VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1916-1922 - Model 490 490 tire trouble getting solved today!

Hi Guys, I want to thank everyone again who helped with the Nascar style tire changing pit stop at the Sloan staging area just before the Saginaw Street show. It really meant a lot to be able to get the car down there as part of the 100 years of Chevrolet and it was needed as it was the only 21 490 at the show if not the only 21. 5 new tires will be ordered today. I will be checking with the local TV stations as one guy was taping I think from Channel 12 and post it here. We got home ok but I started to overheat and feel lousy the last 50 miles to home. The A/C will soon be fixed on my 71 Chevy truck! Sunday morning I loaded up Christine, Michael (10), Rayanna(16) and myself for a nice long country drive in the 490. Nice smooth freshly paved road going north out of town made for a pleasurable time. The 2 kids got to drive the 490 by themselves at the school parking lot and both did great! Not many kids these days will be able to say the first car they ever drove was a 21 Chevy!! Driving lessons for Rayanna will continue in my 28 since it is not as touchy when shifting and the pedals are more like a modern car.

Bob... What exactly was the problem there? We saw you all struggling with it for some time, and I saw it was flat again on Saginaw street. Was there a shortage of spares around? Are the '21's a different size from all the other old ones that were there? It was great to see so many VCCA members chip in and help... I would have as well, but really would have been in the way, as I know nothing about the old tubes and clincher rims! I spent that time push starting four or five of the old ones!

What happened was the rim slid on the wheel shearing the valve stem. The spare on my car has the wrong rim (23-4 rim)and the end of the valve stem is broken off so no way to put air in it anyway. We rounded up a spare tube and with the spoons chaned the tube right there in the road, Bad news is I pinched the tube because I was in a hurry. I ended up borrowing a spare off the 1920 touring and got it put on in time for the police escort. That is the tire that was flat on Saginaw Street. We aired it up after the brick show and shot like a rocket down to the trailer parking area to get it loaded. When I rounded the corner at Saginaw and Hemphill RD with the trailers in sight, the borrowed spare blew out. It was a very old tire most likely from the 30s and the cotton cord was dry rotted and let go near the edge of the tread. I got the car loaded , took it to my hotel and fixed the new tube I pinched with a patch kit bought that morning. Whew! Clinchers are just about like changing a bicycle tire, Very easy to do once you get the hang of it and yes there is a trick. The valve stem must be pushed way up inside the tire beads when mounting. There is no flap used on the rim since the beads are wide and protect the tube.

Ordered the new tires Monday from Lucas Classic tires since they had Wards Riversides. I can use one of my old ones for a spare since they will match and save $142.00. They showed up at my door on Tues! That was fast!

I bought the new Wards Riversides on my '20 490 from Lucas. I had the same fast service - which isn't usually the case to SW Colorado. It was great meeting you on Wednesday...wish I'd had my car there!

Congratulations, Bob. I loved to meet you in Flint together with your family. Thanks for the fun we had, even when you had the break down at the cruising.

Yes, I wish Christine and Rayana could have been there as well. Michael and I sure did have a lot of fun. The 490 did pretty good for its first time out on a long drive. I even took it for a long drive Sunday when I got home. It did very well and I was happy.

Ok, I am still waiting on the box with the tubes..oh well, it is too hot today anyway.

Finally got the new tires on! Took a couple days due to the excessive heat and humidity. But now have a good spare on the back, tire kit, extra tools, jack and everything needed for a road side disasters. Took it for a drive and for some reason the rotor fell off the pin and the engine died. One more thing to look at, but then should be ready for a road trip!

Hi Bob,

There should be a spring loaded rotor that holds the rotor on and also helps with the contact to each of the four cylinders through the plug wires to the plug and BOWM.

Was the spring missing?

Hi Ray, good to meet you at Flint! This happened on my 21. the only spring is the center contact that rubs the cap. This distributor has one of the long skinny rotors that has the locating or indexing pin next to the larger centering stud.

Good meeting you also. Wish I had more time and cooler days to get around and meet more of the guys, especially from the Chat Group.

Even the rotor for the 490 has the spring on top to maintain contact with the center terminal in the cap. It also provides some pressure to keep the rotor on the end of the shaft and running in a prescribed circle.

I find a few of the rotors with that contact spring missing.

I did not get my car finished in time so I could take it to Flint so I had to drag out the 25 Roadster that has been driven in many locations on the National 4-cylinder tours. Gave it a quick mechanical check and loaded it up for the trip. Managed to pull two attachments, one at the MidWest in Dundee, to the Preservation Board and a 2nd place in class judging at the Anniversary Meet.

Yep, my car has that spring although I need to make sure it puts enough pressure to keep it down. The spring I thought you were talking about is on some rotors have one in the hole where it slides on the distributor shaft. Since the locator pin was slightly bent when my trouble happened, I think the cap must have slid off center just enough to let the rotor hit one of the spark plug wire contacts inside the cap and the rotor tried to shear off the locator pin. I will check side play on the distributor shaft as well as the rotor spring pressure and hopefully I will figure it out before something breaks in there.

Howdy Bob,
I have loaded some pics of that nascar tyre changing event...LOL

Hey John... I saw the pics on your Facebook, but these guys may need a link...