Roadside Repairs: Made in China

Roadside repairs: often it is the history of sudden accidents and quick repairs that make a classic car so special to its owner. The 1936 Ford V8 Panel Van which we were driving during the 4C rally through China runs on a famous V8 flathead engine equipped with dual water pumps. In this engine, the alternator and the fan are directly connected by a small shaft that runs through a bracket, mounted on the front of the engine. The alternator is mounted to the bracket by two small bolts and a bearing for the shaft.

400km after departing from Beijing and enjoying China’s rural landscapes at around 50 mph, a very loud clanging noise could be heard from the front of the engine. We discovered that the bearing on top of the bracket had failed, causing the two bolts that mounted the alternator to break off. The alternator had started to spin around, causing the connecting shaft to tilt, shattering the fan pulley on one side and making our fan hit the radiator. The extent of the damage can be seen in the photos. Immediately we were joined by the events organizer Mr. Zong, who had been driving right behind us, leading to a heated discussion in broken English and Mandarin, where much got lost in translation. Although realizing that the damage was quite extensive, Mr. Zong as the event’s organizer promised us that the car was going to be repaired by the next day. The car was then towed to the starting position of the next day’s event in the town of Qingzhou. 

The next day’s departing ceremony had been a typical display of fireworks that characterizes the style of the event. After all other participants had left at around 10 AM, we were left on the red carpet with a team of four technicians led by Xu Tao who stayed for the repair. Although the bent fan could be repaired, there could be no identical replacement for the shattered pulley. Also, a new alternator would not fit into the existing assembly with the fan attached. Finally, replacing the radiator is not an option so it had to be resealed. Being unfamiliar in the area, the technicians suggested to find a workshop in the area for the radiator repair and then to rebuild the engine on the spot.

After disassembling the front of the car, the parts were taken to a local garage in Qingzhou. By 4 PM, the team returned with a radiator with the vanes of the leaking tubes carefully removed and every leaking tube welded. New brackets were welded onto the radiator to fit a Chinese-made electric fan into place, as well as a new 70-Amp locally-produced alternator, fit into the bracket with a new bearing. Since the new alternator pulley did not align with the water pump pulleys, the bracket had to be grinded down about 2 mm with an angle grinder.

By 8 PM, all parts were successfully put back into place in working order. The rally had already progressed 320 km further south-east towards the city of Lianyungang, therefore the Ford was put on the tow truck and towed there, arriving at 2 AM in the middle of the night, to continue the rally. Although the engine is known for quickly overheating, the electric fan and sealed radiator provided sufficient cooling.

The environment in China is remains quite hostile to maintaining and driving classic cars. We were again surprised by the enthusiasm of the volunteering mechanics who are following this rally, they are working to make sure that interest within China will be further sparked.