What I Did on My Lunch Hour

[V8COOPMAN]

I asked only a simple, methodical troubleshooting question that any reasonably-mechanically-inclined, flathead or lawnmower mechanic would ask himself given the symptoms you described. Your reply was predictable. You are fortunate to have some qualified pizza buddies that understand mechanical basics and are able to eventually help you through most of your never-ending, common little problems. Now, undercarriage wax? More of that imagination stuff, I guess. DD

[Steves46]

Vic, since she performed a long road trip, sometimes things like the carb mount nuts may have come a bit loose from vibration therefore introducing a small vac leak. Check all the exhaust manifold bolts as well. Finally, try adjusting the idle to a slight higher RPM and see if that settles her down. Good luck. Steve

[Vic Piano]

Let's call a spade a spade here; you posed a question in your usual condescending manor, without actually reading and fully comprehending my post. Still, your status as my "number one fan" has not diminished in my eyes. However, even you should realize that anyone who owns (and actually drives) a flathead for distances that are longer then around the block or on and off of a trailer, (and has done so for many years), has amassed a significant amount of "hands on" knowledge and experience relevant to the care and feeding of Flatheads. The fact that I choose to enter into discourse, in a public form, to share my experience and hopefully gain additional knowledge from others who (like me) actually drive their Flatheads, should not come as a surprise to you.

In the spirit of camaraderie, I'll ask you once again to share some of your Flathead driving adventures with us, instead of always telling everyone how to do something or putting down any of the various "parts suppliers", (things that you do with an alarming degree of regularity). Do you really even own a Flathead that can be driven...? Oh yeah, what kind of wax do you use… Really...?

[Vic Piano]

Originally Posted by Steves46

Vic, since she performed a long road trip, sometimes things like the carb mount nuts may have come a bit loose from vibration therefore introducing a small vac leak. Check all the exhaust manifold bolts as well. Finally, try adjusting the idle to a slight higher RPM and see if that settles her down. Good luck. Steve

Thanks Steve, I appreciate that, and those were the first things I looked at before pulling the plugs. Guess I should have been more precise in my initial post. Things like that are second nature so I didn't bother to mention them... My bad... How was your holiday? Hope you had a good one.

[Steves46]

No sweat-I wasn't sure and sometimes it's the little things that are sometimes overlooked; God knows I've had my fair share of that! We had a great Thanksgiving Holiday and now very busy getting things lined-up for Christmas. So far-so good!

[Vic Piano]

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Us too Steve, and as a traveling companion on many of our Flathead road trips, we've both had our share of "Flathead Fun" on the side of the road...LOL Hope to see you soon, have a Merry Christmas. Vic

[jotantvire1989]

Maaaan this stuff is great !
I wish I could have some more time in Pro-Trade.IT

[Steves46]

Originally Posted by Vic Piano

Us too Steve, and as a traveling companion on many of our Flathead road trips, we've both had our share of "Flathead Fun" on the side of the road...LOL Hope to see you soon, have a Merry Christmas. Vic

Amen brother! See you after the Holidays and hope you have a Merry Christmas as well.

[Vic Piano]

Originally Posted by jotantvire1989

Maaaan this stuff is great !
I wish I could have some more time in Pro-Trade.IT

"getting straight to the point" may not always be the most enjoyable or entertaining route to take... Utilizing poetic license when responding (or jousting) with another poster or posters' can add a bit of questionable humor or biting commentary, depending on how you choose to look at it. For the most part it’s all in good fun anyway.

[Vic Piano]

A Thing of Beauty!!!

The UPS lady just delivered a package from Bubba's Hot Rod Shop, the rebuilt distributor out of our '39 LZ. Thanks to Jim at Bubba's for another beautiful job. It'll sure look good sitting between the water pumps and under the coil, on the V-12, when I get them back from Skip.

[Vic Piano]

Funny how things sometimes fall into place when you don't expect them.

Yesterday, while gassing up the '51 F-1, I was approached by a guy who told me he had a '46 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet that he was thinking about selling... Further discussion reviled the fact that his wife was a judge in the LCOC and she has been involved in the hobby (as it pertains to Lincolns from the mid '30's up to the mid '60's) for many years. Furthermore they own several LC's of '40's vintage as well as a cache of NOS and used Ford & Lincoln parts, shop manuals, etc. We didn't have a long conversation as we both had places we needed to be so, I gave them a business card and we tentatively scheduled this Saturday as a day for me to go and see their cars & parts. This could be a treasure trove or it could be a junk pile... We'll have to wait and see.

[Steves46]

How is that new LMC radiator doing in the 51? Good luck Saturday. Steve

[Vic Piano]

Steve, The new radiator is not in the '51 yet... I know, things like work get in the way of play time with the Flatheads... Maybe this weekend I'll pull the old one out and install the new one... Got the '39 CS running and noticed that a pulley on one of the water pumps is starting to slide a bit so... looks like I'll be swapping out water pumps on the '39... guess that's what happens when you drive them... but, that's part of the fun...

[40cpe]

And what was the problem with the CS not idling?

[Vic Piano]

Gene, After rechecking everything, I isolated the trouble to the ignition resistor... I have the later ('40 style) ignition resistor and circuit breaker in the '39. I swapped it out and (so far) things are back to normal...

[40cpe]

Originally Posted by Vic Piano

Gene, After rechecking everything, I isolated the trouble to the ignition resistor... I have the later ('40 style) ignition resistor and circuit breaker in the '39. I swapped it out and (so far) things are back to normal...

Good to know, thanks

[Vic Piano]

An Early Christmas Gift.

If you've been following our "Flathead Fun", you'll remember that the '39 CS lost a hubcap on the trip home from the Moonshine Festival in fact, the hubcap departed the wheel about 15 miles from home... This morning, at the Hot Rod Breakfast, my friend Art asked me to stop by his house as he had an ignition resistor/circuit breaker for me. When we got to his house he told me that he had been to a local swap meet last week and happened upon a women that was selling a wide assortment of non automotive goodies, when he saw a lonely '39 Ford hubcap... He bought the hubcap intending to use it as garage art. As luck would have it, my friend Mike (who had been with me when the '39 lost the hubcap) had gone to Arts house for some parts for his '41. Mike spotted the hubcap and asked Art where he got it... Mike took a close look and told Art "this is the hubcap that came off of Vic's '39"... So, thanks to Art & Mike, I've been reunited with the hubcap. Surprisingly, it is not badly damaged. A little paint and it'll be ready to go back on the '39. Thanks again to Art & Mike.

[BILL WZOREK]

Vic:
Run out right now and buy a lotto ticket , What are the chances of all the stars lining up & have some one find it / to give it to some one that could use it for garage art & some one showing up and seeing it and knowing the previous owner/ Do you realize
What the computer program would look like to make every thing fall in place like that.
OMG

[Vic Piano]

I know Bill, I'm planning on picking up a LOTTO ticket later today.

[bryonhemi]

Vic, now that's a story for the book.