Made up a replacement knob for the RCA Victor control head I bought. This was kind of tricky since I have no idea what the original looked like (there are no pictures online), and the shaft had to fit into a square spline.
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In 2010 I picked up a 1936 RCA Victor 5M automobile radio for $10. Unfortunately it did not come with a control head. A few weeks ago I came across one for sale on eBay, and was able to convince the owner to sell it separately from the radio. At some point, I would like to put this radio in my Model-A. It is missing a central knob, but I should be able to make up something suitable to match.
Picked up this 1930's block heater back in August. Cleaned it up and removed the rust and repainted it. It is a Bunsen-Davy heater. It would have been something used to heat up the Model A engine on a cold day.
At some point I will have to see if I can make up a decal to replace the label. Spare transmission for Veronica. Which I will work on, once I finish putting together the spare engine. Which I will work on once I finish my S-100 computer restoration. Which I will work on..., well, you get the picture
I picked up this started from a friend last year. It was pretty rusty looking, but it works great. I used to to get my new engine started because it seems to have more torque than the ordinary one I use. Now that the engine is looser, I put the original one back.
Before putting this one away, I decided to clean up the rust and repaint it. I also replaced the mounting plate, as one of the mounting holes was broken. The pictures below show the cleaned up starter. After spending the last few evenings re-connecting the engine, I discovered to my dismay that my trusty old 6V battery finally had enough. Hard to believe I had it since 2011. I bought one from Canadian Tire but because the engine is so tight, I was unsuccessful at first in starting it up. After a good recharge, I was finally able to get it to start. I let her run for a good 20 minutes to break it in. After that, I was able to start it easily enough.
Today I put 25 miles on it today, just test driving it. Did a drive by of some of my friends' places who I could not see because of the COVID-19 social distancing protocols in place, and beeped my horn. They appreciated that. Have to replace the muffler because there is a large piece missing where it joins onto the manifold. This results in some backfiring when coming to a stop. Will fix that tomorrow. Veronica is on the mend. Today with the help of Mitchell Phillips (one of my son's friends and a general tinkerer like myself), we got the new engine installed. It wasn't easy. It took a bit to get it all lined up so that it slipped into the spline of the transmission, but finally we prevailed.
Now it is just a matter of reinstalling the rest of the components and wiring it up. She should be ready for the road in a few days. .Clutch installed on the new engine for my Model-A. Now she is ready to installed in the car. Just waiting for a warm day.
I got a call from the engine restorer this evening saying that Veronica's new engine was assembled, tested and ready for pickup.. Since the weather was good, I decided to pick it up this evening. Don test ran it for me before I took it home. It sounds great. I can't wait to have the old girl running again.
Installed tappets (valve lifters) and the camshaft. Now it is on to installing piston rod bushings etc. and finally install the pistons.
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AuthorCharles Baetsen holds a Bachelor and a Master's degree in Engineering Physics from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. Archives
February 2024
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