Projects Giant speedster project

The top of the windshield being straight does not bother me, but the bottom should be much closer ore body, and be curved to follow it. Otherwise dirt will blow in underneath it and get in your eyes.

Or a seal of some sort between cowl and windshield frame.

 

Perhaps a nice piece of wood to match the rear deck would look good there.

 

Brutus.......I agree. I had the fortune to see it run in Germany. Outstanding what a sound it makes. Meanwhile i am working on my humble 16 L Seagrave speedster...just changed the transmission bearings ... Hope to get it on the road in soon.

 

An Unfortunate Series of Events

I had the speedster running good. I really did. The day before, I charged up the battery and fired up the engine. I even adjusted the timing. Today, we arrived early ready to film the glorious trip to my shop. The engine ignited after priming and sounded good, but as I got the speedster just out the door, it started faltering and died. A quick examination showed that even though I had pushed in the choke, the butterfly had not fully opened. I remedied that quickly, but when I went to restart, the starter would not turn the engine. I thought the battery was dead so I changed it out, but that was not the problem. One of the brushes was not making good contact. I had to get the rollback. Yes, I made a video but when I got home I could not find the proper cable. I found every other kind of cable, but not the right cable. As soon as I come up with the cable I'll post the video. Still, we made some neat photos and got to drive the thing a little. The bugs must be worked out. It's a normal process after sitting for umpteen years. I never did go through the starter. I know, I know! But it worked so well, I thought, what the hell. Okay, I've learned my lesson. Well, maybe not.

Jerry

Look closely at my hand in the last picture. A spider bit me. It's still puffed up.

 

I hope the starter motor brushes are available or at least adaptable from something else.

Is there going to be sheet metal (red) underneath the exhaust tubes?

 

I made a piece to go under the exhaust pipe but I'm afraid it'll get all scratched up if I put it in. Maybe when all the bugs are worked out. I think the spring holding the brush against the commutator broke.

 

So where'd you get the miniature rollback truck? It looks like a Matchbox Toy in that one picture.

 

The Guy pantechnicon is cool:


Of course if you find one tatty enough there is always the danger that you'll end up building another speedster out of it!

 

I've posted this one elsewhere (speaking of old British commercial vehicles):

 

The picture of you at the wheel (?)would not seem staged if you had had your hat on backwards .. which is the current fashion sheeese ????

 

View attachment 2677958 View attachment 2677958 oops

 

Well it runs and it appears there's enough room to rebuild the starter in situ.

Too bad the shakedown run was spoiled. You didn't wanna start it with the hand crank, huh?

 

Butchery!!

I took the starter apart and discovered butchery. Someone made a nasty, nasty repair. Two of the brushes are grounded and two are insulated. Someone reinsulated the brush holder with something--nasty. The actual problem was that the nasty insulation was keeping the brush from coming in contact with the commutator and it was arcing. The springs were weak too. But there was no serious damage. I will fix it all.

Jerry

There's a video of a guy hand cranking an F6 engine on youtube. He makes it look easy. What do you mean"staged?"

 

Windshield mounts

I worked on the windshield mounts too. They were kind of tedious but I got them basically done. All they need now is paint. Maybe I'll stop by the glass shop and order the glass--yeah!

Jerry

 

A leather cover betwixt windscreen and cowl would be era-correct, and match the interior, too!!
Further, this era's cars generally had leather wrapped springs (keeps the grease inside for a better ride, and it works, too), leather booties on tie rod ends, and other things made out of dead cow. Usually where you'd find rubber seals today, dead cow was used then.

Cosmo

 

so sorry. ...JERRY.
I will go back to the beginning of this wonderful story and read it from the HUMBLE beginning as punishment so I will no longer say things like that ... ..I will be back to this page of posts as soon as I am decidedly punished enough..
OK.... WE KNOW YOU DO NOT DRINK SKIM MILK...

 

Maybe it is just the angle of the photos but the rear fenders look really close to the tires.

 

I made a study of tire to fender clearances before I built the fenders. The rear tires are usually very close to the inside of the front of the rear fenders. I suppose that's because when the tire moves it bounces up and down and doesn't move much front to rear. Check out a profile shot of old cars.

Jerry

Paperdog, we know the thread is your only fun. Don't punish yourself.

 

I worked on the windshield supports today. I'll be gone until Sunday to celebrate my Mom's 90th birthday. Woohoo! Hope I got her genes. All that smoking and drinking and staying up late at the bar sure paid off for her.

Jerry

 

My mom is 84 and eats bacon every day. What can I tell her?

Pass the bacon mom?

 

my mom at her 90th birthday party in june... my dad (92) in the driver seat of the parade car we made for the 30foot parade

 

I've got some period cardboard if you need it to fix that brush.

 

Saw this on a Facebook page today. . Jimmy


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Jerry...I took my seagrave out for a ride...By any chance...do you know what yours fuel consumption is? Outrageous what my engine swallows.........2 miles per gallon seem to be close....i need a better payed job....


karsten

 

Two miles per gallon! That's awesome! 1000cid sucks a lot of fuel. The T-head engine was not known for it's efficiency. That means my 16 gallon tank will give me a range of 32 miles. Mmmm, I might need an auxiliary tank. You could try and lean up the carb until the engine starts to misfire. I haven't begun really tuning yet. I'm still down in FL. I'll be back on Sunday. What's the MPG on Brutus, I wonder?

Jerry

 

I did some research. One website said about Brutus:
"And it's the meeting point for some preposterous numbers. It'll chew through 6.5 gallons of fuel over a 1.2-mile sprint - that's 0.18mpg - and kick out around 28,000g/km of C02. That's slightly more than 282 VW Polo Bluemotions."
And another said:
"According to the museum, the engine puts out 500 horsepower at 1,500 rpm, while other sources claim 750 hp at 1,700 rpm (for only one minute). Its fuel consumption is 1 liter/km (2.35 mpg), hence the huge fuel tank, and the car is said to comfortably cruise at speeds of over 100 km/h (62 mph) at just 800 rpm."
So pick your own number but more websites quote .18 MPG which I tend to believe.

Jerry

 

Easy fix Jerry. Just get a trailer with a 500 gallon tank and a transfer pump and you'll be ready to hit the road.

 

Didn't they do that in the need for speed movie? I think they drove down the road too... bet you could do it

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Ironic.....the firetruck turned speedster needs it's own (fuel) tender. Maybe another old Seagrave fire truck with a fuel tank? Could get redundant after a while........

 

Brush posts

The starter brushes reside in these nifty brass holders that pivot on posts that are riveted to the back plate of the starter. They've already been removed and reriveted once before (and butchered) so I don't think they'll stand another reriveting. I wanted to make a more servicable solution. The posts are 7mm which is interesting to find on a '23 American truck. I could have ordered a 7mm brass rod but that would have taken time and cost $23 bucks plus shipping. It's more fun to make your own so I cut down some 5/16 rod I had laying around. Then I turned the ends down to about .2 something. I forget. Enough to thread them to 10-32. That way I can bolt the posts into position which makes them more removable. Thirty years from now some schmoe will be able to repair my butchery. Tomorrow, hopefully there'll be time to make up some insulators to isolate the posts and etc from the starter back plate.

Jerry