1931 Pickup Journal

[john charlton]

Before you go further you really really need to drop the oil pan and clean it out . I think you will be astounded at what you have been pumping around the engine . Also clean out the valve chest ,debris in there can block the 3 holes which supply the main bearings with oil . I know the oil looked lovely clear and golden when you checked it but all the goop,water,acids etc etc were settled out just around the oil pump pickup . Check "You Tube " there is a post on what a oil pan looked like after a long standing engine was fired up .

John in damp mild Suffolk County England .

[31pickup650]

Originally Posted by john charlton

Before you go further you really really need to drop the oil pan and clean it out . I think you will be astounded at what you have been pumping around the engine . Also clean out the valve chest ,debris in there can block the 3 holes which supply the main bearings with oil . I know the oil looked lovely clear and golden when you checked it but all the goop,water,acids etc etc were settled out just around the oil pump pickup . Check "You Tube " there is a post on what a oil pan looked like after a long standing engine was fired up .

John in damp mild Suffolk County England .

John, I changed the oil and need to replace the pan gasket and will be cleaning the pan when I do that. I have seen that video and it is crazy!






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[31pickup650]

I gave a quick flush with just a hose and bucket while I work on another contraption. Got a lot of murky water and debris. Ran the hose through the upper hose until the water ran clear. Then continued for a couple more minutes. This is some of the debris:




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[john charlton]

It is good you changed the oil but only if you drop the pan now . Most likely you used a modern multi grade which does contain a detergent element . This detergent will break down all the carbon deposits inside the engine and in effect clean the engine internals . The down side is that this crud is now in suspension in your oil ,not good .When you drop the pan you will need to pop out the dipper tray . Various tricks to do this ,the barners will tell you how !!!

John in still no weather today Suffolk County England /

[31pickup650]

Originally Posted by john charlton

It is good you changed the oil but only if you drop the pan now . Most likely you used a modern multi grade which does contain a detergent element . This detergent will break down all the carbon deposits inside the engine and in effect clean the engine internals . The down side is that this crud is now in suspension in your oil ,not good .When you drop the pan you will need to pop out the dipper tray . Various tricks to do this ,the barners will tell you how !!!

John in still no weather today Suffolk County England /

John, I used used 30 weight non-detergent oil for that reason. I plan to do the pan pretty soon. It will be before I start driving it again and after getting the fuel and radiator all sorted.

[john charlton]

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You did good !!! . Years ago my late mother in law killed her beloved pre war sedan by putting the then new Shell "X 100" oil in her engine (the garage man did it) I had told her not to put this oil in as disaster would follow ,turned the oil into black soup and wiped out the beaings . I never had the heart to say "I told you so " !!!

John in same weather Suffolk County England

[31pickup650]

While being at home a lot more now, I started doing some work on the truck for the first time since 2016 to get it running better.

I started off last month getting a new battery and draining the gas from 2016 and cleaning out the carb. Surprisingly, the car started up fairly quickly. I fixed some of the leaks on the new rad hoses from when I added the temp probe pipe.

Driving it up and down the road a few times showed some issues with stumbling under load. I gave it a pretty thorough Seaform treatment and replaced the wire from the ignition coil (the sheathing was split) and that seemed to clear up some the stumbling.

There was quite a bit of oil on the plugs and in the cylinders and I did a compression test to see how things were. Things were not good: 46/44/36/44 PSI.... I've continued driving it around, but the engine is definitely on its last legs. It is super slow going trudging up hills. The radiator I got cleaned out definitely works well. The temperature gauge stays around 170-180 driving around in 80 degree weather.

[31Cabriolet68-C]

Super truck...
What a fine way to keep the family tradition alive.
It's great that you have been reading the Barn posts about taking a car out of deep storage, but one part seems not to have been mentioned, so I have a question:
Did you check your fan blade?
It can't be emphasized enough...
When they let go, they can be killers.
Safety is essential, cracks can be virtually microscopic, and "rust never sleeps", so, if you haven't yet, then I'd urge you to replace that original fan blade next time you place an order with one of the Model A parts vendors...
Check out the other threads on this topic... They ought to scare the bejesus out of you!!!! TallyHo
JB

[30 Closed Cab PU]

Originally Posted by 31pickup650

While being at home a lot more now, I started doing some work on the truck for the first time since 2016 to get it running better.

I started off last month getting a new battery and draining the gas from 2016 and cleaning out the carb. Surprisingly, the car started up fairly quickly. I fixed some of the leaks on the new rad hoses from when I added the temp probe pipe.

Driving it up and down the road a few times showed some issues with stumbling under load. I gave it a pretty thorough Seaform treatment and replaced the wire from the ignition coil (the sheathing was split) and that seemed to clear up some the stumbling.

There was quite a bit of oil on the plugs and in the cylinders and I did a compression test to see how things were. Things were not good: 46/44/36/44 PSI.... I've continued driving it around, but the engine is definitely on its last legs. It is super slow going trudging up hills. The radiator I got cleaned out definitely works well. The temperature gauge stays around 170-180 driving around in 80 degree weather.

Thanks for posting , have not seen this string before since it was before I joined FB in 2018.



You are going through most of what I went through with my Dad's truck. It is definitely a learning experience, and you have gotten good advice from the other members.


As far as your carb, a cause of having to choke, stumbling, die at stop can also be a worn throttle plate shaft/bushing. Air sucks through the loose fitting shaft/bushing. Causes a lean mixture. Sometimes overlooked when being rebuilt.


Good luck and keep posting. These strings are always a great read.


When its back together a few closer pics and pics of the interior please.

[31pickup650]

After a hiatus from working on the truck, I got it up on some jack stands and started looking at the brakes and front axle. There was a ton of play in the kingpins and also pretty poor wear on the brake drums. I took all that off and cut out the studs out. I’ll be rebuilding the brakes and putting on some new cast iron drums and new shoes.

Cutting out the studs with a hole saw:



The drum surface with lots of grooves and wear:



I’ve got new bushings pressed in the spindle, but there’s a part that sticks out now. I guess I need to cut them flush? It’s square on the side that sits on the axle.





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