Jun 11, 2011
On the lower radiator pipe, look out for corrosion just in front of or just in back of the petcock. For one reason or another, this seems to be a favorite place to develop a water leak. It starts as a pinhole and then turns into something larger. This was found out when a club member who was returning home from a day trip ruined his engine when all of the water drained out of the engine. Check the radiator pipe to see if a pinhole is starting to develop in front of the petcock. You can put a sealing compound on the area and that should take care of the problem. A stainless steel pipe can be purchased from a Model A parts store for a good replacement.
This article was printed in the June 2006 issue of the “A” Quail Call.
Jun 4, 2011
After a period of use your Zenith Carburetor may develop seepage. The cause is usually the compressed paper gaskets under the jets in the bowl and under the metering valve, which the float operates. If this occurs, remove the carburetor and separate the halves. A 5/16” nut drive will fit the cap jet. Remove the bottom plug. Using a common screwdriver, tighten the main jet (next to the cap jet). Then tighten the compensator jet in the bowl. Next remove the float pin and float. Take a 5/8” 6-point socket and tighten the metering valve, 10 foot pounds, using a ½” drive torque wrench, or 150 inch pounds with a 3/8” drive torque wrench. Re-assemble and use. If seepage should recur, there may be a small foreign particle holding the needle off its seat in the metering valve. Remove the metering valve and blow out with air. If seepage returns, recheck all jets for tightness. Then check fuel tank, filter and lines for dirt or foreign particles.
This article was printed in the May 2008 issue of the “A” Quail Call.
May 28, 2011
The heart of any gear system is the lubrication, and thanks to Gary Stroebel of the Shade Tree A’s Model “A” Ford Club, we have THE secret recipe from the Horseless Carriage Gazette, July/August 1985. Attention Wives: Do Not Read This! This recipe will yield 6 pounds of the best old gear lube in the country and is ideal for those old-style gear boxes.
Take 5 pounds of 90W gear lube (between 2-3 quarts), 1 pound heavy long fibered wheel bearing grease (not the new lightweight, high temperature stuff), and 1 can of STP motor oil treatment.
Pour and/or scoop the above ingredients into a container 4-6” deep. Then take your wife’s multi-speed electric hand mixer and mix for 15-20 minutes. The reason for using this type of mixer is that the two beaters will pull the material into and through the beater blades, dissolving the wheel bearing grease into the mix of 90W oil and the STP.
The resulting mixture closely approximates the old 600W of gear lube. This is an excellent, quiet running, gear lube. As a word of caution, the borrowing of the mixer is best done when the wife is not at home. In the author’s case, he now has his own “private” mixer since some of the “good old gear lube” got up the mixer stems into the motor housing and then oozed back down the stems into the whipped potatoes!
Note: Another school thinks this is a good mixture for leaky transmissions with simple bearings. However, too stiff a lubricant will fail to penetrate long sleeve bearings, as found in some planetary transmissions.
This article was printed in the September 2006 issue of the “A” Quail Call by George Allison.
May 21, 2011
The rotor position shown below is the proper position with the timing pi in the gear depression and piston #1 at the top of the cylinder. The dashed line shows the position of the rotor when #1 fires with the spark lever fully advanced (down). NOTE: This is for reference only and not a suitable method for final adjustment of the timing.
This article was printed in the May 2009 issue of the “A” Quail Call.
