1934 Ford Model B pickup

The car hadn't done a lot in the past few years.
But I am brave/stupid, so I planned to drive it the 10 miles home.
Managed a mile or two to the petrol station, and put in some fresh super unleaded.

Then it started missing and coughing, and within a mile had ground to a halt.
It would restart, run for 5 seconds and die. It did this lots.
Until the battery died, and the flatbed taxi arrived.



The recovery guy reckoned it was fuel rather than ignition, and I agreed with him.
So the following day I started a bit of a refresh.
The inside of the fuel tank looked clean enough.
I blew out the fuel pipe with compressed air - that might have helped.
But I also noticed the tank didn't appear to have a vent, and the fuel cap wasn't vented either. Pictures from a few years ago show it with a different cap - so I'm hoping there was a vacuum being formed.

In a belt a braces approach. I've also hidden an inline electric pump close to the tank, to act as a helper/primer. That is on a switch, so I've got options.

It runs fine in the driveway, but I've not had chance to take it out for a subsequent test drive.

The previous owner also left a couple of other things that needed fixing.
The nearside water pump - yes there are two !! was leaking.
A new one is £150 and takes an hour or two to fit, as it is also an engine mount !!



The groo is old groo, as the water was clean with good anti-freeze. But I will do the other pump for completeness over the winter.

The starter solenoid was mounted to the steering column, and operated by a foot switch. The contacts were not great and the spings broken, so it would often stick on.
The solenoid was only available from the US, and the footwell is pretty cramped, so time for an upgrade to a modern solenoid.
Hidden under the seat, nobody is going to know any different, and the added reliability is worth its weight in gold.



The wiring isn't great. A lot of it appears to be original. I've removed some Wago connectors from under the dash for some more recent additions, and tidied some stuff a little with cloth tape.
A full rewire is on my wishlist.
After finding this piece of wiring you'll see why.



A scotchlock is bad, but with a 6.3mm blade cut down to fit in, is pretty inexcusable. That controls the OSF indicator.
My soldering iron was called into play to remove both, which will have to do for now.

Fingers crossed the next drive doesn't end in a flatbed taxi, or I will be a laughing stock at home.

Nice truck! excellent man solution when you already have other projects! the Morris cant be faraway is it?

Yes I believe the stock fuel pump is lever operated. Previous owner has had issues with it, but I'm not convinced they were ever fixed.

For the fuel pump - I bought a cheap Amazon one for a tenner
The advantage of these ones, is the factory pump can suck through it, therefore I've got the choice of mechanical, or 12V assisted.

I cut into the hard line fuel pipe, flared the ends with my brake pipe flaring tool, and put it in line.

Lousy picture, but mounted quite close the fuel tank, which is behind the rear axle.



Not had chance to test it yet, but it isn't leaking fuel all over the garage, so I've got high hopes.

Thanks, please keep me posted I am very curious.

Well I've now been pottering around Hampshire on three separate occasions, and none of them resulted in a flatbed taxi ride home 

So after doing about 30 miles, I'm going to call the fuel issues fixed for now.

Electric fuel pump for 20 seconds, before starting, and then switch it off when running really helps. Starts right up nice and easily.
With the new starter solenoid, the starter no longer sticks on either, so both of those where a huge win.

Manage to get the missus in the passenger seat, for a quick run down to a local pub.
Mission accomplished.



Driving experience is mostly a hoot, with the exception of the steering.
I have the most alarming amount of bump-steer which is truly terrifying at times.

I've yet to do the basics of tyre pressures, front suspension grease and steering box adjust.
But I believe it is way too extreme to be any of those, I suspect the geometry of the lowered front end is fundamentally wrong.
Still I'll start with the easy stuff listed.

I've driven old Land Rovers before with beam front axles, so I'm familiar with the lack of road manners, but this is several times worse.

Off to learn everything I can about bump steer......

I have a very similar trunk, will try and have a look in a bit to see if that gives any further clues

I’m one of those unusual people that doesn’t have that. Moved into a rented house 10+ years ago, and took the milestone to clear out all the unknown keys I’d accumulated, and threw them in the bin.
A very strange day, but good for the soul.

toomanyprojects any clues on the maker of the lock would be well received 

Not had too much chance to do any fettling on the old girl, as it was gardening weekend at chez Moglite.

So the pickup was called on for two runs to the dump, and another to B&Q for loads of bark for the garden.



This is exactly why I chose this as a classic - not a show pony but to get used occasionally.

Seems to be running fine, but not too much power on the hills, and I think running rich. But not breaking down, so I'll call that a win.

The second run to the dump - the heavens opened. I'm not too precious about getting it wet, but I was worried about the effectiveness of the single little windscreen wiper - but it was just dandy.

I did take a wheel off to investigate the bumpsteer issue, but didn't come to any conclusions.

The previous owner had loosely sanded back a couple of panels ready for polishing. But never actually polished them. The sanding job wasn't great, but then neither was my go over with the mop, which is actually great, as all the paint looks more consistant now, but a little bit worn, which I'm very happy about.

The horns don't work, they are lovely Spartan Made in the USA models, but they are 6V I believe, and there isn't even any wiring to them.

A bit of research showed that modern Hella horns were just a little bit smaller.
I hoped to fit the Hella mechanism in place of the original 6V ones without modifying the actual horn body.



Remove the yellow cage, and a 3D printed ring, joins the old and the new together nicely.
Don't worry about the pink'ish ring, it can't be seen when the covers are on.



Inside of the horn bodies were bare metal, and had a lot of surface rust.
As this is preservation rather than restoration, a quick wire brush, vactan rust converter and a squirt of Dinitrol seemed like a good option.



Bolted back into place, with plenty of wire - ready for commisioning.
The bell shaped cover is held on with a machine screw.
The Hella horn has an M8 thread for mounting - way too big.
A couple of tube nuts, cut down to length, had a couple of nuts for the machine screws welded on.
Quick and dirty - but it works.



With the covers on, and tested via a battery pack.
Nice and loud, and nobody would know they aren't period correct internally.



A nice little project for the warm weather we've been having this week.
Horns were less than £35, and just a few consumables from stock to hook it all up.

I've still got to hook up to the horn push and I suppose a relay, but that is a job for future Moglite 

Other little projects for future Moglite are to relocate/replace the front indicators, as the cable ties on the bumper irons bug me.
But I cannot see a more elegant/period correct solution.