Finally back in the road!

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AdminJeff
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Finally back in the road!

Post by AdminJeff » Sat Oct 26, 2019 11:18 am

It's been 2 months since my epic triple gear meltdown failure, but I took George for a drive yesterday with the new motor & trans. Holy cow were there a lot of steps to figure out between then and now.

At this point, I've ridden in a fair number of T's and can say my transmission is as quiet and smooth in low band as any. I'm battling a miss and hard starting when warm and narrowed it down to spark or gas (duh!), and in checking the voltage at the coil, discovered it was 4v instead of a full 6v! No wonder there's no spark when I crank it over. At first I thought it was the ignition switch, but later discovered it was the wiring bus bar. Those 100 year old screws and washers and the holes they screw into are just plain tired and don't conduct reliably, even after cleaning and polishing.

I've been planning on rewiring George for some time now and collecting parts. So after wiring Roberts new racecar, I got inspired and did mine yesterday. The Voltage problem is now solved.

New busbar:
808E13EF-419A-47C1-AA45-D9C5C50DD15F.jpeg
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I even found a fancy small fuse panel that shows which fuse is blown. I know, not stock, but as much as I drive this car, these 2 upgrades will be totally worth it.
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4F07A758-09E7-4453-9087-B5F8A519DB74.jpeg
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It's still a work in progress, but good enough to get me going for now, and it now starts easily. Unfortunately, it still has a slight occasional miss on acceleration, so that has to be gas. I see Winfield adjustments in my day today.

Jeff
Assistant WebSite Admin
1921 Model T Touring, 1930 Model A Roadster
Voltage Regulators, Starter & Generator Repair
www.modeltregulators.com
www.modeltstarters.com


Wayne Sheldon
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Wayne Sheldon » Sat Oct 26, 2019 6:32 pm

And just in time to go for a pleasant drive in the countryside as we in Califunny head into the next round of "can't do nuthin' cause the power is off" again.
As I used to often sign off on my posts;
Drive carefully, and enjoy! W2

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Henry K. Lee
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Henry K. Lee » Sat Oct 26, 2019 7:46 pm

Wayne, Califruity is making you live in the day of your car! LOL

Jeff, Glad you are back in motion, ENJOY!

Hank


Wayne Sheldon
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Wayne Sheldon » Sat Oct 26, 2019 8:08 pm

Hank, I wish I COULD go back to my T's early days. Technology and tooling was far enough along for me! And most people had at least some amount of honesty and decency to enjoy living amongst them. Today, especially in the "granola" state, Those characteristics are far too rare. And, somehow, those good traits are more often found among people in the antique automobile hobby. That is why I hang around this site so much. You, and so many other regulars on here, I like to associate with.

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Henry K. Lee
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Henry K. Lee » Sat Oct 26, 2019 8:28 pm

Right back at you Wayne, the feelings are mutual. Amazing how life teaches us to be happier with less. The more simple things are, they become manageable and enjoyable to repair.

Humbled Hank in Tin-A-See

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Topic author
AdminJeff
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by AdminJeff » Sat Oct 26, 2019 11:20 pm

Well.... power just went out at 5pm and mandatory evacuations are in effect 10 miles to the north of us in Windsor and Healdsburg all the way to the coast. My motorhome is loaded, guns loaded, it's gassed up, and one of my most prized possessions, my T is loaded in the trailer. If we are evacuated (which has happened 3 times to me in the past) I grab the dog, cat, oh and then the wife, and we get outta here. Everything else is fully insured.

The cat gets to ride in front of the T...
.
893818B2-8BCB-42EF-816C-712E06CAD1AF.jpeg

Watch out Hank... I may just keep driving and get out of this god forsaken Socialist State of Cali.

Jeff
Assistant WebSite Admin
1921 Model T Touring, 1930 Model A Roadster
Voltage Regulators, Starter & Generator Repair
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havnfun
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by havnfun » Sun Oct 27, 2019 11:34 am

Jeff,

Congratulations on getting George back on the road, as I remember he was all apart when I was there last month, it was an interesting discussion we had about the damage, including the two piece piston...

I'm really thinking about using the needle bearings for the triple gears, that is a perfect solution for century old technology.

hopefully no evacuation is necessary and you can enjoy fine tuning your T. Keep the headlights in good working order and the blackouts will have little to no effect on George

Best of Luck
Regards,
Joe Kowalczyk - 1923 Roadster, 1913 Runabout, 1918 Speedster, 1912 Mother-in-law roadster


Scott_Conger
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Scott_Conger » Sun Oct 27, 2019 12:57 pm

Joe

I know Dan's work, though have never used his needle bearing triple gears. That said, ask HIM which pins to use on the flywheel. You don't want used pins if worn undersize or worn eliptical (and they all are), and you don't want new pins of unknown or inferior metalurgy.

The gears will be fine, but be very careful with the pins.
Scott Conger

Tyranny under the guise of law is still Tyranny

NH Full Flow Float Valves
Obsolete carburetor parts manufactured

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Topic author
AdminJeff
Posts: 988
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2019 6:32 pm
First Name: Jeff
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* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1921 Touring
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Board Member Since: 2017

Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by AdminJeff » Sun Oct 27, 2019 1:09 pm

Scott_Conger wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2019 12:57 pm
Joe

I know Dan's work, though have never used his needle bearing triple gears. That said, ask HIM which pins to use on the flywheel. You don't want used pins if worn undersize or worn eliptical (and they all are), and you don't want new pins of unknown or inferior metalurgy. The gears will be fine, but be very careful with the pins.
He ships new pins with the bearings so all good there.

Oh joy we evacuated at 3am. The roads were impossible. Over 180,000 people evacuated. We're In Napa now with the wife, the dog/cat and the T. At least I have several things I can caress today.

Jeff
Assistant WebSite Admin
1921 Model T Touring, 1930 Model A Roadster
Voltage Regulators, Starter & Generator Repair
www.modeltregulators.com
www.modeltstarters.com


Scott_Conger
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Scott_Conger » Sun Oct 27, 2019 2:21 pm

Thank you for the info Jeff
I did not know that the gears came with pins, but that makes sense.

be safe on evacuation...best wishes for good outcome
Scott Conger

Tyranny under the guise of law is still Tyranny

NH Full Flow Float Valves
Obsolete carburetor parts manufactured


Wayne Sheldon
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Wayne Sheldon » Sun Oct 27, 2019 3:08 pm

Why for do they evacuate you? I know you live somewhere near Santa Rosa, but exactly where I do not know.
We also have had a fun (NOT! NOT! NOT! ) night. Wife is sick. Flu/cold and what feels like the beginnings of pneumonia (she almost died from that a couple years ago!). Power went out about six last night. Generator ran for a couple hours then died! I fiddled with it for about an hour, diagnosed a "fuel starvation" problem but decided against trying to take everything apart in near blackness. Too risky for my stiff old fingers to drop something and lose it bad.
Wife had a bad night, and kept me awake most the night. I really wasn't up to getting at it at sunup, so a couple hours after I took the thing half apart and got to the little carburetor. Input totally plugged inside, took it apart, no sign of significant dirt, but the input through the float valve was plugged tight! AND IT DOESN'T COME APART! I haven't used the air compressor for a few weeks, crossing my fingers I went to look at the pressure gauge. A bit under eighteen pounds THAT IS ENOUGH! Back-blew the valve chamber, never saw what blew out, I HOPE it blew clear out and doesn't plug up again. Air blows through easily now. Put the thing mostly back together (left a few outer panels and grates off in case I have to go in again) and got it running and plugged into the temporary fridge and etcetera lines. Whole process took about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, while in the midst of typing this, Phil Lawrence phoned. I always enjoy talking and/or visiting with Phil. He was back in Grass Valley and had brought a '15 hood he didn't want to keep, and his very nice mid '10s turtle deck. I am working on mine, and had asked him about getting a few measurements off his to make sure I get mine right. I explained the situation with Linda, and said if he made it quick I would enjoy seeing him. So he came by. We had mentioned my quickly taking the measurements I needed, but when he got hear he suggested leaving his turtle deck here and I could take my time with it. He comes up to GV fairly often for various reasons, and said he would pick it up on his next trip. Like many people in this wonderful hobby, Phil s a good friend.

So, between typing this, and seeing Phil for a few minutes, I have had some time to relax myself. Linda seems to be sleeping comfortably (finally!) The fridge has had some time to get back down to a decent cold. I hope it didn't warm up too much last night? In a little while I will check on the ice cream, if it is okay? Everything else should be okay.

I really need to get out of this stupid state!

Drive carefully, and be safe Jeff!


Scott_Conger
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Scott_Conger » Sun Oct 27, 2019 4:26 pm

Wayne

we keep a penny on top of an icecube in the tray

if it ever shows up on the bottom, we know we've suffered a significant outage in our absence...hasn't happened yet but we're out in the sticks and you never know. This time of year, frozen food would be fine outside if not for it being carried away!
Scott Conger

Tyranny under the guise of law is still Tyranny

NH Full Flow Float Valves
Obsolete carburetor parts manufactured


Wayne Sheldon
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Wayne Sheldon » Sun Oct 27, 2019 4:34 pm

Scott C, I have heard of that idea. But I have a weakness for ice cream, so there is almost ALWAYS ice cream in the freezer. Because of the air to cream ratio, ice cream melts quickly on the outer areas, and becomes ugly fast. It can still refreeze before spoiling, but will still look ugly. So I look at the ice cream. By the way, even after twelve hours without the generator, it still looks okay. Got only slightly soft on the edges. Everything else should be fine.

Are you saying the "neighbors" take your food if you leave it out? By "neighbors", I am including bears and the like. And yes, we do have bears.


Scott_Conger
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Scott_Conger » Sun Oct 27, 2019 5:59 pm

Wayne

Yup

Fall came this year on Sept. 30 and winter began the next day. We'll be -2 on Tuesday night

"Neighbor's" footprints across my dry irrigation pond last spring before the ditch was turned on:
Attachments
front and rear paw print.gif
Scott Conger

Tyranny under the guise of law is still Tyranny

NH Full Flow Float Valves
Obsolete carburetor parts manufactured

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Henry K. Lee
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Henry K. Lee » Sun Oct 27, 2019 6:52 pm

Here you are in a state that 1 in 8 Americans live in and they cannot maintain the right of ways/maintenance of power lines. WTF? I am very proud of my California Family history right there where you are at Wayne. Their in Nevada City, the Museum talks about my Great, Great Grandfather, Willard Malcolm Lee, and his son, King Hiram Lee, and others. True people of the "True" state before statehood. What the hell went wrong?

I really feel for all of you! I love my Tin-A-See!

Hank


Wayne Sheldon
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Re: Finally back in the road!

Post by Wayne Sheldon » Sun Oct 27, 2019 9:39 pm

Califunny spends more money on roads and highways than any other state. And has basically the worst roads. They spend more money on "education" per student than any other state. And yet usually they test in the bottom five states for the education the kids get. It has among the highest property taxes, among the highest sales taxes, and among the highest income taxes. Yet basically can never balance its budget. The disparity between the top one percent salary earners and the majority of the workers is abysmal. Housing costs higher than anywhere except New York and Hawaii.
I could go on and on. But I probably better shut up now. I know I am already on some "hit lists" because I am outspoken.

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