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1931 Auburn 898A vintage rally preparation
- ilikescars
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- Curt Schulze
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The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
Be of Good Cheer
Curt
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- mikespeed35
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CORDiallyMike
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- Curt Schulze
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The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
Be of Good Cheer
Curt
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- WinAuBurn
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We are still entering the rally just for experience. Using Bob’s Ford 250 truck that we used to rescue the Auburn. I think we have the newest vehicle in the vintage rally, great brakes, A/C and everything!
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- RandyEma
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- Curt Schulze
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Only fill the tank 95% full. If you fill it up the neck like you do on a modern car it will run out on the ground via the King Sealy atmospheric equalizer 'vent' tube.
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
Be of Good Cheer
Curt
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- WinAuBurn
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- WinAuBurn
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- Curt Schulze
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Drill a 1/8 hole in the top of the filler neck. Original caps were vented.
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
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Curt
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- WinAuBurn
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- mikespeed35
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- WinAuBurn
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We are going to spend the day replacing the fuel lines, 6V fuel pump and filter, adding a regulator and pressure gauge. One of the symptoms experienced while testing was an overly rich mixture and we believe there is too much pressure in the line, perhaps 4 - 6lbs. We’d like to get this down to 2.5 – 3lbs and re-tune the engine.
A run through the tappets yesterday while still warm and prior to us removing the water pump, showed 5 of them out of spec with the worst at 0.012. All have been reset to the book 0.006 – 0.008. Once everything is back together we’ll get in to our timing advance and dual points set up. A boroscope in to each of the spark plug holes reveals a clean set of valves, time to get rid of that ATF cleaning agent in the oil and replace with fresh Rotella T along with a filter change. New gaskets should help with oil seepage.
Bob successfully fitted our required seat belts, I worked on replacing our troublesome vacuum windshield wiper with a 6V low profile unit and added a signal indicator stalk along with wiring a pair of period rear lights, also required for the rally. The calibrated speedo is in as is the rally clock. Will get photos.
Still need to get in to those fuel/oil gauges. We certainly have some clear liquid in the fuel gauge but the reading is not consistent. The correct red and green fluids arrived. We have our dowel rod marked as a backup.
As a brit, I’ve finally been able to educate Bob in the art of taking tea breaks during our intense 7am -11pm daily sojourn. For an extended break this afternoon we are off to visit a local car museum and meet with the owner who has run the “Great Race” rally 3 times. He still has his old rally car in the display. Should be interesting.
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- 1748 S
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- Curt Schulze
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The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
Be of Good Cheer
Curt
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- WinAuBurn
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Despite our request the pump was not repaired with modern seals, just repacked. After taking the car for a test drive we had a pool of water and dripping pump. It’s a shame as the test went well otherwise – 15 miles our longest distance yet, good power, strong & even braking, responsive steering, good oil pressure and cooling (despite the leaking pump), 59mph top speed (GPS verified) with a little more to come if we needed it.
There’s certainly more tuning work to be done, but if we can’t get the water pump solved then it will all be for nought at least for the Joplin rally.
Checked our fan pulley and it’s already fitted with a sealed bearing. Phew.
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- Curt Schulze
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The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
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Curt
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- Brad Hoskins
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Curt Schulze wrote: Also there is a fix for the fan bearing adjustment assembly. Many original 31-32 & maybe 33 had a tendency to come loose and hit the radiator.
Curt
Can you share the fix or point to a newsletter article? I've already converted the fan hub to sealed bearings if that is the fix.
Thx
Brad
31 8-98 cabriolet
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- mikespeed35
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- WinAuBurn
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Curt, We'll look in to that - thank you. We are going through every single nut and bolt on the car. The radiator looks new, I would hate to damage it.
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- Curt Schulze
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The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
Be of Good Cheer
Curt
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- mikespeed35
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- WinAuBurn
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While we were in the area, tested voltage from our generator and got a rather weak 6.85V idle, and 6.4V under load (headlights), battery reads about 6.2- 6.3V with everything off. Seems to be on the low side if we have all the electrics running and may drain the battery.
Since our purpose is to rally the car, we need better lighting. Anything we do has to be removeable so we can easily get the car back to original. The original headlights only offer 21 candle power, we can go up on the cp rating to 32/50 but these draw 3.9A/5.7A each, there are some 6V halogen bulb improvements available but they will also tax the generator with their current draw, even the 25W (4.2A) /35W (5.8A) bulbs are just too greedy for a hot 9A – 12A system. We don’t want to change out the water pump/ generator combo for an alternator and get in to all the wiring issues, besides it will spoil the look.
Not for the purists, but the answer is LED bulbs. However, you try finding a positive earth, 6V, double bayonet, 1930’s fit, hi/low beam LED headlight bulb. They don’t exist, not in the USA at least (or I couldn’t find them). But then I found this place in the UK, co-incidentally where my great uncle used to rebuild vintage motorcycles (no affiliation) www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com/led-headlamp-bulbs-shop.php
The positive earth BA15D 6V double dipper bulbs only draw 0.5A/1.0A, Can’t wait to try them, fingers crossed they may even be a straight fit. Here is a video clip from a happy customer
After staring at the amperage gauge too long, I started to look at the other gauges – Speedo good, Oil pressure good, Temperature good, however, the Telegauges (King Seeley / Hobson) don’t look to have any fluids or if they do it’s gone clear over time. I’d very much like to get these working, on a vintage rally we can’t even back in to miles/gallon to get an estimate of fuel use, the odometer is disconnected and not allowed on the rally. So, have ordered the correct specific gravity green and red fluids and the plan is to disconnect and blow out the capillary tubes from the tank to the dashboard, reseal everything except the open end at the dash board and with empty tanks/pans along with a fine syringe (bird feeders are good) refill the tubes to the correct mark. Am I on the right track or do you have any in-situ pointers for this project?
We had a bit of a setback on the tires, the fitter tells us they were delivered with tubes that have offset stems but our wheels have center set valve stems. After a call to the supplier, was told these tubes don’t exist for 17” 700 tires so they sent what they had. I found center stem tubes from another supplier.
Lastly, you might think us crazy (we do too). We entered the VCRA vintage rally in Joplin Missouri May 16th – 20th, 2018. It’s for a good cause, even if we only get the car to the start line. Burning candle power to get ready.
Colin & Bob.
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- WinAuBurn
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First up, compression testing found #6 cylinder with little to no pressure – not good, we removed the tappet plate covers and assessed we had a sticking valve. We mixed in 1 quart of ATF with the existing oil, turned it over and let it sit overnight. Voila! In the morning we had pressure back. One of our cylinders is a bit low at 56, a couple are at 74 but we are within 15% +/-. Certainly could be better but acceptable for now.
Next, a carburetor rebuild. After taking it apart I honestly wondered how the car ran at all. Every part was put through the ultrasonic cleaner at least 3 times with a 50:50 mix of Pine Sol and Water. A full service was completed and now the carburetor is pristine. After adjusting the basic settings, time for a trial start up.
Nope. Five seconds running at best. After a few frustrating moments, even checking through the carburetor again, we decided to check our fuel flow. We had previously seen 3.5-4 psi but not measured fuel quantity rate – oops, just a dribble. Hmmm.
The fuel runs through a 6V electric pump near the tank and then through the original mechanical pump. We decided to bypass the mechanical pump and suddenly we had tremendous flow filling a 64oz container in less than 1 minute. So, we directly hooked up the carburetor to the 6V pump. That was it, after making some tuning adjustments with a vacuum gauge connected we had the car running nicely, we’ll make some fine adjustments after going through everything else.
Time for the brakes. We removed all the wheels and hubs, greased the nipples, checked the condition of drums, shoes, assembly and all looks really good (almost new). Decided a road test would help identify any issues best.
So, yesterday we ran the car around Bob’s farm on some pavement and it brought a big smile to our faces. Clutch was smooth, brakes were straight and strong, the engine pulled well through all the gears. We only had the opportunity to run 30mph but this was a pleasing result.
Next week we’ll work on some leaks we need to address. The water pump has a small leak, there’s oil seepage under the car so we’ll get that cleaned up and identify what’s going on, for sure we need a new oil pan gasket set so will get that ordered.
There’s a ton still to do but that’s it for now.
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- WinAuBurn
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Mike, makes sense. In fact Bob and I discussed that over the weekend and I ordered a compression adapter to work with our cars. If it helps others, the adapter is A-12405-ADP or 28-20987-1 and is commonly used with the Ford Model As of the same era. Hopefully we can get some compression figures later in the week.
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- mikespeed35
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Jack Triplett
1931 Auburn 898A speedster
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- WinAuBurn
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John, I agree it would be good to have an original Schebler or possibly Stromberg carburetor for this engine. Short term, we’ll see if we can get the Carter BB1 (we think 289SD) running with the car so we can test other things. We do have a service kit on it’s way.
Jack, reading about the fire does point one towards an arrestor of some type just for extra security. I’m sure if everything was working correctly it might not be needed. Unfortunately there is little room to fit one it seems.
Curt, thank you, that’s excellent news. We’ll investigate this option for the 2-speed rear. That didn’t take long, I need to find you a bigger challenge!
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- Curt Schulze
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The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
Be of Good Cheer
Curt
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- gnutting
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Jack Triplett
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- Curt Schulze
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The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
Be of Good Cheer
Curt
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- Curt Schulze
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The BB1 came along later and is basically a generic replacement . They run well on some cars. You will have remove the manifold to get the heat riser freed up. I'll send you a PM.
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
Be of Good Cheer
Curt
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During PPI the car was reported as starting, idling, running and driving well. Something got upset along the way. We aborted our start up yesterday as we have a stuck/rusted heat flap which seems completely jammed closed in the exhaust manifold. Bob soaked it over night and estimates he applied close to 20 ft lbs to the pin but it won’t budge. Thoughts? Time for the torch? Bigger fire extinguisher?
We also have the carburetor removed and wonder if somebody can ID the model from these pictures. Clearly it is a Carter BB1 but the tag plate is missing for the model number. Seems to have a cast iron top and possibly the Zinc alloy lower with a 1 ½” flange so could we be looking at a 289SD perhaps? Did I read correctly that 289’s were used on the ’32 Auburn 8-100? We expect original equipment on the ’31 8-98A was Schebler but note many cars of this era were changed to the Carter setup for reliability and performance. We are good with that as long as we can get the correct service parts.
Do folk run these with spark arrestors / air cleaners perhaps of type 90-15S or 14S? Or just leave them open to the elements?
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- 1748 S
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mikespeed35 wrote: Have a friend with a fire extinguisher ready just in case on a new car to you. Oil diluted with gas?? Might want to change it.
CORDiallyMike
Two great ideas Mike. for sure have an extinguisher ready and at least test the engine oil for gas contamination before starting the engine.
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- Curt Schulze
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You really won't like it if you forget it. Pull the choke out all the way , as soon as it fires push it in all the way.
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
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Curt
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- Curt Schulze
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The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.
Be of Good Cheer
Curt
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