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I received this ad in the last couple of weeks. Are we to understand these items are not yet manufactured? If not when will they be ready for delivery.
This item has been sold.
We have spoken about this situation a lot. My ’31 Model 42 had this problem. Proper front end alignment from a capable large truck shop stopped the problem immediately.
More than likely the brake drum band was installed to keep the drum from expanding away from the shoes. Under heavy use, especially mountain driving, the drum will expand away from the shoe mechanism. I learned this the hard way in 1968 going to the Pierce national meet in my recently purchased ’36 conv. sedan. This type of brake failure in mountainous terrain is usually accompanied by a good amount of screaming coming from the inside of the car.
Golden Alternator and Starter from Rochester, N.Y. called yesterday to tell me that the generator was repaired. He tested everything inside, turned the commutator, revarnished things inside, etc. The cause of failure was the deteriorated brushes. He found exact replicas of the brushes in Texas for around $95 (all three). The third brush contacts were detached or all but detached from the leads. Total cost for repair, around $150. He noted that all brushes were in a deteriorated condition. Bob Sands whose work in the steel mills involved electric motor maintenance, mentions that cleaning solution should never be sprayed on brushes, as their failure will be imminent. An interesting aside is that the generator I had on the shelf, that is in the ’36 now, begins to charge immediately. Bill at the repair shop says that the rebuilt unit also begins charging at low RPM. Perhaps the slow startup for charging prior to the total failure on my unit, and some other people’s (Ed Minnie) is an indication of poor brush connections, and possible future failure.
In Rhode Island, one company is owned by the mother and father, and the other by a son. As I recall, I had better luck with the son’s company than the parents. Eddie, which is which?
I removed the generator from the 36 earlier last week (1 mashed thumb, some profanity). An accomplished wrench came on Friday, totally disassembled the generator, polished the commutator, snapped the brushes (I then took the plate assembly outside and cleaned it with CRC). Put back on car: no charge. Replaced the regulator (I have a new extra)no charge. Put on my spare which I had gone through years ago, and it took right off charging, with just a slight amount of acceleration upon starting the car.
I sent the generator back to Rochester, to the people who have been doing my generators for some time. It is interesting that the non-functioning generator took miles of driving, becoming progressively worse over the years, until it would not charge at all. It will be interesting to see what the problem is.
Incidentally, the late P-A generators and starters will fit in a priority mail large flat rate box (around $17). A bargain, the generator w/regulator weighs 28lbs. Stay tuned.
Will take out generator in the next couple of days and look inside. Thank you all for your feedback.
Even by liberally spraying the commutator and brushes, any overspray would not hurt anything else?
The large vacuum line under the hood mounted to the firewall has a screw off top. I was told many years ago that two ounces of steam oil, or neatsfoot oil could be poured there. Then the vacuum would bring it into the power brake vacuum cylinder. Is this possible?
My 31 model 42 would go into a shimmy that seemed uncontrollable at times. I took the car to a commercial heavy duty truck shop. I gave them the proper front end specs, and they set the caster and camber to factory specs. Believe me over the years, extra shims, improper adjustments had changed the total front end geometry. On the way home it was like magic. Problem solved.
Having done over the 1931 model 42 boards, I know they are different from model 43. Beware of a real mean rebuilder in California.
I was told to use, and have used hydraulic jack oil. Seems to leak out just as well as anything else.
Amazon prime (where I have bought Optimas before) currently have the 6 volt red top available for $112.59 shipped, for those that want to investigate there.
Kerstin, I am so proud of you. Of course you can drive our ’36 also.
Having a useful jack for the old cars has always been a problem. I forget who gave me the lead on Land Rover style bottle jacks. Externally, it looks just like a regular bottle jack, slender , red, neat looking. As you pump it, when the outside cylinder reaches maximum height, like magic another cylinder comes from the center, giving the height we need to access the high frames on our cars. I have bought a number of them on Ebay, from $30’s to $90’s depending on condition.
Does anyone else have a 31 model 42 where the tools had the Pierce script?
John: My 31 model 42 had the original tool roll and tools in the tool cabinet at the bottom of the rumble seat. The tools were virtually new, and the tool roll was a very deteriorated panasote like material. None of the tools had the Pierce script. I was told around 1930 or 1931 Pierce stopped putting the script on the individual tools. My car was June, 1931 production.
Dan’s Pierce is my old car that I sold to him a year ago last summer. He has done some great improvements, like the new black wall tires, and a beautiful new interior. This is an incredible old car, with 55,000 documented original miles. I miss it very much. I had another picture
Dan sent me with a rear view also.
Eddie: I miss the way your Pierce used to look. It reminded me of a pedal car I had when I was little.
