Jim Saraceno

I finally managed to get my car back in the shop. They added a couple of weights on the rims of the rear tires, problem solved. It rides smooth up past 65 and I never drive it any faster than that. I'm a very happy camper!

Here is a link to engine numbers... https://www.t137.com/registry/help/otherengines/otherengines.php Hope that helps.

Back to the dots... Looking at the dots, two tires have the red and yellow dots almost opposite of each other. One the dots are at about 90 degrees. One, the two dots are next to each other. The first three have the yellow dots in line with the valve stem, the forth has the dots opposite the valve stem. Does this sound correct? BTW... I took her out again today to do some more testing. As before, she run smoother than ever up to 50 mph. Somewhere between 52 and 57 she starts to shake. The first time I wasn't comfortable going any faster but today I pushed through to 65. Get her above 60 and she smooths out again. That sounds like classic tire balance problem to me. Again, when I get her back in the shop and take the owner for a test ride, I'll let you know what he says and thanks again for all your advice.

I have yet had a chance to get my car back into the shop. I’ve been busy and the owner of the garage has been out of town. However, my wife and I took “Bluebelle” out for a ride/hike/picnic/ride. I avoided the highways as I usually do. It was about 60 miles round trip. The handling with the radials is so much better than the bias plies. I never imagined it would be so much better. The radials seem to just want to go forward while the bias plies spent most of their time fighting me. Even my wife, as a passenger, remarked how much better the ride is. As far as buying tires from Coker instead of Michelin, it had no connection to wanting a modern tire that looked like the original; it was that I needed 6 x 16s which nobody makes anymore. I talked to two tire companies, one told me he couldn’t help me, and the other said he thought he could match my tires, but he was hesitant at best, so I opted for the tires from what I thought was a reputable company. Like I said, on today’s ride, I was on secondary and back roads. Many were bumpy and windy. She handled great on all road conditions. I did make it up to 55 without a problem, but the problem never showed until about 57-60. I never went above 60 in the past anyway because the car lets me know she’s not happy going that fast. I actually got her up to 70 twice, and they were two of the scariest moments of my life. So, if it happens that I have bad tires that can’t be fixed, I am still very happy with them. I can still get on the highway at 55 mph, and it will handle much better than 60 mph with bias tires. That said, whenever I manage to get them back in the shop (which may be a couple of months due to travel plans) I will let you know what the final results are. Again, thank you all for your advice.

Very interesting. I've never heard of that before, I'll have to check that out. Since my wheels are 90 years old, they don't have dots on them so I should look to see if the yellow dot lines up with the valve stem?

The tires I bought are 600R16 from Coker. It's their Excelsior Roadster Radial. They describe it as their best and at $283 a pop for blackwalls, I sure hope they are not bad tires. The garage that changed them is a high end classic car dealer with their own mechanics. The showroom and garage was largely filled with Rolls Royces, Mercedes and such. I'm guessing they know what they're doing. The owner told me to bring the car back in so we could go for a ride and figure out what is going on. I've been pretty busy so we have yet to find a time. When I get a chance to bring her back in, I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for all the input!

I finally made the plunge and bought radial tires to replace the bias ply tires on my 1935 Plymouth. I was totally blown away how much of a difference the radials made. The problem is when I get above 55 mph, I get a major shimmy and shake from the back end. The garage that put the tires on for me suggested using glass beads to balance the tires instead of the lead weights. The fact that the ride is so good until I get to that speed makes me think it's a balancing problem. Has anyone had success or problems with glass bead balancing?

I once had a similar problem and it turned out to be my fuel system. The fuel line started rusting and the rust particles sloughed off and clogged up the fuel pump. I could drive the car around 30 mph just fine but when I tried to get on the highway or go up a hill it just started coughing and wheezing and refused to go any faster, though it never slowed to a stop. So it doesn't sound exactly the same as your problem but similar.

I think more than a few people have used welding cable and put on proper fittings. I don't remember what the gauge is supposed to be.

Thanks! I found it. I clicked on the menu icon in the upper right then scrolled down and clicked on BROWSE. There was a separate DOWNLOADS tab. Thanks for sending me in the right direction!

It's been quite while since I have been on here but I thought there was a download section that had PDF files such as adjusting brakes, adjusting valves and such. Am I thinking of a different site or am I just not looking in the right place?

No, I didn't sand the drums or the shoes but that is next on my list of things to do.

I have an old Heathkit Engine Analyzer http://www.glowbug.nl/scope/IO20.html. I seldom use it but it sure comes in handy when I'm trying to iron out problems of the engine running rough.?

While we are on this 11 year old thread... I noticed the picture of my worn tappet got lost so here it is again. If you use a feeler gauge but don't check to see if it is cupped, you're going to be way off.

Sure. The only thing I don't have is a tool to pre-adjust the shoes before I put the drum on. I try to get it close then do the adjustment when the drum goes back on. Major first, minor second. That has worked for me for many years but this is the first time I've dealt with a squeaky brake shoe.