Routine 70 year maintenance, 1929 Essex
rusty_apache
Posts: 238Member
The Stewart Warner vacuum fuel feed is now piped up and operational. It is now drawing off of a gas can placed in the rumble seat floorboard and connected to the fuel line at the tank connection.
It was a pleasant surprise to find the gauge itself was fine, and the lack of tubing was the only issue.
With the exception of a teensy cotter pin, the Alemite bayonet grease gun is scoured, overhauled and ready to fill with the same red lithium grease that goes in my 1940 9N tractor and 1948 Ferguson cordwood saw.
The crank handle was askew because the end plate was bent slightly. I held my breath and gave it a few firm raps with a rawhide mallet, truing it up at risk of creating a stress crack in the brass.
Here’s the replacement leather seals I made for the grease gun.
Turns out I needed a few more fittings so I ordered some nice covers to keep the grit out. Since we are in a sandy area I have successfully fought the urge to drive around the property with open grease ports. Now all the ports have been meticulously excavated wIth toothpicks, and have clean bayonet fittings in place.
I don’t think I have ever been so excited to do a chassis lubrication, ever! After that comes the clutch, transmission, steering box and differential fluid changes.
Comments
Alistair Howard,
http://het.org.nz/
1928 Essex Coach
1929 Essex Coupe
1950 Hudson Pacemaker
I have identified a few parts on my wish list, already in my possession!
Its like Christmas in September now.
Now the throttle setting will stay put!
One less hens tooth to dig up!
The Hudson Essex library you sent has been most helpful as well!
https://straight-eight.com/product/marvel-model-10-796-carburetor-removable-venturi/
I found it while buying this....
https://straight-eight.com/product/marvel-v-10-733-carburetor-float/
As well as new fabric wrapped spark plug wires, points, plugs and spare contact points, condenser and distributor cap. I cleaned up the old points and reset the gap, which slightly advanced the timing so I did a static timing adjustment according to the manual.
Typically I set my ignition redneck style, by ear the way dad taught me but this ain't no Ford or Chevy running a newfangled water pump, so I’d imagine ignition timing is more critical.
A little update on the progress...
Since the fuel sender isn’t registering on the gauge I should probably go in and remove the float arm before the cork begins to suffer the ethanol scourge too!
Many times that is an electrical issue, hence my interest in timing and electrical components.
I have a 1950s era Vespa manual that says that the spark plug is usually the cause of a non starting condition. Sure enough they arrived today and now she fires up robustly at all temperatures. I should have researched the new plugs last month when I was still dealing with fuel issues. One thing I do find odd is it needs the choke pulled 1/2 out in order to start.
Laid out in order for closer inspection.
I took a slow motion video of the arc and it was indeed backwards in spite of the polarity marked on the coil. So I reversed the polarity.
I still have not checked for any more vacuum leaks lately.
The air cleaner intake is located too close to the intake manifold to test with carb cleaner. To alleviate that situation I duct taped a vacuum cleaner hose to the mouth of the carb, taking EXTREME CARE to prevent the other end from falling into the sand!
This time the idle remained unchanged in the presence of carb cleaner!
You got me thinking about my 52 Cranbrook now. It’s always been difficult to start at temperature.
The cheapo grease fitting cleaning tool does the trick. Probably the better quality impact cleaners don’t leak around the plunger as much as this one does. Forgetting to wear rubber gloves was a bad move, but I got all four rear shackles done. It’s a messy job but I have been using a pretty small hammer, I’m to see if a medium does an better on the others. Oddly it doesn’t leak at the (temporary) Zirk fitting even though there it is literally metal on metal. In order to keep track of them all, I am resisting the habit of wiping the displaced old grease down as I go.
Hopefully this will not create restriction and an abnormally rich mixture. It’s really going to stick out like a sore thumb for regular driving but like the Autolite coil, it’s easy enough to replace the original for more “formal” occasions.
That would be way less offensive looking than a motorcycle filter.
I also discovered that while the tailpipe section of exhaust is original, the forward section has been replaced. I am also convinced that my old capsule muffler was also a depression era replacement.
It’s great to see it getting preserved in as is condition
thanks for posting pictures of your project
I am jealous of your new muffler
I used a glass pack on my 25 when I replaced the exhaust system.
it sounds good but doesn’t look as period correct as what you have
While enjoying the new sound I figured I should check the clutch oil, adjust the wheel bearings and brakes while it was up on jack stands. I ground down a piece of 5/16”X 1/2” steel stock down to 5/16” square to remove the plug. I put it in the jaws of a crescent wrench but will eventually weld a handle on it. It was practically full so I will change it later when I do the transmission and differential.
It was pulling hard to the right during braking when I drove it on the black top, so I checked and sure enough there was more drag on that wheel, so I pulled the wheel off and there were only a few cobwebs in there, otherwise it was sanitary and the blue, marine grade grease in the wheel bearings looked recent. The brake linings looked a little thin so they will need attention further down the road. Both front brake rods were loose so first I adjusted the shoes and then took almost all of the slack out. Finally, I also put a few drops of oil on the brake rod pivots.
After hitting 114 in the shade out here I was happy just to be outdoors under an Essex when it’s only 85 degrees outside!