Priming Bell Crank, early.
Posted: Wed May 31, 2023 10:56 pm
I have been lucky enough to find an original Priming Bell Crank for my Runabout. This may not sound like a great feat as they are plentiful and easy to get, but the one that I had been looking for was different.
Almost 50 years ago I had the great pleasure to thoroughly look over and examine a well preserved 1919 Runabout, with all of the early electric items (firewall mounted cut out, wood instrument panel, cast handle headlight switch, no script Hoyt meter, etc.). One of the things that had stuck with me all these years though was the Priming Bell Crank for the carburetor, as it was forged and not the much more ubiquitous stamped steel version. The bell crank did not appear in the parts manual/books until July of 1919 and it was listed with part number T-4907, and in the May 1920 parts manual/book the number was changed to T-4583 (referencing the "old" 4907 number). The only mention I could find regarding the bell crank was from February 17th, 1919 stating "Choke bell crank made from crankcase scrap." This was one piece that I thought I would never find.
Standard Stamped bell crank for comparison.
Almost 50 years ago I had the great pleasure to thoroughly look over and examine a well preserved 1919 Runabout, with all of the early electric items (firewall mounted cut out, wood instrument panel, cast handle headlight switch, no script Hoyt meter, etc.). One of the things that had stuck with me all these years though was the Priming Bell Crank for the carburetor, as it was forged and not the much more ubiquitous stamped steel version. The bell crank did not appear in the parts manual/books until July of 1919 and it was listed with part number T-4907, and in the May 1920 parts manual/book the number was changed to T-4583 (referencing the "old" 4907 number). The only mention I could find regarding the bell crank was from February 17th, 1919 stating "Choke bell crank made from crankcase scrap." This was one piece that I thought I would never find.