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I don’t see if it has silicone in it as a protectant/rejuvenator a la ArmorAll. If it does I would worry about overspray onto paint as it can cause nightmares when repainting – moon eyes even if sanded and prepped to bare metal. Might mask or apply by cloth instead of spray if in doubt.

Jim

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Bruce, I measured the oil pressure regulator spring on my ’35 845 Eight as follows:

wire dia – .063

OD .405

ID .275

length – 2.12 uncompressed

20 turns total

10 turns/inch

solid ht approx.26

Calculated spring paramters

k = 31 lbs/in

Mine had a corrosion pit that I worried would fatigue and cause the spring to collapse, so I found a close substitute from Lee Spring. They had a 10 minimum quantity to order and I currently have 8 on hand if you want one (no charge).

That spring is not a perfect dimensional replacement, is slightly longer and I added a .125 thick shim washer to get the the same cracking pressure.

I think a broken oil spring could possibly give you valve clatter since it would bypass a large amount of oil flow from the oil galleries that feed all the bearings and the lifters. The lifters are sensitive to the amount of flow reaching them as they have a tight clearance that is constantly leaking. I chased a tapping lifter that had .001 more clearance than the other 15.

Jim

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Tony, the Model A lead looks like a winner. Snyder’s Model A catalog shows several different strips that were used but I this one used on Briggs bodies looks like a good candidate. Snyder’s has instructions and pictures for installing this strip including pictures showing it bent to the tight radius curve.

can anyone say if the original P-A strips look like this cross-section?

Thanks, Jim

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I’m a bit slow, just realized that the nail is driven first and the ball is peened in on top of it. So I guess the drill – pun intended- is to drill the holes in the strip, drive the nails and punch them under the surface then pound the lead ball in on top? Do you do a countersink in the hole first?

Thanks, Jim

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Thanks Jim and Greg, that explains it but more questions. I should look in the PASB’s I guess, but meanwhile…. Looking at Restoration Supply their catalog lists half round and shallower half ovals in various sizes in brass aluminum and steel. I assume one of these -brass or aluminum – is soft enough to bend to the tight radii in the corners (see picture).

Is the oval pre-drilled and countersunk to put the lead ball in before driving the nail? seems pretty tricky trying to drive a nail through a round ball!

Jim

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Forgot to mention Bill, these pieces don’t have any laminations, they are solid pieces finger or lap jointed. There are a couple spots where there is a tongue in groove joint to add width locally.

I have been using Smiths epoxy rotten wood replacement resin in places where the rot is localized. The stuff is a bit challenging as it takes a week to cure and is so thin that it just drains through any leak path, so I have to be ready with drop cloths to catch leaks that can end up coming out a foot or more from where it is applied, even after sealng the area as best as I can.

Jim

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Most of the wood in my sedan is still good but some bits like this aren’t. There is too much rot in the picture frame to fix, and some time in the distant past I think a couple of bows must have been replaced and they cut through the right longeron in two places to remove them. They put the piece back in place and spliced the resulting butt joints with wimpy perforated steel straps with only one screw on one side. Not the best structure! Actually I would like to know how they managed such a clean straight cut with the wood in place! I use a Dremel multi tool to make straight plunge cuts like that.

The finger joints of course are all bad and and there are a lot of them. I think that was done to avoid wasting a lot of wood cutting out the three dimension curve shapes from long straight boards. Years ago my father advised me that finger joints need really excellent tooling to make good structural joints, and probably can’t get there on a one-off hobby level with all the 3 dimensional angles they are cut too on these curved bodies. I plan to use long thick boards (ash) and not break and join them along the length at all. Less complicated and clearly better structure. Function over form.

When I get the new ones cut out I’ll post some pictures – might be awhile!

Jim

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My experience with 30’s Packard made me a believer in the halogens. On my ’36 Packard I redid the reflectors with the UVIRA aluminized(?) glass coating and ran original 32/32 cp bulbs. The light was marginal. I then found some 50/21 cp bulbs, which I believe were illegal in many states at the time as being too bright for oncoming traffic – considered almost bootleg. The generator couldn’t keep up with two 50 cp’s so for many years I ran a 50/21 on the left and 32/32 on the right which the generator could just keep up with. I scavenged the swap meets to horde 50/21 CP bulbs. Then the halogens came out and what a difference. They put out the equivalent light of ’60’s era sealed beam and the generator could keep up. I have actually had oncoming cars flash me in unhappiness when I haven’t dipped my beam. Most of the time I think even the halogens on high beam aren’t really as glaring as modern lights, so it is a bit rare to get flashed!

Jim

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My mind or the catalog?

Jim

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Amongst the 16″ tubes being produced there are various stems, some come with a TR13 which is designed for a .53 rim hole and requires a bushing when used with a wheel using a larger .625 hole. The Firestone catalog states: “B6 bushing must be used with a .625 rim hole or valve failure will result”

When I picked up my tubes I expected them to be the TR13 but upon inspection were TR15 valves for the larger .625 hole, so the bushing wasn’t needed but Schwab had them in stock had they been required.

Jim

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I picked up 7.00R7.50LR16LT Firestone branded tubes (probably still made in China) at the local Les Scwab dealer (and took them to a different installer). Firestone catalog lists this tube as fitting a number of 17″ radial as well as 16″ wheels. One I saw source says radial tubes can be installed in bias but tubes for bias can’t be installed in radial.

If anyone actually got some interest in manufacturing original type tubes, I still have the 1935 heavy safety tube in my garden shed for reverse engineering, couldn’t bear to part with it. Doubt if anyone is willing though!

Jim

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A mind is a terrible thing to lose – I can’t locate my valve catalog.

Jim

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Thanks to all.

I really appreciate that there are companies supplying the wide range of low production antique tire sizes, however it is a bit frustrating if they know the flaps and tubes they recommend have problems.

It was probably covered a few years ago, but the original tubes were much more robust. 25 years ago when I needed to get tires on my Pierce the installer pulled out the old tubes. He was a bit of a tire nerd and told me one of the tubes was probably original as the Goodyear symbol on the side was a style discontinued ca 1936. That inside diameter that rides on the inside of the wheel was semi-rigid,molded somewhat to the shape of the wheel and perhaps 4 times thicker than the outer part of the tube. It was also a safety tube with a tube within a tube to not run flat if the outer tube looses air. I don’t know if P-A supplied these as original equipment or perhaps it was a premium tube added after a flat ca 1936. Too bad we can’t get those!

Jim

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Thanks, I think that confirms the size I found before and others having the same issue!

Jim

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

I have some valve catalogs somewhere, if I have the dimensions I could try to find some more modern (less old?) NOS valves that could be adapted.

Jim

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

Here is a picture of one of my ride control valves and an intact crush washer. I sent the leakers to Apple, we’ll see how that works out.

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

My’35 has Lovejoy shocks that still have the adjustment valve on the bottom, it is manually adjustable on the shock but didn’t have the levers and hookups to do it remotely from the dash. I have the same problem, the seal around the adjustment shaft weeps on two of them. Apple hydraulics quoted $80.00 each to rebuild (just the adjustment valve seal).

It appears the same shock was used in some Cadillac’s and a cross-section appears in the 1948 MoTorS manual.

I also had a cracked crush washer on one that was causing a leak. I couldn’t find an exact match for that crush washer and am hoping Apple has them.

Jim

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David, I had a shop do the wood grain on my ’35 a couple years ago, he does it using the “Grain-It Technologies” method rather than hand painted. It is supposedly the original process used by the factories (I don’t claim to know). His sight is http://www.ucuap.com. He has a large site with before and after pictures including mine if you click on ’35 Pierce-Arrow. He is quite reasonable and his prices are posted on the site, I think the quality and service was excellent with one problem – color. A PAS member graciously took pictures of his original dash for me that I sent along to provide a color match. the ’35 has two different grains on the dash, as you can see on the site and compare to pictures of other ’35’s the inside dash color came out more towards gray. If you use him it might be better to choose from the color charts he has and get some samples before proceeding.

I ended up a bit torn, before I had it done I wasn’t enamored with the original colors – too much brown, so what I have I actually like better but it is off from the original.

Jim

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Looking at the Evaporust site they have a “Thermocure” product specifically for cooling systems.

It appears Evaporust itself doesn’t need heat to work, just speeds it up?

I ask because I rigged up an aboveground pool pump and filter to flush the block without the radiator (run for days) before running the engine. Sounds like it might be worthwhile to repeat that step with either the evaporust or Thermocure to get the last of it.

I figured that no amount of cleaning and flushing was going to dislodge everything that will come loose with a hot engine vibrating at full power so I installed a Tefba radiator filter and rare earth magnet to catch the chunks big enough to plug the radiator – I think it is handier than the pantyhose to check and clean, but of course not hidden.

Jim

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It is also critical in keeping the points alive to make sure the spark plug gap is correct. I was burning points and getting misses because I thought I remembered the proper gap – and was wrong.

Jim

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