The first steps of our mechanical restoration included removing the hood, water pump, original Bosch starter, original Bosch generator, original Bosch magneto, original huge solid brass Newcomb carburetor, fuel tank, the six original brass priming cups, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, cast aluminum valve covers, exhaust piping and muffler, ignition wiring, spark plug wires, and original Klaxon horn.
The decision was made to send the starter, generator and magneto a highly skilled professional for full restoration. We sent a sample of the old intake and exhaust gaskets to Olson's Gaskets for exact high quality replacements. After we removed the exhaust system, we cut all five flanges off the piping and set them aside for later restoration. The muffler and brackets were set aside as well. We sent the dual exhaust pipes and the single tail pipe to a trusted, local, muffler shop for accurate forming of new pipes.
Next we removed the original German nickel-silver radiator. It was heavy enough to require the use of a hydraulic hoist to avoid injury to our team and damage to the radiator. Many antique radiators have had their cores replaced at a great expense of money and time. No one wants to restore an engine only to experience a heating problem because the radiator is clogged. Our strategy was to set the radiator aside and to submerge it in a large tank filled with radiator cleaning solution. We attached a low pressure water pump to the outlet of the radiator and allowed the solution to flow out of the filler neck. The flushing process went on continuously for months. During this process the position of the radiator was changed in as many ways as possible. Also the direction of the flow was changed periodically. When this process was finished, we were amazed by the amount of grime and debris that littered the bottom of our tank. This method proved a great success as we have no cooling issues whatsoever.
The fuel tank was removed for cleaning and restoration. After inspection, the tank was found to be in excellent unrestored condition. The tank was set aside for cleaning and painting.