We got her home. I usually find that once you get something home and really start looking it over, you start seeing missing pieces, or broken or rot. So far I am pleased with how it is. Wood is good, It steers, Stops and rolls. I pulled the plugs and from what I can tell it looks good in there. It last ran back in 89. Oil has good color, not mikly at all. Body has a few rust spots, but should not be an issue. At some point in its life a Galvanized Steel tin roof was retrofitted. It will take some work to get it off, but it seems to be straight underneath. I will take any advice on getting this thing running, I think we are going to get a 6v battery and see if we can get it to start. I am going to do some research on starting this car, as I have never owned one, and I see knobs, levers and pedals that make no sense to me. Once, or IF we get it running, we will see where it goes from there. Cant say for sure until we see how the motor will treat us. Any input on these old cars would be gladly welcomed.
Books? Who reads books anymore? Just kidding. I spent some time last night on you tube. I now know how to start it. Or I know how it should start. Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
the Clymer's restoration books would be the best starting point... or, invite my Dad over..... he brought me up cutting my teeth on A's.... too bad i forgot 9/10's of it. cool find.
if your not dead set on the 6 volt battery then i would ramp up to an 8 volt. it was a little trick my grandpa showed me years ago to get some extra power on the start ups. and the great thing is that you dont have to change a thing.
A very quick crash course on controls unless things were changed over the years: Steering column: The lever to the left is the spark advance. When starting the car, they say to put it all the way up and retard the spark, I never do. To the right is the hand throttle. The horn ****on is in the center of the steering wheel. The lever with the little handle under the horn ****on runs the headlights. Floor: The clutch and brake petals are obvious there. To the right is the foot throttle or accelerator petal, to the right of this is just a footrest. Up by the firewall between the steering column and accelerator is the starter ****on (foot operated). Dash: the ignition switch, fuel gauge, ammeter, and speedometer, and a light for the panel which you twist to turn on. Right side under the fuel tank: A rod sticking out just under the tank is the choke and you can also adjust the carb by twisting it one way or the other. Under the tank, depending on your car, there may be a shut-off for the fuel. The trans is an H pattern. That's pretty much it, very simple.
Thanks everyone. After some you tube videos we went to start. Motor turns. Have compression and spark. We tested with starter fluid and it wanted to started. Puffed a few times and muffler smoked. We ran new fuel line and filter. But nothing. The carb is dry and spark plugs are dry also. Would that be a float problem? Fuel isnt getting past the carb. Any advice? Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
yeah, take carburetor out, dis***emble, soak parts in chemtool, clean out real good. re***mble, check float level and valve operation. reinstall, verify gas flow, start and adjust. after sitting that long, there is no way you should expect to just put gas in it and start it up.
also i would consider removing the tank and cleaning it out real good. i did mine by dumping 100 1/2" nuts in there and soapy water, sloshed it around for awhile and cleaned it all out, amazing how much **** came out.
Thanks for that info. I realize I cannot expect that but worth trying. Don't know until you try. Yes valve is open. We are removing carb tomorrow . Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
Adjust your brake rods and make sure they all have new cotter pins. First time I drove my '29, two rods dropped their pins and came loose, a third one broke a rod, and I had to brake using the left rear. Burns a lot of tire rubber when only one brake is grabbing. As for starting up, if you ever hand crank it to start, don't fully retard the spark, advance the throttle about 1/2 to 2/3rds out, put a clothes pin on the choke rod to hold it open for the first pull, then open the choke and crank it again a couple of times. And always, always have all four fingers and your thumb on the outside of the crank, pull up and away. That will minimize chances of the crank kicking back on you and breaking your hand, wrist or arm. Most well-tuned Model A s will start with a crank, even if the battery lacks enough juice to turn over the engine.
Will do on the brakes. What's a good vendor or website to order brake parts from. I would like to freshen them up. Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
Ok, got the carb cleaned out. It was all gunked up, I have gas flowing through carb. Needle and seat and float seems to work well. However I am not getting gas into cylinder, so no fire. Any ideas?
After cranking and not starting are the plugs wet or dry? Stock carb? I believe they don't have accelerator pump. Have you checked the compression?
put some gas directly into the cylinders from the spark plug holes. this will help get it kick started. maybe all it needs is a little priming
Timing lever in the middle, mixture screw turned out abou 1.5 turns, idle screw set high? Been a long time since I messed with stock setup.
Whats the timing lever? The Spark advance? I only had mixture screw turned 1/4 turn, thats what I read.
The Jalopy Journal
