VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 28 engine specs

I just need to know engine spec’s, timing points gap, valve adjustment lash, oiling frequencies, and other things an operator should know.
. . Thanks, Lou

Lou, post some pics of your build! ;-)

Here's how I have Lurch and Justin's engines set up:

• Set the point gap to .018 of an inch
• With piston number one at TDC and the distributor lever fully retarded (on the trucks, pulled down), the points should be on the verge of opening. Always start the engine with the distributor lever in the retarded position and then full advance after a few seconds of running.
• I use Autolite 3077 or Champion W89D long reach plugs, with the gap set at .035"
• To set the valve lash, start with (new engine build) .006" for both intake and exhaust. Then, after warmed up, set the intake for .006" and exhaust for .008"
• I squirt some engine oil (10-30W) on the rockers and some extra on the felt pad before every drive.
• When you check the engine oil level, do not wipe off the end of the dip stick. Instead, let that drop a little on the front bearing/bushing of the water pump (just behind or under the pulley).
• Give the water pump grease cup (I use Lubriplate 115) a little turn before every drive.
• Refer to the Shop Manual for other lubrication info. But just for a quickie overview, I use:
  • Mobil 600W in the tranny, for the u-joint, and rear end. I made a teenie weenie dip stick (old window wiper flat rod) to check the oil level in the u-joint housing. I keep about 1/2" oil level in there. If you over fill it, it'll spill out more readily through the back of the ball housing. I believe you only need enough oil in there to splash around and lubricate the u-joint bearings.
  • A mixture of 2/3 John Deere Corn Head grease and 1/3 600W oil for the steering box.
  • High temp bearing grease in the distributor grease cup.

Cheers, Dean

Hi Dean, That should be enough to get me going and keep me going.
Thanks, Lou

Lou,

This is also a great reference

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/chevyresto/28index.htm

Thanks Qman, I was going to post that too. I have that page bookmarked and use it often. I should print it out.

My '28 started missing the other day. I tried re-setting the points which didn't seem to make much of a difference. When I first got it running I replaced the points, condenser, coil and coil wire to the distributor. I set the valve lash to the specs listed above. A new set of plugs wires from Marx's Parts along with Champion W89D plugs should be arriving this week. It currently has the standard electrode plugs that napa gave me. I will sett the new plugs to a .035" gap as shared above. I also ordered a small baffle to insert in the turn out pipe to help give it a little bit of backpressure. The exhausts is about 2.5' off of the header. Any other suggestions or things I should look into? Thanks,

Check for a vaccume leak.

I couldn’t get it to fire this afternoon. I checked the points and I’m not getting any spark. When I touch a screwdriver to the distributor housing it will spark. It Seems like something is grounding or not grounded properly. Having the hardest time figuring it out.

Howdy,

This electrical check out procedure from Chipper might help. Although written for a 6 cylinder, it works for the 4 bangers as well.
https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/285347/re-1950-wont-start.html#Post285347

Cheers, Dean

Thanks Dean. I was able to get spark at the points again. The Spark is noticeably larger dragging a screw driver across than at the points when they open and close. It seems like if I tighten my bolt down all the way I loose it completely. What can be used to keep the bold from grounding or touching the distributor housing. I currently have rubber washers but it seems they might be getting smashed.

There should be a very thin gasket between the spring of the moveable point and the inside of the distributor housing to prevent the spring from grounding out. Also, there should be gasket rings around the bolt that goes through the distributor housing (where the coil wire attaches), which keeps that bolt isolated from the housing.

Glad you are making progress!

Cheers, Dean

Thanks! stopped by the local hardware store before work and picked up a few fiber washers for the bolt. Would grey gasket paper work to keep the point spring off the housing? Not sure what else I could slide in there since everything is so tight.

I use a thick gray gasket material for the insulator between the point spring and distributor housing. Originally a waxed cardboard type material was used. Think the wax was to keep absorbed water from making paper conductive.

You can also use plastic milk or soda bottle material.

Dave

I have also used pieces cut from a rattle can lid. Many are the same diameter as the distributor body.

Thanks for the tips! I’ll get back to it this evening.

We're back up and running! I was able to get a good spark yesterday evening and installed the new spark plugs. It seems that there is a noticeable tone difference with the long reach spark plugs. I ended up taking it on a 7-mile loop around the backroads last night with no noticeable issues besides something in the tank that temporarily blocked the fuel tank petcock. Looks like I'll have to pull the tank and clean it out again.

I posted a few videos below to see if it sounds right to everyone. I can't tell if it still has a slight miss or not. The new spark plug wires will be arriving today but I need to pack to head out of town for a long weekend so I'll have to hit pause until next week.

Video #1

Video #2

Also, since I don't have the vacuum tank, there was a little cap on the butterfly valve above the carburetor. I pulled the cap last night and had the butterfly valve open as it seemed to be sucking in more air and seemed to run smoother that way. Any suggestions as to what I should do with it? Leave the cap off and the valve open but put a small screen over it? or something else?

Here is a picture:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fmdbzontgbwk1y/IMG_5211.PNG?dl=0

Thanks again,

Sounds pretty good to me, some of the other guys may have a better ear but I don't think there's anything you need to worry about. After you get some more miles on it pull the plugs and see what they look like, if they're consistent and not showing signs of being too lean or too rich or timing issues, I'd say you're good to go. If you're like me, you worry about every little sound and after spending hours looking for the cause you end up realizing it's fine, that's just the way it sounds :)

I'm assuming "Video #1" is with the short reach plugs and "Video #2" is with the long reach plugs?

-Tyler

That makes me feel better. I guess because I’ve never heard an old 4cylinder run, I don’t know what it should sound like. Sometimes I think it’s missing but maybe not. Both videos are with the long reach plugs. The first one was with the cap on and the butterfly valve closed.