UU2 Problems

[Stude-1939]

It seems as if every one with a 1920's Studebaker, or other car of this era, either has, or is having problems with the carburetor. I, too, am having carb. problems. My recently acquired President 8 Model FH refuses to start, and when, and IF, I finally manage to get it started, it does not run very well. All due to the carb.If anyone has been successful in solving their problem, I would certainly appreciate some information on getting my problem solved.<BR>Thanks;<BR>Dan Tepera<BR>djtepera@pdq.net

[Guest stude8]

Dan:<BR>I have owned and driven my 1930 President for 27 years now. I have gone thru a lot of grief with fuel supply at times to. Before you comdemn the UU2 be sure it is getting all the gas it needs. Remember, the big 8 only gets about 10mpg on a good day so it does use a lot of fuel!. Therefore the first suspect should be the inline fuel filter loading up with crud and starving the carburetor. I had serious rusting inside the fuek tank for a long time and have had it off several times to flush and check it for big junk like leaves or such. If you go that far be sure to check the outlet/fuel gauge sender device for cracked piping above the fuel level in the tank, if so it will suck air and not gas, not a good situation. That happened to my friends FH roadster after several people had a joy ride in the rumble seat. Their added weight sagged the floor boards until they rubbed the outlet pipe and cracked it.A good test for all fuel line trouble (Suggested by Bill Bowe) is to simply get 12 feet of fuel tubing stick one end in the fuel tank filler pipe and run the hose to the fuel pump inlet that bypasses all the pipes, fittings, filters etc. If you still can't get enough fuel it is either the fuel pump or the carb itself. If the fuek pump has not been rebuilt recently it probably should be. Modern Gas-ahol attacks older diaphragm rubber compositions and any kind of scale or dirt resting on the phenolic check valves will knock out the pump ability pretty bad. Get a modern kit from Tom Hannaford Antique Auto Cellar in Weymouth, MA. He supplies everylast wicket, spring, shaft and part you need to redo a pump. Check the pump sediment bowl diecast seal surface for warpage. The glass bowl bail wires over 70 years tend to warp this enough to cause a bad seal between the cork gasket, glass bowl and pump body. What usually happens is you check the bowl and reinstall the compressed cork gasket 90 degrees from where it was and now the pump sucks air between the cork and bowl. Be sure to ALWAYS use a new fresh cork gasket.<BR>If it finally comes down to really being a carb problem the UU2's have removable main jets at the bottom of the float bowl they are about 3 inches long and extend deep into the body cavities where the can get siezed in swollen old diecast. DO NOT FORCE them if they first do not want to unthread. Take the body apart and what I have done is very judicious use of a propane torch gently heat the area they thread into to help relieve them. My bet is not the carb is at fault but fuel supply ahead of it. Let me know what you find. Stude8 (johns@lowrey.com)

[Guest stude8]

Hey Dan:<BR>I just recalled another problem that was a dandy to figure out with my friends 1929 FH roadster. It began a condition of bad idle and poor acceloration that I finally narrowed down to lean mixture on 4 cylinders. (The intake manifold is divided into two 4 cyl groups you know) one of the two sections supplies vacuum to the wiper motors. The 1/4" metal tube under the dash panel had worn a small but significant hole from a metal clamp located at one of the spark coil mounting screws. It leaked enough vacuum to lean out that section bad enough to run lousy. A test for that would be the old spray ether starting fluid and listen for the engine idle to speed up when you hit the leaky spot. We changed plugs and coils and distributor points and caps and nothing helped until I had my head under the dash and heard that tiny leaker hissing.<BR>John S.

[Guest stude8]

Dan: Just noticed your request under studeboy about spark, throttle and light levers on the steering column. Your best hope is that Steve Munts has continued to reproduce them again in bronze. Reach him at 509-924-4572, 4903 S Mohawk, Spokane, WA 99206.<BR>John S.