Well, it’s been a few days now since the last post.   We’ve gotten the engine to start reliably every time we try.  But it does NOT want to idle down. And, we blew out the muffler when I tried to change the timing by advancing the spark. Pop pop KAPOW… The outside layer of the muffler was completely blown off.

The muffler – went BOOM.

Oh dear.  It seems no matter how I adjust the high and low settings on the carburetor, the thing wants to run very rich and will not idle down.  I’ve attached several articles from 1911 through 1914 about adjusting the Stromberg B No. 4 carburetor, but so far, nothing seems to be working correctly. (Click on BLUE text to view attached literature)  Any adjustment I have made that permits greater air flow makes the engine race even faster.  WHAT IS GOING ON?  This is very frustrating.

“Adjusting the Stromberg” Motor Age, May 30, 1912, p. 36-40

“Adjusting Stromberg Carburetors” Vol. 35#9, The Automobile Journal, June 10, 1913

Factory Literature, Stromberg Type B, page 8-11

So…………… this situation required some more contemplation. What have we got WRONG here?   Saturday, I reviewed the situation and set out to see if there was something wrong with the main jet.  This meant I needed to modify the temporary testing set-up I had made for the carburetor.  The simple metal plate did not have a hole that exposed the accelerator butterfly valve, so I set out to cut a hole there to see down the throat (venturi) of the carburetor. With that cut out, I could fully move the accelerator lever and watch the movement of the butterfly.

Temporary Carburetor Mount. NOTE: The carb is in the OPPOSITE position as it had been mounted on the intake manifold (with fuel inlet facing REAR) Accelerator butterfly valve exposed and at FULL THROTTLE OPEN.

I flipped it back and forth a few times and said to myself, “That’s weird”.  The valve was fully open in the position it should have been fully closed.  My temporary set-up required the carb to be rotated 180 degrees from the way it had been installed on the car.  Was I all mixed up? Could I have mounted the carb backwards?  The way I had it mounted was logical. The fuel intake was close to the gas tank. The air intake was facing forward. Better look for other indicators.  Had I flipped the carb around at some point and not recognized the change?  Nope.

Here is a photo of the orientation of the carb in Sept. of 2011, when we got the Michigan out of Steve Dickie’s barn in Hebron IN.

I’m not crazy. This is the way the carb was mounted when we got the car.

What other evidence do we have that the way we had it mounted was backwards?  Some of the 1912 Michigan sales literature shows the fuel inlet towards the FRONT of the car and the air valve towards the REAR.

What else do I have that shows we are backwards?  Photos of other Michigan cars.  Here is a photo of the 1911 Michigan owned by Loren & Louisa Cuthbert.

Cuthbert Stromberg carb with float bowl adjusting needle & fuel intake towards front.

So……… I’m not crazy.   And, maybe that is PART of the reason we couldn’t get the engine to idle down.  (Cue ominous sounds portending other trouble ahead)

So…the fully closed accelerator was actually fully open. So basic. So stupid. So… this isn’t the first thing that’s been backwards.  The differential ring gear was on the wrong side. Wow. Take nothing for granted.