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Stearns Knight


alsancle

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3 minutes ago, Peterwoyen said:

 

Kendalls Stearns.jpg

Great photo and a very nice car - I cleaned it up many times (held the shop light and flashlight many an evening) and have probably well over 1000 miles in the rumble seat.  Unfortunately post an engine issue it got put away one winter with tree sap and left little spots in the paint on hood and ...   And, it sat in our driveway too at least once a week in any decent weather for probably 10 years. 

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12 minutes ago, Peterwoyen said:

That's neat.  The car has great history in the hobby.  If I recall correctly it was sitting on a used car lot in CA in the later 50's.  I think Art Aseltine connected the dots for Dave Bell to buy it?  Does that seem  correct?  

 

Correct:  That is how I met Art in the early 1970's - he shared a hotel room with all of us at Hershey.

 

Dad, Jim Payne, and Dick Fulton all were instrumental in hiring Dave - they worked for the Foreign Technology Division of Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH (to work there you had to have a hobby as work was so stressful - The 4 of them model railroaded among Dave and Dad restoring cars, and Jim building experimental airplanes).

Edited by John_Mereness (see edit history)
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6 minutes ago, Peterwoyen said:

That's neat.  The car has great history in the hobby.  If I recall correctly it was sitting on a used car lot in CA in the later 50's.  I think Art Aseltine connected the dots for Dave Bell to buy it?  Does that seem  correct?  

 

As a sidenote:  The car had been bumped in the rear corner (not damaging the body or right rear wheel though) and was missing it's passenger side rear fender and rear bumper when Dave bought it - those parts today are probably still the substituted he found for it. 

 

Add'l sidnote:  This was their only car for a while.  Then they bought a 49 Mercury wagon - that was kept in the extra garage spot at my Grandparents for a while and the 1930 Franklin 145 Sedan. 

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On 11/26/2016 at 9:40 AM, alsancle said:

I'm wondering if the mesh grill was an accessory or something added later?  The period photos do not show it.

I believe the mesh grill on that car was added to replace factory shutters that must have been damaged.  Late 29 S-K's had optional shutters that were temperature operated.  

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7 minutes ago, John_Mereness said:

As a sidenote:  The car had been bumped in the rear corner (not damaging the body or right rear wheel though) and was missing it's passenger side rear fender and rear bumper when Dave bought it - those parts today are probably still the substituted he found for it. 

 

Add'l sidnote:  This was their only car for a while.  Then they bought a 49 Mercury wagon - that was kept in the extra garage spot at my Grandparents for a while and the 1930 Franklin 145 Sedan. 

You are correct.  We discovered that the right rear fender was a replacement.  A very good one but the fender bead is different from S-K.  I don't remember the rear bumper detail.  That's interesting.  

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9 minutes ago, Peterwoyen said:

I believe the mesh grill on that car was added to replace factory shutters that must have been damaged.  Late 29 S-K's had optional shutters that were temperature operated.  

No, you are looking at a Honeycomb radiator - remember it is a 6 cylinder car and would not have had the 8 cyl louvers

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3 minutes ago, John_Mereness said:

No, you are looking at a Honeycomb radiator - remember it is a 6 cylinder car and would not have had the louvers

I was trying to reply to the comment regarding the gray J sedan with the stone guard in front.  I'm not used to navigating the AACA forum I guess.  I'm very used to Facebook.  

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3 minutes ago, Peterwoyen said:

I was trying to reply to the comment regarding the gray J sedan with the stone guard in front.  I'm not used to navigating the AACA forum I guess.  I'm very used to Facebook.  

Takes some practice and takes more practice to format posts and ...

 

I think people added the Stonguards as cars needed radiators for them and for a good long time honeycomb cores were not available (aka stonguard hides a sin) 

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I know Al Giddings added stone guards because he liked stone guards.  His rad's were in good shape.  I was kind of sorry  to see them covered up.  An old Packard man made his.  I'm pretty sure the two tone gray S-K J-8-90 sedan had its stone guard added to replace the factory shutter system.  

 

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The photo of the finished chassis is probably at Meadowbrook, and that’s Katie Robbins standing in front of the chassis.

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I stole this from Peter's facebook page.   Forgive me Peter.    Also, I DO NOT HAVE A FACEBOOK account.   My wife made the mistake of leaving herself logged in.  

 

The only 5 passenger sedan I know of on the H chassis.

 

 

StearnsKnightModelH-Sedan.jpg

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14 hours ago, alsancle said:

I stole this from Peter's facebook page.   Forgive me Peter.    Also, I DO NOT HAVE A FACEBOOK account.   My wife made the mistake of leaving herself logged in.  

 

The only 5 passenger sedan I know of on the H chassis.

 

 

StearnsKnightModelH-Sedan.jpg

This is a before picture of the chassis you see from Glenmoor.  This is one of two 5 pass sedans on the 137" wb.  

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On 3/20/2020 at 6:16 PM, alsancle said:

That chassis restoration is fantastic.  Only thing I would do is lose the knight ornament.

The Knight ornament is a quite rare piece.  We found only one piece of factory literature showing one.  It was a cameo picture in an advertisement.  We wonder if it was made for a show car.  Most cars came standard with the flat cap.  

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8 hours ago, Peterwoyen said:

The Knight ornament is a quite rare piece.  We found only one piece of factory literature showing one.  It was a cameo picture in an advertisement.  We wonder if it was made for a show car.  Most cars came standard with the flat cap.  

 

The July 2012 Antique Automobile has a story on the ornament.   Nobody had ever seen an ornament on the big eight cars and a couple of Stearns guys were at Hershey talking to Manny Dragone and he pulled one out.   A little later Art Aseltines found a picture of it in a period magazine proving they actually put it on a car (at least one).

 

I've been having this fight with my dad for 40 years.   He is a HIGH ornamentation guy (you gotta love him) and I'm a minimalist.  So, to each his own.

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On 3/20/2020 at 6:04 PM, Peterwoyen said:

 

Stearns Chassis Glenmore Gathering.jpg

 

Peter,   correct me if I'm wrong,  but I don't see a rectifier on your car?    Was it added later in 28 to the Eight Cylinder cars?    The brown/orange coupe doesn't seem to have one either.

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10 hours ago, alsancle said:

 

The July 2012 Antique Automobile has a story on the ornament.   Nobody had ever seen an ornament on the big eight cars and a couple of Stearns guys were at Hershey talking to Manny Dragone and he pulled one out.   A little later Art Aseltines found a picture of it in a period magazine proving they actually put it on a car (at least one).

 

I've been having this fight with my dad for 40 years.   He is a HIGH ornamentation guy (you gotta love him) and I'm a minimalist.  So, to each his own.

I was one of the two guys.  It was a fascinating moment to be a part of.  

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21 minutes ago, alsancle said:

 

Peter,   correct me if I'm wrong,  but I don't see a rectifier on your car?    Was it added later in 28 to the Eight Cylinder cars?    The brown/orange coupe doesn't seem to have one either.

My car never had a rectifier.  The later engines did.  I wish I had one as it helps with excess oil.  They are a nice thing on some of the Willys-Knights also.  

 

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22 minutes ago, Peterwoyen said:

My car never had a rectifier.  The later engines did.  I wish I had one as it helps with excess oil.  They are a nice thing on some of the Willys-Knights also.  

 

 

Is there a serial number cut over where the rectifer's started showing up?   Chris Koch's Brunn has it (seen in earlier pictures in this thread) and that car was delivered in early 29.

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12 hours ago, alsancle said:

 

Is there a serial number cut over where the rectifer's started showing up?   Chris Koch's Brunn has it (seen in earlier pictures in this thread) and that car was delivered in early 29.

Former Giddings car, the 7 passenger red and black pass touring has engine 1159 with rect and 2 barrel,   Kochs car engine number is 1200.  Duane Perrins 7 pass J is engine 1277 and is the newest J known.  M Young has engine 1275 that has a rectifier and 2 barrel carb.  I would have to verify more cars but it seems like rectifiers showed up sometime after serial 1000.  

 

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7 hours ago, pughs said:

My engine number is H989. It doesn't have an oil rectifier. Also, the later engines with rectifier have a two barrel carburetor. Mine has a one barrel carburetor.

 

DSC01925.thumb.JPG.f81cd9281904d4dc2c575c89760a0208.JPG

 

Steve,  are you sheltering in place in your garage?   I'm looking forward to a video of you driving the Stearns around the parking lot.

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13 hours ago, pughs said:

My engine number is H989. It doesn't have an oil rectifier. Also, the later engines with rectifier have a two barrel carburetor. Mine has a one barrel carburetor.

 

DSC01925.thumb.JPG.f81cd9281904d4dc2c575c89760a0208.JPG

It looks like the original Tillotson carb.  What kind of shape is it in?  We had one original that had been rebuilt but the pot metal was swelled.  We had to replace it.  

 

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5 minutes ago, Peterwoyen said:

It looks like the original Tillotson carb.  What kind of shape is it in?  We had one original that had been rebuilt but the pot metal was swelled.  We had to replace it.  

 

 

Yes.  I thought all the Tillotson's had been replaced with Stromberg's?

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It is a Tillotson SP15B that is original to the car. The pot metal is in good shape except for a chip in the float bowl cover. There were a couple of brass pieces missing which I got from Mark which were probably from your old carb. My carburetor was covered in grease and crud which probably helped to preserve it.

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19 hours ago, Cookie Man said:

This is my 1928 model J

Darryl 

IMG_0529.JPG

IMG_0534.JPG

Darryl Sorensen correct?   We may never have spoken but I know of you through Mark Young.  Is your car an open front limo?  I don't remember now.  I like the dark gray on your engine block.  When I painted mine gray I was going by factory literature that described the engine as being painted gray.  I had no idea what shade and the document didn't specify.  Are you in process of a restoration?  Mine has been patiently waiting a long time for me to get back on it.  Cheers, Pete   

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