VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1916-1922 - Model 490 The Chevrolet 490

Hi - thanks for the welcome!

I am pestering the gent I bought it from for any pics of it being recovered and if I get them I'll post them.

Just stripped the engine and all came apart well and apart from a valve cap missing, chipped valve guide and a broken rocker it looks very restorable.

Can anyone clarify the numbering please? The head has cast into it 6 8 16 with 107 - 5 above in larger type. The block has cast in on the pushrod side 6 20 16 and the flywheel has stamped into it H38384.

Can anyone help with the missing torque tube, pinion carrier? and rocker?

Thanks guys - great being part of forum.

Richard.

Hi,

It appears your head was cast on June 8, 1916 and the block was cast on June 20 1916.

Wish you luck in your search for parts.

Agreed. Let's see the car!

I have started to load pictures of the car on my personal website www.richardskinnerspares.co.uk under 'projects' - 'current' and will sort a dedicated page purely to the Chev because its a great car with an amazing story and deserves to have its remaining story told.
Thanks for the casting number info but I assume (always dangerous!) that the H38384 stamped ito the outer edge of the flywheel is the car's identity. Unfortunately the ID plate was gone so this is all I have to go on for an ID.
Can anyone recommend a source of the parts I require?

As to the parts, try: http://www.20schevyparts.com/. Some times you will find suitable parts on eBay.

You will see the plate your car is missing here:

http://s889.beta.photobucket.com/user/solan1916/library/dashboard%20Solan

but there was no number on that plate in 1916/early 17. At the moment I do not see any offer on eBay for a new made.

Do you live close to Beaulieu?

Hi - thanks for the plate info. I have the oily and wormy remains of some of the dash wood but cant see any holes for a plate where your pictures show so it may not have had one. When did production start as mine was clearly cast June 1916?
Are there any records of the numbers so that the flywheel number can be cross-referenced with those records.
I am only 12 miles from Beaulieu and was brought up at the museum beacause my dear late Pops worked as a driver there so I had the huge priviledge of going with him to take out a large selection of the great cars there. I stood no chance in not getting oily and hooked. First vintage motorcycle (1946 Francis Barnett) at 11 years old and Austin 7 at 13 years old. I stood no chance! Loving the Chev!

You can be sure the plate has been on the dash board. Someone here or on eBay will be able to come up with the right one.

You can contact Ken Kaufmann (Pre25Chev4) scrippsbooth@earthlink.net as to the flywheel number. The production of your car should have been done in end July/beginning of August, but ask Ken.

Anyway I will recommend you to join the club as a member to get more help than only being a user here. You can do it on this web site by online payment (USD 60 for Internatioanl members)

Coming back to your story about Beaulieu.

Hello
The number on the flywheel is the engine number. On later models of 490 I know that the enginge number also is stamped on the cylinder head, on the machined part where the exhaust stud is mounted. Maybe they did that from the beginning 1916. If there is a number on your 490 cylinder head that differs from the number on the flywheel, one of these has been replaced.

A quick update on the car - although the engine looked like a solid lump of rust, it came apart quite well and shows virtually no signs of wear. I have bead blasted the major steel components and have found the flywheel number is actually H38394 and I also found the same number on the cylinder head so the engine all matches. I now need to locate new piston rings, valves and valve springs.
Does anyone know if the factory records exist so that I can obtain the car's identity as the plate is gone?
I'll be writing for the F**d T club GB to compare the 2 cars as the Chev is far more advanced than a comparable 1916 T.
Can anyone tell me or help with pictures on the front and rear spring arrangements? How many rear leaves and how they attach to the rear axle. How does the front spring set-up work and again fix to the front axle.
As this was very rusty and broken down into large pieces in 1973, I am struggling to figure it out.
Thanks in advance.

Sent you a PM today. Contact Ken Kaufmann too on email: Pre25Chev4@netscape.net

Good Day!
I have a 1922 490 Touring/ranch pick up parts car that I would like to find a ne home for!
I live in sothern California.
The car is incomplete but has many parts that could be used.
I would rather sell it as is with title or I will need to put it on Ebay piece by piece.
the vehicle ID is 648993 on wood firewall plate and title!
Thanks in advance!

You may also put this information in the Cars for sale column, as that is where buyers usually start to look. A hint about the price wanted would help.

Good luck.

I wish I had more time to read more posts. Please add another 22 touring to the count. Dad bought the car in Indiana at an auction in OCT of 03. The guy had a bunch of Crosley stuff The 22 had spent most of its life in a museum and is in good shape over all. It is painted incorrectly blue with a white radiator shell. The genorator plate broke and the distributor came out. Has been sitting for awhile. I hope to find some time it fired up and list it for sale later this year.

I saw a '22 490 enclosed 4 door sedan in Tennessee. The car appears very original. Some things need to be corrected like removal of the electric fuel pump and repair the vacuum canister. My question is the two tone paint. The fenders and hood are black and the body is an army kind of green. The paint is very faded, but I still wonder if that is an original color combination? Also, there are white pinstripes on the wooden spokes and on the hood vents. Did Chevrolet put those on or were they done by the dealer? The windshield has an outside visor with a rain channel. Is that Chevrolet or dealer installed option? Your thoughts?

Thanks,
Gary

I will need to update the 490 count as the list has grown quite a bit in the last couple of years.

I thought all the four-ninetys had the tank under the front seat and had no need for a vacuum tank? Also because the carburetor was lower than the tank. The electric pump will only make a lot of trouble by giving more than needed and overflow the carburetor.

As to the paint there may be some examples of a two tone, with one color on the body and black on the fenders, more likely outside US than in. Did such combination occur in Canada assemblies or in Oceania?

We know for certain that the Swedish importer (Wiklund's in Stockholm) had an ad (drawing) of a 1922 before the Royal Castle, showing the interior, not in black but in mid brown (skai) in Svensk Motor Tidning # 8/1922.

It is not likely the cars were pinstriped from the factory (cost and time needed) but may be some dealers had to do such sacrifies to "get rid of a mountain of cars behind the shop" during those years. With more than 100.000 cars stocked around the US the temptation to repaint etc. from standard black must have been quite strong.

Just my thoughts for the day.

Hi - a huge thanks to Solan for the help given so far. I get the impression that there are not too many users of the 490 part of the forum.
My helicopter jungle car is progressing well but I still have not found a torque tube with all of the brake mechanism, one rear spring and the 20 tooth gear in the gearbox. Are parts for these cars really so rare?
I have some questions for you 490 experts:
There seems to be no handbrake in the pile of parts but there is a ratchet on the footbrake. Is the pedal a dual use?
There is a number stamped on the rear axle case 19369. Is this relevant to anything?
What does the rear brake double cable configuration look like?
What oil seals are in the rear axle. I have the rollers, one worn out sleeve and some discs with 8 holes that fit onto the 1/2 shafts. I am assuming a leather seal fits in somewhere?
If anyone can help a guy to get his 490 back on the road with info on where to get the missing bits, please let me know.
Thanking you all in advance.

There is no Handbrake on a 1916 490. The Clutch pedal operates the clutch and the brake. the service brake is applied after the clutch has released, by depressing the pedal further. The brake pedal (centre pedal has a pawl to lock the brakes on for parking) can be used at the same time to give 2 feet applying the brakes.
There was a hand brake lever kit available to retrofit all 490's which was sold from mid 1921 onwards. This kit then separates the parking brake and the service brake. The service brake rods are moved to the centre brake pedal , and the clutch pedal used only for the clutch. The parking / emergency brake cables are then connected to the handbrake assembly.

Yes there are 4 cables used for the brakes on a 490 . 2 are for the external brake shoes , and 2 are for the internal brake shoes.

Thanks for the info Jack - I'm glad I asked.

Looks like I have located some early rockers and a few people are helping me worldwide with locating the torque tube. There must be one lurking in the back of someone's shed with my name on it!

I've manufactured one wooden wheel so 3 to go and the 3 road springs I have are now blasted and re-profiled.

It would be nice to have it rolling and possibly ready to start by the end of the year. It'll be great to hear it fire up after 80 odd year dormant.

Canadian built 490's had that Motor as McLaughlin under The Chevrolet Motor Company built the 490 and other Chevrolets in Oshawa and Regina Saskatchawan Canada 1915 to today

The Canadian cars be it McLaughlin, McLaughlin/Buick and the McLaughlin Carriages were all more elaborate than the Cars in the USA as he used materials from the suppliers for many years.I would suggest if you can google old Canadian Newspaper archives you cad see advertizing for General Motors of Canada Limited, McLaughlin Carriage Company with the Cars in the shop windows. The papers go back to 1889 and the Chevrolets start in 1915. Good hunting

I don't think the Canadian 490's were any "more elaborate than the cars in the USA" for any given years. Some components were manufactured by local companies, and stuff like paint was sourced locally, but they all met the specifications issued by the parent company, General Motors of Detroit. Your link does not work on my computer, it shows a 404 error. I would be interested in seeing any news paper articles of early Canadian Chevrolets that look "more elaborate" then their USA counterparts.

A Deluxe 490 was available in Canada and Australia which featured Nickel plated radiator shell ,and steering column , wheel centre and advance / retard levers. The colour available in Canada was Dark green with Gold pinstripe.

As early as 1918 a 490 could be painted what ever colour you could select In Tasmania, Australia, as they had their own body making factory, and delivered the body in Primer only.

The Mainland Australian deluxe 490 was also available in other colours than "Black"

Australian Deluxe 490's between 1918 and 1922 also had Nickel plated radiator shells and nickel plated steering columns, advance retard levers and centre steering wheel spider. And also a nickel plated front bumper bar.

I bought a 490 last October. titled as 16 but the more info I learn on it and these cars in general, the more confused I am. is there any way to date the body itself if your dash plate is gone?

hope this works