Hello,
   I've written here before about this issue, but had some additonal questions:  How is the cut-out switch normally supposed to operate on a stock generator for these cars?  I have a 30-U.  I've been having a lot of problems with my generator recently, but I don't really know what "normal" is anymore, since it's never really worked correctly.  From my understanding, the cutout switch will operate when the battery needs to be charged.  When the cutout is operating, it should read around 0-1 at idle and up to about 18-20 amps at full throttle.  When the battery is fully charged, and the cutout switch is not operating, what should the amperage reading be?  Will the cutout come on when headlights are turned on no matter what, due to the large drain on the battery?  What is the normal reading for amperage at idle and at full throttle if the cutout switch is off?

   I had my generator profressionally rebuilt and tested with a functional cutout switch.  When I got it home, it worked for about 15 minutes, then did not work at all.  I cleaned all the connections to the bracket where the generator attaches, cleaned the attachments to the cutout, and cleaned some residue off the inner rotor where the new brushes are leaving some black residue.  This made it work again for another 20-25 minutes of driving over 2 trips, now it doesn't work again.  When I put the headlights on, the cutout switch does not turn on and amperage drops to around -17 amps.

   Is all of this normal and the cutout switch should turn on again later if I drain the battery further, or is this indicative of a problem?  I'm not an electrical guy, so I don't know if my system is really functioning correctly or not.  Thanks for any further advice.

Awful to hear this news.  Sounds like you are okay, or maybe you wouldn't be writing.  I hope the car can somehow be salvaged or at least many more parts.  It's sad to see a car that made it for that many years go away.

Hello,
  I'm in the market for an original tappet wrench for my 30U.  I bought one at Hershey last year, but it's too big.  I adjusted my valves last month, but forgot to write down the size of the nuts on the push rod.  I want to say 7/16", but can anyone confirm the size of the push rod nuts?  Thanks again!

Great to hear your car is working well again.  It sounded like quite a journey.

The rubber seal was installed when the shaft was out, so I'd have to cut the rubber seal off to remove it and could not instal another one without taking the shaft out (a LOT of work to do that).

Hello,
   I have a '30 30U with a water pump.  I had the pump rebuilt a couple years ago and it worked okay; a few drips here and there.  I recently went on a 400-mile your with it, and now it's leaking quite a lot.  It looks like it needs new packing.

   I've never messed with packing before, but it appears that the rebuilder put in a rubber seal in the packing nut and there was no packing material in addition to this. I believe I overtightened the nut a little trying to stop the original few drips, so I probably ruined the rubber seal.

   My question to the group would be, should I leave the rubber seal in place and put packing on top of that (there is still some room within the packing nut), or should I remove the rubber seal and just go with the regular packing material?

Thanks for any responses!

Gentlemen,
   Thank you for all the help.  Those were all great tips and I worked off of those tips and ended up finding the problem.  It was realy 2 problems. First, I took the horn apart and the solder holding one connection to the horn lead was loose and the other end of the wire that connects to the external connector going to the main wiring harness was very loose as well.  I fixed those issues, but still no horn or lights.  I took the horn button out, checked all of that and upon re-assembly, I noticed that the horn button shaft had a lot of play in it.  I was able to tighten all that up beneath the clum switch, so now the headlight switch isn't sloppy, like it was before.  I then traced the wiring past the clum switch and what I beleive is happening is that the horn wiring within the headlight mounting bar was wearing against the horn support bolt that goes through the center of the headlight mounting bar and grounding out on it.  I didn't do a full repair yet, but I was able to get the horn and headlights working perfectly now.

  This is been an issue for about a year off and on, so nice to have it solved.  Thank you again for all the assistance!

-Chris

frankp,
  Thanks for the response!  No smell, no smoke, just super hot and broken fuse.  I disconnected the horn per your suggestion and used a test light, per another suggestion from the AACA site instead of a fuse.  The light went off when horn disconnected.  Turning headlights on lit up the test light, but headlights did not come on, so it's looking like the horn.  The wiring that I can see looks fine.  It's probably 30-35 years old.  I'm suspecting the horn button and ground, as the headlights seem to be okay and they are all on the same switch wiring Clum switch at the bottom of the steering column.  Going to try the horn button/wiring now...

Hello,
  I have a 30U and I'm having problems with the fuse going out all the time now.  I'm out of fuses, so thought I'd ask for some advice.  The car will start and drive just fine, but will have no lights or horn without a fuse.  If I put a fuse in and connect the battery, the fuse will heat up and break in about 8 seconds (30 Amp fuse).  I've had similar problems with the fuse going out in the recent past, both times were when I demonstrated the horn at a car show with the key off.  I would replace the fuse and be fine for a while, now, the fuse won't last at all.

  I assume I have a crossed wire somewhere or a bad ground, but wanted to ask for advice before I start taking the whole electrical system apart past the fuse point.  It's also impossible to test, as I can't get any power to the system without blowing the fuse.  I'm not very skilled with electrical, either.  Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

kimmc,
   Interesting.  I thought it would be more like a lug wrench, as a lug wrench isn't listed in the tool list (I have a late-production car that was built during the 4th edition of the 1930 owner's manual, so tools are slightly different.  By that point, some of the tools were not included, such as the hub wrench, grease gun, and tire pump). 

I have wire wheels on my car, so I wouldn't have needed this tool, so maybe it didn't come with it to begin with?  I am, however, now confused on which tool, if any, is the lug wrench.  A gentleman on the AACA Plymouth forum showed me some photos of an S-shaped lug wrench from his '31 Dodge and he made an assumption that the wheel rim wrench was related, but that does not appear to be the case.  Thanks for providing the link.

Hello.  In the 1930 owner's manuals, it mentions under the tools section that a Wheel Rim Wrench is included.  Does anyone have a photo of what this looks like?  I'm still trying to put together a complete collection of tools.  Thanks for any assistance.

Hello, I have a 30U roadster and the 4 top support bars that are mounted on the rear deck are currently pot-metal colored, which is the way they were when I bought the car 4 years ago.  My question is, would these bars have originally been just polished-up pot metal, nickel plated, or chrome plated?  I assume these were originally nickel plated, but I don't know for sure. 

What about the interior door handles?  What was the finish type on those?  Mine are currently just pot metal-colored.

Any help is appreciated.

You could try the AACA Library  (www.aaca.org).  They may have some books, original brochures, maybe an owner's manual, some paint chips, etc. that may be of some use.

Thank you for the posts.  Yes, I actually found these photos a while ago, and they've been what I've been using to piece together waht I have so far, but I'm still looking for a 1930 tool kit, as some things are a little different, plus you are correct, these photos have about 1/2 of what is in the tool kit according to the owner's manual.  Thanks again!

Sorry for all the wiper motor questions, but does anyone have a photo of the correct wiper motor for a 1930 open car?  I think a '28 or '29 would work for me as well.  I have part numbers, thanks to you guys, but I still don't know what it looks like, exactly.  Thanks again for all the great posts.