Need information about Horseless carriage restoration

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I live in the California central coast and I recently met a man who is restoring a few cars and is looking for some help with a horseless carriage with a tiller for steering. I am not sure of the year of manufacture (suspect it is 1890's), we are still looking for information as there are no names anywhere on the vehicle.
photo of project car.JPG
Here is what I know after briefly looking at the vehicle. The engine is an air cooled, single cylinder, laying horizontal under the front seat. It is stamped EUREKA. I would really like any information on this engine as I will have to rebuild it. I have not had a chance to really examine it but I think it is a 2 stroke.
Eureka Engine.jpg
The initial questions are, what voltage is the ignition system, what type of distributor (it can be moved by the driver to advance/retard the spark (I think), are there any drawings/manuals/info for the engine and carburetor?
Then there is the question of the clutch. This appears to be centrifugal.
Clutch.jpg
I will likely have to machine a lot of replacement parts for this "car" so I will probably be coming back to this forum with more questions as the restoration proceeds. This vehicle has as much wood as metal. Even the frame has wood members with metal reinforcement so I need to proceed carefully, as it is our intention to make this drive-able (if you could see how poorly the steering worked you would understand my concern at that prospect).
I appreciate any information you can provide. Thank you.

photo of project car.JPG Eureka Engine.jpg Clutch.jpg
 
That is going to be an interesting project. Please keep us updated on the progress. I wish I could help out with information, but that's even older than I am.:lmao:
 
That thing is a piece of junk. Let me save you the trouble of taking it to the dumps. Please PM me for details.
 
A 250cc ATV motor with forward and reverse would make that a fun ride.:thinking:
 
I would recommend you do a significant amount of background research before doing anything at all to it. This forum probably is not the optimal forum for your primary information and help with that.

It is also possible that you do anything to change the way it sits that you drop the value in half to a collector who may just want to leave it alone. I would get a firm number on value as it sits so you know before damage is done to the value instead of finding out after that you just lost a significant amount of money. The owner just may be saying "What the heck I don't care about selling it, just want to have fun so let a beginner work on it. Go cart motor should be great." But suppose he knew he had $100,000 sitting there would he say that? I have no idea of the actual value but am sure if it is changed and not by an expert it will lower the value.

Be careful.
 
Indeed,Cadillac. A guy I know inherited money,and among other things bought a very early Cadillac. It was found to have a bunch of incorrect parts on it,and was not worth nearly what he paid for it,

That car is VERY early. I'd get some expert advice for sure.
 
Thank you for your responses.
I have been trying to research it and you folks are the first ones I came to. I have also posted on the Antique Automobile Club of America forum. I hope to get help with identification, parts and value from them and from this forum (particularly as I start machining). Thank you Scrapmetal for the links.
If we can restore this vehicle, it will be ultimately donated to the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum as part of their Carriage House exhibit. The pictures below are a couple of the horse carriages in the exhibit. So the value is of secondary importance.
carriage3.jpgcarriage2.jpg
It will also be used in local parades and events as advertising for the museum. With this in mind it will never be sold and does not need to be completely original. On the other hand, we do want it be as original as we can keep it while it is safe enough to drive in local events.

carriage3.jpg

carriage2.jpg
 
I like the idea of restoring stuff 100%, but If the idea is to drive it in parades a 100% resto probably isn't needed. I also wonder how reliable that engine would be for a parade and how much wear would be put on the 100+ year old IRREPLACEABLE parts.

For the parade part. I'm wondering if it would be best to somehow mount a more modern engine using the original motor mounts so the instillation could be reversed back to the original engine with no indication that it was ever changed.

Chris
 
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