I am presently in the process of restoring a 1928 series "72" Chrysler. This is proving to be a challenging project. The body is a composite (wood and steel) unit manufactured by Fisher; requiring the replacement of a good percentage of the wooden frame. I started this project some 35 years ago. For a period of the last 25 years the car was in storage; however, when I acquired my present shop I proceeded to restart my efforts to resurrect this survivor. My intention is to restore it to as close to it was when it rolled off the assembly lines at Chrysler in 1927 or 1928 (note production of the series "72 started in mid '27). I hope to keep this forum posted as to my progress and solicit aid and advice from those participating. When I master the ability to post pictures via this new fangled contrivance of which I am presently utilizing, I will hopefully post some of these for your review. In the mean time I would appreciate the attention and help of those members who have a knowledge of restoration practices and techniques relating to composite bodies of the 1920's.

Hi, I am in the same process as you of restoring a 72 roadster. I have a almost complete running car that was uted. I have been searching for a roadster rear for some three years now and after visiting a swap meet on saturday I may have found one. I get to have a look at it on Tuesday. I am new to the restoring vintage cars but I can tell you that mechanicly wise there are many interchangable parts from 72s with 75s. I have given up on trying to make my car totaly original due to lack of parts here in Australia. I am glad to help you in any way possible. leigh.raaen@optusnet.com.au Leigh

Pacer...great to hear another one of these cars has survived. Did you know two of the series "72"'s placed 3rd & 4th at Le Mans in 1928? For your info Chrysler corp. has original factory photos of the two body styles available in the "72" roadster. The historical data collection has these and a copy of the owners manual. Try to keep it original if you can; the roadsters are really sporty.

thanks for that. How would I get to see the factory photos you have mentioned? Leigh

This is my series "72" Royal sedan.

Nice car, your ahead in restoration, I'm still looking for the roadster rear panels. I have a lead and am checking it out tomorrow. I'ts a 70 model I think but I can make it work.

Leigh

Progress report....Since my last report I have successfully hung the left rear door, nailed on the sheet metal covers above each door and finished the tops of the doors. These tasks may sound simple or easy to do; however,they have taken some thought and automotive archaeology to achieve. The left rear door was not fitting it's openning properly. I have been wrestling with this for some while. It required shiming the three door hinges. Due to the fact that measurement of the gap required to be filled was impossible to measure because it was only evident once the door was shut and in it's place with the hinges tightly trapped inside the hinge jam; I was forced to resort to a many trial fits using various thickness's of shims. Finally, when I determined what thickness was needed for each hinge the wood screw holes were worn out. I used a wood putty recommended by a local wood working supply store to restore these holes. Now the door fits. This process took some three weeks. The upper door frame sheetmetal pieces were another story. Fisher had equiped the car with a door stop mechanism that consisted of an arm and slide assembly with a pivot stud mounted in the upper horizontal body frame timber. I had to locate and drill these holes for the studs. Once the stud hole were bored I could nail these sheetmetal pieces in place , then install the pivot studs . Again many more hours of work. Finishing the tops of the doors took some patching with small amounts of wood putty and sanding. I hope to post some pictures relating to this work soon.

Hi Harry,

I enjoyed our conversation the other night. Again thank you for the input. You mentioned posting some pictures of your recent work. I can't wait to see them!!

When you say "They have taken some thought and "automotive archaeology" to achieve" Does that mean that you have found literature pertaining to how to align these bodies? Would love copies of anything you might have!!

Thanks
Dan

1929Chrysler....There is a service manual for early Fisher bodied cars. "Fisher Body Service Manual 1926-1931 closed body models" . I have a copy of a recent reprint I bought 3 or 4 years ago; although I can't remember were I purchased it. As far as I can remember it was a collector car literature company. Maybe someone reading this reply will know. As soon as I can figure out how to move my pictures from one place in this darn computer to this forum I will post them. Does your Chrysler have a Fisher body? I believe it was in 1928 that GM purchased the last of Fisher and soon after stopped building bodies for other firms.

Here is the promised picture. This picture shows the body without the rear door. The arrows point to areas I have paid attention to in the last month or so. These are not the only areas or topics of the restoration I have paid attention to during this period. Some period of time was spent on what I call automotive archaeology; which is studying the original parts car(see background first pic) and the one I am restoring ( identical cars down to paint color & upholstery except car being restored has the optional "red head").

These pictures demonstrate the restoration work I have done on the top of the doors and the upper door jams. Note the green overspray from it's first paint job at the factory (automotive archaeology).

Here is the door in it's final position.

While working on the doors I had two of the original tags replicated. The Hassler tag goes on the snubbers and the Chrysler tag goes on the firewall. You will note the snubbers to either side of the radiator in the first picture. I am still working on having two other sets of parts reproduced; the runningboards and the door handles. The door handles, window cranks, and escutheons are proving to be a challenge as they were originally die-cast of a poor grade of pot metal (zinc)and have deteriorated. I am looking into rapid prototyping techniques available coupled with CAD programs that are available to help me in this quest. The runningboards are another story as they were originally roll formed. Quick question....How many other makes ran Hassler snubbers?

This is a photo of the car as it is today with the visor trial fitted.

Harry, you do get there the long way, love the pictures and detailed info, Johan

Johan....Thanx for the review...Yes, this is the long way:however, I am trying to restore the car as accurately as possible plus preserve the original details and workmanship as much as possible. The workmanship was that of the assembly lines in the most modern factories of their day. As far as I can estimate 25,000 royal sedan bodies left the Fisher factory in a nine month period, that would be about 93 bodies a day. Plus Fisher was producing the vast majority of General Motor's bodies that year.

My plan......straighten and attend to the body at this time; then set the primed body to the side and restore the frame and running gear. I can't do the sheet metal work; so I am applying myself to the woodwork and other details pertaining to the body. There is more body work to be done and soon I will ship the car to the body man. I hope to set the body aside sometime in early summer and start on the mechanicals. This process should go somewhat faster as I am far more a mechanic than a body man. When the chassis is finished I will remount the body, paint it and then upholster.

Here are some pics of the parts car. Note, the parts car is in better shape than the car I am restoring when I started.

Progress report....In the last couple of days I have ignored business and life some to apply myself to the restorarion. During this period I have done several jobs. These include removing the running board splash shields from the parts car,doing some small detail work on the restoration, and sorting through parts piles selecting and studying parts and assemblies. Hopefully this coming week I will be able to take a small load of body parts to a stripper and then take them to my body man; this will include the splash aprons off the parts car. By the way, I need some slabs of cork to fill in some holes in the wood as they were originally; if some one knows where I can obtain some pieces of solid cork 2" x 2" let me know.

Try Restoration Supply. Here's their website:
http://www.restorationstuff.com/

This is their online catalog:
http://www.restorationstuff.com/RSC%20Cat%2025lr.pdf

If they don't have it listed, give them a call and they may be able to help.

1940_Buick......Thanx!!!!..Yup, it's in their on line catalogue.

I ordered the cork from Restoration Supply Co.....Now, I have another part I am searching for. This is the door lock spring. At one time it was a common replacement part supplied by the Au-ve-co Company; not any more. It was door lock spring #759.

Hi Harry,

The body on my '29 Chrysler was produced by the Hayes Body Corporation from Grand Rapids Mich. I was not lucky enough to find a repair manual For Hayes but did find the Fisher Body manual you were refering to so I bought one hoping that will help me understand better how these bodies were made.

Thanks for posting the pictures. It looks like you've come a long way. Where did you find the repro. for the fire wall plate and how much was it??

Thanks
Dan

Harry,

I notice you mention "snubbers".. Are these basically shock absorbers? If so, how do they work internally as opposed to the hydraulic style I am used to?

Dan

1929Chrysler...Good to hear from you again...It is very interesting to hear the body was built by Hayes. I thought Fisher/GM cut off outside manufacturers about this time. How did you figure out it was a Hayes body? I would really like to see a Hayes body next to a Fisher to study the differences. As to the fire wall plate I had several made and if you are interested I would be glad to sell you one. Does your body have an identical plate? You will notice one of my repro plates trial fitted on the pic of the car labeled trial visor fit.