New Hero in San Diego-nearchoclatetown

[idrjoe_sandiego]

Well who says you can't drive a 1914 Dodge Brothers remotely?

PROBLEM #1 >A 1914 DB owner and member of the DB club here in San Diego contacts me this morning in need of a little assistance getting his car on the road.

PROBLEM #2 > I've never driven a 1914! I figured, what the heck, you've gotta learn sometime. Dad and I were taking the 29 DA Phaeton out cruising today anyway, since it was about 80 degrees (with the wind-chill factor).

SOLUTION: nearchoclatetown, all the way from Hershey, PA, rescues the situation with a few driving lessons via cell phone. The car runs well and with a little practice the owner can finally enjoy his 1914 DB tourer!

Thanks Doug, your driving lessons were the key. Now he just has to soak that cone clutch with neet's foot oil as you suggested and all will be well. One more DB on the road!

[nearchoclatetown]

Glad it worked Joe. I don't accept paypal, it will have to be cash.

[idrjoe_sandiego]

Thanks Doug- I'll leave the money on the dresser!

[idrjoe_sandiego]

And just as you warned, it drove just like a truck! The clutch seemed especially "grabby" in reverse. That must be a super low ratio in reverse- maybe 4.80-4.90?? All the same, it was neat to actually drive such an early DB. There certainly are a bunch of them at the National and Regional meets, but I never asked anyone to show me how to drive one. It certainly garnished a lot of attention as we tooled around his neighborhood-and there were lots of people outside doing yard work. One lady nearly dropped her rake.

[MrLiken]

Thank you to both Joe and Doug. To my surprise, I have been working on this car for 19 years. Joe is top notch club member. Too many times I have called people around me for help in learning the double clutch or figuring out problems, but no one has ever offered to come by the house. Thank you Joe! And nice job on the pics. The 15 (frame # 4987) looks pretty good on the web. Doug, thanks for your tips. I took off the clutch access plate, but cannot get to the leather faced clutch. It was really fun getting off of my street and taking it around the neighborhood. Last weekend, I worked up the courage and took my wife, grand-daughter and dogs for a ride around also. Now in full on finish this car mode. Ordering new tires and looking for at least one "new" split rim to replace one in not so good of shape.

Thanks again gentlemen!

John

[Paul Bohlig]

Found this as the only reference to clone clutches in A/M 05 p 14 DBCN on CD. Don't know if Classic Car Center is still in business.

Best wishes; Paul

Cone clutches

By Eugene McGuire and Terry Hygema, Classic Car Center, Warsaw, Ind.

It seems they either creep or leap. Of course, a certain amount

of clutch slippage is required to overcome the inertia of a car at

rest. If the clutch was to make an immediate connection between

the engine and drive train, the power generated by the

engine would have to instantly overcome the standing weight of

a car.

A 1960s high performance American V-8 with huge

amounts of torque, sitting in a 3,000 pound car, could provide

rather impressive results by simply “popping the clutch.”

Heavy antique cars, however, with only 50 h.p. on tap

and barely enough torque to open a jar of pickles don’t lend

themselves to the high-spirited acceleration technique noted

above.

The antique motorcar has always needed a healthy dose of clutch

slippage to allow its low output engine to come to grips with the

massive weight it was expected to move.

The cone clutch was the engineer’s answer to this

“weighty” problem in that its engagement allowed sufficient

slippage to get the show on the road. Cone-type clutches have a

physical appearance much as their name implies. There are two

basic parts: the flywheel, which is slightly funnel shaped, and

the cone, which fits into the funnel formed inside the flywheel.

The intermediary lining used between the flywheel and cone

was usually leather. True, leather did allow initial slippage upon

clutch engagement, but it also wore rather quickly and continued

to slip even after full engagement.

Fortunately, today’s restorer has a broad spectrum of

materials to replace the outmoded leather band when rebuilding

a cone-type clutch assembly. Various woven and sheet friction

materials are available from automotive supply houses. These

materials can be cut to duplicate the discarded leather liner and

are typically used for such things as relining brakes and disc-type

clutches.

Doing away with the original leather liner in cone-type

clutch assemblies solves two inherent weaknesses: that of wear

and continual slippage. It does, however, create a new problem

in that the new friction materials have far superior “bite” and

want to grab rather than slip when the clutch is being engaged.

To overcome this tendency and still take advantage of

modern materials, our machine shop has devised a modification

to the existing cone that allows only limited contact between the

flywheel and the new friction surface when initially engaging

the clutch. This limited contact encourages the slippage necessary

for smooth performance.

Simply put, we modify the cone by drilling and installing

one-inch circular plungers 120 degrees apart. The purpose

of the plungers is to push outward and against the friction material

directly above them. Tto allow the material to “flare out,”

we cut the lining to create flaps two inches wide and one half the

width of the belt face. Because they are being pushed away

from the cone, these three flaps will make contact with the flywheel

before the rest of the lining reaches the flywheel, providing

only limited contact and consequently slippage. Once the

clutch is fully engaged, the entire friction surface contacts the

flywheel assuring maximum performance.

Space limitations prevent step-by-step instructions for

this .modification. However we suggest you discuss this approach

with your restorer or give us a call for more details.

Original publication unknown. Provided by Jack Carpenter.

This is just vague enough to be difficult to understand,

probably by design. Maybe calling the author for more info?

[idrjoe_sandiego]

Hey John-I was just thinking about you yesterday when I was driving by on the interstate by your home and wondering if you had taken your car out for a ride. And you are quite welcome, glad to help out another Db'er. My Dad and I enjoyed the afternoon meeting you and your wife; you are gracious hosts. Got a kick out of checking out your car, too. Maybe you can scan and post some of those old pics showing the "before". With a little practice, you will be "double-clutchin" your way to a National DB event!

And Paul- that's an interesting article on the cone clutch. I agree 110% on the "vague enough to be difficult to understand". John, keep us informed if you contact these fellows.

Joe

[MrLiken]

Sorry it took me a year to answer! I guess I get the DB Blues in January when the weather reaches 80 degrees in San Diego .

I searched the web, and made a few phone calls to Warsaw but had no luck finding these guys.

Not much driving of my car still. I need some bolts and nuts for my split rims as I am just as uncomfortable driving it as Joe was without all of the bolts.

I am now looking for advise on what to use for a electric fuel pump and regulator for the Dodge. Any suggestions anyone?

Thanks in advance