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I’m late to the party but want to express my strong agreement with David Coco’s posts of September 23 and 26.  I want our PAS message board to remain confined to PAS members only.

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I hope this matter will be addressed at the Zoom Board meeting on October 18.

I’ve been an AACA member since 1962, a member of the AACA forum for 20 years–but not nearly as prolific a contributor as David is.  I’m sure that David will agree that anyone showing up on the AACA forum with a newly-acquired Pierce is immediately directed, by both PAS members and non-members, to join PAS as the ultimate source of information on the marque.  Any marketing benefit from placing OUR posts here on AACA is virtually nil, IMHO, and I fear that we would be giving away too much of what we have to “sell” as membership benefit.

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Andrew, I have an uninstalled circa 1997 cast aluminum reproduction commissioned by the late Luther Gentry, but it needs some fine steady-hand trimming with a Dremel to fit properly, as well as all the #4 and #2 (IIRC) holes drilled and tapped, plus the much larger holes for attaching the clock-retaining arc.  It does NOT have the lower arc for retaining the clock.  You’re certainly welcome to borrow it for your project.  I consider this a VERY worthwhile project.

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Hi Rod, unless your car is an oil burner, the cooler W-18 / 518 should work well.  Autolite 3076 (probably equivalent to W-16 / 516) is a tad cooler yet, and that’s what I run in my S80.

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Ron, the P4269 pump *is* the Carter pump but with a NAPA number.  I have had them in my 1930 and 1934 for over 12 years with no issues.  If you use rubber hose in and out, spend the extra money for R9 hose (SAE 30 R9), high pressure hose, which is much more robust than SAE 30 R7. I use a high quality pressure adjustable regulator, Holley #12-804, about $65, to reduce to 3-3.5 psi. (Avoid the $20 bubble pack “Purolator” regulators which will fail and leak gas sooner more often than later.)

You do indeed need a bypass and a check valve.  You also need to design your electric power source given the Startix.  I did not want the 7-9 amps for pump running through my ignition switch, so installed a relay–but it’s not correct yet on my 1934 with Startix. You want to have power to the pump for priming, perhaps through a momentary switch, before you turn on the ignition switch and automatically engage the Startix.  And then have the option of powering the pump under vapor lock conditions.  Greg or someone else here can give you better info on that and I will listen attentively  🙂

I designed my installation so that a modern inline fuel filter, EASILY ACCESSIBLE ON THE ROAD, is between the fuel tank and the first tee.

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Jim, the reserve capacity (RC) of EACH 6V Optima is 100 (i.e., 100 minutes at 25 amps) which is my primary reason for using a pair–running at night with a charging deficit.  I’ve used Optimas exclusively for 20 years now.  I *think* there’s a difference in how Amp-hrs (AH) is calculated these days vs the 1930s.  When I began using Optimas their labels showed 100AH, meaning that a *pair* had 200AH vs factory Group 3 (8-cyl P-As) at 140AH and Group 4 (12-cyl P-As) at 165AH.

Optimas do not like to be fully discharged.  My experience is that if an Optima has been discharged to less than approx 5.8V, it must be connected in parallel to another 6V battery (wet cell or an AGM like Optima) which is at least 6.1V to be brought back by charging.

Some folks (like Ed Minnie) run a pair in the battery box but only one connected, and will switch if a generator fails.  (A couple of years ago, Tony W’s generator failed on a tour, so I removed one of the two Optimas from my 1934 and he used it to drive home on.)

And a pair in parallel spins the starter like  12V!

I run a single Optima (each) in my Series 80 (289 cid) and in my 48-B-5 (525 cid) but both have reduction starter motors and don’t see as much night driving as my 8s.

I’m not contesting your choice, but want to share the rationale of Optima fans.

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That’s GREG Long who just wrote a Service Bulletin article just for you and is arguably the best tech person in the Society and unquestionably the most willing to spend time helping us all out.  You guys in the eastern time zone are yakking away while we on the Left Coast are still inspecting our eyelids for light leaks.

Ron, you might consider waiting for March 2021 for the next heavily-discounted Optima offer.  I use a pair in parallel in my 8-cyl cars, and a pair fits easily in the factory battery box.  The advantage of Optimas for underseat/underfloor locations is that they are sealed and never need distilled water, won’t outgas (unless greatly overcharged and the vent pops open), and needs far less cleaning of battery terminals.  Mine can stand over the winter without a maintainer and start without issue.  Yes, Optima makes only one 6V battery.  I average 9 years of service before I replace mine–in pairs, as we do on diesel pickups.

IMHO, the best thing you can do now is DRIVE your car.  Try to make the majority of your trips at least 45 minutes so everything gets up to temperature.

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Ron, Dave and Greg have given you excellent advice.  Please bear with us on requests for info, as it’s hard to diagnose over the internet!

Clarification:  Starting fluid (ether) will often overcome liabilities of spark or cranking speed, but it’s very inconvenient and over time can cause damage to your engine.  We certainly want to get your engine to start reliably on its own.  Please check and correct any corrosion on the coil primaries, coil secondaries, battery posts and terminals.  Note in your records the date you have dome all these checks, and do them again every few years even if you’ve had no problems.  The dedicated additional cable from the battery ground (+) terminal to a starter bolt is well worth the effort, but scrape off any paint (an insulator) from the ear of the starter.  Part of that is because the engine motor mounts (rubber doughnuts) insulate the the engine from the chassis except for their thru-bolts, and the additional cable vastly improves the ground path which is critical on 6V systems on large engines.

I don’t know how long you’ve cranked before you run out of battery, but that remains a concern of mine from what you’ve told us.

Please follow suggestions and report back–we’ll get you through this!

George

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Ron,

FUEL:  As Jim says, plus check your float level.  Are you using a mechanical or electric fuel pump?  If the latter, what’s the output in psi?  Dialed down with regulator?

ELECTRICAL:  I’ve had cars whose tired starters drew down the voltage needed for the ignition to fire properly.  It would take some time, but measure the draw and the voltage to the coil during cranking.  What battery do you have?  Your car originally had a Group 3; a Group 2 may have too little capacity.  I run a pair of Optimas wired in parallel (can provide a photo if you wish)–makes the starter spin very fast, but my primary reason for using them is more reserve capacity for driving at night with a charging deficit.  Are your battery cables 00  (double ought) as they should be?  If smaller than that, your cables will heat up while cranking and not deliver full battery power.  I ask because you say you run down your battery, rather quickly it seems.  Tell us how fast the engine is turning over during cranking–it won’t be as fast as a 12V unless you have a pair of Optimas, but should not be “suffering” either.

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Please call me George.  Good luck!

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For cold starts, my experience with those updraft carbs on 1929-32 8s (and on a friend’s 1931 Studebaker President) is that I retard the spark and go to full choke (as you do), but ALSO go to full throttle with the hand throttle (being prepared to close it quickly when the engine fires), and after two or three revolutions go to 1/3 to 1/2 choke before it fires.  Be *very* quick to close the hand throttle as soon as it fires!

Give this a try and let us know if there’s any improvement.

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I agree with Jim–do not let the gen run free!

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I give up for tonight! Darren, I;ll send an email tomorrow.

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Still didn’t post! A long trailer like Ed;s or a gooseneck will get you unwanted law enforcement attention because they exceed 10,000 lbs. Better to get, for example, 2 axles at 6,000 lns each downrated to

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Oops, my 2nd paragraph didn’t post.

Bought new, trailers can bear a downrated GVWR rating sticker to

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Don;t forget that if a trailer is rated at more than 9,999 lbs. gross, you will need a Class A commercial or non-commercial license to operate it on the road–at least in Calif where Darren and I are, The Class A requires a special physical exam annually. Class A non-commercials don’t need an electronic log book, thank God.

Bought new, trailers can bear a

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Kevin, I *run* 1129s (21 cp) in both tail and stop/backup in my 840A, but I believe they originally were 63 (3 cp) for tail and maybe 81 (15 cp) in stop/backup. I haven’t tried LEDs yet, but the 1129s make a terrific light show! Tail only showing in the photo.

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Ryan, I think you did the next best thing to dropping the pan.

More than 25 years ago, I acquired my first Pierce, a Series 80 sedan, from its owner of 38 years but the car had only been run in place in a barn very occasionally for 15 years. He did tell me he ran non-detergent oil. I knew I didn’t have time to drop the pan in the near term, I got it hot, drained the oil, and added 3 qts cheap detergent oil + 6 qts non-detergent. I changed the oil after 200 miles, examined it carefully (no chunks/bits of debris), then installed 6 qts of detergent + 3 of non-detergent–and ran that 400 miles before a hot drain and a full detergent refill. A year later I finally had time to drop the pan and found minimal sludge but some occlusion of the oil pump pickup screen. At that point I did a thorough interior cleaning. That process may have been overkill, but the peace of mind (see my comment above) was worth it!

It’s well worth paying close attention to your oil pressure gauge at all times. If gauge readings change suddenly, check out the cause promptly.

By the way, I had a chance to look over your car at the NE Indiana Meet last year, and I love it! You hit a home run with that one!

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The engine number is definitely a 1936. Important: Does the block have all nine main bearing caps?

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With or without the diode addition to the cutout, it’s a Best Practice to get in the habit of eyeballing the ammeter immediately after engine shutdown to be sure the needle remains at zero. If at discharge (and no current draws such as lights left on), the cutout points are stuck, in which case immediately disconnect the battery and remedy the condition.

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