Re: Lubrication

Posted by Bob Carabbio on July 23, 1997 at 19:49:57

In Reply to: Lubrication
posted by Jim on July 22, 1997 at 13:48:59

Dave's point about water pump lubrication is well placed. Chassis lube will make a royal mess in the cooling system.

The only other thing that's pretty important is that the front wheel bearings should be done with "Fibrous" grease which used to be common, but is getting harder to find. The reason is that the front wheels aren't sealed and contemporary grease will just "fall out" (onto the brake shoes of course). Fibrous is full of fine "strings" that tend to keep it in place.

The steering, transmission and differential situation is more related to leaking than lubricating."600W" was also fibrous.

A recipe I saw for "600W" was:
2 quarts SAE 140
1 tub fibrous grease
1 can STP.
Mix thoroughly and pour in.

On the other hand back in '59-'60 when I drove my '31 Tudor daily, I used SAE 140 without problems in Steering, tranny and differential. It was just a little stiff in the winter when the car was first started.I'll use 90-140 in my '31 S/W and not have the first worry about it.

The rear wheels, if they have neoprene seals instead of the leather originals, can use modern wheel bearing lube which is better stuff that Henry ever dreamed of having.

General chassis and U-joint lubrication is just fine with the lithium grease normally sold for that.It has a much better film strength and longer life than the stuff that was sold in '30.

What's more important than the type of lubricant is that the grease be renewed regularly - particularly during wet or dusty conditions since the joints on an "A" aren't sealed particularly well. Bear in mind that a major lube job was called for every 500 miles which would be every weekend in normal use these days, with a front wheel re-pack every 5000.

What people don't take into account these days is that motor oil and greases available during the '30s weren't really very good compared to what's out there now.The bearings and bushings in an "A" are huge for the load they carry compared to modern stuff.

End of sermon -
Bob Carabbio


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