Something fun came in the mail today! (not lug nuts...) I can't put it on til the windshield can actually remain attached to the car, but we'll get there.
I'm talking to someone to have my generator rebuilt for 12 volts, and just ordered a really cool bakelite fuse box from an old Mercedes. I don't have it yet, but wanted to share... I can't really hide anything in this car, so I wanted a nice looking fuse box. I'm very happy with how this looks, and I got it for a lot less than even some of the new production options on the market that are just basically fuse holders screwed to a slab of wood or plastic... I'm not sure what kind of fuses those even are but I'll figure it out when I get there.
Those fuses are pretty darn terrible. Take a look at the you tube channel by the Car Wizard and his latest project, which has those fuses. www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2Jz3-VEoTI The bakelite mitigates some of the concerns, but it's really worse than old glass tube style fuses. You could gut the box and use a normal fuse block inside if you dig the look.
That's just my luck. Of all the options... Haha that's OK, I'll work through it. The bakelite box was just too cool for school. Thanks for the info!
I don't know where the Bad Rap comes from on those fuse links but British and German cars used them forever and are still very easy to get. I'd keep going the direction your going with that panel without any worries. Here's a current E-Bay selection for $7.50, just be sure to use the proper ratted fuse for what your units need.
Nice move there. I like the way you're thinking outside the (fuse) box. It's details like this that'll set the car apart, even if the majority of folks won't know its origin.
My $10 kitten got real expensive real quick. I picked her up from the shelter today and found that she had several infected/festering abscesses, is severely underweight etc etc. But she is a sweetheart and I have a soft spot for broken things, so she's home. Just another project, I guess. (The customer whose car I pulled her out of last Thursday had already called animal control so I had to turn her over, but I immediately made arrangements to pick her up at the earliest possible date - today.) The generator is gonna have to wait for a bit... the vet bills are gonna bite me hard. In the meantime hopefully I'll be able to get back to driving the wheels off (figuratively) when the lug nuts show up, and I can start playing with the wiring once the fuse box comes in... maybe come up with something safer than what I've got. I think I want to move the battery to the trunk, and put the fuse box there with it. I guess I need a floor in there for that... and a trunk lid at some point. I have some body alignment stuff to sort out too, and a lot of bondo to cut out now that I can get the car out of the garage.
Yup - you need those when mounting the 1932 - 1935 Ford wire wheels on Model A's. I'm sure that the lack of wheel spacers, combined with the thump, thump, thump from the flat spots on the old tires, led to the lug nuts vibrating off. Play the lotto, my friend! You were lucky....
Ok, I bit the bullet and ordered the spacers. I knew about them, but I thought they were only for later drums, so I didn’t order them before… guess I should have lol. I feel like these are pricy for what they are but whatever, guess if I need them it doesn’t matter what they cost!
They are 22 bucks each. $88 for a set. That is pretty cheap vs your wheels falling off, cracked rims etc.
We have 2 cats, both "rescued" from North Dakota. One showed up in a friend's truck cab when he was parked at Walmart in Devil's Lake. He couldn't keep it so we got him. 8 years later we aren't sorry as both are gems. Nice job with your coupe.
Haven't been on the HAMB much lately, other things going on. Congrats on your progress!! Looking good. Amodel
I really wonder if a car like mine that’s almost street worthy but just slightly jacked up everywhere is a worse/harder starting point than a totally stripped carcass. I managed to get the under decklid panel to fit but it was a pain. The subframe below it is not completely straight, so there remains a narrow gap on the left side. Not sure how to proceed. I was going to just screw it down for now but the threads are jacked up too, so I guess I have to hog them out and tap new threads. I haven’t removed the bumper support brackets yet because I will be using them as reference points when I fix the body alignment. I got frustrated when drilling the bolt holes in the hacked in subframe rails. The rails are not even with each other, which made it a huge pain in the ass to get the holes right. It looks fine from the outside but it’s cocked to one side just enough to put the hood out of alignment. I’m really jealous of the guys with the space, tools and money to do all of this stuff right.
I got an agreeable quote for sandblasting the car, so that will be soonish. Also, now that I have a better understanding of what to look for, I'm pretty sure my deck lid is not worth pursuing. The inner structure is worse than it looked, and even if I repair it, I still need to convert it to a trunk lid. Since this is a rumble lid I would rather hand it off to a rumble guy who can use it and I will just look for a trunk lid.
Wheels are back on - the polished turd rides again. Observations... Support rings not necessary - actually not even usable. The ring that they add is cast into the drum on the A, so it doesn't fit. I will need these later for my other chassis so it's not a big deal, but worth noting for other A guys. Clutch pedal 'sags' while driving, possibly resulting in gear ejection? Only a little, but maybe enough. Didn't lose 2nd through this whole drive while pulling up on the clutch with my toe. Got carried away and ran out of gas several blocks from my house. A neighbor ran out with a gas can while I was trying to decide the best course of action and got me moving again. Wasps can enter through the windshield opening when the windshield is not in place. Oh, I did end up getting the under deck lid panel to fit pretty good and even though the threads are mangled it seems it's holding with enough bolts in there.
Well, I see a return spring for the pedal. Make sure you have one and (insert broken record) lube everything. Weight of the pedal shouldn't cause it to pop out of gear, but it sounds like it's getting better with use. Have the brakes improved? Oh, and stop back to the neighbor's and offer a beverage or a ride.
There's no boss for a return spring on my clutch pedal - might be a later thing, the engine/transmission are 1928. I lubed everything when I got a grease gun but it has been a while, might not hurt to hit the zerks again. The brakes are doing better. I have been adjusting them a little at a time and was able to stop quickly to avoid hitting a dog that ran out in the road. I was planning to swing by the neighbor's place with a beer this evening but now the car doesn't want to run again, I think it's the ignition coil this time - it will run when the coil is cold but once it heats up, it starts acting like there's no gas (stumbling, backfiring). It was running great last night and I drained the fuel before putting it away, so there shouldn't be any debris in the carb, fuel flow is still good and I shortened the fuel line so it can't cram itself all the way in. This was the 6 volt coil that was on my V8 when I got it, so I knew it was just a matter of time before it gave up. I'm still not sure if it's the culprit, but signs are pointing to yes. I'll pick up a new coil today and see if that improves the situation.
Pull a spark plug and see what it looks like. Easy, and it will get you used to how they look. Poor spark will be black, maybe a bit fluffy and moist. Inspect the points and other ignition parts too. A common task before electronic ignition. Oh, and give the kitty a scratch for me!
Now not wanting to run at all. I have spark at the points but not at the plugs, in-line tester confirms. Coil dead? Not sure. It was a 6v coil running on 12 so I was expecting it to fail eventually. Plugs were black but not fouled, I cleaned them up and reinstalled them. Purchased a new coil, even if this doesn’t fix it I needed a 12v coil anyway.
New coil, no spark at plugs. If I hook the coil to the spark plug tester, then to a spark plug, it gets spark that way. Has to be rotor or distributor cap? Makes no sense Currently questioning everything I thought I knew?? Nothing works. Having to go out of state for a funeral on Monday. I was really hoping to have the car in a working state when I got back. Guess not.
I would pull the rotor off and remove the points plate. Look very carefully at the wiring. It may be shorted to the distributor body. You may still get spark but is it a good spark with a blue flame.
On the advice of a friend I replaced the baling wire spark plug wires with the brass type clips. It fired up, I ran it for a bit then shut it off, called him to tell him it worked, and now it won't start again. Spark at the points is bright blue. Condenser??? I just can’t figure it out. What else could be causing intermittent spark like this? There's nothing in this circuit! I tried bypassing the ignition switch too.
This might be a clue. Is your generator running 12v? If so, you will need a ballast resistor inline with the coil, the spark at the points is a giveaway. Your points are probably burned/pitted now, condenser might be dead also. Super easy.
The generator is 6 volts, but it isn't hooked up right now. I replaced the 6v coil with a 12v coil which has an internal resistor. Something is definitely toast - I'm guessing the condenser. I was reading through the symptoms of condenser failure and it describes my situation: suddenly running rough, then not running at all, then running briefly, then not running at all, still sparks at the points, won't burn fuel. I didn't know enough about the electrical system at the time to consider downstream components - I just figured the 6v coil would eventually quit and that'd be that. It worked fine for so long I forgot about even replacing it. That coil has been on there for several months now, long before I started seriously considering the electrics. I wouldn't have done that today but I just literally did not even think about it. Done all I can do for now - I'll be back on it later this week.
Ah, ok. If you are running a 12v battery, a 12v coil with internal resistor, then its probably the condenser. But check the conditions of the points as well, that much sparking will cause the points to burn. Good Luck! (ps, might want to test the coil to make sure it really does have an internal resistor)
Yeah, if you are just checking for spark at the points by opening, or shorting with a screwdriver, that only tells you there is voltage there, but not an indicator that the point surface is making contact to do its job reliably .
Home now... I was planning to occasionally post updates on the little kitten I saved, but unfortunately her injuries, infections, and the treatments were too much for her to handle. She had a seizure and died on the way to the vet. Lighter news... I was going to replace the condenser in the A distributor, but now I have a B distributor on the way, as well as some speedy stuff, and the parts needed to fix up the transmission, though I'm not really ready to pull it out yet. I think it's pretty straightforward but I don't have the space to dedicate to that project right now.
The Jalopy Journal
