Stude Light

That is a nice looking car. It has been well kept since being restored - a lot better than I envisioned based on that one photo. I would bump up my estimate. It all depends on the quality of the restoration and how it presents itself on a more detailed level. You are still fighting a depressed market for nickel era cars with many to choose from. I might start at $18k and settle on something a bit less. I just don’t see it commanding $20 k or more unless it is a flawless car.

Pictures would help but I’ll take a stab in the dark. 52 year old restoration done in the 70s on a nickel era car. I’ll assume the tires are at least 10 years old. Maybe $12k. There is no demand and a lot out there to choose from.

@JFranklin is correct. It was felt.

Lubriplate Water Pump Grease

Here is the race https://www.ebay.com/itm/295131250992 And this may help to find the bearing

I’ve taken my 1939 LaSalle on the local interstate a couple of times as it will easily drive up to 75 mph with the 3.92 axle and really tall tires. Rebuilt engine, clutch, trans, axle, entire brake system, suspension, steering, shocks, new Diamondback tires. I went through the entire car to make it a reliable driver. It drives just fine on the highway but just doesn’t feel safe driving at that slightly higher speed. The amount of kinetic energy goes up with the square of speed so going from 60 to 75 mph could be a 60% increase in energy that your brakes or lateral tire patch probably couldn’t handle. An avoidance maneuver could easily turn catastrophic. Additional background: I was a test engineer for chassis systems at GM for 30 years and have plenty of advanced driving experience and if my gut says don’t do it, I don’t. I’ll stick to the secondary roads at 60-65 mph. BTW: My biggest fear in Michigan are deer which involves straight line braking…far safer than avoidance maneuvers. ”In front of the grill, go for the kill”

Some of the Coker products almost doubled in price this year. I purchased 32x4 Universals for $225 in March and now they are $425. My guess is that the poor quality control from their manufacturers is driving up prices to help subsidize all their warranty claims.

I agree with Matt on Diamondback. They were a great company to deal with, including lots of free technical advice. I put a set of Auburns on my 1939 LaSalle and really like the improvements in ride and tractive performance and they look really good. No bleeding of the 3” whitewalls in the few years I’ve had them.

You will need to get some custom hand stamps made. You can photograph what you have and take measurements to use as artwork and submit it to a company that does that work, like this one: https://www.infinitystamps.com/collections/handheld-stamps-for-metal Expect to pay a few bucks.

Jim, It sounds like you've given up on your pitted block. Personally, I would give the decks a slight mill to flatten them out along with a light mill on the top where the intake and exhaust ports are as the exhaust crossover tends to erode, then try a grind on the valve seats. A few pits on the seat will not hurt anything as long as they are not in the middle of your final lapping. It that doesn't work, there have been many of these engines that have had new valve seats installed (and many sleeved) mostly because they were severely overheated at some point. Also, don't be concerned about setting up the valve lengths....you just grind the ends (and chamfer) to the middle of lifter travel. I know everyone likes to quote this 3.000" valve distance to the cam but that is just a quick and dirty method to get you close. A good machine shop will measure lifter travel and set the valve lengths to center of travel which is the correct way to do it. I have a really good summary of rebuilding a Cadillac Flathead. I you want a copy, just PM me with an email and I'll forward it. These engines have a few quirks but there is no special rocket science to them. Scott

@Bob Petters, You do know that Mike Fusick donated his "Body #1" 1940 Olds Phaeton to the RE Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing? If you ever need access to that car to help with your restoration that can easily be arranged. Scott

I can’t actually take credit for the funny lavender remark as I stole a quote from @Littlestown Mikewho had responded to another post I had. I agree it’s no fun.

The lavender scented corn starch based baby powder works well as the lavender helps to calm you during the process.

It was great to meet you and Melanie and chat a while. I blame the morning rain on the Ferraris that showed up…Mother Nature trying to wash away the riff-raff and cleanse the Lincoln show field. It turned into a beautiful afternoon. You two have a magnificent car - thanks for bringing it out to Michigan to show it off. Scott

Ahhh. I was going for rare and excellent functionality (functionality being the important trait for me) so, nix the Ball and Ball. If monetary then I would go for the entire tri-power setup for a 1966 GTO with the mechanical linkage to the secondaries in lieu of the vacuum pots. I had one installed on my 1967 400 cu in GTO when I was in high school.

I will have to say that the Penberthy Ball and Ball DV-14 carburetor on my 1921 Oldsmobile with the Northway 209 V8 is one of the best early carburetors I have driven with. It is what is called a two-stage carburetor. Basically a two “barrel” design that pulls air through two venturis from the single port on the right that contains the choke but has another set of venturis with air ports on the bottom of the carb that open at full throttle. The carb was easy to set up and runs quite well through all ranges but provides a significant boost of power at wide open throttle along with a throaty sound like a four barrel when the secondaries open. It uses air metering for the idle jet which is controlled by the large screw ports on top that act on very light springs and valves. It also has a decent accelerator pump design. I would say rather advanced for the time (1916-1921).

Listening to a modern car radio in a late 1920s or early 1930s car is not very practical due to all the background noise unless you have it really cranked up loudly. Early radios had very poor sound quality and amplification which would make them pretty useless to hear while driving. The radio was used most often after the car’s engine was switched off. Just trying to set the scene which is quite different from the in vehicle radio today.

I use Lexol leather conditioner.

Just to clarify for others.....you are referring to Back to the Bricks which is held in Flint, MI and terminates in Grand Blanc, then motoring down to the Woodward Dream Cruise which is a Detroit to Pontiac event?

What crazy designs those engineers came up with! I had a lot of experience with the basic engine that this was designed from. In 1969, my father bought a new GMC KM2500 4x4 with the 305E 60 degree V6 engine. Bore was 4.25 in with a stroke of 3.58 in, it made 170 hp and 263 ft lbs of torque with a two barrel Stromberg carb with a manual choke. Not sure it was mentioned but the spark plugs are located on the carburetor side of the heads. The engine was coupled to a Muncie SM465 four speed manual gearbox and a four shaft "Clover Leaf" Rockwell-Timken T221 transfer case with 4.56:1 final drives. Transmission ratios were: First - 6.55:1 Second - 3.58:1 Third - 1.70:1 Fourth - 1.00:1 Reverse - 6.09:1 With a 1.96:1 transfer case low range it had a 58:1 speed reduction in first gear.......talk about a stump puller. We would drive that truck at 70mph on the highway and it just screamed with the transfer case gear setup. The truck got 11 mpg no matter how you drove it - fast, slow or trailering. With the 17 gallon tank behind the seat that didn't give you much range so you stopped often for fuel, especially when driving cross country. The engine had plenty of torque but the acceleration was lackluster as accelerating to highway speeds was always a wide open throttle event. I seldom used 1st gear and never to launch with. With the high numeric final drive, the engine was always spinning lots of revs. I had to rebuild the water pump often and the Stromberg carb was a bit finnicky so it got rebuilt a few times over it's life. I did a valve job at about 140,000 miles and had to replace the transfer case coupler, main shaft and upper bearings around 180,000 miles. True to its advertising of 200,000 miles with no teardown, the engine spun a rod bearing at 226,000 miles and I eventually sold the truck in 1998. It lived it entire life in Michigan and was driven year round so the body had been reworked a few times due to the road salt used here. My father purposely ordered this truck and engine for one reason. After going to Colorado on an elk hunt, he was so impressed by the truck the guide used to climb up all the rutted up trails to get to the top of the mountain there were hunting on, he decided on getting the same truck and powertrain setup. Power steering and power brakes would have been nice though! A lower final drive numerical ratio would have also been nice but 4.56 was what the V6 engine came with. It was a basic work truck with rubber mats, manual windows, am radio, but did have a nice 8' wood bed that was always pristine due to a topper. I have a lot of fond memories driving that truck and the engine was always a unique part of it. Anytime I went to the parts store and said I needed something for a 305E V6, I was always corrected by the young sales associate "You must have a 305 V8". My reply was generally "Open up the truck section and you'll learn something new today".

If it makes you feel any better, the box in my 1939 LaSalle drips once every few weeks. I use the Penrite Semi-Fluid Steering Box lube also.

I use Loctite bearing retaining compound for issues like this. Unlike thread locker which sometimes is too much locking for small screws that you occasionally want to adjust, it provides more of a stiff, almost gummy, feel....kind of like a nylok nut would feel like. Just a thought.

On my Light Six I eliminated the two floating clutch disks and just had a conventional clutch disk facing riveted to each side of the support hub you have shown. Anyone that does clutch refacing could easily do this. It simplifies the clutch setup into a more modern approach and the engagement actually feels a bit better for some reason. It also eliminates the wear, heating and potential cracking on the thin hub section. Scott

Converted the incandescent fog lamps on my LaSalle into turn signals and rewired the stop lights in the rear for the same. Most importantly, I wired in a Brake Lighter Bar in the rear. I would suggest just using yellow bulbs in your bumper mounted fog lights. Below is what I had before and I think the fog lamps are a great improvement. Scott

Matt, Glad you are getting time to enjoy your car and it is cooperating with all your hard work! Below is a photo of the steel (non-stainless) water pump shaft in my Studebaker (taken today). Since restoring it over 7 years and about 3000 miles ago, I've only run RO Water and No-Rosion changing it once after 5 years (and it still looked like the day I put it in). I try to keep the packing tightened to the point of just being wet at the nut interface when the engine is running. This engine is like a galvanic nightmare with a cast iron block, aluminum head, brass thermostat housing, copper radiator, brass impeller and aluminum & cast iron water pump housing. No issues so far. About once every two years I spritz the water pump shaft, spark plug base and the uncoated engine fasteners with some Boeshield T-9 as a rust preventative. It's a process that seems to work for me. I run about 25% EG, 75%water with No-Rosion in my LaSalle as I drive it a lot later in the year - right up to when the snow flies. Scott