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Ralph, I believe the Mike West searching for the Dual Delco is username mikewest on the AACA forums looking for same unit, located in New York with area code 585 (Rochester area), rather than PAS member Michael West in Seattle, WA.

The Mike West in the AACA forums is primarily a Franklin specialist, on which he is extremely knowledgeable.

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Series 80 and later originally used #1000 (as does my 1934), but the #1133 spotlight bulb is a pretty good substitute, as I alluded to in a previous post.

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Peter, the jury is still out on that one. I’ve tried several different bulbs including NORS Original Equipment #1000.

See the article “Thoughts on 1920s Headlights” in the new (February 2018) Skinned Knuckles. Since we have reprint privileges with SK, perhaps Arnold can reproduce that article in a near-future Service Bulletin.

One point in the article: #1129 bulbs (21cp) manufactured after the early 1960s have their filaments arranged differently from earlier #1129s in that the later bulbs provide more diffuse light, and thus not suitable as replacement HEADlight bulbs.

I’ve had moderately good success with #1133 spotlight bulbs which are designed for straight-ahead focus, but much depends on the specific lens and parabolic reflector.

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Craig, yes, almost all 6V American cars with single-filament bulbs used 3 cp #63 bulbs. I run #1129 (21 cp) bulbs in taillights and #1133 (“mushroom head”) spotlight bulbs of 32 cp in stoplights. A #81 (15 cp) will also work.

My 1918 (and ~1915 thru 1924) taillights had #63 taillight bulbs originally but not enough width in the housing for these other bulbs, but I found that a #209 elongated dome light bulb (15 cp), with o very slightly larger globe diameter, will fit. I also carry battery-powered bicycle LED taillights, which can be steady or flashing, which can be clipped to my trunk straps, when I have to drive it at night.

For newer and lesser cars (such as my Jeepster) equipped with DUAL filament tail-stop bulbs (3cp/21cp), I run special 14/50cp bulbs available from Ford & Chevrolet reproductions parts vendors. Mine came from Ford repro company Bob Drake in Oregon. My experience with those off-shore high-output bulbs is that they have some quality control problems–or did four years ago: I ordered four bulbs (two spares) of which two were defective–one’s contacts were out of register with the filaments, and another’s glass globe came loose from the base while inserting it into the socket. The light output is substantially greater, although not to the orders of magnitude suggested by the cp rating.

And that’s why I run dual Optimas in my 8-cylinder cars….

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I’ve had wonderful service from Optima batteries. I run ONE in my 1918 48 and one in my 1925 S80. I run a pair in parallel in the 8-cylinder cars not for starting but for the increased reserve capacity to power lights during long night drives. I run brighter bulbs in tail and stop lights in all the cars. The 1930 and 1934 8s have 25 amp generators, and their output drops to about 17A when the temperature compensator kicks in.

Those 8s originally used Group 3 batteries with 140AH (amp-hrs) of reserve, and 12s used Group 4 batteries with about 165 AH of reserve. A single Optima 6V has 100AH of reserve; a pair in parallel has 200 AH reserve capacity.

Since the early 1960s we have been used to having cars equipped with alternators which charge at idle–not so with generators.

So for me, at least, it’s worth using a *pair* of Optimas if you contemplate using your Pierce at night.

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John Woz, that is indeed the 1934 840A conv coupe, known in some circles as “Blaze Starr the Fire Chief’s Car” (David Coco and Merlin will understand the reference) owned by Bob Jacobsen, my dear friend of 50 years, my Evil Twin (we’re often mistaken for one another), and Director-for-Life of NorCal Region.

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Resized attached, I hope. Note the new Cadillac Ute in the background.

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The NorCal Region of the Cadillac and LaSalle Club puts on an annual meet in Cupertino, CA (near San Jose) to which they invite other clubs (usually about 100 cars total, about 70% CLC). This year my 1930 Pierce-Arrow roadster was voted People’s Choice, pictured here with my good friend and former colleague of many years ago Ford L., who sadly can no longer drive due to vision problems.

(Looks like I’ll have to resize, and can’t find a way to delete the full-size I attached)

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Bill Marsh: The handle/plunger on your dash fuel pressurization pump should have an arrow marked in white (color may need refreshing). It has three positions:

* 9 o’clock — pressure released. Should be moved to this position if you will be away from the car for an hour or more–less time if you note any dripping from carb while fuel is under pressure. When adding gasoline to tank, depressurize by moving to this position.

* 12 o’clock — Move to this position to manually pressurize tank, such as cold start.

* 3 o’clock — the RUN position. After you’ve pumped system up to 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 lbs, immediately turn knob to 3 o’clock.

As Greg mentioned, you’ll find it beneficial to keep your tank at least half full most of the time.

Bill Scorah: What mix (dosage) of 2-cycle oil have you found to be best? I use Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) at 4 oz/10 gallons in my other cars, but agree that 2-cycle is probably better for T-heads.

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Also, it sounds like the car could benefit from a brake adjustment to bring the foot brake (internal expanding shoes) a little higher under braking. A minimum of 0.010 clearance all the way around the shoes works for me.

Nevertheless, at rest the brake pedal was below the height of the clutch pedal, and had been since the car was restored 30 years ago. Greg Long AKA MacGyver modified the linkage (cut some off the end under the floor and rethreaded a greater distance) to bring the brake pedal to the same height as the clutch pedal.

Great story of your first drive, Bill. I just knew early on that you’d be hiking to the gas station! Plan on 4-5 mpg until you develop some better numbers.

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And, of course, Rags (veteran of 8 PAS annual meets) was along for the ride, bundled up too. He just turned 17 years old.

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Let’s see if this resize effort works…

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New Year’s Day 2017: We left San Leandro at sunrise (7:00 AM) at 40*F to drive the 1918 48-B-5 to the first-Sunday-of-the-month Cars & Coffee at Blackhawk Museum in Danville, 25 miles away, suitably bundled up in my 1920s full-length horsehair coat which weighs at least 15 lbs.

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James, as a follow-on to Greg’s comments, be sure that you move the rich/lean lever towards RICH when you’re going over 35 mph or so–assuming that you still have the original carb rather than a Series 81 O-3 unit. The S80 carb has an adjustable main jet, and if the car performs satisfactorily at, say 30 mph, on a particular setting, it will need a richer mixture at higher speeds. This is seat-of-the-pants unless you have an exhaust gas analyzer mounted in the driver’s compartment. Likewise, go richer when climbing a hill, and return to center-ish when you level out.

Congratulations on your acquisition, and HAVE FUN with it!

George

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John, a current ad in The Emporium is a project Series 80 WANTED (quoted below)

“I am looking for a 1926 Series 80 without a running drive train and engine. This can be a non runner or a car with the drive train and engine gone. Any body style would be considered. May consider any model 80 from 1925-1927 but prefer 1926. eMail me to let me know what you have or call Nick at 586-453-9316. Thank you

Nick Grudich, 2378 Westcott Court, Shelby Township, MI 48316-1281 O: 586-453-9316 [email protected]”

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Peter and President Rich Lange have asked me to comment on this.

At our Board Meeting on February 26, 2017, the Board approved the following ByLaw. The phrasing has been parsed to a fine degree by both the Constitution & ByLaws Committee and by the Board itself, as the Board kicked back the Committee’s initial recommendation at least once. So what you see below is the Lowest Common Denominator of which all parties could buy into.

“BYLAW 4 – Vehicle Estimates and Appraisals –No Director shall use his/her position in the Pierce-Arrow Society as establishing a knowledge base to offer an opinion on the authenticity of specific Pierce-Arrow vehicles or on the possible sale values of such vehicle. However, this is not intended to restrict any director offering an opinion as a private individual based on his/her own personal knowledge.”

So let us say, in this case, that each of the commenters is offering a personal, informed opinion on the basis of limited information provided, without benefit of photographs much less informed inspection of the subject vehicles. There are many variables unknown, such as the condition of the wooden body structure.

The reason for the policy is that in almost all previous cases, requests for valuation have come from OUTSIDE the PAS, usually (as in this case) from families seeking to dispose of estate vehicles. Either under-valuation or over-valuation by a PAS Board member could have litigious repercussions when a car is subsequently flipped or when a member valuation is not reached.

EBay ‘advanced search’ with the ‘completed sales’ block checked will only give results for the past 30 days. Google or other search engines will cover vehicles offered on eBay for the past several years. In this case IMHO **as an individual** I recommend professional appraisals from individuals with thorough knowledge of S80 cars.

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My 1930 Model B came to me with a UUR-2 (correct for 1931-32) but it is VERY reliable and I’m not changing it to pick up a judging point. UU-2s have a reputation for being troublesome, especially the pot metal.

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I run a pair of Optimas in parallel in my 8-cylinder cars, not so much for starting as for being able to drive distances at night at a charging deficit with the 25 amp generators whose temperature compensator soon drops the output to 17 amps.

A pair in my ’30 roadster lasted 14 years but were degraded, but I changed the pair in the ’34 SA pre-emptively at 9 years.

I run a single Optima in the Series 80, and a single works just fine in the 525 cubic inches in the 1918.

No need to adding water or clean corrosion makes Optimas especially desirable for batteries which reside under the seat or the floor, as ours do.

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All of about four minutes in the warehouse as Jim bought the “Jell-O”” horse-drawn street vending cart–the only one known to survive. I’d love to see the footage that wound up on the cutting room floor!

Jim advised that original Jello was made from ground-up animal bones.”

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Peter, that’s the OEM solution for Houdailles (not for Delco Lovejoys). When shocks are rebuilt, they are usually converted to jack oil or motorcycle fork oil;, with modern seals to match.

If I don’t know whether a shock has been rebuilt, I’ll use the rather benign glycerine-alcohol mixture.

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