The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Performance Home Run!

Lucille just hit a "performance home run"!! Knocked it out of the park after all these years of listening to you folks here on the Stovebolt!! I am so very excited! She has never run this well and I thank all of you who have given me great advice over the years!

So, to sum it up here's what all came together in order for her to perform so well.

Parts that are new or rebuilt:

Carburetor - Rebuilt Carter W1-574S
New Fuel Pump w/Glass Top Fuel Filter
New S/S fuel lines
New S/S Vacuum Advance line
New Gas Shut Off Petcock
Gasoline is totally Ethanol Free
Added Seafoam to fuel to help dry out any moisture in tank
Set timing with a timing light. Ball bearing on flywheel dead on.
Timing advance is 5 degrees above TDC
At 180 degree engine temperature RPM's are 600
Backed out idle screw 2 1/2 turns.

Just got back from running Lucille for 42 miles! Longest smooth run she has ever done with no hesitation and no back firing. She climbed hills with no need to down shift. Just put the pedal to the metal and she powered right up any hill like I've never seen her do.

Had to celebrate by stopping at a bar to have a beer. Half hour later got back in Lucille and she fired right up with no problem at all and gave me a great ride home!! I am so pleased after all this time of trying to get her to run right. Now I can say "I've got a good running Stovebolt"!!

Now it's on to more cosmetic issues that I can nit pick on.

Once again, Thank you all for such wonderful support! I could not have accomplished this without all of you out there!!

David

that is great news! It is a good feeling to have a good running bolt!

Congrats David. I know "Lucille" is like a new gal now and I'll bet Pam would agree that your much easier to live with. LOL
Come see us.

Thank you Alvin!

Remember our first meeting at "The Junction"? A great meat and three place, however, it didn't match a chilly dog and Pepsi with you!!

Your awesome and you have taught me a lot!!

Congratulations........but..........you purchased ethanol free fuel ( likely paid extra), then you add Seafoam which has alcohol ( IPA 10-20% by weight) in it............everything else makes sense.

Seafoam the rest of the can........
Pale oil 40-60% by weight
Naphta 25-35% by weight

Per MSDS

Thank you showkey!

The Seafoam was just a one time thing because I've had gas with ethanol in Lucille for several years and the accumulated condensation of moisture in the tank, which was mostly half full all the time, was questionable. Also Lucille sat a lot and did not run for a number of years while we were moving from one State to another. I don't believe it hurt her at all.

The ethanol gas is more expensive but I don't care about that. Three plus dollars a gallon is OK for me on a 70+ year old antique truck which brings her back to life and is not a daily driver!! She's a Stovebolt Calendar Girl from 2009! Awesome!

I love a happy ending!

My career was in the fuel business. Ethanol was destructive to all our pumping and storage systems. It's hydrophillic - attracts moisture out of the air. That's why it can't be used in airplanes - it causes intake icing. Sources for non-ethanol fuel can be found at:

http://pure-gas.org/

Congrats David.
Your enthusiasm I'm sure has inspired many Bolters to run back to the shop and wrench a little more. I hope to join the "It's Alive...Finally!" Club in a year or two! Enjoy that "new" found ride!

David,

What was the actual issue? Was it the coil, points, condenser, or timing?

Happy to see you are back up and running.

Paul

Thank you PaulWNC,

All of the above plus more!

The old coil was one of the major problems. Timing was an issue and so was points and the condenser which I accidentally shorted out. Finally the carburetor was the last adjustment I had to get right. I adjusted the throttle RPM's down to 600 RPM and opened the idle screw until I was getting a smoother reading on my meter. Getting a smoother idle reading was an excellent tip offered by Jerry (Hotrod Lincoln).

There will me more things to do with Lucille, but for now I'm just so pleased that she finally runs so well.

Oh, another thing, you've got to let these old trucks warm up to operating temperature first before monkeying around with all these settings. And also get her warmed up before driving. Ya can't be in a hurry.

Jesse Z,

Great link to find ethanol free gas!! These old trucks do not run well on ethanol gas, period!

Thanks on your comment!

David

My '53 235 runs fine on 10% ethanol, other than the fact that every 18 months I have to replace the accelerator pump diaphragm in the Carter YF carburetor.
Carl