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The engine number is definitely a 1936. Important: Does the block have all nine main bearing caps?
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.
Greg, my friend Schultz (whom you know) restored a period pedal car that was a spitting image of a 1925 Packard runabout, complete with working headlights. About 30 years ago, he entered the restored pedal car in the late, great Silverado Concours as a real car–which resulted in a tremendously popular pedal car class being implemented the following year.
Jim, this is really excellent and valuable information. Thank you! Can you share the source of these spring sets?
But it brought to mind Bill Crumrine’s comment about the individual front seats as used in Broughams and production Silver Arrow coupes: “Like trying to drive while seated on a beach ball!”””
Dry weather, and PAVEMENT? How the times have changed….
Dave leaves a multitude of friends and admirers, a stronger PAS and Pierce-Arrow Foundation and Museum for his superb leadership.
As Oivind says, 48-B-4 or -5. Series 5 also had the hood vents. Series 51 (and 31) did not, although some say they could be ordered as optional equipment.
Looks like a 7-pass touring to me as well.
Let me add this to Jim’s sage advice: Wrap your hand around the HEAD of the 1/4 drive ratchet and don’t use the length of the handle. Over time, you will have to snug all these bolts up perhaps four times. Err on the not-so-tight side and re-snug several times.
Stu, while preparing for the seal replacement, after unbolting the rear u-joint, try wiggling the driveshaft while another person watches the back of the OD for shaft wobble within the OD housing. And again try to wiggle the OD shaft after the driveshaft is completely removed. I don’t expect to find any wiggle/wobble, but if you do that’s VERY serious and requires replacement of the bushing with a bearing.
You’ve driven the car enough to know how much / how frequently there is any clash when engaging OD, so plant that firmly in your memory now. If the frequency or amount of clash increases, “just do it!”” That approx 3/4-inch thick OD clutch gear with 8 “”dogs”” is the hardest part to find in good condition.”
Or just add the tools for special display events or for SCCA judging–they inspect for tools, but PAS does not.
Has the rear OD shaft factory bushing been replaced? That is the cause of the demise of so many overdrives as the “dogs” (can’t think of the correct term) of the OD gear break, because the separate trans and overdrive shafts get out of alignment due to bushing wear at the rear of the OD. Remove the OD (don’t need to pull the trans itself), replace the bushing with a bearing and machine the case to fit, then use a modern lip seal.
I’m sure Bob Koch can give you much more complete and accurate info.
Michael, DEIONIZED water (often sold at grocery stores) is probably hungry for ions from surrounding materials. DISTILLED water pure, without minerals, and is specified for use in steam irons in CPAP machines (no I don’t use the latter, and the former only rarely in my retirement 
).
Don’t take my word for it–Mr. Google is our friend, sometimes.
Dave, the Gano is NOT suitable for S80/81 because those cars have a very short upper hose between the inlet of the radiator and the cast neck we’ve been talking about–and that hose length is much too short for a Gano plastic housing, unless they’ve recently developed a real “shorty” version. I just measured the upper radiator hose on my S80 sedan and it is 3.5 inches long INCLUDING the overlaps for clamping on the neck and the radiator inlet. In fact, when installing a new (stiff) upper radiator hose I have to remove the neck from the cylinder head and use that leverage to wrestle the assembly back into place.
I’m certainly in favor of buying from our advertisers when their product is suitable for the specific application. I use the stockings for all my vehicles, including modern, and find they catch more debris than the Ganos.
Jack, I suggest that you use the ankle-high stockings (cheap ones are fine–I bought a box of 20 for less than $7 at Walgreens). Install as per Greg’s instruction.
Nalcool is no more–it is now Pencool. Use Pencool 2000 with NO anti-freeze and Pencool 3000 if you have any amount of anti-freeze in your system. Amazon is the best source I’ve found: I just received a shipment of six 64 oz jugs (half-gallon–most convenient size for me) which cost a bit less than $130. I’m servicing several vehicles, and six jugs will last me about five years. To save you doing math as to dosage, for the initial fill add 1 oz of Pencool per quart of cooling system capacity. A S80/81 has a 26 quart system, so you’ll need 26 oz for the initial fill. I carry a one-gallon jug of water on tour pre-loaded with 4 oz of Pencool. Top off ONLY when hot to avoid overfilling.
Jack, when you FIRST have the cooling system together, I suggest you run a cooling system cleaner with tap water AND a stocking filter to catch all the stuff that has been loosened but not removed so far. Ed Minnie is a proponent of an EvapoRust product for cleaning cooling systems as you drive; please chime in, Ed. Whenever you’ve run a cleaning chemical through the system, change the stocking because it may have been weakened by the cleaning chemical.
When I acquire a “new” car, one of my first actions is to assess the cooling system condition and add a stocking filter. After 300 miles or so, drain off enough coolant (you can re-use), and remove and inspect the stocking. How much debris is in the stocking will inform your choice of the next drain-and-clean-the-stocking interval. Rinse out the stocking and reinstall. Especially for little-used cars, repeated heating and cooling cycles will break loose a lot of debris from the block which, without a filter, would be trying to clog your radiator. This is even more critical when you’ve had a radiator recored or professionally cleaned.
Last month I changed out the radiator hoses on my 1930 roadster (after 10-12 years), and changed the stocking as well. The stocking was intact and had only the tiniest amount of debris, extremely fine particles, which I doubt a Gano would have caught. The top tank of the radiator was sparkling clean. If you’re fortunate enough to not have to top off frequently (my 1930 and 1934 take less than a quart every 700 miles, others need more), add 6 oz of Pencool annually as a replenishment dose.
I have been running distilled, Pencool, and stocking filters (my climate does not require anti-freeze) for 12-15 years and am delighted with the cleanliness of all cooling systems.
Not that I know of. If you use reflector fasteners, they should be glass, not plastic.
BRAVO, Greg!
Congratulations, Chuck!!!
Happy Birthday, Dave, and many many more!
For what it may be worth: Bill, on my 1918 dual valve I run rich (“heavy”) to just below the point where there is visible exhaust. To see if you’re running too lean (“light”), with a warmed up engine running in 4th gear at 30 mph, suddenly floor the accelerator–if it backfires, it’s too lean, and if it stumbles/loads up, you’re too rich.
The higher your speed, the more you should enrichen the mixture. These knobs do NOT function like choke knobs, which you can forget about once the engine is warm; be thinking about how rich/lean you’re running and tweak the knob every so often. Those adjustable-main-jet carbs are very handy at altitude: On the Modoc going thru 6,000 ft and on Glidden in Idaho last year at 7,000 ft, I could lean out during climbs and richen as we descended. Fixed-jet cars were puking black smoke at 7,000 ft.
There’s a near-infinite range of adjustment due to the clamp on the main jet rod. Supporting Ed’s idea of a gas analyzer, it might be useful to have that done ONCE and change the clamp position so that optimum adjustment at perhaps 40 mph UNDER LOAD at your home altitude represents “40%” rich on the amount of travel of your heavy-light knob. I do that on Series 80 rich-lean levers by ear and vacuum gauge, as I don’t have a gas analyzer. At least you’re in the ballpark.
Better to pump out some black smoke occasionally than to burn valves–and in dual valve engines, a too-lean mixture will often lead to a cracked block.
ONE Optima turns over my 1918 48-B-5 very nicely. I run ONE in my Series 80. I run TWO in parallel in my 8-cylinder Pierces primarily for the reserve capacity during nighttime driving. Optimas have about 100 amp-hrs (AH) reserve capacity each. The Group 3 wet cell battery originally furnished in 8-cyl cars had 140 AH and the Group 4 in 12-cyl cars had 165 AH.
Paul Johnson sent me a list of available Parts Catalogs in the PAS Library, and the years 1936 through 1938 are NOT among them. That is, in 62 years of the Society’s existence, we don’t have one. I’ll make a major leap and say PROBABLY none were issued.
