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RV (recreational vehicle) parts and service centers used to carry those large diameter glass fuses. If memory serves, you need AGC-30 and AGC-10.
That’s SoCal area, near Tarzana. Perhaps some SoCal member can bring to the Meet in Buellton beginning June 20, and transfer it to someone with a trailer or pickup bed returning eastbound.
Mystery solved…. It is a section of a REAR door sill moulding for a Series 80 4-door sedan. The screw hole placement is slightly different on the front door sills. I checked my early S80 sedan which is waiting for Greg to refurbish its engine.
That’s a 1927 serial number, and our data show it to be a 1927, not the 1925 described on eBay.
Note the tank-mounted gauge near the gas filler–found on 1926-27.
To me, it looks like a section of a sill plate, perhaps shortened as a display piece.
Being a Cheap Charlie, I use a piece of broomstick plus a foot-long section of 1 x 4 lumber with a hole drilled close (about 2″) to one end, hole drilled 1/8″ larger than the diameter of the broomstick. The long end of the 1 x 4 rests vertically against the vertical part of the front seat cushion. Friction from wedging the broomstick holds it in place at any length you wish.
Be aware of an issue with the 1933-35 S-W system: The pedal/treadle does not fall as the linings of the shoes wear, so pedal/treadle travel does not change. This can result in an unpleasant surprise. I recommend adjusting wheel brakes (easy) at a 3,000-mile interval.
Dave, good catch! Thank you. It was a typo, and I edited to 9-1/4. The numbers I provided above are for fender-mounted headlights.
I believe the B&L STAR lenses are correct for 1926 forward: 8-3/8 for Series 80, 9-1/4 for Series 33 & 36, 8-1/8 for Series 81 w/fender headlights.
Pre-1926, Series 32 & 33 used B&L (no star) 9-1/4, and Series 80 8-3/8 (no star)
UPDATE: Please see Don’s post in The Emporium where he shows more accurate dimensions taken with calipers.
Jack, suggest you search for “bumperettes” as they were known, used on 1920s cars with rear-mounted spare tires. They were aftermarket accessories. Some were tubular to match the Pierce front bumpers, but most are plated double flat bar. You may well wind up fabricating the spring steel “irons” or mounting pieces, best done by borrowing an intact set of bumperettes from another car.
George
Adding to Don’s post: These are “bracketed” headlights on a Phillips catalog-custom convertible coupe body.
* The lens is a Bausch & Lomb 9.25″ STAR (same as 1927-28 Series 36)
* The outer ring/bezel is 10.5″ OD and 1.25″ outer surface depth (i.e., front to rear)
* The inner retaining ring is unknown (too crunched to be measured) but it is NOT that used 1916-26 as reproduced at one time (I compared it to one of those not yet installed)
Don, can you post better photos of the complete AGA headlight showing the bezel?
Larry, you may want to check the 20-year-old 600W gear oil in your transmission–my experience is that it thickens with time and 20 years is twice my own interval for change. Shifting will be stiff when the oil is cold, as you know from your R-R experience, and we should shift earlier under those circumstances, but should be buttery smooth when the oil is hot. Restoration Supply has about SAE 250 gear oil which works well for me. I haven’t been able to find any Texaco Thuban SAE 250 in the last few years that I found to be perfect, and I just finished the end of a 3-gallon pail from a previous owner of one of my cars.
Shifting a crash box is half-science, half-art, and each transmission is different–so experiment with different techniques.
Excellent, Dave! I’d like to add that almost any Pierce, but especially dual valve cars like yours, should be run on the rich side–but certainly not belching black smoke!
For a seat-of-the-pants adjustment (i.e., assuming you don’t have a gas analyzer), consider this: With a fully warmed up engine, loosen the main jet clamp, have an assistant run the engine at about 1200-1500 rpm (no load, of course) while you adjust the main jet–with a vacuum gauge if possible. That will be your base setting of the main jet itself, and under load or greater speed it will need to be a tad richer. Since you’re at altitude already, you want to be able to lean it further for greater altitude but also to enrichen the mixture at lower altitudes. Your call as to where you position the mixture knob for your default or “home” setting, but be sure to allow for both leaning and enrichment in the remaining travel of the knob.
Jon, remember that you have to have some rpm to get a charge showing. Factory wiring requires a signal from the generator to prevent the Startix from engaging, but I don’t know how little output will accomplish this. The best news in your photo is that you seem to have a fairly fresh wiring harness with readable color coding! That square (2-stage) regulator appears to be the proper type for your car.
If the car were mine, I’d pull the generator and have an electrical shop confirm that it is indeed capable of producing a sufficient charge.
To make better sense of wiring diagrams, I recommend taking a wiring diagram to a print/copy shop and have 6 or so enlargements made to 11 x 17 inches. And buy a pack of 4 to 6 different colored highlighters. Use one copy for charging, one for lights, etc. as you wish, and highlight individual wire traces with different colors.
Jon, this will be but little help: Autolite acquired Owen Dyneto in the late 1930s but seems to have maintained the Dyneto part numbers. An Autolite-branded 40300 will serve just fine, as it’s the identical piece of equipment. Actually, in mid-1934, Pierce began using Dyneto starters and generators, replacing Delco-Remy units, but there are some original 1935 Pierces which had Delco equipment from the factory, including Paul Johnson’s very original model 845.
The regulators on 1936-38 Pierces remained atop the generator. I’m thinking that someone substituted a 3-stage regulator for the Dyneto, and mounted it on the firewall as is the custom for virtually all 3-stage regulators. I think you need to look at a wiring diagram and trace everything out. Which generator (Dyneto 3-brush?) do you have? Or did some previous owner convert the generator to a later 2-brush system in conjunction with the installation of the 3-stage regulator? That is, a holistic approach to the charging system (generator and regulator) is required, including an analysis of existing wiring against the factory diagram.
And do you still have the Startix? That unit senses a lack of signal from the generator and automatically engages the starter–to respond to a stall.
Bravo, Greg! Do I see a future Service Bulletin article in the making?
Ken, this is a common situation among all marques, as reproduction tires available today seem to be larger dimensioned in both diameter and width. Some favored reproduction tires (Bedford, BFG) seem to be the most problematic. Lester tires seem to be truest to original dimensions. It is very common to step down a size (e.g., 750 to 700) for sidemounted spares.
Follow-on to answer Ryan’s question why the road wheels’ size was changed: 5-lug 18″ wheels were hard to find, and tires were even harder to find a few decades ago. For 1931 only IIRC, 18″ wheels were 6-lug. One available 6.50x 18 tire (Excelsior) is IMHO too small in cross-section for road wheels but would be suitable for covered spares in fenderwells.
I agree with running the 17s, and 700×17 (not 750s which were for 12s). I strongly endorse Dave Stevens’s concept of running 16″ radial truck tubes, available from your modern tire wallah, with the 17″ wheels, due to the drop-center wheels. The “repro” tubes are junk, and I had two fail within 1500 miles on the bonded seam, not on any possible friction point.
Use flaps OR use HVAC high-temp tape (20 mil on the center, 10 mil on the shoulders–ask Greg Long for details). While tires are off, remove any rust, chemically treat with Metal-Prep or similar, and brush paint some anti-rust paint on the inside of the wheel.
