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It was a beautiful day for the annual Winter
Park St Patrick’s Day parade. Saturday March 12th, the Model A’s of
Greater Orlando all met at Taco Bells of 17/92 near Aloma. The plan was
for those who wanted, could have their lunch at a nearby fast food place
and be ready to depart for the parade location at 12:45.
While we were waiting, Al Hammond was running
his car and showing it to some of the guys. The generator cut out switch
froze shut, and the wiring started to burn. We could see some smoke but
most thought it was just overheating. Then one of the guys yelled they
needed a fire extinguisher. There were several of the guys, including
myself, who ran to their cars, grabbed their extinguishers and went to
assist. The fire was put out. Then with the help of Frank Nappo and Obie
Johnson, they were able to hot wire the car, no pun intended. Al was
able to get it running so he decided it best to drive it home.
The remaining Model A’s and crew made our way to
the line up point for the Parade. Dick reported to Debbie that there
were 14 cars on hand. Again we were being sponsored by our favorite
cheese company, Cabot Creamery. Cars were decorated for the occasion and
signs placed on the vehicles adverting the creamery. The Parade went off
without a hitch. All cars behaved well and a great time was had by all
including the crowd on hand. After the parade, we stopped and removed
the Cabot Creamery signs and all the St Paddy decorations off all our
cars and we all headed for home.
On the way home, about 2 miles from the end of
the parade, a very loud squeal came from the engine compartment of my
Model A. I had just installed a new engine last week and it only had 175
miles run-time. Just prior to the noise, I was commenting to my wife
what a pleasure it was not have to worry about driving as the car was
performing so well. We looked at the temperature gauge and it was below
180. I immediately turned off the key and made the next right turn off
busy Aloma. It happened to be a one-way street and I was going in the
wrong direction.
I, at first thought the noise could be the fan
belt or maybe the alternator bearing. I coasted to a stop in a shady
spot and thought it would be a good idea to try to contact one of my
fellow Model Aers for help, hoping they were still nearby. Together, I
thought, we could determine what the problem could be. I was able to get
a hold of Tony. He said that he had to go to Frank’s place and said he
could possibly bring a generator or alternator to replace the one in my
car just so I could get home. This seemed to be a great big help; so I
proceeded to remove the alternator. I could then quickly put on the
replacement so I wouldn’t be holding Tony up. I also called home and
asked my daughter, Cheryl, to please bring my truck and trailer so I
could transport car home, since if the replacement idea did not work, I
would be able to get my car home and figure out further what the noise
problem was.
After removing the alternator, I checked it and
found it to be ok. I then checked the water pump, and it was fine. So
that left me with no other conclusion than the noise was coming from the
engine. I called Tony and told him my conclusion. He said that he would
come over to help me load the car onto the trailer. I thanked him.
My daughter arrived with the trailer and
shortly, thereafter, Tony Martin arrived with a whole fleet of helpers,
who included Lu, his son Steve, Tony and Carol. Since we bought the
rebuilt model A engine from Jerry, we decided to give him a call. We
would have done that sooner but we only had the store phone number. Tony
called him at home, explained the problem and Jerry quickly arrived at
our location. We went thru all kinds of testing and suggestions from the
re-builder of the engine. Nothing was resolved so we decided to load the
car onto my trailer.
The next saga to this story is a little
unbelievable to me, but it did happen. Carol Martin got in the driver
seat of my car to steer the car up the ramp and onto the trailer. All
the rest of us started to push it up the ramp. We were about 60% on and
one of the boards on the trailer broke under the right front tire and
down it went. The rotted board was hitting up against the front fender.
Well, after much jacking and putting a board under the wheel, we started
to push it the rest of the way onto the trailer. Not going more than a
foot forward, the board broke again and the wheel went down into the
hole. We went back to jacking. Luckily, down the street there was a new
house being built. Shirley had gone done there earlier and talked to the
owner about some lumber in his front yard. He said we could help
ourselves to a pile of used 2x6’s. So my daughter and wife went back and
brought us some more boards. We then put more boards under the wheels in
the front and rear. We were able to get the car onto the trailer and
then strapped it down for the long ride home.
Off we went. On the way home, I had a guy pull
up along side my truck and said the vehicle in toe sure was a beauty. I
thanked him, then we in the truck laughed and remarked ya, if it only
ran as good as it looked, we would be happy. The rest of the trip home
went without incident, we got it home and off the trailer and into the
barn for the night. Tony called and had some suggestions.
Then Jerry called with some tips from the engine
re-builder. I then called and spoke with Al Wendling. He had some tips.
I also called my friend Steve McCullough . I told him about the day’s
happenings. I said that he would think about the noise problem and get
back with me.
He proceeded to read the mechanics book and
looked in a Model A parts book he had and found a camshaft thrust
plunger that says if not greased good that it will make a tremendous
noise. So he called me back almost immediately and gave me this added
bit of information. My day ended.
Tomorrow I will start looking into all the tips
I received, and call Jerry again to make sure that what I do is all
right with the re-builder.
This is the new day, I called Jerry. He advised
that I would have to remove the engine and that he would pick it up and
take it to the person who rebuilt it. He indicated he would get on it
immediately.
The engine is now out and waiting for pickup. So
at this time, the noise is a mystery, which I hope is solved quickly and
easily.
The end of this story is yet to come; so stay
tuned and I will update when I get the answer to my problem. I sure hope
it is solved soon.
5:00PM Tuesday March 15th:
Mystery solved on engine noise ,it was the
distributor that was seizing up and making all that noise, Jerry has it
and is going to rebuild it for me again. I should have the A on the road
by Thursday for sure. thought all would want to know what it was.
See photo page in left column.
Ron
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