VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION New User Forum Hi New to the Forum with a New 1926 project

Hi
I am new here and hoping to gain some info please for a new project I just purchased.
I just got home last night a new to me project which is a 1926 Chev touring with what appears to be a 1928 motor.
Powertrain is said to have had work done to it and runs.
I see he has modified things and the vac tank is gone and a old tractor tank installed under the hood in its place, but it appears to be leaking, I will change it back at a later date.
My goal today is just to fire it up.
I am going to hook up a bottle of gas for now to the carb above it just to fire it up.
Now I see it has a spark retard lever on it all hooked up, but the dist seems to be bolted solid..........does this year need a working spark retard or did they lock them out ? Or maybe somebody could tell me what I need to do here, I could loosen the bolt slightly and it appears it would pivot.

Thanks in advance
Regards

The '26 had a distributor with a lever to rotate the points plate. So the distributor body is stationary and does not rotate.

Ok thanks
I did get it running, but I will have to look and see what is up with the dist. As it does not seem to adjust the dist or a plate so will have to see what they have done.

does the 26 distributor mount or operate different than the 1928 ?
Pretty sure mine is missing something and is just bolted down solid
My dist is a 635 b which I think is correct for a 28 motor
Thx in advance

The '26 and '28 distributors are very different. The late '27 and '28 have a mechanical advance and rotate to advance or retard the timing. The earlier distributors are bolted and do not rotate the body. Instead they have a lever or extension to rotate the plate holding the points to change the timing.

Any suggestions on spark plugs ? For a 28 motor
Thx

Thanks for the reply chipper
This appears to able to rotate the body it just does not have the correct fastener as it is just a regular bolt, as I’m sure it maybe should have a stud and a locking nut, maybe.

I use Autolite 3077 or Champion W89D plugs in my '28s. They are long reach plugs. Autolite 3077 has been out of stock for a while. Maybe they will make another run like they did several years ago. They only lasted a few months before they were snapped up. The Champions are available by order from most auto parts houses.

Thanks very much Chipper
I will order some champions Monday
Looks like it currently has 4 different brands , co-op , arcana, champion can’t remember the other .......but they do not look like long reach to me, so I don’t think they are helping my cause right now. And I need a new needle for the carb I have temporarily made one from a old Holley but is sticking a bit.
Need also to order sparkplug wires pretty sure these ones must be originals all re wrapped with electrical tape.
Have to re time the car tomorrow thing I’m a little off as they did not put the flywheel back on correctly to line up the marks as far as I can tell.
Opened up the points to .030 they were about.010
Thanks again, any advice very much appreciated !!!

Chipper may well correct me but I think .030 is a little wide, without checking I would set them at .017 to .018 or there abouts. Adjusting the point gap will alter your timing as well.
Tony

Tony is right .018-0.20" is good for the points depending if used or new. Wider is for fairly quick work in on rubbing block.

Ok thanks I thought it sounded a little wide to but read it in somebody’s forum conversation they were setting the points and there plugs at .030 , but I will change that today.

I got thinking last night when I set the timing I did it wrong
Had in my head TD number 1 , flywheel would be at 25 , set up rotor pointing and number one , with lever full retard , wala done, The pointer didn’t have a 25 to point at, So I had a brain fade TD no.1 , pointed the dist to 1 tightened down., was not till last night thinking about it, I just timed it at about 0 rather than 25 AD so got looking at some pictures and Think I need to back the flywheel up by I think about 8 teeth.

Does this sound right ? Or am I mixed up ?
Thx in advance

When I set the timing for my '28 engines, I keep in mind that with the retard/advanced lever completely retarded (for starting the engine), you want the points to open and the plug to fire at TDC. This is so that the explosion does not try to run the engine backwards against the rotation of the starter motor.

After the engine fires and runs okay for a few moments, I slowly advance the retard/advance lever to fully advanced (which is about 25 degrees BTDC) and leave it alone and go on my drive.

Here is the timing procedure I use for my two '28 engines:

1. Set the point gap to .018".

2. Rotate the crankshaft so that the line in the middle of the U | D marking on the flywheel is on the pointer in the observation window (in the flywheel cover near the exhaust pipe). Using a hand crank for this operation is very handy. At this position, cylinder number one SHOULD be TDC. By the way, make sure this is on the compression stroke for cylinder number one. If the flywheel is not put on properly, the markings may not line up to the pointer properly. I had this situation with Justin (see links below). I manually found TDC with a wooden dowel sticking through the spark plug hole and painted a new TDC line on the flywheel.

3. Set the spark retard/advance lever to the completely retarded position.

4. Loosen the clamp on the distributor body so that you can rotate the body. Rotate it until the points are just about to open.

5. Tighten the clamp.

6. Make sure that the rotor is pointing to the wire on the distributor cap that goes to spark plug number one.

Hope this helps.

Dean

Thanks Rustoholic

That helps a lot, that’s perfect thanks, I will do exactly that.

Next question if you don’t mind my car currently is missing the vac tank, so the previous owner mounted a small tank under the hood. My intention is to turn it back to original with a vac tank etc. But I am wondering in the mean time to get rid of his tank and use the factory tank could I use a 6 volt electric pump and a regulator and turn it down to 1 psi or 1 1/2 psi ?

Trying to play with the car a little over the summer until I round up parts to put back to original , but I really don’t like his tank in the way under the hood, etc. For a few reasons.

Thanks in advance

I have never received satisfactory results with an electric pump and pressure regulator. We are talking about a fuel drop of about 1' so that is not very much pressure. The regulator just never gets the job done.

Do you have a working vacuum tank? If you have one I can rebuild it for you or I can sell you a restored tank. We can help you with the solution you select.

Hi. Thanks for the input yes I wondered about trying to keep pressure that low.
No I did not get one with the car, so I was going to have to be on the hunt for one.
Yes I would be interested if you could give me a price on one
My car is a 1926 but the powertrain is a 1928 so I’m not sure if the tanks differed or not ? But would I guess if they did I would need one for the 28 as at this point will not be changing the powertrain.
Thx

Also
I am looking to buy a carb kit, maybe plug wires and a few things , I’m located in Canada , any suggestions of where to purchase ?
Thx

The biggest supplier for our cars (and the one who is most supportive of our club) is The Filling Station in Lebanon, OR The Filling Station They are good people whom you can trust.

All the Best, Chip

Great thanks Chip
I will be sure to check that out ,
thanks for the information
see a small picture of yours looks beautiful !!!
Thx

Yes, the vacuum tanks were different for the different years, but either one will work.

Prior to '28, the vacuum tank had 8 screws on the top and the top was made from pot metal. It also has a more complex float mechanism inside than the '28 tank.

The correct vacuum tank for '28 had 4 screws on the top and was made from a pressed piece of sheet metal.

Like I said, either one will work. For over 20 years, I ran my '27 truck (which has a '28 motor in it) with a '28 vacuum tank. Then, when I got my '28 truck, it did not come with a vacuum tank, so I pilfered the vacuum tank from the '27 and put it in the '28. Then, I bought a correct '27 tank for the '27 truck. I've driven a lot of miles with those two vacuum tanks without problems.

It is also kinda neat to explain to folks at cars shows about how the vacuum tanks work and surprise them with the notion that there is not fuel pump, so to speak.

Below are a couple of pics of my two vacuum tanks. They are very close to the same size.

Cheers, Dean

Thanks for the reply Rustoholic
I was wondering how dependable they were to use as a system, never ran a fuel system of that design before so it’s all a learning experience.
Yes pretty neat they did it with no fuel pump , that’s what I find so interesting with these old classics and vintage vehicles on how they were put together and the ideas they had.
I guess I better get one rounded up
Thx

Check your Private Message in the upper right corner. It will be a flashing envelope.

Passion,
Actually the vacuum tank is a fuel pump. It uses the reduced pressure from a running engine to pull gasoline from the fuel tank. The gasoline partially fills a smaller fuel tank positioned above the carburetor which is gravity fed. That produces a nearly constant low pressure fuel to the carburetor. The more familiar mechanical fuel pump uses a cam lobe on the cam shaft to produce a back and forth movement the moves a diaphragm up and down. Coupled with two one way valves it produces a reduced pressure on the diaphragm cavity to pull gas from the tank. Two springs on the pump arm assembly regulate the output pressure. The same principle as our modern electric diaphragm pumps.

Ah ok ,
that’s kind of a neat system, thanks for the explanation Helps me understand it a lot better, looks like I should Wash and seal the inside of the old original tank looks to be a little rusty inside . What is best procedure and product to use on that ?
Thanks again guys

Thx