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And while I am at it, can someone tell me what these two pull buttons to the left of the steering column are for? They don’t seem to be mentioned in the owner’s manual for the Series 81.

Jack Davis

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Peter

Here is a photo of my dash showing the primer pull knob and the empty spot where the choke should be. The choke is now located below the dash with an incorrect knob. So what I need is a nickel knob that reads “Choke””.

Jack”

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Peter

I have the primer pull OK. It is the rich-lean I am missing, the round knob, would just say “choke” on it. At some point in the past someone mounted a non-PA brown plastic knob that says “L” on a unit below the dash, leaving the original hole empty.

Jack

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Craig

Here is a slightly better view of the front bumper. I can’t get one full frontal since I have the vacuum tank and water pump off and can’t back it out of the garage. It does look like yours has a slightly more defined “corner”” than mind where it sweeps back.

Jack Davis”

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Craig

That photo was my front bumper. Attached here is the rear bumper, split for the spare.

Jack

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Craig

Thanks for the photo. I attach another of mine. I would say they are identical. Question is, was mine taken from a ’29 or was this kind of bumper offered as an extra on the ’28 81’s?

JAck

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Greg

Herewith photo of the underside of the lube unit. It doesn’t look like something is obviously missing. I wonder of the cylindrical thing projecting down does the same task as the horizontal cylinder on yours and others? It doesn’t look like the unit is disconnected, and there was still half a tank of lubricant in the tank. I gather most owners eventually disconnected the system because it didn’t work very well.

Jack

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Don’t know how the photo came out upside down, but you get the picture.

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My recently acquired Series 81 does not have the tube front bumper usually seen on this model, but rather two flat bars as shown in the photo. Am I correct in concluding that this would have been an after-market addition? Seems to me I have seen the same bumper on at least one other 81, and on two or three 1929 models.

Jack Davis

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Taking advantage of this thread, I have a little mystery someone may be able to solve. The attached photos show the chassis lube unit on my Series 81. In photos of the engine compartment of other 81’s, I often see this unit apparently mounted higher on the bulkhead, apparently attached where the photos show a triangle of plat screwed into the bulkhead. There is often also something projecting forward several inches from the bottom of the lube unit. Which makes me wonder, am I missing something on my 81 that ought to be there, or was there an optional bit of equipment that went with the lube unit that mine doesn’t happen to have? Wonder why my lube canister is mounted lower than others? It appears to be in excellent condition, by the way.

Jack Davis

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Fortunately a 1/4″ drive is what I used, and as luck would have it, I tightened the nuts by holding the head, largely because space was so cramped in many spots that I couldn’t have used the end of the handle if I’d wanted to. Everything seems snug. Thanks for the advice.

Jack

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Peter

Thanks for the tip. I’ll follow your advise to the letter. I used Ultra Black Permatex on both sides of the gasket, and a dab in each of the bolt holes. Should be secure, but testing will tell.

By the way, my wife gave me the hairy eyeball when I asked her for one of her old pantyhose. My explanation that it was for the radiator was met with thundering skepticism, as was my exclamation that “this is what the guys in the Pierce-Arrow Society told me to do.”” She is a bit concerned about all of you.

Jack”

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Speaking of torquing , I have the water jacket back on now and am wondering what lbs torque I should tighten those nuts to. The jacket is brass and clearly a replacement back in the 1970s or thereabouts, so not likely to crack, but I don’t want to risk stripping the threads in the lip of the block.

I do have bad dreams about cracking the head. I have the starboard side of the engine pretty well cleaned and painted [see photo], but the head remains stubbornly stained and resistant to CLR and pretty much everything else but emery cloth, and I don’t want to use much of that or it will appear too polished.

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Thanks to all for this useful advice. You’ve no doubt saved me a lot of trouble.

Jack

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Peter,

I have always subscribed to that same school of thought, especially in realms where I am a babe in the woods.

Still, if all I do is replace the higher arched acorn nuts currently on my engine with stainless in the proper shape, I’ll need to know what torque measurement they should be cinched down to. And I gather the process is alternating nuts, and only torquing to a limited degree and then retorquing again several times over a period of days to reach the proper setting?

Jack

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Greg

Thanks so much for your counsel, especially at such a difficult time for you. I lost my Great Dane “Hannibal” 21 years ago and I miss him still.

I am of two minds about the head. I have not removed it thus far. It seems very secure and the engine ran well for the very brief time I ran it a few weeks ago. I started out making my own gaskets where needed, but found there were some I could not fashion, so I did get the Series 81 gasket set. That means I have the copper head gasket and manifold gaskets. Should I go ahead and install them even though what is currently in place seems OK? I have been reluctant to mess with the head, being very much a “newby” at this.

And I have never used a torque wrench, which I’ll need if I do remove the head. Can you recommend one? It looks to me like the click or clutch type might be the best for my limited needs.

I’ll look for your earlier message on repeat torquing on head bolts.

Jack Davis

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Finally thought to look in the 1928 PA Parts Catalog No. 207 for the Series 81. In several pages with line drawings of various views of the engine it is evident that acorn nuts are securing the head, and page 7 specifically lists part #117913 “nut,” and part #118129 “washer.” The illustrations appear to show a rather low crown rounded head virtually identical with the stainless steel Standard Acorn Nut in Resto. Supply catalog page 43. It is definitely not what the Resto. catalog shows as a “Pierce Head.” Does that settle it?

Jack

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I neglected to say that the nuts in question are acorn nuts. I see in a post by Greg Long awhile back on another thread that PA introduced acorn nuts on its 1928 models.

Jack

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Thanks Peter. Good tip.

Jack

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Peter

The aforementioned shoes and purses all lurk in a region known as a “my closet,” to which I am forbidden access. There is a sign on the door that reads “beyond here there be dragons.”

Jack

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