My new 1930 2-dr sedan

[Ray in La Mesa]

I've found that when down shifting to second, you need to rev the engine much more than you would expect. Once you do that you can find the sweet spot.

[atch]

Thanks Ray. That's probably what I've been doing wrong.

[atch]

I've about given up on downshifting to first. I'll just come to a stop and then put it in first. Pretty much any time you would downshift to first you're going to stop anyway.

[1930artdeco]

You can shift to first at below 5 MPH if I remember correctly. I just push in the clutch and gently push it into 1st. I let it do it by itself so I don't grind.

Mike

[atch]

Question: what do you use to remove gasoline from cowl when you spill some at the gas station?

Today when I filled this thing up I spilled gas (probably a tablespoon or two) on the cowl/tank top. By the time I got home it had evaporated but now I'd like to wash it off. What do you guys use?

Note: I have no idea what the paint is. I'm sure it has been repainted at some point, but who knows if it was back in the lacquer days, base/clear days, enamel days, etc., etc.

That seldom happens on late model cars, but having the gas cap where it's a bit less handy may pose problems for me down the road; maybe more so than today.

[IDSpud]

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Very nice car!

[nkaminar]

Regarding downshifting: I forget whether your car has a Mitchell overdrive. If it does you can put the overdrive in neutral and then put the transmission in whatever gear you want without double clutching. Then put the overdrive back in gear. The overdrive has synchromesh so it will go in gear easily. Just make sure that the gear you chose is appropriate for the road speed you are going.

[atch]

Originally Posted by IDSpud

Very nice car!

Thanks man. I'm really enjoying it. Put 101 miles on it yesterday going to lunch with some car club members; about 50 miles each way.

Originally Posted by nkaminar

Regarding downshifting: I forget whether your car has a Mitchell overdrive. If it does you can put the overdrive in neutral and then put the transmission in whatever gear you want without double clutching. Then put the overdrive back in gear. The overdrive has synchromesh so it will go in gear easily. Just make sure that the gear you chose is appropriate for the road speed you are going.

It does have a Mitchell OD. I'll have to try this trick.

[1930artdeco]

For downshifting there is only one way to master it-practice, practice, practice!. You will have to drive the car A LOT like take a vacation with it and drive the country roads to the North to cool off and practice revving the engine up and not grinding gears. Everyone does it when they are new to these trannies.

[atch]

I'm getting better at downshifting.

I've now put 420 miles on it between 8/1 and 8/19/2025.

When warmed up if I let it slow down to idle it sometimes dies. I've been (a little at a time) turning the screw on what I'm assuming is the idle set screw at the carb throttle shaft just outside the carb body. Is there anything else I need to be doing? I've been using the throttle at the steering wheel to keep the rpm's up enough to keep it from dying.


b-t-w, here are a few pix I took yesterday in Columbia, Missouri. First is with the Mizzou columns in the background. Second is with Lafferre Hall in the background. That's the Engineering School main building where I was a freshman 56 years ago this week. Third is in front of the gates leading into the estate of Dr. Frank Nifong, a prominent early Columbian.

[TomW]

like it says in the instruction manual - downshift to second without hesitation in neutral.
A quick movement of the lever will work every time! (below 15 mph or so) There is no need to downshift to first - if a model A is moving, second gear will handle it!

[Big hammer]

You need too adjust the idle mixture along with the idle speed, it’s all covered in the owners instruction manual, reproductions manual available from the suppliers ! The manual covers adjusting the idle, shifting the transmission, etc

[atch]

Originally Posted by Big hammer

You need too adjust the idle mixture along with the idle speed, it’s all covered in the owners instruction manual, reproductions manual available from the suppliers ! The manual covers adjusting the idle, shifting the transmission, etc

Thanks. It looks like I have some shopping and studying to do.

[atch]

Is this the one? Dick left this in the car for me.

20250820_141457.jpg

[1930artdeco]

Another thing I do is if I am running my Zenith carb is leave the idle notched up a bit-sounds like you do this already. If not, it will tend to die in hard fast stops as the fuel sloshes away from the jets.

*correction* I leave the idle at the lowest notch and open the GAV a solid 1/4 turn to compensate for this in city driving.

[atch]

Car in front of St. Mary Aldermanbury, a church built in the 1180's in London. Bombed in 1940 only the walls were still standing until 1966 when it was dismantled and reconstructed stone by stone in Fulton, Missouri, near the spot where Winston Churchill first used the term "Iron Curtain."

[atch]

Car in front of an 11' high by 32' long section of the Berlin Wall which formerly stood at or near the Brandenburg Gate. Edwina Sandys, Mr. Churchill's granddaughter, sculpted it into what you see here and it toured eh US. On the 1st anniversary of the fall of the wall, it was permanently installed next to the National Churchill Museum, which is in the basement of St. Mary Aldermanbury.

[atch]

I've taken to turning the fuel off and letting the engine run out of gas when I pull into the garage (our gas contains ethanol). Does anyone else do this? Is this a waste of time?


I've been studying the lubrication chart in the center of the Model "A" Instruction Book that I showed in post #54 above. I'm not opposed to anything it recommends but am curious as to how much of this do you folks actually do?

This recommends changing the oil every 500 miles. I've put 455 miles on the car in the 3 weeks I've owned it so it looks like I need to be ready to change the oil. How often do you folks change your oil?

[1930artdeco]

1) I always shut the tank valve off and run the carb dry when I park her. Either the tank valve and/or the float valve leak. I need to figure out which one.

2) Once a year I lube her up as grease is your friend at keeping parts from not wearing out and having to buy Chinese parts.

3) The oils today are leaps and bounds better, but $40 in oil is cheaper than $4000 in an engine. I change it every summer but then again I am not putting that many miles on her unfortunately. If you went a 1000 I would not be too worried.

Mike

[atch]

Originally Posted by 1930artdeco

1) I always shut the tank valve off and run the carb dry when I park her. Either the tank valve and/or the float valve leak. I need to figure out which one.

2) Once a year I lube her up as grease is your friend at keeping parts from not wearing out and having to buy Chinese parts.

3) The oils today are leaps and bounds better, but $40 in oil is cheaper than $4000 in an engine. I change it every summer but then again I am not putting that many miles on her unfortunately. If you went a 1000 I would not be too worried.

Mike

Thanks. I'm going to be learning for quite a while and undoubtedly be picking your collective brains all that time.