austinsailor

Well, place - now that's the big issue. A lot of house cleaning is in order. And speedster is just what we are considering. Gene

Well, I'm getting weak! It followed me. Nice driver, not a restoration, but solid, drivetrain in good shape, brakes good. Radiator has some leaks, might have to be recored. Water pump spews water out both sides, but I have new packing which should solve that. I think the starter/generator problem is really a switch or wire problem. Came with a second restored chassis - frame, axles, brakes, rebuilt motor, tranny and rear end. No tires. And much sheet metal, unrestored, to build another. Plus extra motor blocks, gas tank and more. $5000. Did I do ok? Oh, damn, the battery was shot.

I'm dropping the adjustment tool off, probably Friday. I think there is more mechanical going on than just the adjustment myself. Wish I had time to stop and spend an afternoon working on it with him, but I just can't. I'm real puzzled about the angled rods. Has anyone seen that before? Ever figure it out? I think that is part, but don't understand what is out of whack.

I believe any 1/2 to 1 ton, 48 to 53 will fit. Someone fact check me on this.

We stopped at the picker's place 2 years ago. It's really more of a t-shirt shop, not much else to say. Hardly anything for sale. Oh, they had stuff but wouldn't sell it. I had my vintage camper on my truck and was pulling my vintage (1954) Alumacraft boat with my 1956 Mercury outboard. Everyone seemed to agree that my junk was better than their junk. Maybe with the new building finished there'll be things to buy.

I ran across the 12 volt thing while researching it. I found it also needs special copper or copper impregnated brushes, not carbon. Also found a source, so lots to think about.

Planning to meet Thursday, run it, drive it and make a decision. My son has already made a spot in the shop next door for it. I was a bit concerned I wouldn't be able to do much with it until I solve the starter/generator problem, but he says it starts with one quick pull of the crank. Who needs a stinkin starter, anyway? More parts:

Yesterday a friend told me about a 1924 Dodge Brother's roadster for sale not far from me. Couldn't help myself, had to go look. Solid car, no rust, solid everything. Sheep metal has a few wavey spots, but nothing I can't easily make like new. Runs, drives, tight steering, brakes (both rear wheels!) good upholstry - and comes with nearly another whole car disassembled. Only problem is, the starter/generator won't start, you must bump start or use the crank for now. Even has set of new Coker's on it. How does a guy resist something like this? My wife says buy it, my insurance agent says I don't have too many yet, he'll cover it. I think I'm in trouble.

The second one Andy mentions is usually what is needed. It's not that clear in the manual if you're not famailar with it. If you are, you probably don't need the manual. As the manual and Andy mention, you have to remove the roller (I've always heard them called Sector gear) by pulling the pitman arm, removing the top cover of the steering box and just pushing it out. If your box has oil in it (meaning the seal is good and nobody has put grease in it) clean the pitman arm well before pushing it up or it will damage a good seal. There are a number of shims under the roller (sector) which make the adjustmment. They are different thicknesses, so you can remove a thin one, a thick one or some combination to get it right. You'll have to try several times to get it right, when you think you have the correct amount of shims removed, assemble it with the top on, adjust, and see how it feels. My method is to remove until it seems just snug, then try one thin shim less and one thin shim more. With one more you should feel just a slight amount of play. with one less, it should feel tight. Play around with it and get a good feel of what it is like. The adjustment screw is not to adjust it, but to hold the roller in the proper place against the shims. It's tru that if you loosen it you'll have more play, and to some degree, if you tighten it, it take out some play. But only until it hits the shims, which is the true adjustment. (This is not true of the pickup boxes, the screw on them both pulls up and down on the roller, and there are no shims.) This is also a good time to clean out the box and replace the seal, which is the reason most of the worm and rollers are bad. If a box has a good seal and is kept full of oil that will flow, it'll most likely outlast us. It's the lack of oil that kills them, not normal wear. If you don't make sure it'll hold oil, all the above is just a waste of time. I can also tell you that even sending the box out to a "professional" to be rebuilt may not turn out as well as you'd like. I did with my first one, and paid good bucks to have it all repaired. New worm and sector, as well as seals, bearings etc. I put it in, and some time later I found it just had thick grease in it. It wouldn't have lasted very long that way. You've gotten a lot of info for just asking how to adjust it, but you can make it last as long as you will by just getting it right now. If you do need a new worm or sector, sectors are not hard to find, worms are around but more scarce. The good news is, all you have to do is find a good worm of the right size (2 1/4" long gear) and direction (right hand thread) and you can graft your new worm end onto your old shaft and you'll be up and running.

There is something going on with those push rods from the cylinder to the shoe that are at a severe angle. Some are aligned straight, there is at least one that is at a severe angle. That is not right. Not sure it has anything to do with the low peddler, but it's not right. I'll be going back through KC around 6-7 July and would be happy to drop off the adjustment tools for you to use if you'd like.

Some people still think the world is flat, doesn't make it so. Offer still stands, I'll be in Columbia about 2 weeks. PM me if you're interested.

You don't have air, you have an adjustment problem. Bring it down to Columbia, Mo and we'll fix it. You're not that far away. Or borrow my Miller tool (what the dealer used) and set it yourself. It's more labor intensive than the ammco tool, but works just as well. Gene

I have some new sector gears. No worm, but they should be around. message me if I can help. Gene

A friend was telling me I needed to get a Model T like he had. My wife heard him and said "Steve, he doesn't need to be dragging home a Model T". Steve said "Nellie, would you rather have him drag home a Model T or a model Double D?" Nellie said " I guess it would be ok if he wanted one".

I'm around about half the time, out of state the other half. Random times. Check before you come and make sure I'll be here. I'd plan on an hour per wheel. Probably take less, but you'll want a break. An afternoon would do it.

Bring them up to my place in Columbia and blast them all for free. Better deal?

Some years ago I cut one coil out of a 40 Plymouth. It did drop, no doubt, but drove like it was on a pogo stick, bouncing all around. I'll work, but won't be fun to drive.

This guy has done several for me. Good job, reasonable price. He's just down the road from me. http://southtexasantiqueelectronics.com/

There is more than the policy to worry about. I read my Hagerty policy front to back, it said nothing about trailers. I was talking to them later and mentioned my trailer. She told me that I could not pull one. I explained that I'd read the policy and it had no such thing in it. She said on the application I'd filled out years before it asked if you were going to pull a trailer. If you answered yes, they would not insure you. She said that if you did and they found out your policy would be void from the day it was issued due to fraud. Be warned. Gene

I suspect, if push came to shove, you'd have to show a license for that long. In Texas 15 is easy, I think you can still get one at 14 in some cases. That is scary!

I just checked with my company, American National, out of Springfield, Mo. Seemed like something I should know. Their rule is you must have 5 years driving experience, nothing to do with age. Of interest to some, they are also one of the few who will cover you pulling a trailer. Hagerty, Grundy and most others won't. I've beat that horse here a number of times, won't go on about it now. That is what got me to them in the first place.

Try napa or a trailer parts place.

Ed, I would have, but it was an unscheduled, balls to the wall trip. Left 6 am, 3 pm in Stillwater, midnight back home, all trying to beat the rainstorms. When the guy told be I could have it all for $150 I was all over it. I had other things I should have been doing. An unplanned 1000 mile trip in one day doesn't leave much time for socializing. I go by Plymouthy's methods - if you want it, go get it, who cares how far!

I've been looking for a Sun Distributor machine for maybe 6 months. None close enough, and most far aaway were priced so high as to not be practical. I've mentioned it here before. Well, Sunday I found 3, that's right, 3 in the twin cities area. Drove up and back yesterday in a quick 1000 mile trip and now I have a little bit of a project, but everything is there to make one, maybe 2, good ones. And I snagged it right out from under you guys in the Twin cities area's noses! Talking to the guy, I realized I screwed up, though. French lake salvage yard is nearby and I should have planned an overnight stay and a trip to the yard. Guess I'll have to come back. Gene

Plymouthy know what he speaks. I've done several cars and can add little to what he's said, except it's not the heat that kills you, it's the peening action of the sand. You're basically hitting it with a million of little hammers. Add the heat from all that pounding and you get into trouble. Solutions are less presssure - I use about 80 lbs or so - go lightly, and hit at more of an angle so the peening action isn't so severe, and move around so what heat you might generate has time to disapate. I fail to see how wire wheels and sandpaper can get rust out of the bottom of a pit, or down in crevices. Blasting can get it all, no matter how uneven the surface is. It you can hit it, at least. Insides of frames and doors can be tough. Once you've blasted, you have a good surface to hold paint. It has to get a bite and that leaves a pretty good place for a bite. I used about 50 to 100 lbs an hour or so, I'd say. Using the silica sand that Home Depot sells in the midwest, not sure they sell it nationwide, as it's mined nearby.