It is good to hear that you're 'in tune' with what the car is telling you about the speed it wants to go.

There are two reasons for lack of power going up hills: only 35 hp and using a vacuum tank for fuel delivery. I like the vacuum tank, but they require  that you drive accordingly to keep them functioning properly.

Last Wednesday, I drove my '28 Canopy Express into the Berkeley CA hills to attend my son's wedding. He and his now-wife had a 1920s theme, so my truck was there for photo ops. 😉 My friend Ed Archer (another VCCA member) graciously drove his 1926 Rolls Royce there too. The two vehicles were a smash hit at an awesome party!!

I don't know the degree of inclination for the roads I went on, but I do know that the event's building is 1200 feet higher in elevation than where I live. I drove some of the last few miles at 7 mph in first gear. I used the throttle lever (instead of using the gas pedal) to avoid my foot bouncing around, which would squirt extra gas into the engine and make it run hotter.

Also, if you drive these vehicles with a heavy foot on the gas, the vacuum drops and you could end up not refilling the vacuum tank due to the lack of vacuum. This will cause you to stall. Been there and done that.

So, you did the correct thing by letting the car tell you how to drive it. Another tip is to use the same gear that took you up the hill to help slow you when going back down the hill. Otherwise, the vehicle could get away from you and the brakes might become ineffective when they heat up.

All part of the charm of the era.

Cheers, Dean

@tiny 

I did set the valves beforehand so I know they are correct. I haven't done a compression check yet but just pulling it through by hand using the fan it feels lower than what I was expecting. I have been able a just the carb for a good idle and easy starting but I suspect being a carb from a model A that the main jet may be too big for the little Chevy 4, the plugs do look pretty sooty.

The big issue though is probably timing related. The distributor shaft has about 45deg of rotational play in it that seems to be coming from the distributor gear/cam gear interaction. When I set the timing I held the rotor against rotation to take up all the slop. It works for now but I suspect the slop is causing the timing to "float" to some degree especially during deceleration. 

When my filing station order comes in I am going to drop the oil pan and inspect the bottom end as well as rebuild the water pump and pull out/investigate the distributor issue.

Chris

Good plan. Edit: To prevent confusion I removed my wrong advise that was corrected by Dean below. Thank you Dean.

With the spark lever in the full retard position and cylinder one at top dead center (TDC) on the compression stroke, the points in the distributor should be just starting to open for the wire going to cylinder one. The full retard position of the spark lever is used when starting the engine.

A few moments after it starts, move the spark lever to full advance for driving. This setting will give you a spark at roughly 25 degrees before TDC.

When the car is moving a little over 20 mph, there are centrifugal weights in the distributor that will automagically advance the spark another 20 degrees.

So, between the spark lever movement and the weights in the distributor, you have a total spark advance of 45 degrees. This is normal. 😉

Cheers, Dean

@rustoholic I haven't had a chance to to look into it further just yet but I have a good 30-45deg of rotational free play in the distributor shaft before the centrifugal advance takes over and when wiggled I can hear the cam gear / distributor drive gear "clicking" as the slop is taken up. I am interested (and somewhat dreading) to see what it looks like when I pull it out, I dont know how a gear could have that much slop and not have missing teeth / still hold time.

Chris

Chris,

I have some distributors, for parts. If you need one, let me know.

Mike

Columbia, MO

Originally there is a soft metal pin that holds the gear on the shaft. It is intended to shear if the distributor shaft or rotor locks up. That way the camshaft gear, cam gear are not damaged. There is another thread about that very subject elsewhere on this forum. If that pin is partially sheared there can be slop in the distributor.. There is also some normal slop in the rotor/shaft connection.

Hi everyone.

I think we may need to back up a bit for some needed clarification here.

Christopher said he was climbing a 6 or 8 DEGREE incline.

A 6 degree incline is close to a 10 PERCENT grade.

Having climbed and descended many marked grades in the mountains, an 8 percent grade is a pretty good grade and requires significant downshifting to stay off the brakes on a descent

A 10 percent grade is a STEEP HILL!

Even 6 percent grades are marked with signage to warn truckers etc.

@chip Thanks for that bit of info! is there a source for a replacement pin or what have others used for a replacement?

@35mike I'll keep that in mind, sounds like I may need a gear pin!

Chris

@ole-olson It is a decent little grade about half a mile long comming up out of a river bottom, few and far between in most of kansas. I thought maybe if I had a running start at it she would make it up in 3rd but she bogged down pretty quick. initially I backed the timing off about halfway and when that didnt yield a happier motor I just downshifted, thankfully I didnt wiff on the downshift or might have found myself going backwards. That said, this being the first unsynchronized transmission I have driven, there is just something satisfying about nailing a perfect downshift. Another thing I have noticed is that with just the steel firewall and gaps in the floorboards you get direct feedback as to what the engine temperature is, you can feel the air heat up on a hill climb or when accellerating up to speed in 3rd, its another unique part of the experience! At first I was paranoid about it and would jump out with a temp gun and shoot the radiator and water jacket when I could feel the air getting warmer, only to see her running 170deg like she should!

Must be east of town. Nothing but flatland north, west & south. Even east I didn't think there were any grades that steep. But then I don't run that part of the county very often.

@tiny on the backroads SE of udall and east of the udall airport where I keep my homebuilt, there is one hill out there that makes my subaru nervous, not taking the 28 anywhere near that one though.

Chris

Many years ago I worked for a fellow name of Bob Williams who did STOL kits out of Udall. We did factory installs out of the "Oxford International Airport" and built the details and assemblies in the old lumber yard in beautiful downtown Udall. His old house and property are falling into disrepair so I get the impression he's no longer in the business and probably passed on.

@tiny It's a small world! Bob is still around, unfortunately the county has repossessed most of his properties and auctioned them to cover back taxes. The lumber yard was torn down last fall.

Chris