A nice surprise
 

Three or four years ago I had my Tudor engine rebuilt by a local reputable Model A guy. But it never felt quite right to me; though it had a lightened flywheel and balanced and weighted crank, it felt out of balance. I talked to the builder, and he assured me everything was as it should be, including the balance. Two weeks ago I took it on a long tour, and it had what I would describe as a harmonic vibration at about 27 mph and 47 mph, and the usual uneven feel at all speeds.

I couldn't stand it any more. Last Friday I pulled the rear end to check the balance marks on the crankshaft, flywheel, and pressure plate. To my surprise, everything matched as it should. I put it back together -without changing anything- and took it for a long drive today.

And what? Now it runs smoothly and with none of the previous vibrations! I'm pleased, but I can't figure out why it turned out that way. :confused: I didn't do anything but take it apart and put it back together exactly as it was before.

Re: A nice surprise
 

Be sure to hang a bell under the car to keep the road gremlins away now that it's running better. :)

Re: A nice surprise
 

If you took the flywheel off you may have put it back on the engine 180 from where it was when you took it off. It may have originally been balanced as you have it now.

Tom Endy

Re: A nice surprise
 

Thats about the only thing that it could be

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That's what I thought before I took it apart. But when I opened it up the balance marks were matched, and I put it back in the same way.

Re: A nice surprise
 

Mark, when I opened it up I saw it was actually you who put the flywheel in during the rebuild, not me. My suspicion was that I had installed it back then, and had put it in 180 degrees off. But when I saw your trademark safety wiring method, I knew it had been done correctly. But I still removed the flywheel just in case, because I couldn't see Ernie's balance mark on the crankshaft. But if I'd known ahead of time it was you and not me who had installed it, I would have known it was good and I wouldn't have taken it apart.

But then, in that case, I would still have the problem which was somehow solved by taking it apart and putting it back together. Very strange.

Re: A nice surprise
 

Re: A nice surprise
 

I always thought it was strange that AMC would name a car "Gremlin". :eek: :confused:

That would be like Ford calling the Thunderbird the "Turdbird".:D

Maybe that was their undoing.:confused:

Re: A nice surprise
 

Re: A nice surprise
 

Kind of like my ford falcon.....it quits so I loosen all the screws in the distributer and re tighten them all back up and then it works again! Beats the hell out of me why it does that, I even installed all new parts

Re: A nice surprise
 

Actually a company does call some of their vehicles turd's. Toyota TRD.

Re: A nice surprise
 

Maybe there was a little piece of something on the crank flange when the wheel was first installed and now its gone due to the R&R.
Or, maybe its just another of lives little wonderments.

I had kind of a similar issue. When I first bought this monster in '76, it always had a bit more of a vibration than I thought it should have. Due to the monstrous clutch chatter I replaced it and reinstalled the flywheel the same as I took it off. Chatter gone, vibration still there.
I took it apart years later and while readjusting the pressure plate I noticed 3 punch marks on the wheel and then found 3 corresponding marks on the flange. These marks were not very pronounced. These were 180 out from how the wheel had ben installed.
I installed the wheel according to the punch marks, vibration gone.

Re: A nice surprise
 

Ray, sometimes you just have to accept the small victories when they find you.

I have a recently rebuilt touring ( all balanced, etc. ) diamond block motor in my Tudor that has a resonance at 47 MPH, and vibrates a lot above 45 MPH. But it isn't excessive, so acceptable. My friend just dropped a rebuild in his Fordor that isn't even balanced, but does have inserts, and his motor is silky smooth. There is simply no logical explanation, it is what it is.

Re: A nice surprise
 

Yeah, the only thing missing is "U". :rolleyes: No reflection on the original person posting.

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Yup Car Gremlins!! Sometimes you just can't figure it out. I'm working on a 29 Woodie right now and some times it fires right up and runs and the next time no spark. Something in the wiring as everyone and his brothers been into it in the past. Maybe start with a new wiring harness.

The Old Tinbasher

Re: A nice surprise
 

Start taking things a part in the house; like the confuser...

Re: A nice surprise
 

A story told to me about a new car vibration.The fix was replace the
rear end with another new car rear end vibe gone,now put the original
rear end back in,no more vibration! Sometimes parts are not happy
in their home just need to move things around :-)

Re: A nice surprise
 

Just had similar problem with a new original style distributor. The lower primary lead seemed fine ,but, a little tugging and pulling would allow the wire to go open. A little extra solder fixed that issue. The end connector also appeared as though it could have intermittently contacted the coil tension spring, a bit more bend fixed that. Car has been running fine since.
That said, intermittent problems can lead to premature hair loss. I'm proof.

Re: A nice surprise
 

There was likley apiece of dirt under the flywheel on the crankshaft flange, that was not there when you put it back on.

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Steve, I have to conclude that is the only possibility, though I didn't see anything. But as you know, when you're scrunched inside the car and pulling a 40-lb flywheel off there isn't much opportunity for careful inspection and observation. At least not when you're 6'3". :rolleyes: