VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 1927 Chevy - What's Normal

After a fifty year rest, I finally got my 1927 Chevrolet back on the road, but never having driven it before, I,m not sure about what are the normal sound and reading I get from her.

1. I fill the radiator to about an inch from the top and every time I stop it, a bunch of water/antifreeze spits out the overflow and leaves the level just above the core itself. What level would be considered normal in the rad?

2. The oil pressure at idle is about 1-2 and while driving it reads about 5-6. Is that about normal?

3. The amp gauge reads about 6-8 at idle and 18-20 while driving. What reads would be considered normal?

4. The brakes have been adjusted so they are just rubbing the drum at all time, but I would not consider the braking power to be all that great. There is no way that I would ever be able to lock the brakes in a panic. You sort of have to pay attention to the cars in front of you and plan your stops well in advance. I think I might have greater stopping power with the parking brake. Is that normal for two wheel brakes on a 1927?

5. The engine was just rebuilt and yet to me it sounds more like a diesel engine than anything. A little bit of almost knocking or something. Is that what an old 4 cylinder sounds like?

All comments and advice will be greatly appreciated, THANKS!!

1) I filler up she spits some out
2) my oil pressure is about 4-6 pounds
3) I think you need to adjust your generator brushes 10 amps tops
4) brakes squeek sometimes
5) mine sounds like a diesel then adjust dist at steering wheel
still sounds like diesel

ken

Ken's right on track! My 1928 is the same.

Thanks you guys,

I do not have Matilida running yet. Still a waitin' for the radiator to be finished.

At least now I am sure I will get to drive her.

Lets see...all I need are ear plugs, blindfold, and anchor...yep...off we go!!!
Yahoo!!
Bob D.
Susanville, CA

Hope you get it on the road soon. The August SWF Tour will come up before you know it.

Hi Forest,

We do not plan on bringing the '27 to NM. Bev wants to run her '52.

However, I am still sort of under the "gun". Cal's 4 & 6 cyl tour, which is being run here in Susanville on the 9th of June is almost upon me. Yicks!! time sure flys when you are having fun :) I must be REALLY having a ball....

Bob D.

27Chevy

1) mine seems to level out just above core but I keep on fillin er up anyway.
2) mine mostly does not go lower than 3 i have read from others 1-2 happens sometimes at idle, look for info via search on oil to use, 10w30 is common
3)look in repair manual and adjust brushes its easy, i got mine set so 10 is max at night it goes negative sometimes.
4) gotta start stoppin early with these birds, i take side streets and go slow, its kinda nice
5) I have driven a 26 and my 27 they were and sounded similar far from modern Chevy smooooooooooothness.

Ken 45145

Fellas,

I have a 1926 Model T Coupe and a more recent 1930 Chevy 3 window Coupe, which I really like. I had thought I would be buying a Model A, until I actually drove one and then began looking elsewhere, till I learned more about Chevys of that era.

Well, now the same thing has happened in regards to the T. I drove a rather bad 1925 Chevy Coupe and even as bad a condition as it was, I felt the car was dynamically much better than the T.

So, as a result of all this, I am looking to buy a 1927 Chevy coupe and possibly sell the T. I have located four cars for sale and have only driven one.

I am not the sort of person who polish a old classic and let it sit in the garage waiting for guests to admire it. I drive the cars I have. So, I would be thinking of installing a 1928 engine or cyl head and other modifications to get a bit more grunt for touring. I wonder if others have worked on the possibility of mounting front brakes, etc.

Any information or tips would be quite valuable to me at this point.

Thanks,

Jay

Hi Jay,

Glad to see a convert, it's never to late to see the light.
Unless your sweet on a particular 27, would it be easier to buy a 28 from the start. The head change from sigle to twin port would give you about an extra 5HP, and on a recent rally, 27's were never held up on a hill buy 28's The fitting of front brakes can be done, but will be a lot of fiddling and adjustments, but I am sure both mods will give you a good result. Best wishes, and I hope it goes well.

Regards

Ray

There are many earlier cars with '28 engines. That is not a big problem for '26-'27s but a bit more work for earlier conversions. There are several pre-'25 cars on the 4 Cylinder tours. None of them suffer significantly on performance even the '18 490 touring from Utah, the '20 490 Roadster from Washington and the '23 Roadster from California. They don't have any problems staying in front of my '28 Coupe.

Changing to front wheel brakes will take a bunch of parts and fiddling. We have plenty of '27 and earlier Chevys that routinely tour. In a recent tour in Eureka Springs, AR the '27s didn't have any problems even on the narrow percipitous streets and roads. A stop sign at the bottom of a 6+% downgrade was negotiated properly.

Okay, I've been looking in the repair manual for the procedure to adjust the generator brushes, but have not come across it yet. Could someone give me the procedure or point me to the right page in the repair manual. THANKS!!

cannot find manual (wife organized things) but if I remember right remove cover around rear brush area you will see the third brush its called with screw to loosen and move this brush. I think moving towards engine reduces output but pay attention to ammeter and you will get it. then just tighten it up and do not forget to reinstall cover

happy memorial day
honor a vet
Ken 45145

And, if you want to increase the generator output you move the third brush (which is the brush that is in the top position in the generator) towards the fender. Don't forget to tighten the screw that holds the third brush in position.

27Chevy,

I've sent you an email with a scanned image of the 3rd brush adjustment.

Dan

I used all the information that I received and tried the proceedure. At first moving the third brush did not seem to make any difference, but I sat back, had a beer and tried again and this time everthing seemed to work as designed. Now I have 6-7 amps at idle and set the third brush so that I have 10-12 amps at running speed, compared to the 20 amps I had before. Is this about right or should I try to reduce the runnung amps even more???? Thanks to all that supplied information to help me with this problem!!!!

The ideal setting for all conditions would be somewhere between 10 to 12 amps charge at 1,700 RPM generator speed, which would be about 850 RPM engine speed.

Unless you only drive very short distances or at night with the lights on, 10-12 amps is way too much output. All it takes is a few minutes at 10 amps to restore the power used to start the engine (unless you have to crank it over for an extended period, then it takes a couple more minutes). After the starting power is restored then it only takes a fraction of an amp to keep the battery fully charged.

I typically adjust the generator to 6-8 amps (the adjustment is tougher to set it less than that) and run the headlights most of the time the car is on the road. The problem is remembering to shut off the lights when I shut off the engine. On most tours I run my generator with regulator in the band. The major problem with the higher generator output is it boils out the water and shortens the battery life. It is a pain to keep adding water to a battery under the floor board.

I have a 1927 chev capitol and most of what you say seems to be normal. I will chat with you later, I'm looking for the little valve that turns the vacuum on for the wiper.
My email is chevyjimwms@yahoo.com.
Thanks,
Jim Williams

Check with Gary Wallace. He probably has the valve.

Water - Just barely cover the core with water and then you will not have any water coming out. Putting more water in it will just flow out when heated.

My two 4 cylinders the oil pressure is 10-12 at 30 mph

Brakes -
When my 27 had original type asbestos linings I could lock up the rear wheels very easily. With those original asbestos type linings I never felt like I needed anymore stopping power. Today's non asbestos linings do not stop as good. I use the hand brake very often in tandem with the foot brakes. The hand brakes seem to stop better then the foot brake.