The Heney Report
CCA Meeting Oct 10, 2019
Submitted by Steve Heney
Meeting was chaired by Pete Seguin and Ed Galea “former 1975 president” (as substitute for Tom’s absence at Hershey)
Meeting started 7pm
Introduction of two new members. One bought a car on Vancouver Island and mentioned he was picking up a rolling chassis tomorrow and asked if there were any leads on people or companies that would be willing to ship from Vancouver. Dave Jamieson has used TFX to transport his Austin Healey from North Vancouver to Portland, Ontario.
John Cruise mentioned Rick Price as a possibility although he usually only travels as far as Winnipeg. Mr. Cousineau in Richmond was also suggested for car transport but John also mentioned one can check online at kijiji Canada for vehicle transport.
The other new member got involved with the Model A hobby through a purchase through Steve Latimer.
A brief reminder was brought up about the Flaming Leaves tour being scheduled for October 19th. Omer talked on behalf of Dan Dunwoodie who helped organize it. The trip is set for a cruise around the Gatineau Park so that it’s not too far for most members to attend. Bates Island (leave from there about 10:30am) go to Étienne Brule lookout followed by a brief drive to the Champlain lookout. No stopping will be done at Champlain lookout as it's fenced off due to a wall collapse near the edge of the lookout. From there, the trip will loop around Chelsea and stop at the visitor centre for break prior to having a meal at 1:30pm at the chosen restaurant (Resto Chelsea). About $25 per serving; (Fish & Chips) $5 extra for dessert. $2.25 coffee. They had looked into the Chelsea Pub but it doesn’t have any parking and the traffic may be limiting. Ed suggested Omer provide detailed instructions via email while others suggested that drivers can be briefed the day of the trip at the meeting area at Bates Island.
Omer needs positive confirmation from participants for restaurant reservations.
Ed proceeded to talk about carburetor jetting (Part 1 was covered in Radshell in Jan. - Feb. 1995, Part 2 was covered in Radshell in Mar-April 1995) Ed attended a Model A meet in 1994 as a combined Marc/Mafca meet in Tacoma, Washington. He attended a seminar on speedometers and carb rebuilding/jetting; he brought handouts back at that time and entered some in library.
A retired engineer had studied the flow patterns of jets for the Zenith carburetor and had done some flow testing. Ed displayed a mock up flow testing setup that can be used to measure the flow rates of all the jets.
For example, the Main jet should provide liquid flow of 140cc per minute
He found reproduction jets flowed on average 1/2 as much flow to over 30% more flow than what’s prescribed in the Service Bulletins for the NOS jets.
Ed had an NOS main jet he tested at 180cc per minute then he tested a repro main jet and it showed a flow rate of only 99cc per minute
Likewise Ed mentioned he tested an NOS cap jet at 216cc per minute while one of his reproduction jets tested at 195cc per minute.
Testing the Compensator jets, he noted the original should be 140cc per minute while a reproduction tested at 205cc per minute
Idle jet tested at 54cc per minute while the batsky version of the similar jet tested at 74cc per minute
When testing the jets in the test setup, it is important to flow test the same direction gas would flow through the jet otherwise faulty measurements will be taken.
Should jets be found to be out of specifications as to what’s listed in the service bulletins,
Repair consists of soldering tip and using number drills or pen vises to drill out the solder at precise diameter. Pen vises are small hand held holders (resembling a ballpoint pen case) that allow the user to drill out precision holes by hand. One can require multiple attempts until right flow obtained. Ed then gave an overview of some of his repairs he did.
Reproduction cap jet (216cc untouched) should be 165. Ed's repair brought it to 163.
Reproduction jets are also notorious for improper length as well which can also affect performance. Repaired Drill holes should also be concave at the opening and not a sharp edge to allow better flow and dispersion of fuel with the air.
Measurements are based on Zenith carb jetting for the later single venturi models.
Check Service bulletins for proper lengths of jets and orifice sizes.
Early carb had double venturi and requires different jetting specs.
Marvel, Schleber or Tillotson were suggested as good replacement carbs as they have less jetting and seem to be less finicky than the Zenith’s to properly setup.
Just recently though Ed mentioned his Marvel seemed to drip gas from the GAV area. Ed suggested placing a fibre washer around end of gav with O-ring. He also noted a spring should be under the GAV which should hold the GAV and seal up against the shoulder. Many of these Marvel Carburetors picked up at swap meets seem to be missing the small spring so Ed mentioned it’s another item to keep note of when looking at these carburetors when purchasing or doing a rebuild.
John Cruise also took this opportunity to offer apologies for not returning phone calls due to absence on the following trip.
John talked about a Model A meet in Nebraska (hill climb with bulk of cars being Model Ts). Just lately he went to South Georgia shore (Wildwood, New Jersey) to see the "Oilers" Group racing up and down the beach. The event is getting more popular as they have expanded to operate at California as well.
It consists of a Mile Run on the beach with at least 25,000 people in attendance as spectators. Several 100 cars pre 1935 and earlier, as well as pre 1945 and earlier for motorcycles.
Spectators ranged across all years. Spectator registration was at least 1/4 mile lined up 4 abreast.
Running same weekend as Carlisle so John Suggested the car hobby is doing well.
Mentioned majority of the Model A's should stay with vintage Model A Components or original components when participating in this "Race of Gentleman" as it’s termed. Also referred under the acronym “TROG”
-----Coffee Break------
Mac Lachappelle then covered his broken clutch experience. He was driving down Hunt Club and turning onto Conroy and about 50ft he hears a loud bang and the car began to freewheel. It was towed to Tom’s place the following day where (with the help of Pete, Garry, Tom, and Arnold) it was discovered that it was in dire need of clutch repair. The clutch plate had grenaded with plate separation and springs vacating the clutch disc however no other damage was done. Springs not secured /attached to disc was mentioned as a likely candidate in the Restorer or Model A times. Others mentioned it can also be caused by popping the clutch as it will put unnecessary strain on the disc when the clutch disc engages the flywheel in a rapid moment.
John mentioned if anyone is looking to convert to hydraulic brakes there is a new group offering new sets of backing plates for hydraulic brake conversions. The Boling Brothers, through Speedway are the suppliers offering these conversion kits. They offer flat belt pulleys as well to allow for better belt performance with less slipping on the pulleys.
Ed ended the meeting by recapping an issue he discovered on the last trip he attended. He experienced a small oil leak under car and noticed a small leak from rear main and oil pan gasket as he followed it around the pan. He tightened the oil pan to 20ft-lbs according to the Les Andrews red book but he was unaware at the time that this is actually one of the errors in the manual. It should only be about 5-9 ft-lbs on the oil pain gasket bolts otherwise warping can occur.
He mentioned it will be a good winter project to replace the front seal with a one piece seal at this time.
John suggested to use Hi-lo mar as extra sealing material but to apply it thinly on the one piece seal.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30pm.
CCA minutes for November 14, 2019
Meeting started at 7:05pm
Tom mentioned elections for committee members is starting so if you or anyone you know wants to be part of the committee, feel free to send nominations to the club executive. All positions are open to allow new membership participation on the committee. Three awards will be given out at the Christmas party so members can nominate people under the following three categories;
Hard Luck or Mr. Fixit
Most Valuable member
Henry’s Lady
Tom announced that Real Proulx will be celebrating his 100th birthday this November. This event will take place on November 21 from 2pm to 4pm at Windsor Park Retirement facility. This is located on the East side of Hunt Club Rd. situated between McCarthy Rd. and Aviation Parkway. Live entertainment will be onsite and members wanting to attend should contact Louise.
Pete Seguin was accepting club dues for 2020 as well as the cost for the 2019 Christmas party. The dues have been raised to $40 and the Christmas party cost per person is set at $35. Important for members to let the executive know whether or not you will be attending the Christmas party as this will help them decide whether or not the party is feasible (minimum 50 people needed to attend). Electronic payments are also available through Amir.
To help raise funds for the club, Terry McCann donated a Ford poster which was quickly auctioned to the members present. Bidding started at $3 and went quickly to a final sale at $22 to Lyall. Bill Truscott also donated original advertisements (some Framed and some loose) for auction to the club. It was suggested that these sell for $10 apiece. 50-50 tickets were also on sale with the lucky winner being Pete Seguin who took home $51.
Nov 16 Garage Sale of Model A parts and other equipment (see ads section below) from the estate of Doug Hahn. When: 10:00 am, Where: 463 Avenue Gatineau, Gatineau QC. Take Hwy 50 East, exit at Boulevard la Vérendrye over bridge then right onto Avenue Gatineau. Park only on the house side of the street and avoid the zones of the traffic calming markers so traffic can pass by.
No vehicles will be auctioned at this time. Suggested pricing will be affixed on the items and these are based on internet searches of equivalent items or ½ price of equivalent items listed for sale at some of the NOS parts suppliers (i.e. Snyders)
Colin also recapped the MARC Canyonlands Tour he had attended with Dave and Pam Jamieson in Utah. Members can consult current Radshell for in-depth summary but Colin also added that 350 cars were in attendance with buffet style catering handled for 700 people. Ken Arenhaffer (who is heavily involved with MARC) has recently bought a Model A bus and donated it to the Gilmore Museum. The bus is currently under restoration, but when completed it will return to the museum for use as a local shuttle vehicle around the grounds.
Dave Welsh mentioned his recent find at the Hershey Swap Meet was a hand held oscilloscope for testing spark plugs on the Model A. Dave drove a hard bargain but managed to meet the fellow’s price of $10.
Ken Morgan restarted the meeting after the snack break by showing slide show and video compilation of the July 14, 2019 Cumberland Museum Show that was held this summer. The “Vintage Vehicle Experience” will be an annual event comprising static displays, car games, as well as spectator rides around the grounds for those owners wishing to offer rides to the public.
Colin finished the meeting with a quick technical seminar about wheel painting and wheel balancing.
The wheel painting is done by clamping a front axle spindle with front bearings on a metal post or clamped to a fixed location. Front hub without brakes is also attached to the spindle with a slight drop of oil on the wheel bearings to allow easy rotation of wheel.
Place carriage bolts or any other item in the lug nut holes of the wheels being painted to prevent paint from being sprayed on the surface where the lug nuts will be tightened. Should you paint the surface where the lug nuts tighten to the wheel, in time with vehicle vibration and use, the paint will wear down or chip and could allow for the lug nut and wheel to come loose. Paint can then be applied with a spray bomb working from both sides of the wheel as you rotate the wheel on the spindle. Gradually spray paint from the hub and work your way towards the outer edge to reach all the spokes and other areas of the wheel being careful not to spray too close and cause runs.
The same apparatus can be used to balance wheels and tires by bolting a wheel drum onto the hub and then mounting a wheel on the drum. Make sure you pick a drum that has a relatively flat surface around the lug nut holes. Rims have a tendency to become lighter near the valve hole as water gets in over time and produces corrosion. Colin uses flat washers about ¼ ounce each with a clamp/vice grip of known weight to use as guides and clamps these in succession at the wheel edge until such time as you can rotate the wheel and it tends to not want to oscillate to a given spot. (The heaviest point of the wheel will always tend to stop at the bottom so providing a slight rotation of the wheel will see roughly where the heavy spot is if the wheel always tries to stop at that point)
Once the desired number of washers and clamp(s) are used to equalize the weight of the rim, attach stick on weights (available through Harbor Freight, Princess Auto or UAP) to the rim at the same location where the added weight is temporarily attached to the rim.
Colin suggested checking the tires themselves for balance as well. Some tire manufacturers place a dot on the tire to identify the light side which should be positioned where the tire valve will be sitting on the tire.
Garry Lynch suggested even balancing the wheel rim and tiring together by finding the heavy spot through the same procedure and placing the necessary amount of weight under the tube liner after pushing the wheel and inner tube off to the side.
After rims and tires have been properly balanced and mounted, additional balancing can be achieved by using glass or ceramic balancing beads that go into the inner tube. NOTE: some inner tubes or tires have been known to have adhesive material on the inside so balancing beads should not be poured in to that type of tube as the beads won’t be able to find their proper resting spot to remove the residual imbalance of the wheel. Balance beads will migrate towards the low weight spot once the wheel speed gets sufficient to throw the beads within the tire.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:16pm
CCA Minutes Jan 9,2020
Meeting was chaired by Tom Bellfoy and started at 7pm. Pete Seguin was absent due to ill health.
Meeting started with elections with note that usually new directors are selected by the previous November. The current executive has position opened for President and Activities director.
George German took the lead asking if anyone was showing interest for the president’s position but no takers. Garry Lynch asked if George could elaborate on the roles and responsibilities the position entails at which time George mentioned the president’s position is more of a delegation position with support from Vice President, Treasurer, Activities Director as well as the activities committee membership. The VP will step in at anytime to delegate should the president be unavailable.
No nominations came up for President and George mentioned he would be willing to step in if needed although he wishes someone local to Ottawa would take up the position.
Tom Bellfoy mentioned he would still be willing to maintain the position for one year as long as he has support in writing the Parking Space article in the Radshell from other members.
It was mentioned that an earlier directors meeting resolved that Dave and Barb Welch would take on the roles of Activities Director.
No other positions are open at this time and the current executive is comprised of the following;
Al Jaakkola – Editor
Colin Lawson – Technical Advisor
Tom Bellfoy – President
Garry Lynch – Librarian
Pete Seguin – Vice President
Harry and Joanne MacDonald – Directors at Large
Amir Anders – Treasurer
Dave Jamieson- Webmaster
George German brought up the fact that some of the other clubs have some of the ladies as part of their executive as it allows for their input on aspects that would be of interest to their participation in the club activities. He mentioned many of the women do not like sitting through technical seminars etc. but would like their say or feedback towards getaway tour locations or other outings held throughout the year.
Getaway tour was discussed with all members available as George had mentioned it should be finalized by the end of February. Barb Welch and Joanne MacDonald are also in progress of setting up activities for the 2020 year.
Trips to the States are not being considered for 2020 as the exchange rate is not doing too well, insurance coverage and costs have been impacted recently with new changes of out of province coverage etc.
General suggestion was a trip of 1-2 days with allowance for an additional 2 days to cover travel time.
Some of the suggestions were
Southeastern Ontario (Cornwall area, museums and antique shops etc.)
Southwestern Ontario (Possibly museums in Stirling with antiques etc.)
Quebec side – Laurentians or St-Adele. Amir mentioned he could look into the outlying areas beyond the Laurentians that were toured previously (i.e. Ormstown)
Colin suggested possibly going to Granby.
Tom suggested some members may want to go to the Tackaberry collection as we are welcomed at that venue and not all the members have toured the collection.
Kawartha Lakes or Peterborough region with festivals being held throughout the summer.
Ed Galea requested it would be good if the hotel accommodations this year were setup in a manner where the whole group stays at the same locale. Previous outings had different groups spread about and that setup is not preferable.
Distance range was also suggested as a manner of selecting possible locations to visit (i.e. 200 mile radius around Ottawa). Others suggested the distance could be targeted assuming 6-8 hours driving and stopping time at an average speed of 40mph for roughly a 300 mile maximum trip.
Colin Lawson then began his technical seminar as well as discussion of his other role as international correspondent between our club and the rest of the Model A associations. He deals with MARC (we are considered a MARC region out of Dearborn) and MAFCA (we are considered a MAFCA chapter). There is a Region assigned for MAFCA although that oversees all of the individual chapters of MAFCA at a higher more international level.
Colin registers our club with the two organizations. This membership amounts to $10 US
MAFCA membership requests no money but they send a complimentary copy of their magazine to our club. Again, the director membership for MAFCA is listed as follows;
Colin Lawson (contact), Dave Jamieson (Webmaster) , Tom Bellfoy (President), Pete Seguin (secretary), Amir Anders (Treasurer), Dave Welch (Director), Harry MacDonald (Director)
This membership requires $75 for liability insurance coverage although it only covers the directors for liability at events.
Colin looked into the coverage aspect and as we are a Canadian group outside of US, MARC declined us any coverage but MAFCA had no issue with coverage.
Amir asked how come we are no longer showing up as being listed as a model a group through these organizations online but Colin mentioned he will inquire about the issue.
Colin then mentioned the results of the garage sale for Doug Hahn’s Model A parts which raised close to $1475. He has gotten in touch with a vendor in southern Ontario to help with the sale of the vehicles and some remaining parts that were not sold at the garage sale have now been purchased by Colin for sale towards our club members or other venues (i.e. flea markets at Lombardy, Stirling etc.)
Dave Jamieson and John Cruise also emphasized the fact that should you have an extensive amount of spare parts or used parts that may or may not be rebuilt, it’s sometimes better to get rid of the parts before something happens to you so that you don’t burden your relatives with unnecessary clutter or hassle to get rid of items. Strongly suggested by John to detail where you want your assets to be distributed through will or other legal notification as he’s seen multiple occurrences where families are burdened should something happen to the owner.
Colin began his technical seminar about headlights, connectors and switches.
The early Tudor parking lights are supposed to be on top of the regular headlight bulb in the pots. The early 28s may have only one bulb in the headlight pots as well. This is the reason why the early 28s had glass lenses with vertical flutes for the light dispersion accounted by a single bulb
29 went to a multi fluted glass lens to account for the light dispersion pattern required when the parking light is added with the regular headlight bulb in the pot.
The two filaments in the main bulb should have the filaments installed horizontally when mounted in the pot. The screw at the center of the rear of the headlight pot is used to adjust the main bulb towards or away from the glass lens and focus the headlight beam (essentially you are adjusting the focal point where the bulb resides in the pot)
Outside of the headlight reflector should have either cork liner (original) or neoprene rubber (modern style) gasket that cushions the reflector against the headlight ring and seals the headlight from moisture. 30-31 had stainless steel rings while the 28-29 usually had nickel plated headlight rings which could be prone for cracking. 28-29 rings were also a thinner metal because of the headlight shape being more conical in the early headlights.
The glass lens are secured within the headlamp rings by way of spring clips. Reproduction clips usually require some bending to fit into place. These spring clips match up with three tabs that are molded into the glass lens and keep the lens secure to the ring.
Colin showed a different glass lens that appeared to be of similar size and also had the two light designation listed on the glass. However, no Ford script was listed and it did not have the molded tabs to clip into the Ford headlight rings so it appears to be for a different vehicle other than Ford. Key point, make sure the Ford script appears on the lens you purchase.
Headlight buckets were stainless on the 30-31 while they were usually nickel plated on the 28-29. (Stainless are also available now for the 28-29). The electrical connections usually have their poor points associated with the rivets sometimes rust off making the connector loose in the headlight bucket although aftermarket replacement rivets can be purchased for repair. The indents that hold the headlight connectors onto the buckets are usually made too low on the reproduction items so they tend to loosen up while driving and have a poor connection between the headlight bucket and the wire harness. Suggested to look for good originals as number one preference.
Make sure the electrical connector housing on the bottom of the headlight bucket also remains fairly clean. This point, as well as the mounting where the headlight bucket mounts to the headlight bar form your main ground point for the headlight system. If they get corrosion or become loose, it could cause intermittent headlight functionality.
LED bulbs were mentioned as possible aftermarket items and they do provide and extensive amount of light with low amperage draw. New models are plug and play and fit right into the headlight sockets although earlier LED replacements had issues with their base being slightly larger and required some slight modification to the headlight sockets in the buckets to accommodate the larger bulbs.
Headlight switch at end of steering column is still based on the three point contact system between two sliding plates. Earlier versions were brake light while the newer versions are plastic and less resistant to heat. The middle contact is for the horn and on newer setups it can sometimes become slack in the plates and flop around causing intermittent horn action. Recommended to either find an original and re solder your harness into it or possibly shield the center post using a small section of heat resistant rubber to isolate the contact from the contacts sitting beside it.
Reproduction clip, spring and c-clip that locks the horn rod onto the steering column was also mentioned in the talk. Newer versions are not generally stamped as deep and tend to sometimes pop off. Colin suggested to find a good original clip and use it to avoid the c-clip from popping off.
Headlight switch ball clip that holds the two sections of headlight ball together was also mentioned. Colin mentioned to ensure one makes the clip snap in place against the tabs on the side of the housing otherwise the clip could pop off accidentally and your headlights and horn system would not function.
Dave Jamieson mentioned he upgraded the internet speed now access to the website has improved. He noticed we had close to 14000 hits as of early January and it’s not all our group accessing the website. For this reason he wants to send a survey questionnaire to all the members to see what the good points of the Club are and what the less liked aspects of the Club are. Most of the questions will be multiple choices with users choosing rankings for the different aspects of the Club from good to worse. Open ended questions will also be part of the survey.
The survey is intended to analyse the Members preferences of Clun activities while also targeting potential suggestions for improvements or changes the Members would like to see. The more participants that provide feedback makes for better analyses.
Tom asked if anyone is available to pick up the key for the Maki House and open up the room whenever we have a meeting. Being across town he can’t always be at the Maki House right at 7 or slightly before. Should someone in the area close to the Maki House be willing to take on this task, it will be appreciated.
Meeting ended at 9pm.
CCA Minutes Feb 13,2020
Meeting started at 7:15pm
Ed Galea had offered a book on the Rouge plant for $35 to any member (Sold).
George German offered a parts list for free to any member who was interested.
Colin distributed the updated membership list to present members.
John Moore was introduced as the new president to replace Tom Bellfoy and he chaired the meeting as the VP was unable to attend.
John Moore started the meeting by introducing a new member to the club, Mike Cahill. Mike owns a 1928 Roadster AR originally from Vancouver. He’s had the car since early 2000 but mentioned it need engine paint and babbitting.
George German had written a brief summary of the last directors’ meeting outlining what was discussed and decided on. This was made available to everyone.
Budget balance is $3,250 that covers 44 paid memberships out of the expected 68 members. Telephone committee will do follow-ups with respect to the unpaid memberships and Colin mentioned he usually sends out notifications by late February or early March if people still haven’t paid their dues by that time.
The president mentioned the updated events list and had Keitha Black provide an overview of the events they have scheduled or are tentatively planning. Limited hard copy versions were distributed but Colin has already sent out a list to the membership with email addresses. Those without email addresses should expect to see a copy delivered through regular mail.
Keitha highlighted some of the events such as the Tulip festival will involve a drive by different locations but no static parking. A lunch event will take place after the scenic drive. Patti and George were discussing the accommodations for the getaway tour listed on the events sheet for June 11-14. Some discussion was raised as to whether it will be the Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th or Friday 12th to Monday 15th. Coming back on the Monday would allow people to visit the flea market in the area on Sunday. Garry Lynch raised the issue that the McHaffie Flea Market is quite a distance from Cornwall though. The suggested accommodations were mentioned as one of Ramada Inn, Comfort Inn or the Nav Center in Cornwall with George and Patti looking into the specifics.
Dan Dunwoodie raised the suggestion made by Dave Welch that someone had made a vehicle for production back in the day that never went into production but it’s located somewhere in Plattsburgh, NY. Those who are interested in visiting that locale should talk with Dave Welch.
The Dec 5 Christmas dinner locale was listed incorrectly. It will be held at the Osgoode Legion with catering by several of the local church ladies. The time will be from 12 to 4pm as many people have said in previous years that they don’t like the drive in the dark when going home. The setup of the event will be similar as to what was done in the previous year and the executive will want to have feedback at a later date as to whether or not the time of day is preferred. Part of the costs will be subsidized by the club to keep the costs down. Tentative dollars around $25 per person.
The Lombardy flea market should have table spots available and Amir volunteered to look into the table registration for the club.
The president retook the floor and asked about the awards. They take a long time to deal with and it’s usually the same handful of recipients who get them so the executive is looking for feedback as to whether or not the members feel these are worthwhile to continue having.
John Moore also brought up the possibility of organizing a bus tour (similar to the Dearborn one held a couple of years ago) but this time he suggested we might go to Gilmore. He is looking for feedback as to the interest of the group for next year. It takes a couple of months to organize such an event so please provide feedback as early as possible if you have interest in this trip or have suggestions of other trips the club could setup.
He also mentioned if anyone has interest in short 1 day ad hoc trips then feel free to share the idea with the rest of the club by notifying him of the proposal.
The issue of the club survey questionnaire was brought up and Colin clarified that the Executive have received a preliminary copy as a trial run of the actual questionnaire. The actual questionnaire should be distributed to all club members in the near future.
John Cruise took the floor for his talk about condensors and selling of some parts. Just prior to starting the talk he reiterated the notion that many presenters get nervous or get distracted if there’s a lot of ambient noise in the crowd. He asked the membership to keep this in mind and keep the commentary among the crowd to a minimum until presenters have finished their talks. Garry Lynch also mentioned that many of the membership have a hard time hearing so the quieter it is in the room, the easier it is to hear what’s being presented.
John Cruise had a few items for sale. Couple of rolls of Spring liner material is available.
He also has a distributor cap and rotor produced by Remmers Corners. It’s machined so that the clearance should be roughly equal among all contact points and the rotor. It’s advertised as being more impervious to dirt than the regular cap and it also has the modern style spark plug wire setup on it. It usually sells for $84 US plus shipping but John offered it to the club members for $75
John Cruise has a couple of turbo fan end plates and small pulleys that were made available for the alternator setups. These replace the usual exposed fans that usually reside on the ends of an alternator but this variety of plate is machined from high grade aluminum, dissipates heat better than the original alternator fans as well. John Cruise mentioned they usually retail for $75 US with shipping but he’ll sell his for $50.
Last item for sale was a Mike Kemp leakless water pump that usually retails for $170 - $180 US. John Cruise mentioned he would sell it for $150 with $50 being contributed from the sale to the club treasury.
Condensors- John Cruise likened the condenser function to be similar to house plumbing in older homes. When you shutoff a tap , the pipes quite often will be shocked and have a rattle to them from the pressure. Same sort of thing happens with the electric charge from the coil to the points where the coil acts like the water pressure and the points act like the tap being closed and opened continually.
He mentioned they are susceptible to heat, external damage, and moisture. They can be tested with a set of clips on leads and an ohmmeter (the full article he referred to will be available in one of the upcoming Radshell)
John mentioned whether or not you use original points setup or the new points setup that was used with the new upper plate from 1949 until 1972, he recommends that the stock system is preferred. Using a modern electronic ignition setup will also show marked improvement in the performance.
John Moore summarized the actions of a condenser (basically a capacitor) in terms of reactance. Reactance is the measure of how much opposition an electrical component will have to the flow of current due to that element’s inductance or capacitance. A Capacitor consists of two conductors separated by an insulator.
A DC voltage applied across a capacitor causes positive charge to accumulate on one side and negative charge to accumulate on the other side. The electric field due to the accumulated charge is the source of the opposition to the current. When the potential associated with the charge exactly balances the applied voltage, the current goes to zero. This happens when the car is turned off and the coil still wants to send current to the points, the condenser causes the current to go to zero and you avoid burning the points once the ignition is off.
The equation mentioned for capacitance and Reactance was mentioned
Xc=Capacitor reactance in Ohms
2πf=angular frequency in Hertz
C=Capacitance in farads
This tells you how much resistance a capacitor will have at a given frequency
Colin then took the floor after the break to talk about engine components and items he found while trying to debug vibrations and noises from the Tudor he purchased from Tony Dean.
The car has about 18,000 miles on a rebuilt motor; 15,000 put on by Tony and 3,000 put on by Colin.
He decided to check the rods and crankshaft bearing clearances and very little wear was displayed as the car was never driven hard. Took about 0.001 out of the rear main cap only.
The crank handle would flop in the crank guide so he took it off to see what was causing it to be offset a bit and why was it so loose. He showed the differences in crank guides and clamps that were used on the Fords throughout production. Early fords had a forged square U bolt clamp while the later models had a rounded bar u bolt clamp to hold the crank guide to the crossmember. After Feb 1930 Ford decided to move from the square clamps to the rounded clamps due to costs.
Crank guide also has offset tabs to make sure it’s oriented to the correct position in reference to the opening of the radiator shell hole.
Colin then showed differences in the various front engine yokes that were used during production. Early 28’s had a solid front mount and later ones used springs to cushion vibration. Many times the bolt or brass washer gets worn and makes the yoke sit looser on the crossmember. Colin noticed the bolt was rather worn and the brass washer had an oblong shape to the hole indicating the motor was having a tendency to pull backwards.
He mentioned the earlier front yokes were made from cast iron then went to steel in later production. He recommends that one doesn’t use the two piece front yoke as the holes are sometimes not drilled in the proper spot to allow proper alignment to the engine block holes. These can be distinguished from the regular yokes as they have a center post that’s welded onto the yoke and not forged as part of the main piece.
He then got into a discussion about the Float a motor mounts that bolt at the rear sides of the engine. He stressed the importance of having a ferrule tube in the bolt hole to prevent the motor mount bolt from having any unwanted travel back and forth through the hole. Mounting the float a motor mounts means you no longer require rubber gasket between the mount and frame as the float a motor mount uses rubber pucks as cushioning points on the mount.
Colin displayed a few of the tool sets and tools used to check the measurements on the bores, pistons and other related components. These included a Vernier caliper, 3 to 4 inch Starrett Micrometer and some bore gauges.
The t shaped bore gauges can be used to measure the inner bore diameter however they are prone to some measurement error in the readings as it needs to be perfectly straight in the bore and locking down the measurement can sometimes knock the tool off by 0.001” sometimes. He prefers to use a dial bore gauge where one zeros the gauge to whatever bore you should have on the cylinder using the micrometer to calibrate the distance. Once the bore gauge is between the micrometer, you zero out the dial and you are ready to slide it down the bore to get a reading of the bore diameter.
Next he showed some older pistons with a slot on the side of the skirt. These type of pistons require a certain orientation in the bore depending on the slot and where the valves are. The newer pistons (unless marked with arrows indicating front of engine) shouldn’t require a special orientation.
He illustrated some of the replacement Chevrolet type valves with heavy duty guides that are usually used. These are thicker valves and usually require some shortening by about 0.080” to allow for the adjustable lifters.
He showed the one piece front seal that is offered as a replacement to the two piece rope seal on the crank. Either style seems to weep oil but he did notice using the one piece neoprene seal showed indications of burning on the shaft so the seal was doing its’ job but the shaft was also suffering at some points. He recommended to use the two piece rope seal.
He showed the common valve guide removal tool that’s in the form of a long metal piece with a bulge to one side. This slides between the valve and the opening and is used like a punch to drop the two piece valve guides from the block. The downside of that tool is that is needs to be oriented straight in the valve body opening or else valve bending could occur. He mentioned another variety that is less prone to causing valve damage. These are available through the Model A parts suppliers
He then showed different varieties of valve spring compressors. The first type looks like a pair of pliers and can sometimes come with a built in ratchet lock. These work fine but require heavy duty hand strength. He prefers the modified set that adjust by turning a knob on a threaded rod. It stays adjusted to whatever amount you turn the knob.
He looked at his pistons and rings. The piston ring grooves were not showing excessing wear but the rings were showing wear. He has come across times when correct size rings were ordered and fit nicely on the pistons but were too wide to allow the piston and ring to enter the bore. He mentioned the manufacturers suggest to not spiral the rings onto the pistons so he showed a small tool that looked like an office paper clip. It clips on the two edges of the ring and under compression it separated the ring far enough to slip it in place onto the piston.
Colin then gave a brief overview on different oil return tubes. There were two sizes used throughout the Model A production. The earlier engines had the opening in the valve chamber higher but it prevented oil drainage to the pan so they lowered the opening on the valve cover to be sitting lower in later production. This lowering required the engine to be supplied with a longer oil return tube and this goes on the 30-31 variety.
The valve covers themselves show differences in the sense that the oil return tube opening is closer to the edge on one version than it is on the other. One version will allow a valve cover bolt hole to reside between the edge of the cover and the oil return tube hole while the other version has no space for a bolt hole to reside.
Colin discussed the differences in valve clearances throughout production;
Les Andrews says 0.013” for intake valves and 0.015” for exhaust valves
Service bulletins-
February 28 mentioned 0.013” to 0.015” for all
March 28 mentioned 0.011” to 0.014” for all
April 29 mentioned 0.10” to 0.013” for all (see pg. 338 of service bulletins)
Know your Model A Ford book from 1958 states to use 0.010” to 0.013” for all but make sure the setting is the same for all valves
Dykes manual from 1942 mentioned 0.010” to 0.013”
Bill Stipe cam for use in a B engine mentions to put everything at 0.012”
Colin then finished the seminar with discussions on piston rods and the necessity to have all connecting rods close to the same weight but they have specific weights they should have with respect to which end of the connecting rod you are weighing (this is to account for weight differences between top and bottom of connecting rod when assembled with piston)
He showed a setup for weighing different ends of the connecting rods using two square ubolt setups (one placed on the flat scale and the other one placed on a block of wood beside the scale. Slide the connecting rod so that the rod is suspended horizontally with one end over the scale and the other over the block of wood. Take the reading and reverse the rod orientation to get the weight of the other end.
Make sure all connecting rods are as close as possible to the same weight. Should they be slightly off in variation, you can sometimes adjust the overall weight by choosing different nuts or thicker washers on the connecting rod caps to alter the weight.
Last item Colin mentioned was a checklist of items to look for when doing an inspection. This sheet will be available at the inspection day and owners will be informed what to address on their car according to what is found during the inspection.
Meeting finished sometime after 9pm
CCA Minutes March 12, 2020
John Moore started the meeting around 7pm with members introducing themselves for the benefit of new members to the club. Mike Harris has joined our club but could not be in attendance.
Andreas Tanzer has joined. He owns a 1930 Tudor which he picked up last summer and currently is bringing the car back to its original Chicle Drab colour. He is the third owner of the car and it is a Canadian built car.
John Cruise took the floor and mentioned many members constantly ask him about upgrades. He stated he suggests repair or restoration first but if people want to go with performance upgrades he suggests one looks at the Secret of Speed Society which deals with original parts as well as performance upgrades. He has donated a magazine to the club library and said there were many good articles contained within. One such article in the current magazine deals with Terry Burtz’s one piece seal for crankshafts.
Both John Moore and George German were mentioning the issues with the current Covid 19 spread and how our club may want to err in the side of caution with regards to tours/trips/events among the general public. As many of our membership are getting up in years, they feel it would be prudent to cancel the getaway tour for this year and possibly postpone it to the following year (depending on the outcome of this Covid issue)
As well, the Morrisburg theatre outing will be cancelled for the same reasons as the theatre environment would have large amounts of people from the general public crammed into a tight area which could increase the likelihood of someone transmitting the virus to our members.
George and John Moore mentioned we are looking for volunteers as backup members for the phone committee (or even replacements for existing phone committee members). Some of the current phone committee members go on holidays out of country and we should have replacements on hand during their absence. In general, there is one phone committee member responsible for each page of the membership directory so the volume of calls is not overly abundant. Should anyone want to take on this role, you are urged to contact George or John Moore.
John Moore then mentioned Amir is looking for any member who still has dues outstanding for current year. John brought reference to the importance of maintaining club membership as suggested by correspondence from Amir which will be mentioned in an upcoming Radshell.
The president received an email from Dave Welsh mentioning that the Drummonds pancake house tour is cancelled due to closure of the location. He looked at Hunter’s sugar bush to see if it could be a substitute if enough of our members are interested. He would need about 30 members showing interest, would need to know by April 22nd and it may not involve a pancake breakfast as it may just be a tour of the sugarbush. If you have interest, please let John know asap.
Results of the survey have been coming in with 44 email responses at current. Colin has also sent out hard copy versions to 9 members but has yet to receive any responses.
It was suggested that we should also be having feedback surveys after every event. The event organizer could issue a short brief summary covering how the people liked the event, if they want to have it repeated at a future time, what changes could be made to improve the event etc. This feedback mechanism would help the activities committee plan for future events as they do perform post mortems on existing events but those don’t necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the membership as a whole. It would help the committee to decide whether or not any current event should be repeated, cancelled or maybe suggest new venues.
John Moore reminded members to think about a possible trip to the Gilmore museum for the Model A day. He suggested it could be done as a bus trip again but due to the cost of the coach, if members show interest, they would have to commit to the trip otherwise it can become financially unfeasible for the ones who have to subsidize missing attendees. Garry suggested we should look into the estimated cost as last bus tour had members paying slightly more than expected due to a reduction of members deciding to go on the trip at the last minute. John Cruise was elected to check into costs and to see if he can get us a deal through the bus company as he knows the brothers who own the company are heavily interested in the older car scene.
Going by bus also requires everyone to abide by the same schedule as the bus so some of the touring could be limited so a suggestion was made to possibly attend the event using the daily drivers with meeting setup ahead of time at a mutually agreed upon location. This gives the added benefit of people being able to leave early if they so desire.
John Cruise mentioned that another possibility could be to venture there by bus but arrange to have one or two couples rent local cars. The rental costs could be shared among the car occupants and it allows the flexibility for people to venture off and do other aspects of touring such as shopping, touring other local sites, etc.
Some brief discussions were carried out regarding where people may lodge during the event and how close in proximity it would be to the museum. Colin mentioned that some of the lodgings can be ¾ of an hour away from the museum so a lot of time is spent on commuting between the sites and the lodgings.
John Moore proposed it may be good to leave on the Thursday so that it provides ample time to get there in time for the Model A day , see the sites, and be back around Ottawa and area by the following Monday.
Open discussion had Colin bring up a few historical dates of the club and when he joined. He passed around a photo displaying one of the earlier events where club members were allowed to drive on the Parliament Hill grounds.
Mac Lachappelle brought in some items for sale to the members.
Colin then began a talk about the various tools provided with the Model A. Every car was shipped with 13 items and he handed out a photocopy listing the items (to be included in an upcoming Radshell)
The sheet displayed the various wrenches, jacks, pumps, tire irons etc. and Colin went through some of the differences between the tools throughout the Model A production.
Original Screwdriver had wood handle painted black. These are harder to get than other tools so expect to see them going around $25 if you find one at a swap meet.
Early pliers always had the Ford script with a screwdriver blade on the end.
The 1929 Ford wrench had the Ford script at the top with the tool company name McKinnon Industries on the handle (The tool company was since bought out by General Motors)
The end of the adjustable wrench is notched so that the wrench can be used to remove the drain and fill plugs on the rear of a model A banjo. The Box end wrenches were intended for use on head bolts, or brake adjusters with the open end intended for the Spark plugs. The Model T wrenches look similar in nature but they don’t have the Model A stamping numbers of them and they are not built as strong as the ones for the Model A use.
Tire Pumps had variations with the Model T having the Ford script listed on both foot pegs while the Model A variety only had the Ford script on one of the foot pegs. Differences in the location of the air hose in reference to the body can also indicate the vintage of the pump.
The tire irons have a loose fitting deep socket on them which Colin suggested you should pack with some material prior to using it on the wheel nuts. If you don’t, the wrench will sit flush to the wheel and can actually remove the paint when one goes to remove a lug nut. Adding the packing material in the socket will allow a small gap between the wrench and the wheel. He showed a variety of wrenches with sharp bends in them but mentioned they can be identified as non model A if one goes by the stamping numbers on the side. 81-A is generally for 1932, 1933 cars, 01A is generally for 1941 cars and 040 stamping relates to a later wrench. At swap meets, one should expect to pay $10-15 for a spark plug wrench, $10-15 for an adjustable wrench and as previously mentioned due to rarity, $25 for the screwdriver. Tool bags for the Model A tools were originally provided with turning clasps that locked the flap in place. The second version of the tool bags had a snap at each end.
Jacks came in many varieties and many Model T jacks are available. They have a ratcheting handle and work ok but one generally needs a block of wood to stabilize the car from rolling away when it’s elevated.
Many jacks were supplied by the Ajax company with a narrow slot for a handle that also doubles as a tire bead breaker. These are also ratcheting in nature and work quite well. Wheel pullers were mentioned with the original variety being a screw on setup that screws on the end of the axle and is supposed to be given a blow with a hammer to shock the drum loose. The bad issue with this is that it can sometimes force the axle towards the differential and screw up the tolerances in the differential gears or bearings if hit too hard. It was suggested the better tool to use is the wheel puller that hooks onto the hub and uses a screw to pull the hub away from the axle as less chance of damage can occur.
Coffee Break.
After the break, Amir was going to show slides of other clubs’ cars but due to a technical mix up, the presentation was not available. To be postponed….
He did mention some of the other members he had met in his travels with note of one fellow who has a car that has been registered every year since new in Australia. It has a Dec 1927 manufacture date so it’s also a fairly early model.
Vic Code jumped into presenting with some images of his engine rebuild. They came across some pitting in the third cylinder and actually had one sleeve break free from the block when it was being rebored. A lot of the mains were showing spider cracking and hairline cracks in the Babbitt so it was due for rebuilding. He is going with inserts and should be getting the engine back within a few weeks.
GENERAL NOTE: Many of the tours having to deal with a lot of general public will be postponed or cancelled for the current year due to the COVID 19 issues and our membership being older.
More of the informal meets with just the club members will be more likely to proceed such as the inspection day at Farmer Dave’s. Colin also suggested it may be beneficial to new members to come to the inspection day even if you don’t have a Model A with you as you will benefit from seeing work being done on other Model As.
Meeting ended around 8:50 pm.
Thursday February 16, 2023
Mike Nugent brought a friend of his from Florida as a guest.
Tom Bellfoy is offering to order name badges again at $10 each with the person’s name and club logo. It was left up to Colin to see if the club pays for new members. Orders will be needed prior to February 20th and can be paid to Tom through e-transfer.
Clothing will make another round to help set prices once they see the demand. Pricing will depend on how many items are expected to be purchased.
43 paid members, others encouraged to pay $40 annual dues.
Dave Jamieson and Colin Lawson are going to a Model A meet in Albany NY in September. Interested participants will need a car that can go about 50 mph steady. If interested to join, talk with Dave or Colin.
Jim Stewart is looking into window plaques/ stickers to indicate membership to Capital As.
Lyle Slater provided club with Ford emblem stickers.
Mac has a St. Patrick’s day drive setup from downtown to Landsdowne around March 11 if you want to participate. Cars meet around Laurier at 10 am then drive to Landsdowne park.
Bob booth garage tour around July 16
Dave Jamieson suggested that new members can send in writeups which will be put up in the members only section. Can be recent projects, history etc. in the hopes that club members can get to know everyone better.
Technical reports in radshell may go to the technical section of the website.
Colin- technical presentation
Talked about looking for leaks in block.
Thick Gasket(like a head gasket) added to block. It has the cylinder and valves openings in it but it seals/blocks off the water passages. Pressure fitting attaches to water inlet in block. Soapy water with the air pressure will isolate the leaks.
Ed galea uses sheet of rubber to block off the head but with a solid piece of rubber you need to look under the rubber cover as opposed to looking through the openings in the other gasket.
Stump the expert.
How many nuts and bolts used to attach a 29 gas tank? 18
If you are going to do a toe-in adjustment. On ground or on hoist and what tool do you use?
Two ways, one on ground , one up
On ground one uses a toe-in bar which is a spring loaded extension bar to fit between the wheels. Chains (about 8 inch hanging from both ends) keeps the bar level when setting. Roll the car forward until the chains are just touching the ground at the rear of the wheels then read the measure on the bar. Distance should be 1/16 closer in front.
Front axle on jacks, put tape on side of tire Hook a string on back wheel and bring it out to a jack stand at front of car. (Just below running board) Adjust steering so tire just hits string at back of tire. Have to measure same point on tire for standardization of measure.
John Cruise mentioned string method is used at formal races in the US.
Car should be on ground so it’s standardized to be sitting with the load on the wheels.
Chalk mark on center of of each front wheel tread.
Roll car ahead and back a car’s length and take measurements between the chalk lines at front of car and also on the same spot once the car has rolled forward and the chalk marks are at the rear of the wheel. Again, front wheels should be 1/16” closer in the front than rear.
John mentioned he will bring toe plates that stand beside the wheels for measurement. Notch in stands to measure across the width of car (back and front)
Dave may bring his set to Farmer Dave’s safety meet.
Patty put together a tour and proposed one for this year. George German proposed 3 day tour in Cornwall focused on eastern Ontario. Stormont Dundas, Glengarry area. Nav Centre was choice but probably unavailable. Activities: Vineyards, Heritage museums, Vintage clothing stores, Visitors centre at dam on Ontario side in Cornwall. Lost villages museum by St. Lawrence flooding. Group dinner on Friday night, activities and drive on Sat and Sun. Steve will propose driving routes. Need decision on dates and when.
Marc may scout out the local roads to see feasibility.
Amir also had sent an itinary that they did 5 yrs ago.
Coffee….
Videos of tours held in 2022.
Model A checkup and flea market at farmer Dave’s May 7,2022 (current will be May 6,2023)
Cumberland Museum August 10. 2022
Kars village 200th anniversary
Corn Boil Aug 6
Ladies appreciation tour Johnstown.
Cranberry tour Sept 10
Flaming leaves tour Randy’s
Slideshow of block tester for leaks
Australian national meet 27th
Ken Morgan also mentioned if people see a video portion highlighting their car, they can feel free to ask him to extract that portion of the video for their use.
CCA Meeting March 16, 2023
The meeting started at 7pm and finished by 9pm
Randy noted it will be the second to last night for spring meetings.
Randy thanked the executive for their contributions. Mike Cahill (VP), John Moore (Past Pres.), Colin Lawson (technical director), Jim Stewart (Director at large), Dave Jamieson (website Contact) were all present
Amir Anders (treasurer), Al Jaakkola (Radshell Editor), Ken Morgan (Activities Director) were all absent.
We wish Ken Morgan a speedy recovery from his knee surgery.
Dave Welch’s safety checkup will be the first upcoming event with Dave expected to return from holidays around April 3.
It was noted that Ken Morgan will send out the list of activities when it becomes finalised. With it being constantly in revision until later in the year, it will not appear in the Radshell but should be posted eventually on the website.
Tom Bellfoy was also absent but had sent in the name tags he had received from the order he placed in February.
Randy also thanked Marc Groulx for supplying soft drinks for the meeting.
Latest report from Amir is that 48 members are paid in full and others with outstanding dues should remit them as soon as possible.
Colin and Randy had sheets available that outlined items to take note of or check when taking car out of storage or getting safetied. These lists will be covered in the safety checkup at Dave Welch’s place but Colin suggested they are even good reference if you are not planning on attending.
Dave Jamieson mentioned there are quite a few new members and he suggested If they have pictures of them and/or their car they should feel free to forward them to Dave so they can be put on the website and help put a face to a name on the club website. If the members have any stories related to their car, current projects etc. they can also submit them for the website contribution. The stories would be posted in the Members only section of the website under Members bio section.
Dave also mentioned the latest addition to the website in the form of the technical articles under “The Lawson Files”. He currently has two years’ worth of articles posted but hopes to eventually have as many years posted as possible.
The section ‘Cruisin with Grampa” that covers articles submitted by John Cruise will be updated as well.
Dave mentioned he receives metrics on the website usage and there are currently over 220,000 hits on the website with viewers coming from as far as Florida and Turkey so he sees the website as a valuable tool to inform others of our club functions.
Ken Morgans’ video coverage of events will probably be posted online in time.
John Moore has introduced his friend Jim who was in attendance from Saskatchewan. His family had 15 cars at one time with 150 pallets or spare parts that were sold off when the family decided to downsize their collection. Jim currently owns a Model T and is presently doing a ground up restoration of a Chevrolet from the 30s.
Mike Cahill then took the floor and mentioned that he will look and see if he can get a hold of some of the items on display in women’s sizes. Currently it’s only men’s sizes shown on display. The cut off for indicating interest to Mike would be the April meeting.
Someone asked the question as to whether or not the sizes on the coats are standardized to the sizes of the shirts and Mike mentioned they should be considered to be the same.
Jim Stewart covered the current status of the window stickers being sought with the club logo on them. We currently need to know the number to purchase as Jim contacted Coba studios in Merrickville and they provided pricing rates. Coba was selected since they usually handle similar printing jobs for the Merrickville Car Show.
They took a pattern of the logo off of our current contact list and would need to do some digital cleanup of the logo prior to using it for the printing of the stickers. This setup cost would be $45.
The rates for the stickers were mentioned as
100 would be at the price of $1.25 per sticker
200 would be at the price of $0.90 per sticker
500 would be at the price of $0.78 per sticker
1000 would be at the price of $0.39 per sticker
Some discussion was held as to what recommended amount the club would want to purchase. Marc suggested we could have the club purchase the 1000 and anyone who wants extra stickers could opt to purchase them from the club at a slightly higher nominal fee to recoup the cost and add some money into the treasury. Others suggested the more the club purchases provide flexibility if they want to give them out as gifts, place them on more than one of their vehicles, use them as promotional material for the club, etc.
There are currently about 80-99 cars in the club and a quick vote around the room seemed to indicate favour in ordering 1000
The adhesive is on the back of the sticker so it would need to be mounted on the outside of the glass. Jim is looking to see if he can put it on an aluminum plate for use as a license sticker/badge.
Randy received some correspondence from a Grace and Ben Noel through the Highway 43 car club out of Kemptville. They are available for a swing dance and were wondering if any members are interested. If so, contact Randy for the Noel’s contact info.
Directors have agreed to provide the MAFFI organisation with a donation of $150 this year. Our club has previously donated money in the form of a brick with the club’s name embossed in it as part of a previous MAFFI fundraising drive. It was suggested that if you haven’t attended the museum, it is definitely a good experience with MAFFI members having free admission ($75 per 3-year subscription) as well as free admission on the Model A days in September.
Randy has tried to contact Al Cooper’s wife to see his latest progress but was unable to reach them at this time.
Arnold Saunders is currently undergoing rehab at the Bruyère hospital as he suffered a few falls in the last couple of weeks. He had hit his head and hurt his left arm during the latest fall but is in good spirits nonetheless.
Randy suggested if we hear of any club members going through hardships with health, we should feel free to let the executive know and possibly a card could be sent to the member.
Randy mentioned he had caught Colin off guard with the Stump the Expert question last meeting so he figured we could make this an ongoing event. He asked the club members if they would contribute any question they have to Randy and he would forward the question to Colin.
Ken had told Randy that he picked up the trivia game called Wheels and he would be putting some of the questions up on the website in the Radshell.
Current question raised to Colin was: Did Henry Ford ever make a non-chrome bumper in the Model As?
Answer: He made Stainless as well as Nickel plated
On some of the trucks the bumper was painted
On the Model T’s the bumper was an optional item and was nickel plated
Stock bumpers would have black inserts at the edges while many have stainless inserts between the two bumper bars.
Also mentioned there were two lengths of bumpers made for the Model A with ½” difference between the two lengths.
Randy mentioned if anyone has acquired a new car to add to their collection, we should make it known to the club (especially if you are looking for parts to finish your project)
Mike Nugent bought a 29 phaeton and is looking for top bows
Lylse Slater picked up a 29 sprots coupe from Windsor
Brian is working on a huckster and may have a line on a cowl for his project.
Ed Galea got a hold of a 29 wheel he was looking for.
Ed also mentioned he purchased a motorcycle wheel mounting tool from Princess Auto (currently on sale for about a week at $60) and it works well on mounting 29 wheels.
Steve Latimer and Patti Mordasewiczhave been working on planification for the getaway tour in June. Patti mentioned they had previously looked at the Nav Center or Ramada Inn but those are not available due to government bookings.
Three others are available but post pandemic pricing has raised the rates somewhat. The three alternative suggested were:
Comfort Inn, offers no pool but room rate includes breakfast. $209 per night
Best Western Inn, offers an outdoor pool and full breakfast at $199.99 per night. Restaurant is on site and close to center of town.
Super 8 Cornwall Centre about 3.5km from downtown. Only offers coffee and a breakfast item (not a full breakfast) at $179.98 per night
Patti also checked other venues for pricing comparisons and Mackintosh Inn in Morrisburg has no room due to June being the wedding month and Macies on Carling Avenue in Ottawa has space listed at $188 per night
The tour was to cover two nights but it was suggested with the increased accommodation costs we may want to restrict it to one night and two days activities. The 9th and 10th of June are the dates for some of the reservation slots and parking seems to be good at the Best Western (which consensus seemed to be the best of the three)
A show of hands indicated at least 10 people present at the meeting were interested with at least three people not in attendance that would be interested. Room bookings would be done individually to take the risk off of the club but members should contact Patti to get the reservation details and contact people at the Best Western. Marc Groulx hasn’t checked out roadways yet but once the venue is more finalised, he is willing to scout out the better routes that are in close proximity to the accommodations and points of interest to be visited.
Technical
Colin covered spoke straightening but didn’t expand to wheel straightening (spoke adjustments can modify the trueness of the wheel)
Model T’s had spoked wheels only towards the later days of production and the tension on the metal spokes is from the hub from the bottom up to the wheel rim while the Model A holds the center with tension running from the wheel rim down to the hub.
Colin showed he uses an old front spindle hub mounted to a table with a brake drum for mounting a wheel. Spinning the wheel on this hub can check for indication of wheel hop or side to side lateral movement. Once can also use this setup as a jig when spray painting rims as it allows you to spin the wheel freely while spraying paint at a constant distance.
Colin checks for straightness of each spoke by laying a flat piece of reference material against the spoke (hard section of hockey stick or piece of straight metal stock can be used). If the spoke is straight, no rocking of the straightedge should be noticed (this would indicate an outward bend in the spoke) and no gaps should be noticed between the straightedge and the spoke (this would indicate an inward bend to the spoke). You can also tap each spoke to see if the tones produced are uniform. If there is a significant difference in tone between different spokes it could be an indication of a bend or spokes at different tension. If you hear a slight reverberation while doing this it could also be an indication of metal fatigue or cracks. The rim doesn’t need to be brought down to bare metal when doing the tapping test although any hitting or prying can risk scratching the paint.
For bending the spoke back in place, Colin uses a small section of hockey stick under the spoke to pry up or a metal prybar with little to no sharp edge (this avoids possibly scratching the paint). Slight upward prying will allow one to pry the spoke outward. If the bend is too far out, one can give a light tap with the hammer to push the spoke back down towards the hub side. For lateral bends Colin uses an adjustable wrench tightened onto the spoke with a bar slide through the end of the wrench for leverage to allow the wrench to twist the spoke sideways.
Once the spokes are suitably straight, tension can be reapplied with heat and quenching with water. Colin suggests to use a hotter flame at wheel rim end of the spoke and a cooler flame at the hub end of the spoke with quenching to straighten and tension the spokes.
The Wrench can also be used to remove dents put into the rim when running over potholes or obstructions that may cause a flat spot on the rim edge. Secure the rim on the floor and set the wrench jaws on the edge of the rim when prying the rim edge to straightness.
Brattons’ offers a slotted tool with three bolts that can be slid over the spoke and tightening the bolts will dolly the spoke straight.
Once wheel is straightened Colin uses the stick-on wheel weights and mounts them in the channel of the wheel rim under the rubber strip so they will not be visible on the exterior of the wheel. Proper size rubber strip is 17”
Majority of the time, the lighter spot is where the valve stem goes through the rim as that is the area more prone to corrosion from water getting into the rim.
Colin also showed a Model B intake manifold. A member had used a model B carb on their car and wanted to use the Model B intake manifold to avoid the issue where the intake manifold on the A is slightly different dimension from the Model B carburetor at the point where the two meet up. Mounting a B carburetor onto an A intake manifold can risk breakage of the carburetor mounting flange where the bolts go through.
However, if you try and use a B intake manifold on the car there would be no risk of breakage at the carburetor flange but since the mounting surface on the intake manifold is tilted 6 degrees, you will have binding on the carburetor GAV rod when you try and hook it up as the rod will not meet up with the carburetor at the proper angle.
John Cruise ended the technical portion by showing the use of Toe-In plates resting up against the wheels. Each one has slots at both ends so you can measure front distance and rear distance between wheels at the same time. The difference between the two measurements should be 1/16” shorter in the front than the rear so the wheels toe inwards at the front.
John also stressed that camber is set by factory at three degrees. The wheels tilt out at the top further than where they make contact with the pavement. The front spring and crossmember should be clean and center bolt should be seated prior to bolting down. Spring should be perfectly centered in the crossmember with spring shackles should be at 45 degrees to the axle. These points along with making sure the spring is not weak will limit the amount of shifting of the car when you go through turns.
Parts suppliers also sell a stabilizer bar (or Panhard bar) will eliminate the sideways shifting
Users can also get a cradle to use over the back of the differential to limit sideways movement on the rear of the car.
Pitman arms are available at shorter lengths to make steering easier but limits the turning radius. Under no circumstances should these be done at home by cutting and rewelding as there have been instances where some people did just that and ended up driving into the ditch when the weld let go as the car crossed a set of railway tracks.
Caster is controlled by the king pin and the degree at which the radius rod is mounted to the radius ball. This connection tips the axle to the rear but doesn’t move the spring so the shackles take the load.
The line from the kingpin to the tie rod end to the end of the differential will impact how the outer tire turns in relation to the inner tire. It also helps the car wheels straighten out from a turn.
Rubbing hand over tread from outside to inside of wheel well will indicate how well the tires are wearing. Caster out of specs will cause roughness to the treads as the tires will tend to scrub the roadway more on turns.
If you do an alignment by scribing the tires with chalk and have the wheels in the air, make sure to drop the car off of the jacks prior to taking the measurements. Making sure the car drops significantly when the wheels hit the ground ensures the wheels are taking the full load of the vehicle and are most likely positioned where they would be under normal driving conditions.