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Gunsmoke

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Everything posted by Gunsmoke

  1. Don't be discouraged if you have patience, time, space and energy. I rebuilt this 1931 Chevrolet Coach in 2008-2013 as my first endeavor in old cars, car looked great in sellers garage except doors were sagging 1"! Rebuild included replacing about 1/3 of the wood including A pillars. Was not easy, but I had no previous experience. Sheet metal was excellent, but lot of wood rot, and some previously poorly done repairs. Replaced front door posts, half the subframe, 1/2 the roof wood, and entire assembly above windshield and some work on door sills. A few photos to inspire you to get on with it. You will need to have basic woodworking gear (table saw, bandsaw, belt sander, drill press, hand tools), but it's not rocket science. Use ash for structural stuff, poplar works for non structural. Good Luck. p.s. Post edited to add some rear roof wood repair photos.
  2. George Dammann's "70 Years of Chrysler" published in 1974, indicates for the 1928 Series 72 Convertible Coupe, 1,729 were produced and selling price was $1,745. He editorializes that " ...the windshield was fitted with a permanent and rather clumsy looking visor" and he finishes his description with "the landau irons were functional, but the top's framework resulted in a rather dumpy looking package when folded down".
  3. I posted above my bucket list race/lean/mean cars, Mercer, Bugatti, Ford Cobra, and here are my favorite 3 cruisers, a 1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster, a 1955 M/B Gullwing, and a car I owned for 15 years and smiled every time I left the driveway, a 1990 Nissan 300ZX (non-turbo). While the Auburn and Gullwing are on a lot of bucket lists no doubt, the 1990-1996 300ZX was/is a helluva car for the money. Besides its outstanding looks, build quality was exceptional, power was plenty if you want to stay out of jail, reliability solid, and road handling superb. Mine was a 6 speed of course, no automatics ever in my stable. Imported from NY state as a low mileage 8 year old car. Regret selling it, still have an eye out for a good one.
  4. For my top 3 list, I believe a short list should be cars that are fast, handle well and everyone would be jealous of. I spread mine over about 50 years. Like a 1912-1914 Mercer Raceabout, a circa 1935 type 59 Bugatti and a circa 65-67 Ford Cobra. Had to pass on a 60's Ferrari(too much primping), big classics (too heavy), and mid 50's Chrome (too much makeup). I lik'em low, lean and mean. Not into grocery haulers.
  5. Another thing, the hoods are not in place, so should we assume the hoods were pinstriped separately? This photo of a nicely restored 1930 Coupe does not show pinstriping around window.
  6. Are we sure they are all pinstriping? I ask for several reasons such as I don't see the expected pinstriping paraphernalia for the first 2 cars, the white smocks and shiny high heels would seem odd for painting. The first woman's car already appears to have the beltline striped and up close it looks like she is adjusting or cleaning something at the door latch. She has something non-stripper in her hand. The second car is also already pinstriped and she seems to be adjusting something related to the upper window surround (where there would not likely be pinstriping), perhaps installing runners or cleaning smudges. There is no evidence of a small paint tray or brush in any of the tool areas as I see. However, the back 3 women do seem to be doing something similar to pinstriping, and perhaps the first 2 ladies are simply tidying things up.
  7. My Dad was a long time mechanic, trained just before WWII and after a Canadian Navy stint worked for a local Ford Dealership. In his spare time he worked on cars for his friends in our backyard wood floored garage, where I passed him wrenches and cleaned parts when I was 8-10. I still remember the day he gave my own set of keys on a ring, although I have no idea what they originally fit. He was a dedicated FORD guy, driving primarily Mercurys for all my early years, he loved their strong and reliable power plants, and their ability to go fast safely. He would often talk about 2 cars, (1) the 1936 Auburn he owned pre war and had stored in a friends garage when he joined the navy. He often said it was the best car he ever owned. A friend contacted him in 1943 looking to buy the tires which were impossible to find during the war, and he reluctantly sold him the whole car. He said it was the biggest mistake he had ever made. (2) The 2nd car he dwelt on was his friend's hot rodded 1931 Big Black Chrysler Roadster, a classic 1952 era souped up job, Caddy V8, LaSalle Tranny, Auburn Dual Ratio rearend. You can read more about my efforts to ressurect that car in my Diary in the Chrysler General forum. So yes, my Dad influenced my interest in old cars generally, his love for speed, and certain models specifically, and reinforced to me the importance of good road handling, strong power trains and well maintained mechanicals. I hope he realizes his lessons have been learned.
  8. Man, what a monstrosity. As I see what you have, there appears to be a front mounted motor with large flywheel set in a triangular support welded to front axle and steel spine connecting front and rear axles. A driveshaft back to a differential case of some sort, meant to drive rear wheel for which there are partial u-jointed half axles. I do not see any transmission/shifting mechanism. The front steering seems to rely on an odd spindle type using independent coil springs on each side, although I don't see a steering arm or tie rod. The dramatically curved springs ahead of flywheel appear to be intended to act as a "springy" base for a body to be added, much like early buggies. I'm starting to think someone was trying to develop a car prototype (perhaps using some off the shelf stuff) and never sorted out all the wrinkles.
  9. Please amend topic title to add "1925 Davis".
  10. This circa '37/38 Opera Coupe (Buick or M/B) has been sitting in same spot for about 50 years, owner began a rebuild in early '70's, got married, decided it had to sit for a while, and so it still sits. I took these photos 10 years ago, think it is still there, owner has all the bits.
  11. As summarized in the above advice from many experienced guys, there is no source for "a realistic market value for a car I'd consider buying". The nearest "big ticket" item most people buy are houses, but they are easy to establish market value because they are in fixed locations, influenced only by local forces, and supply/demand and condition. Old cars are an entirely different story. Factors like supply (lots or few), demand(read rarity or style), condition, location, price, ease of maintenance, availability of parts/service, time of year, motivation of seller (needs the money or just testing the market), color, what else is available for comparison for same money, who has rebuilt/restored the car (reputation) a buyer's make preferences (love Fords, hates Chevs), etc, all enter the mix. I've seen beautifully restored 1940 Chevrolet Coupes advertised starting at $35,000, and after a year or 2 still unsold at $22,000. Finally, the overall market is shifting annually the past few years, and any general market value today for a specific model may change dramatically in a short time. Always ask a large local carc club for some advice, they usually have a good feel for the local market. My advice, buy the car you want in the best possible condition you can find, and forget what you paid, just enjoy the hell out of it.
  12. Like many of you, took a month off for the holidays and just getting back to the Roadster Project. I'm working on front fender solution and while doing so was examining the method of fastening the side of fender to the outrigger type bracket. It involves a heavy steel clip that is drilled and slotted for 2 carriage bolts, and welded to inside edge of fender, thus concealing everything. What is interesting is that the 2 front fenders which came from same car, have a different method of providing a backup piece of metal to weld the clip to. One fender had some extra sheet metal added to the turn under lip, about 3/4"x6" long, and the clip is spot welded and filet welded to it. The other fender had a normal small lip entire length, and then a 6"x1" thick steel strip was welded to the edge of the lip as shown. The clip was then welded to this piece of steel. My guess is as good as yours as to which method came first and why a change would be made. I am guessing it was easier to make fender with a uniform lip rather then having to use more sheet metal to allow for the extra turn under. I am having cycle style fenders made and have asked the suppliers to add the extra turn-under if it is easy to do, otherwise I will plan to follow the second option once I have the fenders back.
  13. Varun, you da man!
  14. A while back I purchased this unit from an AACA/WPC member on here who was clearing out the last 2 or 3 of some custom made filters for Chrysler CD8's he had someone manufacture years ago. They take a modern canister type as shown in these photos. In meantime I removed and flushed the original filter and have it on engine during initial startup and will eventually replace with this new one. Beautifully made aluminum case, perfect match to original including raised lettering for inlet/outlet etc.
  15. I spent 8 years searching for one for my roadster project, eventually found this one thanks to a member on this forum tipping me off to it on eBay. It was listed as "A 1920's Chrysler tail light". It was obvious seller did not know what it was, and fortunately for me I got it at about 15% of current pricing. I'm told a restored one sells circa $2000. They are especially hard to find because they were a one year only, were produced in small numbers, and many restored cars now have 2 rear lights although originals only had one. I expect some knowledgeable CD8 guys on here may point you in the direction of someone who collects/sells Chrysler parts.
  16. On long cold winter nights perhaps a jigsaw puzzle might be a good way to pass the time, like this one my 2 granddaughters (now 4 and 7) got me for Christmas. 1000 pieces, about 10 hours of patience, especially popular for the 50's Chevy crowd (although this one has some upgrades)!
  17. Much like many other inventions or major advances in human existence (the printing press, steel, the telephone, computers, antibiotics to name a few) the automobile invention circa 1886 was revolutionary and from that initial invention, has been subject to evolution, but not revolution in my view. Certainly Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler are widely credited with the first successful fitting of an Internal Combustion (I/C) engine to a wheeled vehicle for personal transport. Their design concept of a 4 wheel, I/C powered, front steering, belt or chain driven conveyance remains largely unchanged in principle for nearly 140 years. What has happened is some very important "evolutions" over the period, typically one every decade or so. Rolls Royce and Cadillac cars of the 1905-1910 era established high standards for others to follow. Henry Ford followed with the perfecting of the assembly line means of making the Model T, an "everyman's car", opening the wide expanses of North America for all to see. By the late teens and early 1920's, Bugatti, Porsche, even Ferrari as well as Miller and the Duesenberg brothers stateside, and others saw the potential of creating sports cars to appeal to the human desire for speed and adventure, creating an ever increasing race to better technology, road handling and streamlining. This is AACA members favorite development. While the oft referred to "classic styling" peaked in America by 1932 (Duesenberg, Packard, Cadillac and many others), the American industry moved to streamlining with several successful and unsuccessful attempts. In Europe, focus was on the artistic cars of Bugattis and Alfa, and the powerful government sponsored beasts of MB and Auto Union, which dominated racing with their superb cars. Forthe average Joe (or should I say Karl), VW was developing its Beetle (1939 forward) which some might say was the first 'major change in automobile mass production" since the ubiquitous Model T. It's "peoples car" vision was for a small, easy on gas, solid, rear engined urban conveyance. It would prove a successful concept right up to today, even if production only lasted 40 years or so. Post war, the bathtub style was an evolution, developed in America (1949 ford, Hudson, Packard) and in Europe with the early Ferrari's. The same period saw the development and later refinement of V8 engines, both a blessing and a curse (lots of power for trucks and busses etc, but gas guzzlers for cars). Such power allowed for bigger, heavier and more extravagant cars, and the 1950's were strewn with them, with their chrome, fins and googaws. Europe for the most part avoided this period of excess, continuing to produce fine, smaller, technically proficient vehicles, M/B, Aston, Bentley, Citroen, many others, and BMW (and Porsche) was evolving as a maker of nicely styled and technically superior cars. About this time a fork in the road led in 2 directions. Honda and similar companies were developing their "econo-boxes" which with hatchbacks, would within 15 years become the choice among suburbanites. The other road led to muscles cars(1965-1980), family sized bodies with over-sized hearts. Many families had one of each in their driveways, with a definite gender preference! Along the way during this first 100 years, we had Wankel Rotary engines which some thought might catch on, power assist everything, then Engine Control modules, seat belts (and many safety items like ABS )and too many developments to count. The past 30-50 years have been dominated by thoughts of replacing I/C engines largely with hybrids of full EV's. As for evolution, quality control has improved, and electronics and technical developments (synthetic oils, radial tires, AI) have led to reduced regular maintenance and more refined cars. But much like the telephone I have in my house today with a "landline", the concept of the phone has not really changed in 100+ years. I say the same for cars, today they are just a much more highly refined version of Benz and Daimler's vision of 1886?
  18. Interesting thread advice given here, I'm guessing the OP is not a serious one, indeed, OP car looks like it has already been restored. Won't be surprised if we never hear back.
  19. When my 4 sons were young (oldest is now 48, youngest 37) I made them a 16' 2-lane race track for hot wheels etc, modeled on the "cub car" tracks of that time, but track long since gone. So now I have a 2yr old grandson next door so figured it was time to introduce him to car racing. This track is 12' long, folds to 6' for tucking under sofa/bed, and sure was a big hit with him and his cousins (and their dads). Pretty easy project for anyone with a bit of woodworking tools, used some scrap hinges lying around, grooved a piece of 1x4 in center to add a 1/8" lane division, and some finger jointed door stop for outer edges. About 17" high at starting end. As my kids got older it was still used, and by then they learned a bit of tweaking (lubricant, weight) made cars go faster.
  20. During my third summer job during university days in 1966, I was working as an Instrument Man (surveyor) on a large construction project, and the guy I was replacing was heading back home and did not want to take his car with him. I was driving a 1960 Ford Consul (paid $400 for it in 1965), and he asked me if I wanted to buy his car. "What are you selling"? Well he said, its a 1950's Karmann Ghia souped up with a Corvair engine conversion. come to the parking lot for a look. Sure enough, it had been properly modified, with a conversion kit that enabled mating of engine to VW transmission, and used a Chevrolet starter. "How much do you want"? How about $100, I'm flying out tomorrow. Deal. As you might expect, the KG was about 400 lbs lighter than a Corvair, and the engine upgrade boosted horsepower from about 50 to 80. The great little car would really run, and I drove it through 1969 when my Dad pulled the engine for a refit. Always thought I might buy one again some day.
  21. Too big to go under the tree! When my 4 sons (and their significant others) asked what I wanted for Christmas 3/4 weeks ago I said I didn't need anything other than time with family. A couple noticed my recently purchased "cycle style fender blanks" and asked what they were worth. I told them about $200 apiece and so yesterday I got $200 from 2 of them. Shoulda said $500 apiece, which is what it will be by the time they are beaded and ready to fit. Every little bit helps!
  22. curious what ft/lbs you are torqueing the head bolts. On my '31 Chrysler CD8 (240CI) I was advised to be cautious of over-torqueing after I did the valves and installed a new gasket (old style, copper asbestos). Gradually re-torqued in a set of stages, 50, 60, 70 lbs etc using sequence pattern recommended. I think my studs were 7/16". No leaks after a couple of warmups, but engine has not been run for more than a few minutes. I plan to re-torque after next run, but was advised to be careful about going above 75 ft/lbs, not sure what recommendation is for your engine.
  23. While it may need to be used for an emergency stop at some point, 99.9% of the time they are neither on, nor when they are on, they simply act as a clamp, not really under any duress. So any thickness left is usually more than adequate to hold the car when parked, say on a hill. But, I suppose a new lining can be some comfort. BTW, they are adjustable if the issue is about lever not being far enough forward, a pretty simple proceedure,
  24. I'm looking at rear end, independent suspension, inner and outer knuckle/U joints, vertical spring leaves and coils, etc. but I don't see any steering gear at rear. You said 4 wheel steering, can you indicate how rear steering works?
  25. Please change title to Plymouth. As for the one for sale, regrettably there are hot rodders who will happily pay $4K-$6K just for the sheet metal. That means anyone interested in buying the car to restore is paying a premium above this. Having said this, it is a Convertible which most restorers prefer to start with, and appears complete. $10K-$15K in mechanical refreshing would make for a nice survivor. A full restoration, perhaps add another 50K.
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