Humble Pie

Roadster Rich

Roadster Rich

Senior Member
This weekend was a total Model A weekend. I have not been driving the Roadster much over the last 1.5 years. Moved up on a steep mountain and the brakes were just not up to snuff for the steep curvy driveway. So onto the creeper I go for the weekend. Worked on all the brake rod connections and pins to take out a lot of slop. Now the humiliation part. I had done this chassis restoration when I was 14 and 15. Nobody to blame but me. At one point while I was under there I just took a rest stop and was generally looking around. Every brake return spring (I used the strip steel ones, not the newer springs) is put on backwards and is actually putting pressure to energize and not return for every wheel! Since 1967 it has been this way.

Also I have had the last few years with a carburetor that continuously drips when stopped. I have turned off the valve under the tank for every stop, regardless of how short. Being under that car I finally looked up at the carb while it dripped and it was not coming out of the intake end. I found that there is a pin hole in the casting of the bowl. In fact it was pretty fast, and must have been sucking air in while driving??? So I patched up a problem for years and never really tried to find out what was the problem. Now I am about to rebuild another carb and may find out it runs a lot better without a hole in the bowl!

Easy to get cocky and think you are a whiz of a mechanic on the Model A and then get humiliated.
 
The only person who has never done anything like that is the person who does nothing. I bet you fell better for now having found and fixed those things.
 
The only person that did not make a mistake is the person that has done "NOTHING"!!!!!
 
I will get a better picture when I take it apart, but the hole is on the engine side of the carb right where it transitions from the bowl to the intake draft. The arrow shows right at the tip where it leaked. Not just a drip either, when I tipped it up to drain out the bowl, it ran with a very small stream, more than a drip.

carb pinhole.jpg
 
OK, a triple serving of Humble Pie. No I did not do anything to the carb yet. I did repaint it three years ago and never knew about that hole and must have just painted over it. I guess I have some serious float issues for the gas to get high enough to run out that hole. The car sat unstarted for 8 months and I just had put 5 gallons of gas into the tank and did not turn off the valve, when I was under it about two hours after I filled the tank and noticed the fast leak. Thanks to all of you, I would rather know I am ignorant and get the right answers from you guys, than think I am smart and cause a big problem.
 
When we "think" we're smart & know EVERYTHING, we're really in trouble!! All of us screw up, at times, that's how we LURN stuff. We're NOT trying to see who's the SMARTEST, just trying to help & have FUN!
Doing this is a BIG part of my life.
Bill W.
 
Rich I also eat a lot of humble pie. I think it keeps a soul grounded. I like when I fix Something That has been troubling me. Good going on your Model A!!:)
 
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