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

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Matilda the 1928 Chev - behave yourself


A few weeks back we fitted Autolite 3077's to Terry's Matilda and on the day they appeared to be working great, and giving a bit more power and engine response.

However............During Matilda's next drive around a few hills, under load,  the engine started to mis, which indicates the timing is not 100% as 3077 plugs demand spot on timing. The mis can easily be mistaken for a fuel problem, and a few years back I spent about a week tracking it down on the Red Chev.

The problem is the timing is too advanced

With the benefit of hindsight and experience with the Red Chev, and later with Monty the 28 Chev, the problem is now an easy fix:

1. Put a thin pencil mark on the distributor body and distributor clamp to indicate the current location.

2. With the distributor fully advanced, loosen the clamp and turn the distributor clockwise, to the right, about an 1/8 inch

Earlier posting relating to my experience with this are:

http://my28chev.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/in-retrospect-from-2010-engine-miss-but.html



With Matilda now ready to go we set off with a test drive from Bundoora to Hurstbridge, covering about 17k's each way.

The trip out was fine no mis, running great, hills were no concern, and everyone was happy.

But........ Matilda had a few things planed for the way home.


Not even a few k's homeward bound there was that mis again, only this time it was different, and the engine was cutting out. It's late Saturday morning, coming through Diamond Creek and Eltham, bumper to bumper traffic, and Matilda was cutting out. Not that good.

After a roadside tweak of the distributor, thinking (more like hoping) that was the problem we set off again, No luck, stuck on the side of the road again.

It was at this time Terry made the observation that the electric fuel pump was not working.

Putting to one side my dislike of electric fuel pumps in cars that should have vac tanks, its under the car taping the fuel pump with a hammer, nothing, checking the wires for a spark, nothing.

Then a break through! Turning the ignition switch on and off a few times, Terry bumped the Fuel Pump fuse holder, and the pump came to life.

We pulled the fuse in and out a few times and taped the holder up under the dash to stop it moving.

No more dramas, drove all the way home via a lunch stop, where we adjusted the distributor back to the initial "this will fix it setting" as the second adjustment saw a slight drop in engine performance.

Matilda did not mis a beat, and everybody was happy, or should I say relieved.





Saturday, July 23, 2016

Vintage Chevrolet Club of America - 50th Anniversary 2011

Dave Frey posted these great photos on Facebook. A superb collection of Chevs from veteran through to classic.