Hudsy Wudsy

Quoting Rooster: "I think this model would look far nicer all one colour -- whatever that might be." I think that is true more often than not, myself. This penchant that people have for painting the fenders black really irritates me. I have a '36 Ply coupe and I can remember reading a number of years ago that black fenders were standard on the P1 (cheap) model, but for a mere $15 more the whole car would be one color. Maybe it's that fact or simply my sense of taste that make the look unpleasant to me. I think that in some cases owners think that they are making the car a little more "Deluxe", but whether it's black fenders or some other more contrived two-toning, much of it detracts from the beautiful lines of the cars. (imho)

If you need the side glass, call these two places here in Minnesota. They're two of the Nations largest junk yards, and in both cases, fine, honest and professional people with which to do business. They both ship all over the world. I've found over and over again that their prices are more realistic than private parties that think they are holding gold. Welcome to French Lake Auto Parts - French Lake, MN Windy Hill Auto Parts | Home There's also a large yard in South Dakota whom I never dealt with, but I've good things about: Moores Auto Salvage: Quality parts for antique and classic cars and trucks from the 1920s to 1980s.

Bryan, the seller isn't saying that the wood is collapsing and you can tell by looking at it that it's not in the shape of that sedan in Des Moines. I know that this isn't the way a true "restore" thinks, but what if it could be put into a state where, as we Irish say, "Good enough is good enough"? If you strengthened the wood as best you can, cleaned it up a little and got it drivable you would be postponing the full restoration for someone else down the road, keeping out of the hands of someone who will ruin it, getting a little fun out of owning it and possibly making a little money a down the road a ways. I know from years of buying and selling old cars that any time a buyer can get in a car and drive it around the block it's worth 20 to 25 percent more than if he can't drive it at all. I have a friend who lives in Harris, IA near the MN border, could probably haul it for you at reasonable price. Here's a little temptation for you, though I think that the red and black makes it look like a fleet car:

Here's a link to a video on You Tube that some of you might find a little amusing. It's actually old film of an ice race on the Hudson river which forms part of the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin just east of the Twin Cities. The film dates to winter 1966. These races were and are part of the winter fun that us Northerners get up to this time of year. I haven't been to an ice race years in years, although I recall that the last one I went was all about 4 wheel drive Subaru Justys and studded tires. It may have been fun for the drivers, but absolutely no one wiped out. Boring! I apologize for the poor quality of this film, but I'm sort of surprised it exists at all. BTW, you'll note that this race takes place on a lovely -15 degree day. I hope you folks get a little smile out of it.

While on the subject of Dynaflows, I recall far off distant memories of old Buicks with their unique automatic transmissions being very popular cars with ice racers in the '50s and '60s. I'm talking here about rusty old, junkers being raced around on an oval track on a frozen lake in the days before studded tires and front wheel drive. It was probably about the Dynaflows (sometimes called "slush-boxes" back then) not having the hard shift points of others. Weight and torque were probably big factors, too, I imagine.

Sorry, I forgot that.

You can get a glimpse of the door panel, seat and floor mat in the last photo. Not clean, but remarkably unaffected by the years. Brooklyn Park is about twenty minutes north of where I live. I'd offer to go take a look at it for somebody, but honestly the photos seem to pretty much tell the story. It's so nice to see that there are still unmolested cars surfacing now and again.

Helfen is right. Even a photograph with a yardstick laying next to it might be helpful.

I like almost all of the front end stylings on prewar Chrysler products a great deal. Growing up in the fifties the streets were loaded with them. Familiarity, for me, almost always breeds contempt and I came to intensely dislike the backs of the bodies (especially the sedans). It didn't seem to matter what little variation they could come up with regarding tail lights, brake lights or license plate mounts, they always looked bloated to me. You're right that the '39 - '41 period was a time of rapid change in the industry. The '39 bodies represented a nice change, but not much of a step towards modernizing the line. As much as I like the '39 bodies, I've always been aware that from some angles they look overly tall and maybe even a little top heavy - particularly the sedans. As far it being basically a Dodge or a DeSoto, that's just sort of the nature of Chrysler products through the years because there simply isn't the carefully designed incremental differences in the line up that you see with GM. I agree with you that it isn't really all that different from other Chrysler Corp makes, but they have their loyal fans (I for the most part among them) who will always the respect the differences (small that the may be) and see a Chrysler as top of the line, six cylinder notwithstanding.

NTX, You may well be right. Not all bumpers were or are massive. Right off the bat, Corvettes comes to mind.

Well, it's not a Nomad. Instead it's Parkwood! You could get with it a forever popular six cylinder engine, a peppy little 283 V8, or a powerful 348 V8. Transmission choices? A three speed on the column (a very few with overdrive), a two speed automatic (Powerglide) or Turboglide (quite similar to a Buick Dynaflow): To complete the GM line up for 1959, there were a very few expensive Cadillac station wagons that were custom bodied by a firm whose name I can't remember. You'll have to settle for a picture of a '60, because I can't come up with a '59:

If I might just toss out a couple of quick observations. It's like the '58 Pontiac part in that it's a center section of some thing larger. Like the Pontiac part side members with the same profile undoubtedly flanked it.The way the upper edge has the six small distinct mounting flanges reminds me a piece that would be positioned on the top a grille immediately beneath the leading edge of a hood. That is, the top center section of a grille. That's a location in which those mounting screws would not need to be particularly discrete. The piece has fairly substanital vertical rear brackets which might reach back to attach to a structure or a brace in front of the core support. One to which other grille members might attach. Structures like this invariably support the weight of the header and hood latch.

I think you owe it to yourself to check '59 Olds wagons! (Sorry, just teasing).

Rob, thank you for your nice concise and articulate answer. You're a credit to this community.

If I may, I'll ask one last question of you guys. Is it always about rotted wood, or is it sometimes merely about injecting glue into old, dried out joints?

Rob, close! I'm a life long Minnesotan (The State of Hockey) and I presume that the coupe was, as well. BJM, Mapquest tells me that it's 220 from Madrid to Falls City, Nebraska. Are you tempted?

"Eye opener" is right. Geez, guys, I had no idea how extensive it was. I have nothing but the highest respect for anyone who chooses to learn complicated woodworking skills in addition to his mechanical skills to restore these beautiful, but tricky bodies. Since I wrote my last post, I remembered that I once had a '36 Chev coupe for a time. I don't know how I could have forgot, some prior owner grafted a part of a hockey stick into the left door structure. If I might ask, is it a plus that this particular car I posted is a Kansas car? Or is it more a matter of how they were stored as opposed where?

I posted it here because it's the kind of car I'd love to see restored and not street rodded. It seems that more and more often I come across street rods (either finished or half finished) that the sellers describe as having had the wood replaced by metal channel or tubing, or such. My point in bringing that up is not to advocate it, but simply to point out that it's one of the many ways that original cars fall in the hands of those who don't care to keep them original. When we talk about wood in a coupe like this, we are talking about the doors and the roof, correct? Both of which are fairly complicated, I'm sure. But just out of curiosity, what are the other areas? I should ad that many years ago I headed down the road of '30s Mopar products and have had only one experience with a pre war GM car (a'36 Chev Master sedan).

Somone's selling a grille for a '37 on Craigslist in Kansas. They're not giving it away, but if you need one... 1937 Studebaker Grille Coupe Sedan Coupe Express Rat Rod

I came across this coupe for sale on Craigslist - Topeka, Kansas and thought I might share it with you folks. I know nothing more about it other than is stated in the listing. I thought it was such a nice desireable and unmolested car that maybe someone on here would like to save it from the "crate engine and air bags" people. I have no idea if the price is fair, or not. You decide. Barn Find - 1936 Packard 3 window Coupe Needs Restoration

I, anyway, prefer the stock headlights.

If it were in the cards, I'd love to own one of these. I've always loved the '39 Mopar bodies and think it's a shame they were replaced by the bulbous '40s bodies after so little time on the market. I particularly like the waterfall grille on Chryslers for '39, as well. Here's an unmolested coupe for sale on Craigslist - Kansas City. It looks decent, although it's suffered an in appropriate Ford style sealed beam conversion. I see that among other things it has an overdrive. That's always such a big plus for current freeway driving. I have no opinion about the price, other than to say that old cars just keep going up and up. You can be sure that for every one of us on this forum who looks at it, there will be several more elsewhere thinking something about a small block Chevy and air bags. (ugh!) 1939 Chrysler Business Coupe

This is probably the result of an ultra-rare '38/'39 being rodded, but whatever the case, it's available. 1938 Hupp 6 Cylinder ENGINE with 3 speed transmission

I hope that it's not inappropriate that I post this here. I came across this Craigslist ad for a mostly original coupe and thought that maybe someone on here would be interested in it before someone chops the top and puts it on an S 10 frame (ugh!). 1935 Buick 3 Window Coupe