Hi everyone, I'm the proud owner of a Model A Doodlebug that has been sitting for many years and I'd like to get it running and driving again. I thought I'd ask all the experts on here for some advice before I dig in to make sure I don't accidentally do more harm than good in the process.
I inherited the Doodlebug from my grandfather when he passed away in 2002 and he likely picked it up at a swap meet many years prior. It has a wooden park bench for a seat and a single-bottom plow hanging off the back, although it's never done any actual work in my lifetime. My grandpa drove it in local parades, showed it at car and tractor shows, and brought it to the State Fair to display every year. I have many fond memories of driving around the yard with my grandpa and then my dad after we brought it home, and as I got older it was the first vehicle I really learned how to drive myself. I started driving it through parades in my hometown and tooling around the neighborhood a few times every summer.
In the summer of 2014, I drove it in a 4th of July parade in the next town over from my hometown. I drove it 6 miles on gravel to the parade in the morning when it was cooler outside with no issues, then later in the afternoon it sputtered and quit halfway through the route and wouldn't start again. It seemed to me like it was vapor locking, although I can't say for sure that's what it was. I do remember it being very hot that day. I let it cool down and sit for a while, and it fired right back up like nothing was ever wrong. I started toward home and I believe it quit again once or twice on the way back but eventually made it home. I honestly can't remember if I drove it later that summer or not to see if the problem persisted. A tale as old as time followed; I graduated high school and moved to college the following summer, worked at internships between semesters, got a job on the other side of the state after my degree, and unfortunately the Doodlebug has sat untouched in my parents' garage for the last ~12 years. At least it's been on a concrete floor and under a roof that whole time and not out in the elements. I'm now looking at moving back closer to home and have my own son to begin making memories with, so the urge to get the Doodlebug running again has been extra strong lately. For now, I'll just have to work on it occasionally when I'm back visiting my parents so it will be slow going at first, but hopefully once we move closer I can devote more consistent time to it.
I looked up the serial number of the engine once a long time ago and I'm pretty sure I remember it being a 1929. It's an original 4 cylinder Model A engine as far as I can tell. I also remember finding another serial number on the body or the frame somewhere and it didn't match the number on the engine, and I think that number might have decoded to a 1930 but I'm not as confident about that. I suppose the engine and the frame/body could have come from different vehicles. It is a bit of a Frankenstein by definition after all. It only has one transmission, not two like many other Doodlebugs I've read about. Again it seems to be the standard transmission out of a Model A based on my very limited knowledge. I also know it's been converted to 12v from the original 6v system. The radiator has always had a small leak; enough to need to check the coolant every time we drove it but not so much that it would be an issue when just driving around the neighborhood. My guess of vapor lock during the parade came from the symptoms of sputtering and choking before it died, starting and running just fine after cooling down, and the fact that the fuel line from the gas tank into the carb is uninsulated and runs right by the exhaust manifold on the way to the carb. I'm sure I was running some sort of Ethanol blend at the time which I've read can be more susceptible to vapor lock. It's also still a gravity system from the tank so there was no fuel pump to help power through any air bubbles. I'm sure there will be more that comes back to me after I get a chance to get a better look at it next time I'm down at my parents' house, but that's the gist for now.
My current plan is to drain any old gas from the tank, fuel lines, and carb, change the oil, drain/flush/refill the coolant, and maybe try to clean and adjust the carb if I think it needs it. Although I'll probably try to see if it actually runs first before I dig too far into the carb since I've heard they can be finnicky and hard to find parts for. I'd like to try to wrap the fuel lines in some sort of insulation as well. I'll also make sure to try to turn the engine over by hand first to make sure it's not stuck before I throw a new battery on there and crank the starter. Anything else I should be looking for before running it for too long? I have an engineering degree and try to do as many of my own vehicle repairs as possible so I feel like I'm up for the challenge but these old engines are a bit farther out of my wheelhouse than I'm used to.
Thanks in advance for any advice you all might have for me. I've attached the only two pictures I could find without digging through a bunch of old SD cards. They're from a parade I drove the Doodlebug in in 2011. Please excuse my crude redactions; I promise my head isn't normally that square! I'll upload more photos as I begin working on it and get it unburied from the garage.
I inherited the Doodlebug from my grandfather when he passed away in 2002 and he likely picked it up at a swap meet many years prior. It has a wooden park bench for a seat and a single-bottom plow hanging off the back, although it's never done any actual work in my lifetime. My grandpa drove it in local parades, showed it at car and tractor shows, and brought it to the State Fair to display every year. I have many fond memories of driving around the yard with my grandpa and then my dad after we brought it home, and as I got older it was the first vehicle I really learned how to drive myself. I started driving it through parades in my hometown and tooling around the neighborhood a few times every summer.
In the summer of 2014, I drove it in a 4th of July parade in the next town over from my hometown. I drove it 6 miles on gravel to the parade in the morning when it was cooler outside with no issues, then later in the afternoon it sputtered and quit halfway through the route and wouldn't start again. It seemed to me like it was vapor locking, although I can't say for sure that's what it was. I do remember it being very hot that day. I let it cool down and sit for a while, and it fired right back up like nothing was ever wrong. I started toward home and I believe it quit again once or twice on the way back but eventually made it home. I honestly can't remember if I drove it later that summer or not to see if the problem persisted. A tale as old as time followed; I graduated high school and moved to college the following summer, worked at internships between semesters, got a job on the other side of the state after my degree, and unfortunately the Doodlebug has sat untouched in my parents' garage for the last ~12 years. At least it's been on a concrete floor and under a roof that whole time and not out in the elements. I'm now looking at moving back closer to home and have my own son to begin making memories with, so the urge to get the Doodlebug running again has been extra strong lately. For now, I'll just have to work on it occasionally when I'm back visiting my parents so it will be slow going at first, but hopefully once we move closer I can devote more consistent time to it.
I looked up the serial number of the engine once a long time ago and I'm pretty sure I remember it being a 1929. It's an original 4 cylinder Model A engine as far as I can tell. I also remember finding another serial number on the body or the frame somewhere and it didn't match the number on the engine, and I think that number might have decoded to a 1930 but I'm not as confident about that. I suppose the engine and the frame/body could have come from different vehicles. It is a bit of a Frankenstein by definition after all. It only has one transmission, not two like many other Doodlebugs I've read about. Again it seems to be the standard transmission out of a Model A based on my very limited knowledge. I also know it's been converted to 12v from the original 6v system. The radiator has always had a small leak; enough to need to check the coolant every time we drove it but not so much that it would be an issue when just driving around the neighborhood. My guess of vapor lock during the parade came from the symptoms of sputtering and choking before it died, starting and running just fine after cooling down, and the fact that the fuel line from the gas tank into the carb is uninsulated and runs right by the exhaust manifold on the way to the carb. I'm sure I was running some sort of Ethanol blend at the time which I've read can be more susceptible to vapor lock. It's also still a gravity system from the tank so there was no fuel pump to help power through any air bubbles. I'm sure there will be more that comes back to me after I get a chance to get a better look at it next time I'm down at my parents' house, but that's the gist for now.
My current plan is to drain any old gas from the tank, fuel lines, and carb, change the oil, drain/flush/refill the coolant, and maybe try to clean and adjust the carb if I think it needs it. Although I'll probably try to see if it actually runs first before I dig too far into the carb since I've heard they can be finnicky and hard to find parts for. I'd like to try to wrap the fuel lines in some sort of insulation as well. I'll also make sure to try to turn the engine over by hand first to make sure it's not stuck before I throw a new battery on there and crank the starter. Anything else I should be looking for before running it for too long? I have an engineering degree and try to do as many of my own vehicle repairs as possible so I feel like I'm up for the challenge but these old engines are a bit farther out of my wheelhouse than I'm used to.
Thanks in advance for any advice you all might have for me. I've attached the only two pictures I could find without digging through a bunch of old SD cards. They're from a parade I drove the Doodlebug in in 2011. Please excuse my crude redactions; I promise my head isn't normally that square! I'll upload more photos as I begin working on it and get it unburied from the garage.
