car doom....i need tech help!

[heyitsnate]

my 4-banger overheated today...and the radiator developed a hole,so i pulled over,let the pressure fade,put more water in it,and drove another 1/2 mile.i repeated that process 2 more times,and then made it home.now it won't start.i pulled the dizzy cap off,and was horrified to see that the rotor won't spin when i engage the starter.am i totally fucked? it's a 29 model a banger,by the way.....where do i go from here,besides nowhere?

[heyitsnate]

anybody?

[tommy]

I'm no 4 banger guy but it sure sounds like the timing gear is striped. My flathead had a fiber cam gear that striped. I replaced it with an aluminum one and kept on getting up. You don't have to worry about bent valves on a flathead so it's probably not fatal. It's also possible that the dizzy gear or shaft is broken but I'd bet on the timing gear.

[Farmer]

there you go Nate, a good excuse to buy your first new part for that banger....OH...i just had a naughty Idea....you gotta get the okay from John first, but pull the good gear out of the banger layin in the front yard if it ain't gone already.

[manyolcars]

are you sure the rotor is pressed down enough to engage? See if the bottom of the rotor stripped out. The Model A rotor sits on a piece that is held on the shaft with a screw under the rotor. Take the rotor off, then turn the engine over. Maybe the screw is loose. Is the distributor still firmly bolted to the head? Maybe next, pull the distributor out, see if the drive shaft is broken or maybe the pin holding the drive gear on the shaft came out. Yeah, its possibly the steenkin fibre camshaft gear but check everything that is easy first. Then get an aluminum gear if thats what it needs.

[HotRodHon]

I've go a simple fix for ya.
Go down to the local Chevy dealership and buy a crate 350 / 350 combo.
Bring them both over to my place and we'll drop em in.
Problem Solved! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Craig http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[heyitsnate]

350/350? i've walked that road too much already,besides..i drove that sucka for about 25 minutes,and i'm addicted baaad...i guess if running a banger means i'll spend most of my time sittin on my decklid stranded on fish ranch road,well,thats what i'm gonna do....thanks for the help guys i'll check it out..

[Rocky]

.......spoken like a tru-blue HAMBer, Nate.
You GO, boy!

[tommy]

If you've never done a timing chain or gear, get a manual for your engine so you will know how to time the cam with the crank. Probably just ligning up the dots on the two gears but I've never played with an A so I'd have to refer to the manual myself.

[heyitsnate]

i pulled the dizzy...it turns manually just fine...there's a gear that lives beneath it behind the valve cover,and that's the one that's not turning.it drives the dizzy,and the oil pump,and runs off the center of the cam.i believe that's what it is.my main concern is getting this thing off the street,and back to the shop so A.It does'nt get stolen,and B.i can pull that valve cover off.....

[Petejoe]

[ QUOTE ]
350/350? i've walked that road too much already,besides..i drove that sucka for about 25 minutes,and i'm addicted baaad...i guess if running a banger means i'll spend most of my time sittin on my decklid stranded on fish ranch road,well,thats what i'm gonna do

[/ QUOTE ]
Nate.... Great quote and a true blue Hamber.

[heyitsnate]

update:it WAS the fibre timing gear.....totally fragged...me and farmer cruzed up to sacramento vintage ford and picked up an aluminum one,and now when the starter kicks in it sounds like a jet plane firing up....it's awesome! thank god for the hamb!

[Farmer]

here's the rest of the saga......I drive home to Slazzen's house on Monday afternoon and see Nate (heyitsnate) standing
over the engine bay of his roadster about to dig into it. I had my daughter with me, so I put her down for a nap and we tore apart the front end of Nate's roadster 4-banger and found that "tommy" from the Hamb nailed it on the head with his suspicion of the problem. the fiber cam gear was indeed missing about 10 o' them there teeth! you can see it in the pics to follow. So....nate asked if I could help him out with placing an order to get a new gear in the mail that day
and I said, dude, I'm off work today so I'll just drive us up there today and get it! Nate was stoked, I was stoked so off we went. we got to Sac vintage ford and it was our first trip there so we were blown away. Nice shop full of all sorts of stock and hotrod goods for old fords. Kick ass displays as seen in Streetrodder magazines article on the shop a few issues back. So we get the part, had a snack at the in house cafe and back home we went. We are lucky to have the shops in Ca. like we do to just be able to go and get these parts for old Fords only an hour away's drive. We got home after dark, I put my daughter down for bed and we had it fixed by 11pm! the timing gear was a bitch to remove without the special tool. (the cam gear nut comes off counter clockwise by the way in case you wondered.) We timed
it by just lining up the dots on the crank and cam gears and it fired up just right. It was music to our ears. Nate is now only a radiator recore away from having alot of fun with that little crate, and it was a fun experience. here are some pics below of the day. Enjoy! p.s. thanks for the input from Tommy on the Hamb!
Farmer

[Farmer]

bad cam gear, no likey......

[Farmer]

Farmer love the roadster long time.....

[Farmer]

here we have Nate in static display of what you might see bumping down the road prior to the cam gear nonsense...note the pomp is in dissaray from the wind

[Farmer]

the ass end of the little roadster......Got Louvres?

[Farmer]

bangers are for old geezers or are they? how about this little banger on display at Sac. vintage ford....If lovin 4 bangers is wrong, Lord, I don't wanna be right!!!

[Farmer]

another display motor....go ahead and print this pic and take it to the bathroom......I won't hold it against you

[Farmer]

how about a flathead with a Real Harmon and Collins distributer on it?

[Farmer]

Axles here, axles there, axles, axles Everywhere!!!

[Farmer]

Here I am at the in shop cafe with my little pup Emma

[Farmer]

late night back at the Slazzen garage, outside putting the new cam gear in....

[Farmer]

getting closer.....now where's that damn #4 oil pan bolt?

[Farmer]

behold the new inner Banger Bling....go ahead crank, try and sheer these teeth off....hahahahaahahah! done deal...now
on to the radiator....

[Zodoff]

Haha,moonshine mechanics at its best!

Bangers Rule! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[wingnutz]

Thanks for the A-Bone tech!!!!

I never tore one of those apart..., I just tore them out for a SBC... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif!!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Petejoe]

great pics thanks for sharing your info on the fix. So many times we don't take the time to share our findings on these types of problems. It's pretty obvious there's not too many old four banger mechanics on here and we got some learning to do. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif PJ

[tommy]

Yes thanks for letting us know what the problem really was.

There are 100s of guys on this board that would make that call...I was just the first to speak up.

There are 100s of GM V8 guys that can tell you about the nylon cam gear teeth from the 60s-70s. It's the same thing. If the rotor doesn't turn check the timing chain, gears or belt. Whatever your engine might have.

I forgot to tell you that that is a bitchin' ride! I love the banger!

[Farmer]

bttt for the morning crowd