1914 Chandler Light Weight Six - First start in a year and a half- YEAH!!!!!

[29 Chandler]

After a year and a half I got to do a first start on our 1914 Chandler. I parked the car in January of 2023 after noticing the engine was not quite up to power and was knocking a bit under load. This is a car that was restored once in the 1960's and since new has only traveled about 17k miles. I am grateful to the previous three caretakers who never neglected this car and gave us the opportunity to enjoy her next.

 

The engine in this car has never been rebuilt and most of the parts on the car were on there when it left the Chandler factory in 1914. So it was time to replace the three "Silent Chains" that drive the cam, generator, and water pump/magneto. All three chains were worn out after 110 years of service. To replace the chains meant replacing the sprockets (six of them) with new custom made units. All of this was expected to take about five months or so. Since the car would be off the road we decided to get the honeycomb radiator completely rebuilt so that it could keep pace with the hot summers in SoCal. This endeavor meant the car would be off the road for about a year while a new radiator could be made.

 

Since the radiator was being replaced I asked a friend to fabricate two new water manifolds for the top of the blocks. That was a difficult project and then they needed to be nickel plated, more time to wait. With my timing chains and sprockets installed it was time to carefully time the engine to ensure all was in order. It was at this point nearly a year into it, that I discovered valve #5 had a broken spring. After a search for springs in stock on someone's back shelf we had to have custom springs made to match the originals, more time waiting.

 

Now with all of the parts back in the car and fresh gas in the tank I nervously pressed on the starter. Don't worry I had already built up some oil pressure before this point. To my relief she sputtered to life and smoothed out after she warmed up. I have a few small leaks to address, but overall I am through the moon with excitement and relief that all of this hard work paid off. 

 

Thank you to this community for being my sounding board and helping me get this car back on the road as a good caretaker should.

 

Here's a video of the engine:

First running in a year and a half

 

Edited July 20 by 29 Chandler (see edit history)

[BobinVirginia]

That’s great! Good job!

[Bhigdog]

pretty neat.............bob

[oldcarfudd]

Sounds smooth!  Now tour with it!

[wayne sheldon]

Fantastic! I had read previous comments about your needing to and working on it. Been wondering how it was coming along. Beautiful brass era car!

[DFeeney]

Thanks for the encouragement to those of us with "Lingering Issues".

[4Hud]

Yep, nerve wracking and exciting all at once when you do these first startups.

[motoringicons]

Congratulations and well done!!! I hope to see you-and the Chandler- at the Holiday Motor Excursion!!!

[erichill]

Woohoo!  Know the  feeling.  Your motor looks and sounds fantastic. A few years back we started our Chandler motor for the first time since the mid 60's. Even though I grew up with the car always around it never ran,  A neat feeling and we all wished my dad could have been around to hear it.  Our video of the event is not quite as nice as yours.  We set off the smoke detector, roosters are squawking in the background and my brother kept cracking  the few water leaks.