The purpose of this Blog

This blog is to detail my 50 years (1973 - 2023) with a 1928 Chevrolet tourer, affectionately called "The Red Chev".

The acquisition, restoration, improvements and my experiences over the years are covered in as much detail as I can remember.

Some of the later postings include car club outings and other vintage car items that I hope will be of interest to people.

If you have the time, scroll back to where it all began in 1973 and follow the journey so far.

Thanks for dropping by.

Regards Ray Dean


See my new section "The Red Chev - Repairs, Improvements, Maintenance and Technical Details" located on the left hand side of the screen.




Pages

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Saturday, December 28, 2013

The now not so RED FACED CHEV

This little bugger caused me grief this morning.





Let me tell you the sad tale.

I was up early this morning as the plan was to assist Grant Fowler and Monty the 1928 Chev as a back up car for arrangements made for a surprise ride for a gentleman on his 90th birthday.

Out to the garage I go, fire up the Red Chev, running with a miss, thought it was just cold with not enough choke, so started to back it down the driveway and gave it a bit of a rev. Driving it out of the garage was my first mistake, as it stalled, and refused to start, but with the signs indicating it was a fuel blockage.

Tried all the normal pull off, clean out, put back on bits and pieces, no luck. Plenty of fuel in the vac tank, and carby.

Pulled off the distributor cap, still had plenty of time up my sleeve, only 9am, not due to leave till about 10.00 am to meet Grant. All looked well inside the dissy, cleaned and checked the points, rotor and cap. The damn thing still would not fire.

By now its getting on, and my patience is getting short, no option but to put it away, meet Grant in the modern and come back and fix the Red Chev later. Now the Chev is parked across the footpath, its early Sunday morning, my driveway is steep, there is no one around, my wife is asleep.

The only thing to do was tow it as far up the driveway, across the grass, then push it on my own into the garage. It worked, and was sponsored by "Hernias are us"

Meet up with Grant, the surprise ride went well, and Grant should have a posting and plenty of photos on his blog in the next few hours .http://montythe1928chevrolet.blogspot.com.au/   but as a quick photo, this was the moment.

Happy 90th Bill Seymour


From Grant's Face Book page

"What a great morning that was and Bill was as sharp as a tac for 90 but sadly the aging body is slowing. He owned a dairy distributing co-op in the suburbs, learnt to drive at 14 and their first delivery vehicle was a 1928 chevy tourer like Monty, they would fill and carry many 2 gallon milk tins along the side running boards and in the back where the rear seat should of been.
He was very appreciative for the 30 minute ride around the suburbs with his two sons in the back and when we got back to the restuarant his whole family were waiting to take photos and greet him.."


The ride went well, Grant and I grabbed a bite to eat, and we went out different ways.

Decided to try and get the Chev running today, so launched into a few things, then satisfied it was not fuel related, turned my attention to the electrics. Had a spark at the points, had power going into the coil, nothing coming out via the High Tension lead to the dissy. Changed the coil, the HT lead, nothing, then the condenser (that innocent looking part at the top of the posting) and bingo, up and running. The innards of the condenser appeared loose, which accounts initially for the miss that I thought was fuel.

I cant moan too much as its only the 3rd time in 40 years that the Red Chev has not made it back into the garage under its own power, and I suppose its better to happen in my driveway than 50 k's from home on the open road.


Thursday, December 26, 2013

A Spare Distributor for Monty the 1928 Chev

My good mate Grant Fowler picked up a spare 635B distributor for an onboard spare part, in case a problem arises with Monty on the road http://montythe1928chevrolet.blogspot.com.au/

l928 Chev parts becoming harder to find, and distributors are no exception. Don't know why, they are only 86 years old??????

Even though the one Grant picked up was incomplete the major plus was the drive gear was in very good condition.

Thought I should offer to check it out and add the missing bits and pieces, seeing I was the one that pushed him to buy it, and with 3 reconditioned distributors for the Red Chev already, I have spare bits and pieces that I will probably never use.




Pleased to say Grant's purchase was a real bargain, but better still let me take you through the process of

"Building a spare Dizzy for Monty"


1. As purchased


2. You will see that there is a distinct lack of internal parts


3. The distributor drive gear being in such a good condition, on its own justifies the purchase.


4. The first step was to wash out all the dirt and congealed grease to confirm that the main shaft and housing were not worn. No problem here, and fresh grease was forced into the housing.


5. The first of the missing parts, being the automatic advance plates and springs were fitted, along with the 4 lobed cam that activates the ignition points.


6. Next was the plate that supports the ignition points, with the clips that hold on the distributor cap. You will note the white insulating strip that prevents the points from shorting out on the housing. This was replaced along with the connecting bolt and fibre washers that go through the housing.

 
7. On go a set of points, set at 25 thou.


8. A rotor button completes the internals, with a distributor cap shortly afterwards


A quick test to make sure there are no shorts and the points are opening and closing as they should.





9. Job done, and Monty now has a spare distributor that he may never use.

But............................ in 5 months or 5 years, either 10, 100 or 1000 miles from home, it may turn out to be his best friend.

Its called peace of mind folks






Thursday, December 19, 2013

6 to 12 Volt Converter, Update

You may recall my first posting from November regarding building and installing a 6 to 12 volt converter in the Red Chev to run a GPS and Mobile phone.

http://my28chev.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/installing-6-to-12-volt-converter-into.html



Please to say after a month and approx. 150 miles of testing, its a complete success. I have just finished a second unit, to be installed in Monty the 1928 over the Christmas break. After learning from the first unit, the second is a lot neater.
 

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Monty and The Red Chev catch up for a pre Christmas Coffee

Monty and the Red Chev met up for a pre Christmas coffe and a chat at a Road House in Bunyip North.

The trip to Bunyip North was a 76 mile round trip from The Basin, and about 60 minutes each way at a blistering 83 KPH.

Always good to catch up with Grant Fowler, and look forward to doing more so over the holiday period.

And not forgetting the stars of the show



                                                                  And a small video

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Time for a bit of TLC for the Red Chev

Put the Chev away after a run today.

Time for a service.

1. Cleaned and re-gapped the spark plugs to 30 thou
2. Did a compression check. Getting a bit tired , but still ok.
3. Cleaned and re-gapped the ignition points to 25 thou
4. Lubed the distributor
5. Changed the engine oil
6. Changed the oil filter
7. Tuned the carby
8. Checked oil level in the diff. OK
9. Checked the suspension U bolts. Needed tightening
10 Oiled the overhead valves
11. Topped up the coolant overflow tank. First time in 6 months

Good, that's done, till next time..........................................

Red Chev goes to the beach (well sort of)

Took the Red Chev out for its first run for about a month, also wanted a long trip to make sure the 6 to 12 volt convertor was working ok for the GPS.

Ended up doing a 94 mile round trip to Rosebud.


Freeway most of the way, sitting on a blistering 45 MPH, yes I know, speed demon.

Thought I would grab some breakfast at Rosebud. Bad idea, prices through the roof, must be the start of the high (summer) season. Chicken wrap and coffee at Maccas was the outcome. No way this little black duck is going to pay over $20 for Bacon & Eggs.

Chev ran very well, converter no problem, max voltage showing on the muti-meter was 13.4

Roll on summer, we are both ready for ya!