Pressure washing in January

[37S2de]

Today had unusually warm weather for January, even for those of us in the Deep South. I've learned over the years to try to take advantage of opportunities as they are presented when working on old cars, so today I used a pressure washer to clean some of the front suspension on my '35 Commander.  What the pressure washer didn't remove will require a lot more effort than I'm willing to do for a car that will remain unrestored.  The car must have spent a lot of time on tarred roads.

 

I had to remove the front fenders to get the radiator out.  (There are three bolts holding a radiator support bracket on each side that are completely inaccessible behind fender support brackets, so the fenders had to come off).  

 

Now that that things are semi-cleaned up front, I think I'll take the front motor mounts off and get new rubber vulcanized on.  That old rubber is really deteriorated. More mission-creep.

 

The thing I hated most about removing the fenders was that I couldn't save the original fender welt.  Tom

[Stude Light]

My least favorite part of restoration.  Just keep in mind that you forced water into all those joints, steering gear box, starter, etc. so make sure you deal with that appropriately by opening up the brush cover on the starter to allow it to dry, greasing the joints to force out the water, draining the steering gearbox, etc..  The last thing you want to do is have water sitting in the bottom of your steering gear corroding the bearing.....it only takes a little.

Scott

 

[nvonada]

That rubber does look pretty far gone.  But the brake lines look like new!

[37S2de]

Good point on opening up the electrical. I bagged the ends of the wires to prevent inadvertent damage if I moved the wand the wrong way.  That 80-year-old wiring is really delicate.  I folded the wires out of the way, but didn't have a good enough seal so water got in anyway.  I took the brush cover off the generator and there was water in the bottom. I took the cover off the steering gear and that looked OK but I got out as much of the old fluid as I could and filled with fresh.

 

The rubber in the motor mounts is what the British car guys call "perished".  Current price at Steele rubber to revulcanize new rubber to the mounts is $100/pair. I sent them off last week. I'm hoping to hear from Steele today to find out how long it will take to get them back to me.

 

Those brake lines are all new. When I bought the car the flex lines were perished (there. I used that word already) and some of the hard lines were soft copper tubing with single flares on the ends. I changed everything.

 

Tom

 

[Aussi John 1]

Re 35 Commander front engine mounts.

 

I used rear engine mounts from a 6 Cylinder Holden, HQ series,( an Australian GM car)  for the front mounts on my 35 Commander. all I had to do to fit them was to drill the engine plate holes out one size and use bolts to replace the nuts and studs.

 

There are several suppliers on eBay, with illustrations and sizes, prices are around $25.00 each Australian

 

Check them out.

 

John

[ken1007]

Did the same thing in restoration of 35 Dictator; motor mounts are from Shrock 814 672 5544.  I'm sure you will find re-installation of radiator is real character builder.  Ken, Deltaville, Va

Edited January 19, 2017 by ken1007
clarification (see edit history)