Repo parts problems and fixes

[Mitch]

Horn Rod

When installing a horn rod on a 30/31, i usually have to sand about an inch of the stem with 80 grit where the upper bushing rides. This needs to spin freely otherwise the lights will go on when turning the steering wheel. I also had to sand down the squared bottom end so it would fit into the light switch easily.


Have you run into any repo issues and fixes? lets list them right here on this thread

[Dennis]

1. I've seen some very poor quality spark and throttle rods, burrs on the ends of the handles.
2. The lower bushing housing for a 7 tooth steering box .100" too thick, I had to clean up burrs etc on my old one and use it.
3. buttons and springs for shifting shafts in transmission tower.
4. lack of good Timken bearings replaced with bearings that have no name, no part number, no country of origin.
5. 3X spark plugs with damaged threads.
6. distributor caps that don't fit distributor body. Recently had one the cap would not even go on, and then another that looked like it was machined out and had over a 1/16" slop. Another thing about the caps the spring tab is too short.
7. radiator hoses that the red comes off leaving a yellow stripe instead.
8. junction boxes that have poor fitting screws and covers that easily break.
9. fans that are shorter and don't have the same shape as original fans on the ends
10. poor casting of taillight brackets.
11. poor fit of conduit sleeves the hold onto the headlight.
12. horn diaphragms that the button has incorrect shape and is loose on the center of the plate.


Just to name some...

[dmdeaton]

lack of good Timken bearings replaced with bearings that have no name, no part number, no country of origin.

Is this our only option aside from finding some NOS? Will they hold up?

[Mitch]

Spark / Throttle rods

I just had to replace the the spark / throttle rod levers that are pinned to the bottom of the rod. They were way to tight to slide on easily, so i ran a loose drill bit in them to remove some material. They need to slide freely or the install is a pia.

[Tom F]

Mitch, is there anything that can be done for the spark and throttle rod that move tightly on the steering column.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Mitch, is there anything that can be done for the spark and throttle rod that move tightly on the steering column.

My 28 was extremely tight when I bought the car, but I just kept using them and squirting oil on the top bushing, and they now work fine.

Don't use WD-40 on pot metal parts.

[Dennis]

My old rods were bent soo bad they looked like a snake. They even had the old rubber anti rattle whatever on the rods that were petrified. I'm not sure if the piece on my 7 tooth column at the end of the rods got bent when I was removing the old rods or before I got the car. I know it had been brazed on and I figured it must have broke off at one point and was brazed back on. So I heated it up and with a bit more brazing got it perfectly straight. The rods fit perfect in the new top bushing and I can now feel the notches for both rods when moved. What a difference!!

[Tom Wesenberg]

Mitch, is there anything that can be done for the spark and throttle rod that move tightly on the steering column.

I bought new spark and throttle rods from Bratton's about 20 years ago for a customer. I was very impressed with the quality of them, and it was much less expensive than having the old rods nickel plated. BTW, the rods should only be plated near the top and maybe about 2" down past the top bushing. My original rods also had the petrified rubber for anti rattle.

[Mitch]

Cowl Lights

Installing a set of Vintique cowl lights they would not tighten enough to close the gap on the outside between the body and the cowl band area. The interior wood spacers were present, so i used a couple large flat washers on each side under the head of the hold down bolts.

[plyfor]

Don't know if it's a quality issue but the fancy (expensive ) electronic turn sig. flasher wouldn't work for us as purported with the 12 volt LED rear lights and cowl filament light bulbs. We reverted to a std. 3 prong flasher and all worked fine.
Also, some steering sectors don't mesh well depending on suppliers.
Some folks have issues with rear hub bearings.
We've had leak issues with teflon front rope and modern style rope seals.
Some repo.cowl light arms don't fit the shells properly.
Chrome bumper plating issues. Check with individual vendors or try to see in person.

[Mitch]

Do you have any fixes for these issues?

[DaWizard]

Stop Light Switch

The '28-'29 Vintique stoplight switch is just wrong. The shaft length is too short, even if finely adjusted.

Find one of the earlier versions from a different manufacturer or an original with a longer shaft, or if you are not going for points, find a different switch.

Even this is better than burning up the wire harness because the switch has shorted out!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Brake-Light-Switch-Standard-SLS-43/172359601599?epid=1037408762&hash=item28216ecdbf:g:SwoAAOSwGPxZ90v4&vxp=mtr

[plyfor]

Chrome bumpers fix:try to inspect and buy in person. Berts had good front ones; stainless variety can be self polished to suit if someone is more fussy.
Teflon seal temporary to possibly more permanent fix: fabricate supplementary seal holder at pulley from 1 1/2" pipe bracket, bend and cut to suit/ drill holes to attach to 2 front pan bolts and glue in felt . The oil drip will help lubricate the felt. If felt saturated, remove and install another piece of felt to reduce drip down front of oil pan.
See photo for other modern front seal option: some builders like to use silicon between seal metal and actual seal material or in block, etc.

[Art Ebeling]

Just last night I opened new package of radiator support rod nuts and the two nuts at the firewall are the wrong size.

[Mitch]

Shift Lever

Beware when using a repo shift lever as i have found the ball which fits into the shift forks to be to large. This will cause hard shifting and or binding.
The ball size should be .490 or less

[2manycars]

There has been reports of repro shift levers being made in 2 pieces, which break in use.
Terminal boxes have the mounting screws in the wrong place, and will not fit without fileing the holes oval.
Headlamp conduit is mostly junk.
Repro radiator caps made by soldering the inner and outer pieces with just a bit of solder in a hole in the center. If the cap is too tight, the solder breaks and the cap spins.
Early crank hole covers were not even close, and made of junk, waved over the plating tank, and the rusted almost immeditatly. The new stainless steel ones are closer, but still not right, but at least they do not rust.
Never had good luck installing the rubbers in the door dovetail recievers.
It pays to buy from reputable sellers, and avoid the cheap stuff, but many model A owners are also cheap, and buy the cheap stuff from you know who, and then complain. I prefer to buy the better quality stuff when it is available. For my own cars, I prefer original parts whenever possible.

[plyfor]

Here is a photo of an orig. '31 fordor with the cowl light wood blocks. They may have been listed as a misc.body part ?
Also, good point about repro rad. caps. The straight tab ones don't fit the Brassworks radiators but the later (Stant?) ones with the curved tabs do. A little Vaseline helps at the gasket.
The radiator '31 repro. shell emblem outer logo can separate from the hole sleeve (doesn't fit well). Solution, abandon the sleeve and glue the logo section to the shell with GE clear silicone. Similar solution with hubcaps and outer repro. running board trim.

[Dennis]

This annoys me when I spend $167.50 for a part that comes all the way across the USA and it looks like this. Am I too picky? I'm not sure it will seal where the drain pipe connects. At least if I were to buy from a local vendor and they had it in stock I could refuse to buy this, but to send it all the way back paying the freight out of my pocket because I think the quality is poor... ???

[Mitch]

That is defective and i would hope the vendor would take care of the return shipping.

You seem to have the luck lately.

[DaWizard]

Hey Dennis, is that for the oil filter, or an original? If it is for original, I have one I'd give ya that's in great shape unless you are looking for the early one.

[Dennis]

It's an A-fordable A's Aluminum.

[Dennis]

Mitch, yeah I sure have. Got the oil pan on again a couple days ago and didn't get a chance to run it. Last night started it and ran for half hour and there is oil dripping from the rear main bearing cap smack dab in the middle of the oil channel. I'll make a post with a picture.

[CarlG]

IMHO, that is a rejectable part. Pure & simple, mfg defect that should have been caught before it shipped. I would ask for a new one and let them pay for the freight both ways (if they want it back.)

[Dennis]

Sometimes it's not always the repro parts that are poor fit. How do you explain a drip from a rear main bearing cap at the bottom of the oil channel in the middle? Tiny spot where the point of the arrow is. I don't know why it was rusty there, was like that when I got it back. Not leaking from the seal end, not leaking from the pan gasket.

[Dennis]

Here's another one of those minor nitpicks. I thought it would be a great idea to have one of those magnetic drain plugs on the oil pan. It does work, but I had to clean the threads up before it would screw in. NO

[plyfor]

Brent: yes there is the wire with the blue insul.clip attached to the orig. feed wire, but the weathered block is in an unrestored deluxe car .Perhaps the wire/wire end was replaced.

[Tom Wesenberg]

This annoys me when I spend $167.50 for a part that comes all the way across the USA and it looks like this. Am I too picky? I'm not sure it will seal where the drain pipe connects. At least if I were to buy from a local vendor and they had it in stock I could refuse to buy this, but to send it all the way back paying the freight out of my pocket because I think the quality is poor... ???

I would return it and buy one like Mark's from Bratton's.
I didn't realize there were two different oil filter valve covers being made. Your picture shows the filter close to the corner bolt.

[DaWizard]

Tom, that is the return tube surface.

[Dennis]

Da is correct that is the return oil pipe location. And I did buy it from Bratton's. You know they can't look every part over with a fine tooth comb, and that is where quality control comes in. The guy looking at the part when it gets machined should look at that and see to it that it goes in the scrap bin. What's sad is this pissed off a customer and others see this and shy away from considering buying one of these because he's thinking I might end up getting this shipped to me.

[DaWizard]

Dennis, send the pic to Bratton's and see what he says to do.

[Dennis]

Yeah I did. I'll call him in the morning when they are open.

[Mitch]

Talk to Jeff

[Ray Horton]

I think it woud be helpful here to not only identify troublesome parts, but also describe what your fix or workaround was.

So here are mine:

I was surprised that the lower passenger side shell attachment tab on my new Brassworks radiator was way off. I was using an original shell, and three out of the four tabs were in correct alignment on the radiator. Fix: Pretty easy. I just had to torque that fourth one into proper position, very carefully.

Also, I gave up using repro headlight sockets. Bratton's says they are "fair" quality. I found them flat unusable, as the springs are too weak and allow the contacts to touch when a bulb is inserted, causing a short. Workaround: I rewired some originals.

The 28-29 repro headlight doors don't fit repro buckets properly. (This may be because I am using original reflectors). No known Fix; I just wrestle 'em back on.

And I have never understood why the manufacturers of 28-29 brightwork pieces insist on chrome plating objects that were originally nickel plated. Possible Fix: Tom W. has said the chrome can be removed with (I think he said) phosphoric acid, and it will expose the nickel underneath, but I am frankly afraid to try that.

In my experience, I have avoided a lot of disappointment and aggravation by paying a little more and buying better quality parts from well-established reputable dealers. My dad said, "Buy the best you can afford, and pay cash. Buy quality, and buy it once." This has proved true and good advice for most of my adult purchasing years.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Yeah I did. I'll call him in the morning when they are open.

That should have been sold as a "second". In reality I think it will work fine, but just looks bad.
You could fill the pockets with JB Weld if you were to keep it.

In 1975 I replaced the 6 cylinder engine short block in the Anoka Dairy milk truck. The short block was a new crate part from GM, and I saw an air pocket midway down one of the cylinders. It wasn't through to the coolant, so the boss said go ahead and use it. It worked fine.

[Dennis]

I spoke with Walter. Replacement on the way.

[Mitch]

Look at it this way... If your very very lucky you'll get another VFF flyer

[Dennis]

Received the replacement a week later due to FedEx having a problem in the holiday shipping. All turned out very well and as always have in the past and will I'm sure the future, Brattons made good.

[Mitch]

Did you send the defect back?

[Dennis]

Yes, it got packed in the box the replacement was sent to me. Btw, when I called they put the head kahuna on the phone line, Mr Walter Bratton himself.

[Rowdy]

As for the shifter lever mentioned way above. When I was restoring my 28 rdstr pu several years ago I sent my e-brake and shift lever to Berts for plating and to have the shift lever ball built up. I was quite happy with the results. Fast forward to the present time and Berts no longer has a plater in their area to do nickle plating. So I am now looking for a repuatable place to send my shift levers and e-brake handles etc to. Finshed salvaging parts for both transmissions so now nearing that point for atleast the shift levers be plated. Any recomendations? Rod

[Dennis]

And I suppose the aftermarket drum lights that are nickel plated are done in china?

[Will Ziegler in LI NY]

Rod - try Craig Riker in Ohio. He just did some parts for me and they came out beautiful! I will send you a private message with his phone #. -Will

[Rowdy]

Much appriciated Will. Some suppliers have pulled the shift levers from their catalog due to quality problems. I do still have one repop from the early 90's that may go on Dad's transmission. Not really sure what the quality was like for them in that era. Rod

[Beauford]

Rowd...whats the going rate on plating a ebrake handle? I was thinking of buying a repo one from brattons thats plated but on the fence...it is a truck after all. I cant have it too pretty!

[Rowdy]

Beauford, I am not sure yet. Will call him after Christmas. I am sure alot depends on pitting etc. as copper plating and building up to fill the pits takes time and resources. I will naturally send the best I have and sell off extras to hopefully cover the costs. Right now that is the only way I am making any progress. Ebay sales are slow right now, which is normal for this time of year, but am gearing up early for the Febuary through June busy time. Spent most of today taking pic's and will list them tomorrow before I go to work. By the first of Feb should have over 500 items listed or scheduled. Rod

[Mitch]

This is listed in the web site thread. Not sure if the info is still accurate

3. [email protected] Craig Riker 419-290-4442 (Ohio)

https://www.vintagefordforum.com/for...ites-suppliers

[Rowdy]

Thanks Mitch.

[Tom Wesenberg]

And I suppose the aftermarket drum lights that are nickel plated are done in china?

I bought 2 nickel plated drum taillights from A&L, and the quality is top notch. A&L makes some quality parts.

[Dennis]

I'll have to try them in the future, thanks Tom.