1930 Radiator Shell

Thank goodness I found you guys. Been posting on another topic without much help. After 25 years of restoring Model As and Ts I finally moved up to a real car. It's a 1930 64c. Country club coupe and I can't wait to get started! The car has a rebuilt engine and running gear but after 50 years of storage needs complete cosmetic restoration. My first problem is how the radiator shell comes off? Is it separate from the radiator or are they removed together? All of the chrome must be redone! Yikes! How much work is involved in removing and replacing the louvers for rechroming? Thanks in advance for any advise! Frank

Hi Frank,

I have a 31 96s CC coupe and my radiator and shell come out together. I think the 30 is pretty much the same. I had to remove the hood and then two nuts under the car and then lift the whole assembly straight up. Radiator is attached to the shell with bolts under the hood seal. Then disconnect the shutters tat linkage.

After the radiator is out of the shell you will see the shutter assembly can be unbolted from the shell. I haven't messed with disassembling that yet though.

I got to drive mine for a few miles before a clogged up radiator shut me down, really a heck of a car, so I am going to work hard on it this winter to try to have a sympathetic restoration done on it.

Good luck with your project.

Wow Midman your 31 is much further along than mine. Nice car! I pretty much decided your answer about the radiator is correct. I've only had the car a week. It ran and drove well until I discovered it needs complete rewriting no problem there but decided not to drive again until at least main engine harnesses are replaced meanwhile I'm just assessing what needs to be done and in what sequence! My two biggest concerns are rechroming and steering wheel levers for timing and throttle. Both are broken off and must be replaced. I got lucky with the headlights still having nice chrome. I plan to have the entire car bead blasted and proceed from there. The wheelbase on my Model As is 103 inches the Buick is 132 inches. A monster in comparison. I'll have plenty of questions and will follow your progress as well. Thanks again for thr reply.

Frank

I'm with you on the wiring Frank . I have the same problem. Every wire I touched to disconnect something pretty much disintegrated so I have a complete new harness being built. Hopefully my radiator will be repaired soon as well. Then over the winter months I'm going to go over steering and suspension and hopefully be able to run it regularly next summer.

Do you have pics of your car you can post?

chuck

Actually rewirng is a minor problem just takes time and patience.i do have pictures and will post when I get home to my PC. You are fortunate to have the wire wheels. Mine are wooden spokes but will look nice when I'm done refinishing! I'll post some interesting pics of the wheels as well. It appears the pin stripe is not only painted.....looks embossed in the spokes. Interesting!

To answer part of your question; I don't believe any '30 Buick had the rad. shutters (louvers) chromed. They came painted black.

Thanks Pete, I believe you are correct. Thanks