VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 Leveling

My 34 Standard is listing to one side by about 1/2" according to a level in the rear, about 1/4" in the front. What procedure do I use to get it back level? It's visably apparant that it's listing.

Also, how do I get to the float in the fuel tank, the fuel guage works so I'm quite sure it's the float or sending unit in the tank. I put 5 gallons of fuel in last week (don't know how much was already in it)and drove on a shakedown run of 50 miles and ran out of gas. Ten miles to the gallon! Does that sound correct?

Is it true about the 10 MPG ? Yes, could be if the carb is bad, the choke is staying on, or the fuel pump is leaking. Lady drivers used to pull the choke out to start the car, and leave it out to hang their purse on. (just a story I heard once)

And as to the gas guage Yes it could be wrong too.
Did the gauge go to empty before you ran out of gas? did you measure the miles by the speedometer, if you did be sure to put some gas in before you get to 45 miles. If you are in doubt as to the speedometer or the gas gauge being right you might want to carry a stick to check the gas in the tank with, dealers used to give those away back when your Chevrolet was new.

Sometimes a good greasing of the spring shackles will level out a car, bounce up and down on the bumpers to see if there is good spring action. Your car a Standard model has leaf springs on all four corners, Right? It could be that you may need to get the springs re-arched or replaced, unless you have different sized wheels and tires on one side.
To get to the float and the gas sending unit I suppose you would have to drop the tank.

The 1/2" on a 72 year old leaf spring car is too little to worry about.Probably wasn't much different when new.One passenger or just the driver could change the demensions also.The '33-'36 Standards were a little stiff and always looked like they were leaning one way or the other.
Are you sure that you ran out of gas?...or is the fuel pump sucking up dirt from the bottom of the tank and the line is plugging up.The ideal thing would have been to completely fill the tank and see if it would take the full 12 gallons....Also the lower part of the pick-up tube may be rusted off....like from sitting for years with old gas in the tank.To inspect drop the tank and remove the gauge tank unit and peek in ....using a flash light.
For normal puttering around driving you should get 16-18 MPG.

We never had a flashlight that had good batteries, so we just used a match.

Safety matches, I hope!!! :grin:

I didn't even want to go there although it was in my thoughts.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. :)

Hey thanks guys, I'll try the safety matches right away! Yes I'm sure I ran out of gas, before realizing it I blew out all the gas lines from the tank to the carb, no leaks in the fuel pump or carb (both are new),choke is wide open, don't need to even use it so far here in Florida I do have a clear, inline fuel filter right at the tank which I have replaced 3 times in 150 miles, I keep getting a clear jelly like substance coming from the tank. Who knows what the previous owner tried, he was not a car guy or even car lover..more of a speculator, but he said he had the tank flushed. I'm just gonna drop the tank and get it really cleaned out and replace the sender unit in the tank, the guage moves slightly so I'm assuming at this point it's not the problem. Any suggestions as to where to get the sending unit?
I'll fill up completely tomorrow and recheck my mileage now that I have a new carb and have gotten it to idle smoothly at 450 RPM's, remember though that the engine has only 550 miles on it even though it was rebuilt almost 40 years ago.
I found out what museum it was in "Car Collectors Hall of Fame" on Music Row in Nashville. The owner Howard Brandon owned about 55 cars including the Batmobile, Batcycle,"The Worlds finest 1903 Ford Model A" a '76 Eldorado owned by Elvis and various cars owned by other "Music Stars" he still owns a large car dealership up there. Trying to contact him to get additional history of my '34, he started collecting cars in the 1940's, in 1979 he opened the museum, sold the land and contents in 1998.Was able to get the auction catalogue and placard that was in the museum. If you Google "1934 Chevy Standard" a pic of my car in the museum is in the first entry listed.

Thanks again guys for all your info, especially the safety matches tip!!

Sounds like cleaning that tank will be a good idea. I'm sure there are other places, but you can probably get a sending unit from The Filling Station ......www.fillingstation.com

And keep on smilin'......laughter is the best medicine :)

Interesting background on your car.

The fact that you don't have to use the choke leads me to suspect a too rich fuel mixture.Even here in Wisconsin I have to use my choke for the first few miles - in 80 deg. sunmmer weather.Those were cold blooded cars.

What would you suggest Gene, , just play with the fuel/air adjustment? I'll pull a plug and see if it's wet or not also. The engine is running beautifully, very quiet and no missing or sputtering
I cannot ever say again that I've never run out of gas...dang I had a 38 year running streak, I did admit to my wife that it was operator error after she brought my tools to me (at a 7-11 with fuel pumps)...feeling pretty stupid today.

Just ordered the sending unit from The Filling Station.

Hey Gene, do you have wiring diagram with the harness?

Ray, you sound like a redneck East Texas salvage yard owner I knew, when he hauled in a wreck for the crusher, it had to be minus all the upholsery and rubber etc, he would burn the car out in his field, by taking the gas cap off and waveing a lit cutting torch over the filler spout, there would be a big bang and the car would burn, he did several and one day his son found him about 20' away from a burning car, half of his head gone!

If it is the carburetor it would be more than the fuel/air mixture idle screw.Possible causes would be the float setting,metering rod adjustment (special tool required) or some one installed the wrong metering rod jet or metering rod.
The plugs would look dry/black if too rich.Especially if you have not been using the choke.Over choking would make them black also.They will not be wet.
Did you get the harness instructions with the Email I sent to you?I included the wiring diagram/instructions with the last email on 1/9/07

Didn't see it Gene, I'll check tomorrow when I'm at work since that's the computer you sent it to. After thinking about it I may have been way off on my gas mileage. I just filled the tank and the guage went up to 1/2 which I've never seen before, so I'll now keep track of mileage and fuel and get an accurate reading, again I have a feeling my first report of 10 MPH was OPERATOR ERROR....!
Oh well, today I'm flushing the cooling system, it's running from 190 -210 degrees depending on how long it sits at idle. I had an aftermarket temp guage installed at the rear of the head and mounted on the bottom left of the dash, almost looks original, but I put a swivel on it so I can fold it under the dash for shows.But since I don't know when it was last flushed I'll feel better doing it.
Thanks guys for all the help, I'd be lost without it being this is my first car from the '30's, I'm very comfortable working on my '70 Chevelle, but I'm learning this car just as fast as I can. Adjusted the brake spring and lubed all the cables and moving parts yesterday. It's a very fun learning experience and you guys are a big part of it!!!! Thanks again

To Gene's point about having the wrong metering rod and jet combination: I had this very problem and finally fixed it last year. The plugs looked sooty, but the real problem was in the intake manifold and valve stems. When I pulled the head it was very evident that something was terribly wrong! There was a tar-like substance in the intake manifold and a very heavy build up on the valve stems. Surprisingly, the engine continued to run well with no other apparent problems other than poor gas mileage. Getting the right metering rod and jet combination is essential to your car's health!

Hey Gene, I found the wiring diagram you sent on my work computer, thanks much. As for the choke scenario, according to the manual it states that in warm climates it is not necessary to use the choke at all with a cold engine,I guess like most things each has it's own quirks. Anyway I'm gonna get an accurate (as opposed to guessing)reading of my mileage, if I don't get 16-20 MPG I guess I'll go back into the carb again, but the engine is running great now, if it weren't for my touchy ignition switch which I have to sort of jiggle, the engine turns over very quickly.