Another restoration added to my list, 30’ Chevy 4dr

[Walt G]

Thanks for the on going picture report of you progress and what you are doing. Like Ed M. this gives many of us insight into what we may encounter and if so how to get it restored without spending a lot of time on research - you have provided that, done our homework for us.

Many people here look at this every day or even many times a day but do not take the few minutes for a "thanks" to those who give us a broad understanding of how to make a 100 year old part or vehicle function again as it did when new. For all of those who have been a bit lax in compliments and thanks I offer that sincerely here and now THANK YOU!

Sharing what you have, know, etc. be it by restoring something, what to use and how to use it ( paintwork, upholstery etc) or even the period information - photographs - images is so important - this is a world wide service being hosted by AACA who does not demand ( but encourages) you be a dues paying member. Some people will always be along for a "free ride" and even balk when they are asked to "give back" like they were "given to"; but there are some of us who never see life that way. 

Thanks Ted, Thanks everyone.

On a rainy morning in western long island , NY.

Walt

[Gary_Ash]

4 hours ago, chistech said:

Normally I do use modern floats but every one I tried was back ordered even my usual airplane supply house. These are shellacked so they should be good for a long while. If my door was open I probably would have been around. Just holler for me as I might be down by my house. If the front door of the house is open too , someone is definitely home.

I thought the alcohol in today's gas would eat up the shellac pretty quickly.  I don't think we can buy ethanol-free gas in New England.  There must be a brass float or Nitrophyl float that is close, Summit Racing shows hundreds of them.

[John S.]

Ted, what do you think the advantages of powder coating a chassis, as opposed to spraying the chassis with regular paint. Never had any parts powder coated. Really nice work.  Thanks, John

[BobPilkie]

Hi Walter. Bob Pilkie here in Edmonton Alberta Canada I have a 1928 studebaker president FAW I hear you also have a 28 studebaker. I’d love to talk to you. 780 819 7404. Please give me a call anytime thanks. 

[Gary_Ash]

Ted:

 

Here is the carb float info at Restoration Specialties.  You can get a small rod of Nitrophyl to shape as needed or a brass float.  Cheap enough.

 

[chistech]

Went yesterday to pick up the body and other chassis components like pedals and transmission. Tonight I got a good look at the condition of the wood and started in. I pulled the roof covering to find the padding sitting on top of the slats. There was no support wire, denim, or burlap so the padding was drooping through the slats. There has been some decent wood repairs done like new front and rear hinge pillars along with the front header pieces. The main sills, cross sills, kickups and rear supports were all new and nicely done. Then I found really poor repairs to the upper side roof rails, slat supports, and rear roof support. It looks to me like two different people did these repairs. I completely pulled the roof wood out along with the rear roof support and will make up new wood. It will consist of both roof side rails, rear roof support, all roof cross supports, slats, and all blocks that were originally used in the roof. 
     As always, a lot of planning needs to be done to reinstall the wood from the inside because none of the metal will be taken off. One big game changer is the use of T-nuts instead of the original square nuts and lock washers. There is no way to get at the top of some wood pieces so the T-nuts are a must. In Oder to get the rear roof support in place, the bracket bolts must be loosened and the brackets dropped down as much as possible to slide the supports ends over the brackets. The roof cross supports are dadoed into the roof side rails and because of the front upper corner support irons, the side rails assembled with the cross supports cannot be put into place because they sit on top of the front corner supports. I took the screws out of the drivers side then cut the small weld that connects the corner support to an iron fastened in the door opening and is extremely hard to remove without major surgery. With the weld cut, the corner support comes out and will allow me to put the passenger side roof rail on top of the corner support and with the rails assembled with the cross supports in the mortises, lift the drivers side roof rail up into place, replacing the corner support iron back underneath the roof rail and bolting it in. The rear of the roof side rails goes over the top of the rear roof support in a rabbetted area. Once everything is in place all fasteners will be replaced and tightened up making a whole new roof supporting structure. Now all the roof metal and the new vinyl roof will be fastened to fresh wood. This is going to take a little time and I hope to take a few pictures of the whole process. I know many are afraid or skeptical about tackling a wood bodied car so I hope this helps show that it’s not really too difficult and no real special tools are needed. I mainly use a table saw, band saw, a small Dewalt planer, a small router, hand chisels, and other miscellaneous hand tools. 

[Walt G]

On 8/8/2021 at 8:56 PM, BobPilkie said:

Hi Walter. Bob Pilkie here in Edmonton Alberta Canada I have a 1928 studebaker president FAW I hear you also have a 28 studebaker. I’d love to talk to you. 780 819 7404. Please give me a call anytime thanks. 

HI Bob

I'm not sure where you heard I have a 1928 Studebaker - I do not. Have never owned any Studebaker. Someone else some months ago asked me the exact same question! No Studebaker here. If you are looking at the photo that goes along with my posts the car is a 1930 Packard.

WG

[chistech]

Spent a couple hours tonight pulling apart the windshield head and removing it from the car. As I mentioned in another post, they had done a good job replacing some wood but other repairs were not good at all. I found both out roof rails rotted where they meet at the front corners with the front header. A typical repair I often see is epoxy wood filler used were the wood is simply missing and people seem to hope for the best. The owner of this car purchased it 50 years ago in its current condition and wants it correct. Because the front corners of the outer rails are bolted through into the corner iron, I will attempt to scarf in a piece on each rail using epoxy glue and hardwood dowels with the joint sandwiched between the two irons. The rain gutter and the front corners of the roof metal need good wood to nail into and they will when I’m done. 
      With  all the wood work needed on this car plus a 32’ pontiac coming in (just for wood), and about one third of the wood for a 32’ Olds to make, I decided to look for a new table saw. The saw I’ve been using since I was 13 is an old 10” Craftsman that my dad bought me for my birthday. It was already used when we got it and I’ve made very good use of it but it’s now very tired and not as accurate as I’d like. The hand wheels are hard to turn and the rip fence is a PITA to use when you’re moving it often. It still has some live and I’m giving it to my neighbor who does all my polishing as he doesn’t have one. I was looking for a cabinet saw or a contractor saw and today on craigslist I found a like new delta contractors platinum model. It was like new, had the good rip fence, is 1.5 hp, and has the extended side table. The only thing it didn’t have was wheels but $250 for a saw that was originally over $1,200 new, I couldn’t go wrong. I picked it up in Falmouth and brought it home. Using and old Pepperidge farm bread rack dolly which fit the saw legs just about perfectly, I made up the table extension frame. I drilled two pieces of 1.5” long 3/4” round stack for pin casters and welded them to a U-channel I had. I installed the two casters, used two 3.5” long bolts with jamb nuts on them to give height adjustment, and fastened the U-channel to the legs. A couple pieces of 1” sq tubing welded to the channel and the bread rack dolly I now have a nice dolly to move my new saw around. I tested it out and it cuts great. It also has a two position fence with a high side and low side for doing thin stock. The hand wheels turn so easy to tilt or raise the blade it’s such a difference to my old saw. I’ll start getting into the car wood work tomorrow and see how well it cuts the thick ash. There’s just something about getting new tools that give us a good feeling!

[chistech]

Today I made up the roof side rails and roof cross supports. Because of the curve and width of the side rails I used a piece of 8/4 ash. Cut a piece off the main plank then planed it down to 1 3/4”. I traced two rails out using the one complete side rail and cut them out on the band saw. Smoothed them on the disc and belt sander then drilled all the appropriate holes. I made a 1/4” groove on the number 2&3 cross supports for the dome light board then dry assembled the whole frame. Tomorrow I’ll test fit it in the car. Cut the two ends off of the rotted outer rails with a vibrating cut off tool that works great for those blind straight cuts. I’ll make up the two pieces in the next day or two. The pictured work took 6 hours to complete from start to finish. I said making these wood pieces doesn’t take specialty tools but if you have them, use them. I made the mortises for the cross supports with my vertical mill. Because I make so much wood it makes sense for me to have and use things like my vertical mill but for people making a few pieces or doing one car, a router will give the same results but will just take longer. 

[chistech]

Spent another long night on the car wood. Made up the rear roof rail and filler blocks. Lots of bandsawing and sanding. I then assembled the rail into the car along with the side rails and cross supports. All the holes lined up and it all fit correctly for the most part with me needing to make two hole adjustments in the front corner. I assembled the front header onto the car and fit all the front wood on the car to check all alignment. Originally when I first looked at the car, the two front corners weren’t aligned correctly and would not pull down close to the front wood. The main reason I found was that the wood was just to rotten to hold the metal securely and the old roof rails were warped with wads of epoxy putty behind the metal also not letting it move into position. Now it appears the side roof metal it’s meeting correctly against the front valance cap metal. 
      I still have to make the continuation pieces for both outside rails and have come up with a way to sandwich the joint and make the whole repair super solid. As with all custom work like this, there’s a lot of building, assembly, and disassembly, making sure everything is correct before joints can be glued and it assembled for the last time. All the roof wood will come back out, all joints glued and screwed, when I’m positive all is right then, it all goes back in!

[Gary W]

Fantastic!

Investing all this time and effort on the stuff no one will ever see is why you create beautiful cars that are correctly sorted  AND  National Show winners!

Always a pleasure to follow your work.  

Gary

 

[chistech]

Thank you for your comments Gary. Truthfully, this is the structure of the car and repairing it correctly is the only way it should be done. I could fully replace the two outside rails but I will be scarfing in the two pieces then sandwiching the joint with two pieces of steel bar, with the top bar threaded to accept the corner iron 5/16-18 flat head screws (so no nuts will have to be accessed in an area that is extremely difficult to get to) and a bottom bar drilled and countersunk for two flat head machine screws that will be covered by the upper jamb cover and inlet into the bottom of the wood rail flush with the bottom surface. I’ll take pictures of the process as I do to help explain it better. The repair will be positive and as secure as new wood plus save a fair amount of time and money.  

[chistech]

Been putting in a lot of marathon nights on this car’s body and wood. I haven’t taken the time to take tons of pictures and post my whole process of attacking the repairs but will do my best to show what I’ve done up till tonight. 
After the two side rail outer pieces were made and installed, I made up pieces of bar stock drilled and tapped the welded to the top of the corner irons. This allows for no nut access need on the unaccessible areas outside of the inner roof rail. The pieces got glued sand screwed then sandwiched between metal bracketry. The windshield board along with the header got installed. I added the tubing for the wiper vacuum line.  With all solid, correct shaped wood in the front corners, the sheet metal of the roof was nailed back down along the roof line. The cowl metal was fitted correctly which required a lot of hand chisel work on the outside of the A pillars to accommodate the extra thickness of the metal from the patch panels that had been welded in on the cowl bottom. After a lot of handwork because the patch panels were both proud on the bubblelous areas of their original design, I was able to get a much better match of the lines of the rocker to the cowl. I added some duct seal putty at the inside corners of the dash cross brace and A pillar joints as this area is right below the corners of the windshield channel rubber. I added a layer of heavy roofing felt paper over the nail area of the dash cross brace for the top of cowl to both give anti squeak and water sealing benefits. More duct seal at the bottom of each area where the windshield pillar covers go on to help seal the joint from water infiltration was added. Both back edges of the cowl were nailed into the A pillars to secure it at the correct height. With the cowl nailed in at the back, the top of the cowl was nailed in along the dash cross brace. Then both windshield post covers got snapped into place over the A pillar wood and both were squeezed tightly at the bottom to get the duct seal to squeeze out along the joint filling any gaps. The covers both got nailed into place with them both having excellent gaps top the roof corners and front headliner valance cover. With the upper edges of the windshield pillar covers nailed into place, the rain gutters were the nailed back into the roof edge using a ash block and a good size hammer, finishing up the roof edges. Really happy with both roof corners now being right. I measured and fit both front doors and mounted them. They are already fitting well but will be fine once the body is on the chassis and shimmed correctly.

   With the doors mounted and the rockers put in proper placement, I tackled the alignment to the cowl bottom.  I was able to pull the back corners of the cowl in using a bar clamp to what I felt was acceptable to the rocker, and then tacked in the bottom sides of the cowl to the sill bottoms. Of course with the cowl bottoms being all new metal, small nail holes had to be drilled and countersunk to accept the body nails. This work was done easily by putting the body on its dolly up in the air on my lift. Man, the lift made that job super easy having done it the other way on a creeper off the floor! 
     When I got the body, the B pillars had been installed and screwed down to the main sills even though the bottoms have rotted off. ( this is the next section slated for wood repairs). Looking at the pillars I knew they were not in far enough and the fact that the rocker panels were sitting too proud of the main sill wood, I removed the 5 screws that hold the B pillar irons to the sill. I moved both pillars in about 3/8” as seen in the photo that shows the dust line of the original location to the new location. This allowed both rocker panels to move in to where they should be properly located which in turn allowed both pairs of doors to close correctly with the body contours now correct. Really happy with the lines of this car now and tomorrow I’ll start on the B pillar work. Once the pillars are either repaired or replaced, all that will be left to finish the wood will be to add the roof slats. 
 

[chistech]

Another 6 hour night on this chevy. Cut all the slats from an ash board then planed them down to the proper thickness and to make them smooth. All the slats get checked for proper height from side to side so the roof has the correct contour. As I mentioned earlier, I make my bows flat then shim the bows up as it saves hours cutting and sanding the bows plus I find even when making the bows as they were originally made, you still end up having to shim some slats here or there. I also put the metal strapping back at the rear roof bow to help secure the back ends of the slats. This was originally used because this is where the curve of the slats causes the most pressure on the slat ends. Vibration and just going down the road can loosen the slats in this area and then you have issues with your roof. Many guys don’t reinstall this strapping as many don’t understand it’s purpose or by the time they work on their car, somebody has already been in there, done some shoddy repairs, and removed the original strapping. Now the roof is done as far as wood work and just the B pillars to deal with to finish the wood. The roof is extremely solid and doesn’t move or flex at all.

     One thing to add. When working on these wood framed bodies, you friend is a BFSD shown in the pictures. A little one just doesn’t cut it when turning these #14 wood screws into fresh ash!

[Dave39MD]

Ted, How do you like the DeWalt planer?

 

Dave

[chistech]

5 hours ago, Dave39MD said:

Ted, How do you like the DeWalt planer?

 

Dave

Got to say dave that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by it. I’ve planed over 4 cars worth of ash now and a lot of white oak for a furniture piece I made my wife and it’s held up with no issues. I’ve bought one other set of blades. They’re reversible so you get two cutting edges to eat blade. Because it’s a table top machine, the infeed and out feed tables fold up. This means they can move somewhat so you have to pay attention about supporting the long heavy boards you feed through it. It ha plenty of power and occasionally a board might stop feeding and the drive rollers slip but that’s because of too deep of cut or an edge or splinter has caught and stopped the board. If this one dies, I would just go out and by the same exact one. I can say the only thing is, again going back to the tables, is that you can get a fair amount of sniping if you’re not concentrating on the board being level to the bed when starting you board in. Of course this can just as easily happen on a bigger, more professional unit too if you don’t pay attention to proper technique. The dewalt cost me about $390 so it was a good price for me!

[Dave39MD]

Thanks, I was looking at one the other day and now I am sold.

 

Dave

[chistech]

Took a few days off on the car and got back to it this week. I started on the B pillars. Pulled the drivers side out and pulled the metal skin off. The bottoms of both are rotted off and all the screw holes have either been repaired with dowels or tons of epoxy and whole areas were coated with epoxy. The door striker screws were barely holding in so they needed replacement. Planed some 2” ash up to cut the new pillars from as I intended on laminating them as they were originally laminated. 
   I cut out the main shape for both pillars and then made up the lamination for one side. I routed the other side to match the laminated board. Then using fornester bits, my trim router, and my vertical Miller, I made all the necessary inletting. I test fit the wood into the metal cover and it fit perfectly. I removed the wood, sandblasted the pillar cover inside and out, then primed it up. If you notice the original wood is green and that’s because a factory insecticide was put on the wood, copper arsenic. Copper arsenic is obviously no longer available but copper naphthalene is and I use that as it’s both a preservative and insecticide. Many varnish the wood to preserve it but it does nothing to stop insects. 
   Pulled the passenger side tonight and stripped the metal off. I found the pillar snapped on one end and more screws had been added to the floor iron because the wood was so bad in the pillar. The car will be strong and secure now with all new main structure wood. I’ll finish up the passenger side pillar after the holiday weekend.

[chistech]

Putin another marathon day today (10hours) but got both B pillars done and completely installed. All brackets and door hardware is installed. So the wood is done and now just a small piece of the drivers side rear fender lip to repair with some metal and I’m done restoring the body. The B pillars were a lot of work because all the sheet metal got blasted and primed too plus the passenger side has an extra hole and dado for the dome light. All anti squeak was added under the metal as originally used. Body is now solid the way it should be.

[chistech]

With the wood all done it’s time to move the body fr the dolly to the rotisserie. Not all the body mount bolt holes have been drilled so I put the body on the chassis. I got both front(#1 location) bolts in and worked to align the two rear corners. Somewhere down the road when someone assembled the new wood, they did the back corners slightly different. With some fiddling I got them right then located where #2 and #3 mounting bolts should go. Pulled the body back off the chassis and drilled the holes in the sills. Rolled the car back to the lift and pulled the body off the frame. Tomorrow it will get mounted on the rotisserie and I’ll fix the metal on the fender lower corner. Then it will be ready for paint preparation.

 On another note, this chassis got brand new springs and it shows. It’s sitting really high currently with much weight in it yet.

[chistech]

Moved the body from the chassis to my rotisserie so it can go to the painter. Cut out the rotted metal from the fender lip and made up a patch. This area had some previous work and it is slightly out of alignment. Had to add a small block of wood here also as it appears the bottom of the door frame wood piece had snapped off. With the block glued and screwed in, I welded on the patch then ground the weld flush. After the patch was migged in, the distance to the back edge of the rocker was too great. I made the patch to match the metal of the fender but I had ground off about 1/4” of filler. I made up a curved piece about 3” long and welded it to the front lower edge of the patch. This filled in the missing metal nicely and now it will get a light coat of filler to shape it correctly. 
     With the body on the rotisserie, I rolled it so I could apply copper naphthalene to all the new roof wood. The rotisserie makes things like this so easy as I rolled it half way over, tucked myself in the back door window, then rolled it more so I could do the inside of the roof. 

[chistech]

Haven’t posted in a while but been doing things for this 30’. Went to Hershey looking for some new fenders and other parts. Didn’t find much but did pick up the door sills and a third brake light for the rear window. These 30’s only have the single center mounted taillight so adding one above it in the window is a much appreciated safety item. It will also be tied into the directional switch and half of the light will flash corresponding to which way you’re turning.

[chistech]

Got back the motor and head from the machine shop and started assembling the block. Found I had to order some gaskets I thought I had in stock but didn’t so waiting on the gaskets held me up some. The pressure plate was pretty rusty on the inside including the springs so to got completely disassembled, blasted, primed, and painted. I like adding a few different colors so things can be more easily seen when doing an inspection down the road. I disassembled the oil pump, cleaned and de-sludged it, checked the vanes and their clearances, reassembled the pump, and installed it in the block. The pan gaskets were installed using hi-tack permatex on both the cork main bearing gaskets and the flat fiber gaskets on the engine side. A dab of permatex II in each corner where he cork meets fiber gasket then the whole contact surface of the pan gets a coating of bearing grease brushed on. The grease seals the pan, allows it to slide and seat down better around the main bearing corks, and later allows for easy removal if needed. Using the proper engine grey paint, all the lower ground facing surfaces were painted after they had been primed. This allows me to flip the block over in my homemade engine cradle, finish its assembly, then paint the whole engine allowing for complete coverage of the dark grey.

[chistech]

Got in the gaskets on Thursday so I continued assembly. Installed the timing plate gasket , the plate on top then peened the three flat head machine screws that hold the plate on. I added the perimeter bolts then slid the cam in and tightened the two cam retainer plate bolts. I then lined up the timing marks on the cam and crankshaft timing gear, then seated the gear down on the crank. The slinger was put on the end of the crank then the timing cover and gasket were put on. The crank pulley got warmed in the oven then driven onto the crankshaft until seated. 
       The motor got rolled over to my chain hoist and lifted off the assembly stand. I lowered it to the ground on a shipping blanket, then rotated it over onto my other stand.

[chistech]

Continued on the motor assembly. The new clutch disk the owner had is from a 31’ or another GM car and while the diameter and the spline is correct, the hub is too thick and rubs on the center of the pressure plate so the proper clutch needs to be ordered. Got all the valve train installed and set the lash. Got all the covers on and then painted the motor. Added the manifold, starter, generator, and fuel pump. Started rebuilding the carb and totally rebuilt the distributor and fuel pump before installing them. The distributor was worn ate the top bearing and the drive gear which was worn very badly. There should be a shim washer on the top of the oil pump that the gear rides on and it was missing. This allowed the cam to keep a downward pressure on the drive gear wearing both the gear and the housing out. The is one in there now!

[chistech]

Here’s the most recent work. Finished the carb rebuild, filled it with gas, tested its operation, then installed it. Installed the fuel line from the pump to carb along with the spark cable bracket and the air cleaner. I installed the motor and transmission in the chassis bolting it in with the proper castle nuts and cotter pins. Even though I have to remove the trans with the bell housing to install the new clutch when it comes, I figured I’d install the assembly so I could set up the service and emergency brake linkages which I did by installing the pedals along with he emergency brake lever. I also received and started installing the wiring harness from Rhode Island Wiring. I often read posts here and other forums where questions are asked about which company to purchase a new harness from. I can tell you I’ve either purchased or installed harnesses from the top companies and hand down I’ve found the RIW to be the best, from their detailed/correct instructions, to their use of original factory colored/traced wiring to the proper gauged battery cables, correct shielding, and ferrules. I was quite unhappy with the harness I had to purchase from another company for my 32’ Olds because RIW didn’t have a pattern and my original harness was too ripped up to copy. The company that made my harness, while using quality wire, used all black wire, designating them with number tags that once removed, leaves you guessing. The other major thing was their use of crimped on bullet connectors and Bakelite unions rather than the correct bayonet type twist connectors used by GM at that time. I ended up replacing those un original and modern connectors with the correct ones I purchased from RIW. This harness for this 30’ calls for one of those bayonet connectors at the fuel gage and sure enough, this harness had it. Then the kicker is when I check pricing, RIW is cheaper and delivers quicker. Okay, getting down from my soapbox!😄

     Now once the clutch, plugs and wires come in, I’ll install them along with the radiator and get this chassis powered up.

[John S.]

Ted, you do unbelievable work. I am looking at the body, and everything is lined up perfectly. The fit on the doors is right on the money. John 

[chistech]

5 hours ago, John S. said:

Ted, you do unbelievable work. I am looking at the body, and everything is lined up perfectly. The fit on the doors is right on the money. John 

Thanks John. They should be pretty good seeing since by now, I’ve had lots of practice!😄

[chistech]

Installed the radiator and will be installing a Gano filter in the top hose to catch any rust particles in the cooling system. Disassembled all the gauges and refaced the amp, fuel, water, and oil pressure gauges. All needles got a fresh coat of red paint. Ran the dome light harness in the body. Not an easy chore as the wire has to be snaked down from the front header, under the recess in the front pillar cover, then through a small hole at the base of the passenger side windshield opening. In the 29’ models, the hot and ground for the dome light runs under the floor on the sill, coming up to the switch on the pillar. The 30’s ran the hot and ground wires up the windshield post, down the side roof rail, the ground T’d off down the pillar to the switch, then back up to the hot, both run through the side roof rail to the dome light. In 31’ only the hot comes up the windshield post and runs down the roof rail to the light. The ground was attached to the upper roof metal, to the switch, then to the light. As the years progressed, you can see how they found ways to use less wire to get the job done. Clutch, plugs and wires will be here Friday and once installed, I’ll try firing it up.

[chistech]

The clutch, plugs, and wires came in and were installed. Currently the lower radiator hose metal elbow is unavailable so I picked up a flex hose for now. It’s a 1 1/4” tight elbow and I believe an exhaust elbow from an Onan RV generator will work. If it does I’ll post that info to the VCCA forums. My test driving platform was added along with the blazer seat. Water was added and the electric wiring was all hooked up. Put 5 gallons of fuel in the tank and turned the motor over. The glass bowl wouldn’t fill. Put my vac pump on the line and immediately got fuel. Turns out the brand new reproduction bowl gasket doesn’t seal air tight so I made up a new one. Turned the motor over again and got fuel into the carb. Static timed the motor, choked it, and started to crank it over and it came to life. Purred like a kitten so I decided to take it down my 400’ drive way. It ran, shifted and stopped great for about 5 minutes then stalled, refusing to start. I pushed it back into my garage to find fuel running out of the carburetor. Pulled the carb and found the brand new polymer float valve not working correctly. Went through my spare parts and installed a good original type valve and seat and started it up. It ran well for over half an hour then it started sputtering. Now I was starting to loose my mind as I’ve rebuilt quite a few of these Carter carbs and never had this issue. Pulled the carb again but found the float valve working correctly. I had set the float level to the recommended 11/16” height but decided to decrease it as it seems the motor was pulling fuel up by the choke. I adjusted the height about 1/8” different and it seems that solved the issue. So basically, the chassis is all set and ready for the body. Here’s the Facebook link to the engine run video.  https://www.facebook.com/mite.restorations/videos/297056135599935/

Edited November 11, 2021 by chistech (see edit history)

[95Cardinal]

Beautiful workmanship!

[chistech]

Been waiting on the painter to have room in his shop to take the body. Finally found a decent set of fenders and the owner will be picking them up in PA in December. They still need some work (a hole needs patching) but there’s no real dents and the edge ribs are nice and straight.

    Been starting the motor every now and then and a few days ago, when I started it cold, it started screeching badly from what seemed like the front of the motor. Shut it off, and tried to figure out what it could be. Turned it over again, it started right up with no noise. Started it a couple more times during the day and no noise. The following morning it was back. Same exact scenario. Third day, again the same thing. So now I start thinking if the cam gear oiler isn’t working? Did I install the front plate and got gasket sealer in the nozzle hole? Now I’m kind of worried I have to pull apart a nicely painted and installed motor. Then finally it dawns on me that it could be the water pump. When I took apart the motor originally I could see that the pump had a new shaft, impeller, and packing nut so I knew the cars owner had rebuilt it. Turning it by hand it felt good but a little stiff, but nothing that seemed too stiff for a rebuilt pump with new packing. The following morning I loosened the generator and removed the belt. Turned the cold motor over and no screeching! Started it these past few days and the same thing. So I can relax and figure on how to attack the pump. I believe I have the modern style ball bearing, lip sealed pump on my spare 31’ engine. I’ll ask if they want me to install it as it won’t leak nor does it require any maintenance or turning of the grease cup. I can remove the grease cup, install a zerk fitting, and try pumping some grease into the pump but I’m not sure if the pump bushing was reamed to proper dimensions when it was rebuilt years ago. I usually like to install the modern pumps but with the original rebuilt I left it. Sometimes I should trust my instincts!

[chistech]

Got some grease pumped into the water pump housing then refilled the grease cup and installed it. Started the engine and no more screeching. Fan turns much easier now too. No leaking by the packing nut either. Think I’ll leave it as it is.

[32buick67]

On 11/10/2021 at 9:42 PM, chistech said:

The clutch, plugs, and wires came in and were installed. Currently the lower radiator hose metal elbow is unavailable so I picked up a flex hose for now. It’s a 1 1/4” tight elbow and I believe an exhaust elbow from an Onan RV generator will work. If it does I’ll post that info to the VCCA forums. My test driving platform was added along with the blazer seat. Water was added and the electric wiring was all hooked up. Put 5 gallons of fuel in the tank and turned the motor over. The glass bowl wouldn’t fill. Put my vac pump on the line and immediately got fuel. Turns out the brand new reproduction bowl gasket doesn’t seal air tight so I made up a new one. Turned the motor over again and got fuel into the carb. Static timed the motor, choked it, and started to crank it over and it came to life. Purred like a kitten so I decided to take it down my 400’ drive way. It ran, shifted and stopped great for about 5 minutes then stalled, refusing to start. I pushed it back into my garage to find fuel running out of the carburetor. Pulled the carb and found the brand new polymer float valve not working correctly. Went through my spare parts and installed a good original type valve and seat and started it up. It ran well for over half an hour then it started sputtering. Now I was starting to loose my mind as I’ve rebuilt quite a few of these Carter carbs and never had this issue. Pulled the carb again but found the float valve working correctly. I had set the float level to the recommended 11/16” height but decided to decrease it as it seems the motor was pulling fuel up by the choke. I adjusted the height about 1/8” different and it seems that solved the issue. So basically, the chassis is all set and ready for the body. Here’s the Facebook link to the engine run video.  https://www.facebook.com/mite.restorations/videos/297056135599935/

What is going on with what appears to be an O-gauge trestle in your shop?  How many hobbies do you have?

Not enough time for me in this life to ask you about your incredible pro skills for restoration, maybe there will be time to chat about your skills when I get to heaven...nicely done with your work!

[chistech]

5 hours ago, 32buick67 said:

What is going on with what appears to be an O-gauge trestle in your shop?  How many hobbies do you have?

Not enough time for me in this life to ask you about your incredible pro skills for restoration, maybe there will be time to chat about your skills when I get to heaven...nicely done with your work!

That’s 18’ of double track, all red cedar trestle 34” high. I just started fitting it to my planned outside layout. It will carry trains out and back into my walkout basement. I’ll post some  pictures in place after I take them tomorrow. All the rail will be hand spiked down.

[32buick67]

3 minutes ago, chistech said:

That’s 18’ of double track, all red cedar trestle 34” high. I just started fitting it to my planned outside layout. It will carry trains out and back into my walkout basement. I’ll post some  pictures in place after I take them tomorrow. All the rail will be hand spiked down.

wow, merry Christmas!!!

[chistech]

Here’s some pictures of the trestle in place leading to my outside area. I dropped the body off at the paint shop and will be getting together with the Chevys owners son to get pretty much the remaining parts so I can start working on them. Things like the seats and interior panels along with the already painted wheels and new tires will be coming so I can install somethings while I start restoring others like the seats. Once I know the material wanted for the interior I can measure and have the new headliner made up. So while I’m at a little standstill, I work on some of my other projects. One thing I do this time of year is deer hunting. I’m fortunate that I can simply walk out behind my house and be up in my stand in ten minutes. While I prefer bow hunting it’s getting harder on me because I’m really starting to have some rotator cuff issues from years of hard physical work. About a week ago I had a nice 8 pt buck come into my area and it took me three tries to pull my bow back and luckily I was successful on the third as the buck offered up a 25 yard broadside shot that allowed me a good clean double lung shot that put him down quickly and as humanly as possible with him traveling about 30 yards. With the deer all cut up, packaged, and jerky made, one more of my yearly hobbies has been a success. 
         So normally after dinner I go out to the garage to work on the cars but while I wait on a part for my garage heater, I’ve gone down in my basement and completed my trestle. I hand spiked down brass rails that I had nickel plated and put the trestle in place outside my walkout basement wall towards the area I have designated for the outdoor layout. 

[32buick67]

Wow, jealous on the buck, we didn't do so well this year.

That trestle is mindblowing amazing 🤯

 

Wow!

[chistech]

Haven’t posted in a while as I’ve been busy with family life, my son got married down in Tennessee and job related things. Then when we got back I was struck with a temporary medical issue called global transient amnesia for a day or so. I really can’t remember much for a whole day plus and this is the second time it’s happened with no real reason. They say it’s a TIA (like a mini stroke) but with no real reason for it’s happening and no conditions to cause it. Often it’s associated with actual stroke but that’s not my case. It happened at least twice to my 92 year old mother and it seems she passed it to me. I’m going through some changes in my life situations right now, going to have to make some decisions on my future, and most likely stress that caused it. My physical health is fine, it just seems my mental health took a dive in the dumpster for a day or two!😁
     Looking back at some posts I made during that time, I misspoke some and got tore apart by a few members. Today, revisiting those posts I made, while somethings I was off, others I was dead on, including my mention of a previous post where a poster, who made a very bold, authoritative statement, which I proved completely incorrect. That poster decided to rip into my misstatements yet disappeared from comment when called out on his own, highly incorrect, authoritative statement. I think he came after me because I challenged him a while back and won the challenge yet he wasn’t man enough to acknowledge it. Many on this forum consider him an extremely knowledgeable figure on these forums, which he is, BUT, he’s NOT always correct, no matter how sure of himself he wants to come across as. Those who disappear when challenged rather admit that they were wrong, lose all my respect. Is being considered a know it all by others so important that you lose honor? 
I suppose some will read this and try to prove my statements and medical condition incorrect, after all, they all have doctorates for keyboard manipulation. My next post will be back on the chevy!

[Terry Harper]

I hope the medical situation improves. That sounds like a very scary experience to go through! Always value your updates on your projects. However - Your health and family first! 

 

Take care!

 

Terry