Well, after three nights and a day of prepping the car to be sure it was ready for the parade, the big day comes.
I drive to the memorial service at town hall. On leaving, the car seems to take a long time to start. It had done this one or twice the past couple of days, and only when the motor was hot, so I thought it might be a vapor lock, but it did eventually start.
I get to the starting point of the parade. The 91-year-old vet I'm driving meets me there with his grandson (the dad in between them is West Point graduate, special forces on deployment, so he couldn't make it).
Things start moving and I go to start the car and it won't start. Eventually, it just dies. Not even lights.
I get Frank and his grandson onto another vehicle. I start walking with my son the 2 miles home to get the battery charger. On the way, about a mile down, we pass a friend's house with a party in front watching the parade. I ask if he has a charger that does 6v and he does. So we get a the charger and the extension and head back up main street. I meet my wife and another son marching with the boy scouts on the way down, so I hand off the kid I have to her.
I get to the car, set up the extension cord and charger, pull off the battery cover and the positive wire is NOT ATTACHED! The lead clamp was gone where the wire clamps into it (not an original Ford part).
It appears that the starting issue may have been weak spark (we tested the spark and it did not seem really bright) due to a poor connection (although it did turn the motor over). The poor connection overheated and melted the terminal.
I cut off the end of the wire, stripped the wire down, Opened up what was left of the battery terminal connector as far as I could, put the wire over the battery post, pushed the terminal over the post and clamped it.
The starter would turn, but the motor would still not start.
A friend who has one of the nicest '35 roadsters happened to be across the street getting ice cream with his grandkids so I yelled to him and he came over to take a look. He's the one that said the spark was weak and suggested that we pull it. I just happened to have a tow rope, so we hooked it onto a friend's car and pulled it around the parking lot, and it started. We drove straight home and put it in the garage.
Frank called later to see how the car was. I apologized or dragging him all the way up there, but he said that he had a good time. People were thanking him by name (I made up signs for the side of my car and put them on the van he was in).
Frank said that we'll try again next year (Frank is 91!).
I told him that I owe him a ride and that once I get the car fixed, I'll take him and his grandson for a ride. That was we can send a picture to his son overseas.
Steve
I drive to the memorial service at town hall. On leaving, the car seems to take a long time to start. It had done this one or twice the past couple of days, and only when the motor was hot, so I thought it might be a vapor lock, but it did eventually start.
I get to the starting point of the parade. The 91-year-old vet I'm driving meets me there with his grandson (the dad in between them is West Point graduate, special forces on deployment, so he couldn't make it).
Things start moving and I go to start the car and it won't start. Eventually, it just dies. Not even lights.
I get Frank and his grandson onto another vehicle. I start walking with my son the 2 miles home to get the battery charger. On the way, about a mile down, we pass a friend's house with a party in front watching the parade. I ask if he has a charger that does 6v and he does. So we get a the charger and the extension and head back up main street. I meet my wife and another son marching with the boy scouts on the way down, so I hand off the kid I have to her.
I get to the car, set up the extension cord and charger, pull off the battery cover and the positive wire is NOT ATTACHED! The lead clamp was gone where the wire clamps into it (not an original Ford part).
It appears that the starting issue may have been weak spark (we tested the spark and it did not seem really bright) due to a poor connection (although it did turn the motor over). The poor connection overheated and melted the terminal.
I cut off the end of the wire, stripped the wire down, Opened up what was left of the battery terminal connector as far as I could, put the wire over the battery post, pushed the terminal over the post and clamped it.
The starter would turn, but the motor would still not start.
A friend who has one of the nicest '35 roadsters happened to be across the street getting ice cream with his grandkids so I yelled to him and he came over to take a look. He's the one that said the spark was weak and suggested that we pull it. I just happened to have a tow rope, so we hooked it onto a friend's car and pulled it around the parking lot, and it started. We drove straight home and put it in the garage.
Frank called later to see how the car was. I apologized or dragging him all the way up there, but he said that he had a good time. People were thanking him by name (I made up signs for the side of my car and put them on the van he was in).
Frank said that we'll try again next year (Frank is 91!).
I told him that I owe him a ride and that once I get the car fixed, I'll take him and his grandson for a ride. That was we can send a picture to his son overseas.
Steve
