VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 The Story of a 1926 Chevrolet Superior Series K Touring

Thanks! It's been a fun experience so far.

I can't wait to drive this thing in about a month!

In my last update from Saturday, I showed how I had laid down a fat coat of linseed oil on the front wheels. I had a chance to check on them last night after work.

You can see that after three days of sitting, most of the oil had been absorbed by the wood. The gaps near the hub have all tightened up!








After wiped the excess oil off with a rag.







At this point, I debated about rubbing the spokes with #0000 steel wool like I had done previously, but I decided to do another coat of oil before doing that.






If anyone is wondering, this is what I'm using on the wheels.



If anyone decides to use linseed oil, I highly recommend doing it in a well ventilated area and be sure to dispose of your brushes and rags appropriately. They can spontaneous combust.

Beautiful!! This is a chore I need to do for my '27 truck. I soaked the wood spokes in linseed oil 20 years ago, so I suspect it is time for another bath.

Another project for this summer.

Cheers, Dean

Work continues on the Chevy.... The pressure to get this driving is starting to build. I'm due to get kicked out of this heated storage space on March 30 and there is still a lot of stuff to do.

I'm just about finished applying linseed oil to the front wheels. I laid a coat on them last Friday after knocking the shine down with #0000 steel wool. I also laid another coat down last night. I plan on letting them sit until Thursday or Friday before wiping them down for the last time. All of the wood grain and and gaps have tightened up nicely and I have not been able to find a loose spoke.


Here is a wheel after wiping off the oil on Saturday.






And one more after applying oil for the last time.




I have spent quite a lot of time with a pick cleaning the threads on the rear wheels. My wheel puller will now thread all the way onto both rear wheels. Does anyone have any advice for removing the wheels? Cranking the crap out of the tool bothers me and I'm afraid of hurting something. Perhaps driving the car in circles with the nut loosened will do the trick??? Any advice here would be super helpful.

I want to get those rear wheels off so that I can give them an oil bath. I can also check out the brakes and replace the rear wheel bearings while I'm in there. Has anyone use sealed bearings for the rear axle?

The rear wheels on my '28 didn't want to come off either. One wheel came off using the regular puller, but, after tightening the puller's bolt, I had to use a 5 pound sledge hammer on it for the wheel to break free from the tapered axle.

The other rear wheel needed some innovation. The hub threads were totally smashed and there was no way to clean them up for the hub puller. So, I improvised and REALLY smacked the new puller with a sledge hammer. Eventually it came off and I replaced the hub.

Below are a couple of pics of the puller setup.

;-) Dean

Awesome. Thank you for the information, Dean!

Hopefully I won't have to go as far as you did to get these darn things off.

It's been a while since my last update... Life gets busy sometimes.

I finished the oil treatment on the front wheels, replaced the wheel bearings and got the front wheels remounted! Getting one of the inner bearing cups out was a real SOB. I had to shave just a little bit of inner hub material off with a chisel in order to get a punch at just the right angle to tap out.






The battery cables that were on the car looked okay, but they are stiff and the insulation is starting to crack and fail. Gary Wallace hooked me up with some replacements.

At this point yesterday, I couldn't find any reason why I shouldn't add water and fuel and see if the rebuilt fuel pump worked. I primed the fuel pump and put a couple gallons of fuel in the main tank. She fired right up after three revolutions. Oil pressure looked strong and the freshened up generator appeared to be charging the system. I varied the RPM a bit for a couple minutes to help fill the oil troughs and double checked for leaks. Everything looked good except for a bit of smoke. No big deal.

After adjusting the clutch linkage a little, I pulled it out of the garage and into the sun. She spent some time with the Buick while I took some pictures and checked the fuel pump. I was also able to drive it up and down the driveway a couple times. I needed that.








If the YouTube video doesn't embed:

Unfortunately, the fuel pump does not appear to be working. I never heard it relieve vacuum and the car slowly ran out of fuel. The inline filter that I added between the main tank and the pump had fuel in it from gravity, but I could not see any fluid movement. I checked for drips and leaks, but saw nothing. I also checked for a vacuum leak, but I'm doubting that because the car idles so nicely. Does anyone have any advice?

Vacuum leaks between the manifold and fuel pump may not significantly affect the idle particularly if you adjusted the carburetor with the leak. At idle you should have a noticeable vacuum on the line from the manifold to tank. If that is the case then plug off the vacuum tank vent with your finger. With vacuum applied to the fuel line from the rear tank there should be flow even if the vacuum pump is not working internally. If gas is not drawn from the tank then blow air back toward the tank and note if there are bubbles generated in the gas tank or hear air blown into the tank. If you only hear air the pickup tube may not be down into the gasoline. If you hear nothing there probably is a plug or restriction in the line. Or your hearing is bad so you need to have someone else listen.

If no vacuum then find out why? Port on manifold plugged? Line plugged? Fitting loose or leaking?

Once you determine you have an open line to the gasoline tank and pickup is below the gas level, you have sufficient vacuum to the fuel pump then the internals of the fuel pump should be evaluated.

If you do all that and still have a problem come back for more sage advise.

Awesome! You're the man, Chipper.

I'll do some more testing and check back here.

My 1926 motor meter has the owners initial on the badge that is attached.

I see you have the same problem with the radiator shell we had. The truck shells are steel if you can find one. We found one and had it chromed.

Have you been into the warerpump? If it overheats you best go in. There is baffle plate in front of the impeller that is usually rusted away. The have them at the Filling Station.

If you tear into the water pump, here's some info about a rebuild that I did recently: Water pump rebuild for a '28 engine

While the water pump is out, it is a good time to stick a long stiff wire (like a coat hanger) into the water jacket to loosen up rust clumps and flush them out. The back end of the engine is particularly prone to getting clogged up and not cooling well.

On the topic of motor meter badges, I had an artist friend of mine paint a copper disc for Lurch.

Love your posts and pics! Dean

That interesting. Can you post a photo or two of your motometer? I'd love to see it.

I have sourced a brand new aluminum radiator shell. The guy is putting the finishing touches on it and I should have it sometime. I'm not rushing him.

The water pump has been rebuilt. It was actually in decent shape before... The car didn't have any water in it for over 30 years.




Thanks for the info!

Okay, so....

I was fooling around with the car last Thursday and after adding a couple gallons of gasoline to the main tank, the fuel pump appeared to work. The glass fuel filter between the pump and the carburetor showed a consistent level of gasoline and the car ran long enough that I convinced myself to take it down the road and back for the first time. However, I never heard it vent to atmosphere even though I had vacuum at the vent. Later that evening when my grandfather was there, it failed to work at all and showed no vacuum at the pump's vent.

- The fuel line from the tank to the pump is clear. I can blow through it and hear bubbles in the main tank.
- The vacuum line from the intake manifold to the pump is clear.
- The engine is creating plenty of vacuum, but I have not measured it.
- I could not find a vacuum leak anywhere.

I disassembled the pump over the weekend and did not notice anything weird. The mechanism appears to be moving fine without any binding or hangups and the gasket looked good too. I added a little bit of Gibb's oil to the moving parts and reassembled. I did not have time to start the car to check to see if it works... I've been working late, but I will have time tomorrow after work to play with the car some more. I'll give an update here afterwards.

Another issue popped up while my grandfather and I were messing with the car the other day. I had a distributor rotor-button failure while I was diagnosing the fuel pump. After fixing it, my grandfather noticed that the distributor was loose and was moving. I tightened the set screw and lock nut, but now the timing advance rod from the steering column is making contact with a bolt head on the starter. This makes the movement of the timing lever on the column clunky and not smooth at all. Has anyone every experienced a similar situation?

I'm guessing that changing the position of the clamp-on stops on the column may change the way that rod is positioned.... I am going to experiment with this a bit. Also, I should be seeing 30-degrees of distributor movement for the advance, right?

Long time, no update. Work has picked up and I'm busier than ever. Anyways...

I moved the car from my winter storage spot to my home garage a few weeks back. When I started the car to drive it onto the trailer, I kept losing ignition. The fault appeared to lie with the points. They would move around so much, that they would become offset and lose the ability to work properly. After getting the car home, I removed the distributor and replaced the (very worn) points. I also thought that this would be a great time to start from scratch and retime the engine. Oh boy, I shouldn't have done that.

After a whole lot of trial and error, my grandfather and I were able to get the timing back where it needs to be. I cannot understand why the engineers thought that setting the timing with an adjustable distributor cam was a good idea, but I guess it is what it is. The spark is very strong now and the car lights right off when asked to start.

With the ignition out of the way, I can now move on to the timing advance rod and getting that into a position and shape that will give me a nice full sweep without binding. That will include a lot of playing with the adjustment on the column and maybe tweaking the rod a bit. Currently, the handle inside the car that controls the timing advance is only moving about half of the total sweep, but it moves the distributor internals to full retard and full advance.

The last of my current, short-term projects includes figuring out why this fuel pump will not pull fuel from the main tank. I rebuilt the whole thing, but it acts like it doesn't have any vacuum. I am going to use a hand-operated vacuum pump to bench test this thing to see if the problem lies with a poor vacuum source from the engine. I've checked for a leak, but I cannot find one. The copper plumbing is (maybe?) original and it may be leaking at a fitting or something. I will figure it out though.

No pictures this time, as I forgot to take some when I was messing with the points. I'll be sure to snap a few as I move forward. If anyone has any advice, I would be very gracious.

Regarding the fuel problem, does your gas tank cap have a vent hole? Maybe it is clogged. If vent air cannot get into the top of the gas tank, the vacuum tank cannot suck gas from the gas tank because an opposing vacuum is created above the gas.

Be careful when trying to bend the distributor retard/advance rods. Especially at the ends where the sever bend is located. I tried bending one recently and it broke because it was very brittle.

On a related topic, I recently changed carburetors on my '27 and one of the throttle rods needed to be longer and twisted 90 degrees. Instead of trying to bend or twist the rod, I cut in in half, threaded the cut ends (10-32), and inserted a threaded connector between the two, with lock nuts and washers to lock the rods in place. So, I made the throttle rod 1/2 inch longer and was able to rotate it easily to fit the new carb arm.

Cheers, Dean

The tank cap does have a vent, but I will remove the cap entirely while I diagnose the issue.

Threading the rod ends together is a great tip. Hopefully I won't have to do that.

Thank you for the advice!

Happy Monday, everyone.

I worked on the old car this weekend and I think I may have figured out why my fuel pump does not work.

To recap:

- I have vacuum to the pump.
- I cannot find any vacuum leaks.
- The fuel line to the pump does not have any cracks or leaks. I can hear bubbles in the main tank when I blow through it and I also used a hand-pump vacuum pump to pull fuel to the pump connection.
- The pickup is submerged and the tank has ~9 gallons of fuel.
- The fuel cap vent is open.
- The pump has new springs and the valves seat and seal when the mechanism is cycled.
- No visible cracks or damage to the tank or tank cap.

New discovery:

When the pump is full of fuel (by priming manually) and when the pump is low on fuel, the vent at the top of the pump is always pulling vacuum. This should not be happening. I think that my pump my be missing a collet, jet or something that goes between the vent and the air vent valve and that is where I am losing vacuum. I have included a picture below pointing out the part.



Does anyone have this piece? Any idea where I can find it?


As a bonus, here are some pictures that I look last night.

Your problem is the "flapper" valve at the bottom of the inside tank. That valve has to seal relatively well to draw fuel from the gasoline tank. There are two valve types. One is die-cast. The other is brass. If die-cast it is probably at least warped if not cracked and crumbling. The brass one is much more stable. However there is a phenolic (micorda) flapper that seals against the flat surface of the metal part of the valve. It is held at an angle so gravity helps to close it. Some of the phenolic flappers are warped. If so it will need to be replaced. There are only a few sheets of plastic that can be used with gasoline with ethanol to make a replacement. I have had to do that on a few. First thing to try it to sand the metal surface flat by sandwiching the rough side of sand paper or crocus cloth away from the phenolic with light pressure on the phenolic. You can test it by sucking on the valve removed from the tank. Try to keep the threaded part of the valve vertical like when the vacuum tank is installed. It may be necessary to wet the valve with gasoline to increase the seal. Filling partly with gas or holding your finger over the vent tube for a while while it tries to pump should do it.

Thank you for the information, Chipper. I just back from the shop.

I took the pump apart and took a good look at the flapper. The brass valve body does have some corrosion where the flapper seats. Not only could I draw air through the valve, but light could be seen through a gap while it's in a resting position.












After a couple steps of sandpaper, it cleaned up okay... Not perfect, but I couldn't draw any air through the flapper when dry. Seemed to seal pretty well.




I reassembled the pump and let it run for a minute or two. The pump never made any noise and the vent tube was still drawing vacuum the whole time. I held my finger over the vent a couple times for a few seconds, but it makes the engine hesitate if held too long.

I forgot to add fuel to the pump... It's late now and I don't want to tick off the neighbors. I'll increase the level tomorrow and let you know what happens.

There is another thing to look for. A member here in the CRR used to run a small business of rebuilding the various style of vacuum tanks. He was one of the suppliers for the refurbished ones offered by Steve at TFS. I was learning some of it when he bacame ill and passed away. You should be able to do this on the eight screw Stewart tank you show pictured. Take the top off of the vacuum tank. While holding it in the vertical position, gently lift the float. It should come up close to the top and the spring mechanism should TOGGLE over and open the vent. As it does you should hear a distinct metallic click. If you do not see and hear the spring toggle work you will need to rework the mechanism. An easier solution might be to replace the whole top of the tank. Parts can be found for these. About a year ago I found one in an antique store for $5. Some parts were missing but the body of the tank was in very nice condition. I used to buy them occaisionally for Mike, the budget ceiling was $20. Not all of them worked but if they had some usable parts it helped. Like Chipper was hinting, these things are so simple that generally it is going to be the flapper, the spring toggle mechanism, or the top gasket. Keep the forum posted because your efforts may help the next person with their project.

When Mike passed on I was asked by Steve to rebuild vacuum tanks for TFS. I have been doing them since. Yes they are simple and very reliable when in good shape. Tops for the 8 screw Stewarts can be very expensive and a bit difficult at times particularly if one is not familiar with how they work and what typically goes wrong. The bottom valve is one particularly challenging part particularly if not in good condition.

The mechanism moves up and down smoothly and that metallic click is present.

So some how something is obviously not working properly. With the mechanism out of the body move the float up and down and try to analyze why it is not sealing the vent. You may end up sending it to Chip to be checked out. Some tanks had a small additional vent hole in the top between the inner lining and the outer tank. When you made your new gasket make sure you did not cover that hole. Other models used the alignment pin as an extra vent hole between the inner and outer tanks. One time I put a temporary piece of clear hose at the tank inlet on the gas side. 12" of 3/8" refridgerator drain hose in a loop works great, it will fit over the inlet ferral and can be sealed with a hose clamp. That way you can see if it is drawing fuel or not. Some people will say it might not be fuel compatible but I have not had any disolve yet. It is not like it is going to be a permanent installation, it is merely another tool to solve a problem. Works on 36 Chev mechanical pumps as well. Still had bubbles and when I moved it to the tank told me the pickup in the tank had rusted through.

It will take more than several seconds to pull enough gasoline from the tank to wet and seal the flapper. If you are getting hesitation when the air flow through the vacuum tank is blocked by your finger then there is another problem. When the vent tube is blocked then vacuum is applied to the inner tank. That applies vacuum to the gas line from the gasoline tank pulling gas into the vacuum tank.

The 8 screw Stewart has a vent that is always open. It vents through the short tube between two screws on the top lip. The passage continues above the valve shown inside the red circle on the illustration and out the "U" shaped tube. That allows the gasoline in the large tank to drain into the carburetor. If the bottom flapper is not sealed well enough to prevent air leakage then the vacuum from the intake manifold will draw air through the open vent past the flapper valve and into the manifold.

An update from last night...

When the float is up, there is flow to both the upper and lower chambers as well as the atmosphere vent. When the float is down, the vent is sealed. Remember, I am missing that check valve that goes under the vent tube.

When the float is up, the vacuum line to the intake has a very, very tiny draw when dry. Seemed well sealed when oil was added. When the float is down, there is flow through the vacuum port.

I am using a cork gasket from Gary Wallace. It is not blocking the alignment pin vent hole in the mounting flange of the tank. I also have a glass in-line filter under the car between the main tank and vacuum pump. I do not see any flow when the engine is running.

I have enough fuel in the pump to allow the engine to run for a while as well as submerge the flapper. I have not been starting the car with an empty pump.

I plan on taking it for a drive after work this evening to give it some time to run and burn fuel... See what happens.