The Ford Barn - View Single Post - What roadside repairs have you made to keep your A going

Jim Brierley · 07-12-2019, 11:26 AM

A couple of things come to mind, first was I was following a friend in his 4-door when a huge cloud of smoke came from his car. It had lost the pipe plug on the right side of the block. Of course no one in the group had a spare plug so I suggested looking for a zerk fitting with the small ball in it. We found one and it worked perfectly! The second instance was a group of us were on the way to Las Vegas on a Winfield Weekend when my wide-bed started getting a noise in the engine. I eased into Barstow, pulled the pan and found a rod that had pounded out some of the babbitt. Removed several shims and headed for home. Re-used the oil because didn't have enough extra with me. No problems with it for the 150 miles back home. Replaced all the rods, didn't even hurt the crank. I then retarded the spark a little to eliminate any pinging and found it pulled the hills better. You learn something every day!

07-12-2019, 11:26 AM	#12
Jim Brierley Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Temecula, CA Posts: 4,087	Re: What roadside repairs have you made to keep your A going A couple of things come to mind, first was I was following a friend in his 4-door when a huge cloud of smoke came from his car. It had lost the pipe plug on the right side of the block. Of course no one in the group had a spare plug so I suggested looking for a zerk fitting with the small ball in it. We found one and it worked perfectly! The second instance was a group of us were on the way to Las Vegas on a Winfield Weekend when my wide-bed started getting a noise in the engine. I eased into Barstow, pulled the pan and found a rod that had pounded out some of the babbitt. Removed several shims and headed for home. Re-used the oil because didn't have enough extra with me. No problems with it for the 150 miles back home. Replaced all the rods, didn't even hurt the crank. I then retarded the spark a little to eliminate any pinging and found it pulled the hills better. You learn something every day!