22 dodge

[22dodger]

Hi everybody, I'm new to the old car game. When my dad passed away 6 years ago I became the caretaker of his 22 DB roadster. I naver drove the car so my first outing in the car was at his memeorial. Thanks to all the old car clubs in my neck of the woods I learned enough so I could drive it a short distance to town and back. Unfortunately I am not very knowledgeable about cars this old. My strength is taking apart and fixing late '60s to early '80s stuff.I'm not a mechanic but I'm not afraid to take stuff apart. Recently I got the dodge running again after it was put in a shed for 6 years. Had to clean out the vacuum tank and clean up the wires on the ignition switch as they were kinda tarnished. Emery cloth fixed it except the hi low beam resistor no longer flows current so I put a jump wire between the post and now have only hi beams. Makes really no difference as I don't dare drive at night with all the ignorant drivers on the road. Here is the problem, the dodge runs too hot. The themoter on the rad shows extreme hot all the time after warm up, even when driving on level road under no load so the wind is going thru the rad. The fan is working and the water pump is circulating water well. I plan on flushing the cooling system but should I use a 50 50 mix of water and antifreeeze?

A member of a local club with a '19 dodge has a "bible" of sorts with lots of advise on working on old cars. The advise he gave me had a bunch of suggestions but I'm mostly concerned with ignition timing and/or carb adjustment. The car starts really easily and runs well.

Does the spark lever have to be all the way up for no advance?

Any body able to explain to me how to check the timing and maybe what to look for at the carb for adjusting it?

Thanks for any help.

[Guest simplyconnected]

I'm honored to welcome you to AACA, 22dodger. Sorry to hear of your dad's passing (I lost mine last Jan). Your description is very good, but I would like to know what part of the country you hail from. Are you in Colorado altitude?

I don't have a DB, so I'll let those guys answer your specific questions.

[Guest oldodgeboys]

There could be several reasons why you are running hot, but before you troubleshoot, make sure that your motometer is accurate.

Put the bottom of the motometer in a pot of water along with a known good thermometer and bring it to a boil.

[nearchoclatetown]

ALso, are you advanseing the timing after you start it? LAte timing will cause overheating.

[Guest imouttahere]

With a '22, you are going to be concerned with whether you have an early series or a late series car. The early '22 series began on July 21, 1921 with car no. 600885, which had a low radiator and cowl like the previous years had. But on April 18, 1922, with car no. 705679, the cars started getting a higher radiator and cowl.

Most, if not all, of your questions would be answered by a DB Instruction Manual, if you can locate one. I believe reprints are available. It is very detailed, and even tells you how to repair the car. Also, there is a Mechanic's Manual that is being reprinted. I would recommend that you obtain this, too.

There was a good article in the DB News some time back about how to set the timing on the 4-cyl. motor. The upshot of the article was:

1. Since the distributor rotor turns clockwise, you move it counter-clockwise to retard the timing and clockwise to advance it. The screw in the middle of the distributor shaft, when loosened, allows you to turn the shaft. When you've got it where you want it, tighten the screw.

2. You should adjust the contact end of the rotor in 1/8" to 1/16" increments; and then start the motor with the advance lever down (retarded); and then advance the lever to the top of its quadrant once the engine is running and check how the engine runs with full advance. If you suspect your timing is too retarded, move the rotor contact clockwise.

3. The problem is, there is no timing mark, so how do you know when you've got it right? The trick is to keep advancing it until it starts to run worse when you move the advance lever to the top of its quadrant, and then back the rotor off just a tiny bit until it still runs well with the lever at the top. Then it's timed approximately correctly.

As a previous poster pointed out, the engine will overheat if the timing is 'way too retarded.