsteamtrains.com/misc/steam-oil-hwade.htm

I just did a lube change on my 25-45 after years 35 years!!! (shame!) the manual says to use steam cylinder oil , so I set about doing some research on gear oils which was all very conflicting. I then researched steam cylinder oil and found it is still made and available. As we have a local tourist attraction in Summerland (the Kettle Valley Steam Railway) I asked them if they had some for sale. They had recently changed to a more EP rated steam oil and offered what they had left (new 5gal pail made by Shell) to me. I gave them a donation. This stuff is quite thick and I needed to put it out in the sun to heat it up to get it out of the pail. Looks like thick molasses. The transmission does shift better, no doubt because the gears slow down quicker!!!When I built the car years ago I put in some modern gear oil that is much thinner than this. When I cleaned it out then it had a heavy thick gear oil that I wondered what the h-ll did someone put in there!! I now know what.

whoohoo!!! that was easy! way to go. All this "crowd input" worked. If the brushes are not new they could be too short and then the spring pressure is not enough for good strong contact. Leon

All good suggestions on the ground strap/cable.. get a cable made up at an auto electric shop from 00 cable with ends to fit the negative post and proper eye end to fit the lower mounting bolt on the s/g as JerryVan suggested.Add another ground strap from neg post to the frame to take care of any other grounds ie:lights. I am sure that would eliminate any doubts as to a proper ground being established. easier than lifting the engine and cleaning off paint for proper grounding. If that doesn't work, will have to come up with something else to eliminate. Leon

Carmover, you are getting good at taking the s/g in and out, take another shot at running it some more for a longer period, might just loosen it up some more. Be careful and watch the temperature as an engine that is a little tight will heat up faster. Leon

Carmover, don't get discouraged, you will get this done !! to make sure the brushes are making good contact take a strip of fine emery cloth , long enough that you can wrap it around the commutator and wide enough to cover the width of the brushes with the rough side against the brushes and then work the emery cloth back and forth following the curve of the commutator to set the brushes to the curve of the commutator accurately. also make sure the springs holding the brushes are strong and hold the brushes down firmly. clean it up with air gun and maybe some spray contact cleaner. Leon

Well, I am going to chime in here again. We know that the s/g worked after the rebuild and when it was installed in the old engine prior to it's rebuild. Now that the s/g is put to the newly rebuilt engine it does not turn it over even after the engine has been run a bit to loosen it up. The s/g does motor when the switch is turned on and the drive does engage with the flywheel but the s/g can't rotate the engine and it does the same with the water pump assembly removed. Have I got this right so far? And now the ground problem has been addressed and there is no change. That brings me back to the torque rating of the s/g.. I think that needs to be tested. It sounds like the person/shop that did the rebuild is well respected and know what they are doing but it is easy to make a wrong decision when rewinding armatures and field coils like simply using the wrong guage of wire which would have a detrimental effect on its torque rating. It has enough torque to rotate the old engine because it was fairly worn out and loose, but not enough to move the newly rebuilt engine. You could run your new engine for a few more hours to see if that helps. Leon

This is a tough one, especially when knowing the starter was working prior to the engine rebuild. Did you use the same flywheel? Is the starter gear engaging fully with flywheel and maybe the starter bush is not completely down and making good contact with the comutator? It sounds like there is something hanging up there . Leon

I just reread the posts, did the shop that did the work check the armature with a growler to see that it didn't have some weak windings? Leon

That's too bad, definitely an electric problem somewhere. kongaMan's suggestion is a good one for sure. good luck.. Leon

you don,t have to pull it fast, just put it in second gear and put the clutch in when it fires up. Make sure the vacum tank and carb is full. Take a video for all of us to enjoy. Would be fun to be there. Leon

Carmover, here are the instructions for testing the torque. It is in the 25 Buick Master shop manual, but would apply to the standard as well. Did your shop do that test? Leon

carmover, Is your car ready to move and operate if you try to start it by pulling it? Again, mine acted that away when I tried to start it years ago, pulled it and let it run for a half hour or so. I don't think it takes much of a tight engine like you are saying yours is to prevent the starter from rotating it. The starters can be tested for their torque with a special tool to see if they are up to manufactures specs. Don't ask me how I know, but make sure your distributor is not out 180 deg when you try to start it!!!! I will see if I can find the instructions on how to test (bench) for torque. Leon

I think your newly rebuilt engine may be a little too tight. Try pull starting it and run it for awhile to loosen it up. Had to that with mine when first starting it. Leon

Not to nitpick, but I read somewhere that Duesenberg came with Duesenberg designed four wheel internal expanding hydraulic brakes in the summer of 1921. Need to do some research to confirm that. Leon

Just to add more for the record, these are original to my 25-45 McLaughlin. They are steel main shaft with the handle part being made of solid nickel and the whole handle covered with hard "steering wheel" type rubber. I used an epoxy steering wheel repair to restore them. Only the ends of the nickel handle shows and it polishes up nicely . The rear seat curtesy assist handles are made then same way. Also including a picture of the inside door handle.

Boy, somebody has to be looking for them. Very hard to find!! For the record, this is a compete set of the top bow metal components for my 24-45. Leon

Leigh, that picture looks like it was taken in Naramata across the Okanagan Lake from Summerland, correct??? Would your last name happen to Robertson?? Nice looking car by the way, in a beautiful wine country setting.. Leon

The ones on my 25-45 do not have the threaded mounts. Leon

Lief, I noticed that on the 24 master that you are helping with it has the tin work that fills in the space between the rear fender and the tin that cover the gas tank ends. My brackets were made to accommodate a rear trunk (which I don't have. and they have substantial width. They fit outside and to the frame and then the tin goes on. If that car was ordered without a truck rack those tin parts may not fit if you add the brackets. Just guessing here. Here are some photos with some measurements. Leon

Derek, If you get this way again, look us up.. We live in Summerland which is about 3/4 hr south of Kelowna.Last time we were in Winnipeg was 2001. Leon

Thanks guys for the nice compliments . Lief. here are some photos of installed brackets. sorry I do not have any photos of them separately. Hope this helps and anybody else that may need to know. Thanks Bradsan for posting your 25 standard brackets , but they are different than the master series , as the master has the round tube between the from rails. Terry, here is shot of the badges that are attached to the rock/bug guard that I made up to protect the rad.The buffalo one is a Parks Canada permit that they used to sell when you travelled through the parks. Not correct for my year of manufacture but If you can find one for 1925 which are like hens teeth they would cost a fortune !! The other one is from the Expo Worlds Fair in Vancouver in 86