VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Disappointed with my 25 but giving it another go

I appreciate all the advice given to me but I suddenly dropped off to take a break from the car since it has turned out to be such a disappointment. It was supposed to be a running driving vehicle that someone cut the roof off. What I found was overheating,cracked head and block that were jb welded over,non working fuel system,non working oil pump and after fixing the oil pump and driving it around for a few ten minute trips the rear blew up because it not set up right and the ring and pinion were way too far apart from each other. Even the parts chassis I bought from another source was a disappointment though I am going to use the rear out of it,so thats a plus if it works. I was about to take any offer just to recoup something and buy another project but I am ready to give it another go. If the rear does not work out I am giving up on the idea of tooling around in my little 26hp car and going to just put a newer drivetrain in it. Attached are pics of what I am dealing with at the moment and the other is one I found of the car when it was for sale some time ago. Maybe I can give it some kind of new life since it was so badly abused. Many questions to come hopefully!

Well, I know disappointment. I bought a barely running '34 pickup in the early 70s.
I was mechanically astute, but had no idea the thing was full of wood and that the farmer had put a '29 engine in it!
After 50 years, I'm still working on it, presently rebuilding an appropriate engine from a rodder.
Your car looks great to me and getting that simple mechanical stuff together should be easy, given that you can find parts.
Take advantage of the priceless experience on here and go for it!
Many will be cheering and when you get a top on it you can even drive in the rain.
Please post more pictures, mechanical and body. I have no four cylinder experience, other than Model A.
Wilson

Although I haven't ran into the adversity that you two have, I also want to encourage you to soldier on!

On the maiden long voyage with my '28 eight years ago, the rear end gears stripped due to the ring gear being way too far away from the pinion. The clearance should have been .010 inch, but it was closer to .250! Lesson learned for me to inspect EVERYTHING before a trial ride.

I was able to get a used replacement differential that was mounted with the torque tube from a dear friend, George Childs. If I remember correctly, any torque tube with differential from 1925 thru 1928 will work.

I suggest putting a post in the Parts Wanted forum for a good, used differential and torque tube.

Fingers crossed for ya!

Dean

Wilson thanx for the encouragement, Not sure about putting a roof back on,was thinking of a speedster but probably will as the doors have not been cut off. With the car I bought a bunch of unrelated parts to sell on ebay and have the inside rear skin of a 40s chev pickup that fits almost perfectly that I can build forward and I do have the windshield that slides up and down with the top board, the rest of parts are long lost. I have a parts 1925 chassis and the complete running gear and front steering from a 31 that I may do the speedster thing with.

Thanx Dean. I do have a rear already,luckily. Some times I am not thinking clearly as I was going to use the whole thing which is a bit cruddy but after your comment it make much more sense to just replace the whole center on to my housing.

Glad I could help.

Make sure you super clean your old housing to make sure that no debris is left from the gear gnashing event.

While you've got the axles out, I suggest that you replace the outer axle seals with neoprene ones to ensure that the bearing grease does not make its way into the brake area.

Cheers, Dean

Looks like your car originally had a wooden structure for a "faux" convertible top. If you can find some windshield posts from another closed car, you might not be as far from "correct" as you think.


Mike