Hi everyone, I'm new here. Thanks for allowing me access to your club forums. I am in Western Canada. I am a member of our local Vintage Car Club. The Club recently gained access to a 1928 Dodge Brothers Standard Six. A group of us got together this week to inspect the car and come up with a list of needed repairs, and a budget number. Our hopes are make it drivable and safe.
My understanding is the car has been stored in a garage for many decades. It seems mostly stock and in good overall condition. The Dodge Brothers cars are new to me so any help pointing things out are appreciated.
Car SN that I found on the kick board is J37014. I was informed this reads as an early June 1928 build. The engine SN on the block is J49-049. I am not sure, but suspect this may be the original engine in the car.
We expected to find hydraulic brakes, but discovered mechanical brakes. It seems higher model DB cars had juice brakes in 1928, but the Standard Six did not. Is that correct? We pulled the front 2 wheels to inspect further. A lot of wheel bearing grease was found in and around the brakes. I removed the shoe assembly and front 2 cables. The two brake cables were pretty corroded. Some cable wire strands were broken and fraying. They are dry and not moving well inside the outer shielding.
I have been doing hours of internet research, but so far have had no luck finding a source for these replacement cables. Does anyone know of a source? If not, maybe there is a way to salvage what we have and build new cables? Any help on this is much appreciated. The brake shoe assemblies will be degreased in a hot tank this week. Most likely we will have them re-lined.
I heard mention that the headlights were maybe not stock. The engine is not seized. We did a compression test yesterday and the numbers were encouraging. Compressed air was put into each cylinder as well, to test for valve sealing. All appear good. A puller will be acquired this week to remove the rear wheels. I expect we'll find the cables to be in the same condition as the front.
Below here are pics of the car as it sits today. Also a photo of the two brake cables. Thanks very much in advance for any info. - Keith
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