Bronze, brass and aluminum castings

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I have found a company that will do short run casting in the above materials.

I was thinking of having the throttle/choke knobs cast for a 836 if anyone had some we could pattern.

Anybody have anything else they need cast? These are parts about the size of your fist or less or 12″ x 12″” or less and about 1/2″” or thinner if flat.”

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Before you make anything, you first need to understand demand, and the willingness of people to pay for it. Lots of people need items, but are not willing to lay money out. I expect you can find what your looking for for a lot less time, money, and aggravation than making them. Quality castings are not common today, as there are lots of people trying to do thing without the understanding or willingness to get it right. A poor casting could be five or seven hours of work to clean up, and thus an original part even if “expensive” is a much better value. I have never seen a want ad for the knobs, and my best guess is you can find a set with just a few phone calls. Post some photos, someone may have some spares and do t know what they are or what they fit.

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Bill, can you post the info for the company you have found?

It’s off topic, but I could use to have a new back half of the water pump cast in aluminum for my Rickenbacker.

With fewer than 40 known survivors it’s a little tough sourcing parts when parts fail or wear out.

Thanks.

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I agree with Craig, I casting source is always good information. Al

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Gents,

Here is the guy that I used for a number of casting projects.

He does great work with reasonable turn around.

Peter

Walter Butler

New England Castings

57 Main Street

Post Office Box 295

Hiram, Maine 04041

(207) 625-3256

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Peter, I have also been told good thing about him.

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Here you go.

Joe Crosbie

Crosbie Foundry Company, Inc.

1600 Mishawaka Street

Elkhart, Indiana 46514-1898

574-262-1502

Joe is 3rd generation. He and his brother run the place. The small business is 60 years old.

I have asked before, but I will ask again. Anyone have the levers on the steering wheel that controls spark and throttle on a ’33, 836 that they are willing to part with or loan to reproduce?

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Bill, I didn’t understand you wanted the steering wheel center assembly levers………was reading when I was sleepy. Casting them will be very difficult, as the have to be dimensionally accurate across several areas. You would need to do lost wax after you adjusted for shrinkage…….very difficult. I may know where there is an entire steering column with whee that’s good, I’ll inquire about it for you. Last time I needed to find the knobs, we machined them out of solid brass……..you don’t want to know how much time and money we had in them…….Ed

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Bill I assume you have checked with Dave Murray, I bought repros of the levers from Irv Blonder many moons ago, perhaps Dave would still have some? From the parts book it looks like they were common for all ’33 to ’35, likely ’36-38 as well?

If Ed had them machined years ago, it would be interesting to make a CAD model and see what a it would cost to have them CNC machined today. The costs have come way down for small run parts using CAD-CAM.

The Rickenbacker water pump may be a good candidate for machined CAD-CAM as well.

Jim

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Bill: you have asked about some levers or knobs that don’t exist.

The LEFT lever on the steering column controls the light switch which is at the very bottom of the steering column, fastened to the steering gear box.

The Right lever on the steering column is the idle speed or throttle control.

Instrument panel knobs are marked ‘S’ for Spark. And L for lights in the instruments and post light on the dashboard.

There is no Choke knob. The 1933 had an automatic choke. The infamous Stromberg No.10. A not very reliable or easy to set and make work correctly item.

Therefore: many 1933, 34, 35 etc cars had a manual choke cable and knob retro-fitted. But WHY, did so many of those added cables and knobs get put in the instrument cluster, drilling a hole in an impossible to repair correctly part. If the hole had been drilled into the painted steel dashboard it could be relatively easy to repair.

The levers on a ’33 steering column are part of a disc that is fastened to the shaft that rides inside the steering column, I’ll see if i can get a photo for clarity.

Greg Long

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Greg,

Here are the levers off a V12.

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Here are some that are off some other year

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I think that what happens, is after the cars sit for a few years, the rods that run down to the bottom of the column rust together. Inattentive owners jump in and try to move them and they break the levers off, after all they are made of Mystery metal. Bronze/brass or stainless would be an improvement.

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Greg,

In my defense, since I have never had any, they don’t do anything in my car. Kind of “you don’t know what you don’t know””

Bill”

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Well, lets add soem confusion. Looks like maybe they aren’t the same despite what the parts book seems to say. Here is a picture of my repro levers from Blonder assembled on my 1935 845, may be moot for your 836. The plastic cover and horn center button are original – as a far as I know. I might have the levers in the wrong positions (light vs throttle) – they aren’t clamped at the bottom light switch assembly yet. At any rate, one lever is part of the chromed outer ring cup and the other is just inside the outer ring. The V-12 in Greg’s picture appear to attach closer to the center. Jim

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James,

There are no levers in the ’36-38 steering wheel. Those functions are dash knobs.

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The joys of owning a Pierce Arrow…….so many models, so many modifications, and so many reproduction parts make for an interesting permutations! To be honest, between all the Pierce’s I have owned and worked on, and add in all the current car restoration projects we have going, it’s getting harder to remember the details of cars I repaired less than a year ago. Recently someone reminded me I did a clutch on a Stutz in the last 18 months…….and I had forgotten about it…….and I did the entire job in house. So now besides my hair falling out, I can’t remember a rather large job in the recent past.

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Interesting…the levers on the steering column for my 1933 are completely different…the left controls the spark advance, and the right controls the headlights. The knob on the right side of the dash was replaced with a toggle switch that controls the blower on the heater. There is no manual throttle control. The heater appears to be a period correct after market addition, but living in Chicago, it’s welcome. Strange accessory for a car delivered in Arizona.

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Ken, do you have an owners manual for your 1236? If so, there is a photo with the knobs, levers and buttons explained or described.

I’d try to get your car back to what the owners manual describes.

Greg Long

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I spoke to Cislak a few days ago, he plans on making up reproduction lever assembly’s. They are a difficult thing to make correctly. Give him a call. The more orders he gets, the sooner he will do the project. He needs a set for his own car.

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