Stude Light

This was the only way to get all the crud off my chassis - pictures tell the best story. I started with this. And, yes, I pumped grease into the joints first. Then I scraped it all with a putty knife over cardboard and trashed all the crud Then I took it out in the field, sprayed it down with some Simple Green, let it soak, put on my worst clothes and power washed it. I washed the top side first then flipped the frame over. I recall that I threw the jeans and sweatshirt in the trash as my wife refused allowing me to put it in her washer. Then I pumped more grease in the joints and water oozed out first. The next weekend I started disassembling the joints, axle etc. and found water inside even though I had taken precautions to keep water out and not spray directly into compromising areas. The ball joints were wet inside but no corrosion yet. They would have never dried out as the grease makes a nice seal to the outside. My pinion bearing already had a little surface rust on it. I ended up replacing it (Timken). I pulled apart everything else that day....spring shackles, king pins, etc. and dried everything else out. So, to my point, 2 or 3 thousand psi water WILL get into components so make sure you disassemble them after power washing. If you take the time and scrape the heavy stuff off and soften the rest with a good cleaner and rinse with water, you have less of an issue. Just keep the power washer away from entrance points. On my LaSalle, I first crawled into the engine compartment with a scraper. I also laid on my back under the car on a creeper with a scraper and cleaned the underside of the car. I used rags and mineral spirits for the final clean up before paint. As @TAKerry mentions..."Its a dirty miserable job" whatever route you take.

Maybe soda blast, which will get the rest of the paint off and get off most rust flakes (but will not blast the rust to bare metal), then apply a rust convertor product and topcoat. Another option is to vapor blast which will get it all down to bare metal and reduce the dust issue. Then treat appropriately.

Any API rated engine oil that you buy is going to have ZPPD in it. Current phosphorus levels through the use of zinc dialkyldithiophosphate are about 0.08% which meets all the sequence testing for flat tappet wear requirements used by the SAE and ILSAC. Levels above 0.14% start to become detrimental for wear and cam spalling so how do you know when you start getting to high a level when you use additives? You would have to start with maybe a light gear lube for zero ZDDP. So, you are better off buying oils formulated with higher levels of phosphorous (about 0.12% for VR1) for race engine applications as they have quality control that ensures the correct levels.

Right, most - like not racing applications. And it is actually quite a bit more complicated than just ZDDP. While phosphorus is the primary anti-wear component there is also a significant interaction of the modern ashless antioxidants in today's oils that were not commercially available in the 1960s and early 70s that allows for less ZDDP. And too much phosphorus is also bad. See below in a post where I go into detail and reference some of the SAE papers. I would encourage anyone interested to obtain copies, read them and draw your own conclusions. Side note - unfortunately, Carl (aka C Carl or Cadillac Carl), who I was replying to, is no longer with us. Larry asked a simple question that has a complex answer but he probably went out and bought some Castrol GTX and is enjoying driving his car by now 👍. Sorry for dragging out your post....my goal is to share knowledge.

Speaking of an Invicta, I thought Larry might like this video. It even shows the proper oil at 3:08 - gotta get the cardboard cans 😁 Pretty interesting, especially the refueling system.

The only thing I have against pressure washing is water WILL get into bearings, bushings, gearboxes, etc. and the only way to get it out is to fully disassemble each item. On a bare frame - no problem. On my 1921 Oldsmobile engine compartment, I used a putty knife and then rags soaked in mineral spirits or naphtha. Gloves and respirator (or do it outdoors).

Yes, your mark either never got stamped or was stamped so lightly that it cannot be seen. Not a big deal though. Use the UP-DC 2-5 mark to set your timing using #2 cylinder instead. If you are doing this by setting the points opening at the correct time, just get #2 piston at top dead center and set the points to just open then and get the rotor aligned with #2 on the distributor cap. Using a timing light, set the pickup on #2 wire and use the UP-DC 2-5 mark to set to. That is top dead center. I set my Light Six up to be just a bit retarded with the spark level fully retarded at idle. It has a centrifugal advance so with the spark lever fully advanced and with the engine up at speed I can get about 24 degrees of advance out of it. I added tape to my flywheel and marked the degrees advance on it using the formula Y = X0 * (CIRC/3600) where Y = distance you measure from UP-DC 2-5 mark along circumference of the flywheel (in inches), X0 = degrees of advancement and CIRC is the circumference of your flywheel (in inches). For instance, my flywheel measures 44.75 inches around. For 6 degrees of advance the timing mark on the flywheel needs to be located Y = 60 * (44.75/3600). This yields 0.746" or about 3/4" so that is where I placed the 6 degree mark from TDC. 12 degrees would be 1-1/2", 18 degrees would be 2-1/4" and so on. Just put these marks forward of the UP-DC 2-5 mark in the direction of rotation and don't forget to use #2 spark plug as your pickup.

What??!!! 12 Volts!!!! How could you? Yeah, sometimes I should just shut up about the oils as it comes across the wrong way at times. 😉 Scott

Totally agree except for "limited use" statement. Not limited, reduced. My point is there is still plenty of zddp in todays oils to protect most engines. You need a bit more for the extreme tappet pressures in a high revving race engine with high compression ratios, high cam lifts and high valve spring rates so, you should spend the extra money on specialty oils for those applications. The levels were reduced, not eliminated, to protect catalytic convertors (and pollutants) but still met all the SAE requirements to protect production flat tappet engines. Having read all the SAE test reports when the levels were reduced and having talked directly with the OEM oil experts, I educated myself from from the engineers of the oil companies and the OEMs (that sell the engines) and not from the internet oil sales companies, thus I don't needlessly overspend on specialty oils that are not needed in my applications. I just hate seeing a lot of our members get sucked into the disinformation created by suppliers of specialty oils and additives that all older flat tappet engines need to run higher levels of zinc and phosphorus or else their engines will suffer great harm. Total BS contained in their anecdotal stories that continues to be purported by those that have something to sell you. For the OP......the '54 Special definitely doesn't require anything special. My assumption is you aren't racing the Invicta on weekends and pounding on the engine to redline. If you do like hammering on it, then I would go with the Castrol of VR1 for a bit more protection. Edit - adding one more thing, the reason you shouldn’t add a supplement to oils already containing ZDDP is that too much will also cause damage so, unless you have a way of measuring the levels of zinc and phosphorus, you become the chemist with no idea if you are in the safe zone. Better just to buy the specially formulated oils.

Totally agree Not that a 1935 Buick needs anything more than what you find on the shelf in stores.

Written by the people wanting to sell you their specialty products. I would consider myself very well informed on this subject and have written many times on it. I use off the shelf oil in all my vintage cars (none of which are race cars) as there is plenty of zinc and phosphorus in today’s oils for my applications. But as @EmTee suggests….spending the extra dollars on specialty oils is fine too as it won’t be detrimental (as long as you don’t go adding supplements too).

My grandfather bought this car new from Cochran Pontiac near Pittsburgh. He would have been 69 years old at the time. He drove it for a few years before passing away in 1972. My grandmother then started driving the car. The problem was that at age 62 she had never driven a car before and learned how in this car. Keep in mind this was in the Pittsburgh area with lots of narrow winding roads up and down hills with a steep driveway that went straight into the garage with maybe a foot of clearance on each side. Somehow it survived. After she got in her eighties she stopped driving and my father then brought the car to Michigan and used it as a second vehicle (mostly garaged on the winter). Once he was in his late eighties he stopped driving it and I inherited it and enjoy driving it around in the summer. Photo of my grand parents and father around 1953. 1968 Pontiac Tempest 4 door with a 350 2-barrel and Pontiac’s two-speed Automatic transmission (no it’s not a Powerglide - that was Chevy) It’s just a driver that has been maintained over the years.

At 20% kerosene along with some MMO, I would expect it to smoke.

The Light Six had the car ID tag on the frame behind the left front wheel, facing the wheel. It was oval in shape, riveted and easily seen. This car is definitely NOT a Light Six and is a Standard Six (ER) as Mr. Quinn pointed out above. The Standard Six was the next generation of the Light Six with a number of improvements. Besides the body changes the transmission was now bolted directly to the engine, instead of being mounted independently, and the engine had full-pressure lubrication instead of splash lubrication. The titled number you show matches the ER serial number sequence. The casting numbers on the head is the part number for the head. My guess is at some point in this car’s life it was misidentified and titled wrong.

GL4 or GL1 90W are both fine choices too. I use GL1 90 weight in my 1939 LaSalle as it shifts better with that vs a heavier oil. With synchronizers you need to get the oil out of the grooved synchro rings so they “lock on” to the cones to get the gears to speed match and the heavier oils resist squeezing out. You don’t need the GL4 EP friction modifiers required for the high contact stresses and sliding friction found in a hypoid gear in a transmission.

If they are in good shape I just reuse my original bolts and nuts. I check the threads for signs of being overnighted and throw out any of those and replace with a few newly machined ones. I’ve not had any problems doing that. I use black oxide and Boeshield T-9 to give the original oiled look or will paint as necessary to match for originality. Personally, I hate seeing over restored cars with a bunch of newly plated or polished fasteners that would not have been there originally. I generally use new oiled steel lock washers and apply Loctite in more critical areas. Just a quick discussion on the safety side about reusing fasteners….. The fasteners were originally designed for the loads they were subjected to and, yes, over time they get cycled which may eventually fail them. I don’t know the metallurgy of the original ones nor of purchased replacements so it’s a crap shoot either way. Probably the most critical part on any of our cars is the front spindle. The second most are the steering components. Then maybe the shackle bolts and u-bolts. Those are all single point failures for a catastrophic event. If these are not getting replaced then what basis do you use for safety critical? Things like head bolts, transmission mounting bolts, body bolts, lug nuts, etc. have some built in redundancy. Other things like connecting rod bolts or flywheel bolts were typically designed with a higher grade fasteners so, again, whatever modern day fastener you pick is a crap shoot without knowing the design and manufacturing specs. I don’t really consider something that fails on the propulsion side that safety critical. Steering is number 1 and stopping is number 2 so that is where I try to focus on and ensure I inspect and will do my best to replace any questionable fasteners.

I’ve been pretty quiet on this post because I’ve just been driving and enjoying the car. It is a great driver and has a ton of torque especially when you open up the extra set of air inlets and jets on this two stage Ball and Ball carb - it sounds like a quadrajet 😁. Besides the engine working fine, the steering and brakes are really nice. Although it’ll go faster, I keep it 40-45.

What I’ve had to do on some cars is just to use something like JB Weld and sand and reform the hose inlet or outlet. It usually involves removing it, sanding or sandblasting to bare, build up with one or more layers (sanding between) and then filing/sanding straight and round. I’ve done this numerous times for severe rust pitting but also for the taper issue you have. Yes, a bit time consuming but never had one fail.

Sent. Best of luck on the project and feel free to reach out to me or the forum with more questions. Scott

If you are asking me....I agree with you. I will add a couple of things. I made the assumption that people don't drive their antique cars in the winter, at least not in my home state of Michigan. So, I based the oil viscosity on my summer driving and that you take the time to warm the engine up a bit before any hard or higher speed driving. The early synthetic oils were ester based and quality control wasn't that good so the higher ester concentration would swell seals and cause leaks. The modern synthetics do not have those issues and a lot of work was done to ensure compatibility with the various oil seal compounds (nitrile, viton, etc.) I would have no issues putting synthetic in any of my older cars. Well, my Studebaker and Olds don't have any seals anyway! I didn't get into the AD (ashless dispersant or detergent, as many call it) discussion. That's really the only oil to use. AD oil just keeps things in suspension better, especially carbon, so it can be filtered out. Who wants oil that settles everything out in the bottom of their pan? If you don't have a filter then change the oil more often. I do recommend dropping the pan on any engine with unknown history.

Having done this to my LaSalle, I can chime in. Sonic testing of wall thickness is a good idea. Cadillac actually tested wall thickness of their blocks and the thinner ones got made into the 322 and the thicker walls into the 346. I had plenty of thickness. Magnaflux of the block is another good idea as they are prone to cracks in the valve seat area if they were severely overheated. And a thorough cleaning of the block is a must - like making a wand off a pressure washer to fish inside the coolant passages. The weight of the Cadillac and LaSalle piston/pin assemblies were the same so there is no problem with balance (the LaSalle used a slightly heavier piston pin wall to make up the weight). I put a Cadillac harmonic balancer on since the cheaper LaSalle didn't come with them (I have a spare one if you want to buy it). You can get rid of all the connecting rod lock washers if desired. FYI - The LaSalle head gaskets are no longer made, only the Cadillac which has just a slightly larger bore size so when replacing a 322 head gasket with a 346 head gasket you lose just a smidge of compression ratio. The CLC Forum has a lot of people with good knowledge on the flathead Cadillacs. I put together a really nice Cadillac Flathead step-by-step rebuilding document by gathering information that Walt Brewer put together, info from the Cadillac tank engine manual and my own learnings. I can email you a copy if you want. Just PM me with your email. Beautiful running engine. Scott

I decided to rewrite this response to be more in line with my thoughts (and humor). Howard, 60FlatTop isn’t Bernie’s age and hair style. There are plenty of us old car folks still here on the forum that are happy to answer the questions we have answers for. Sometimes the answer may not come right away or ever. I get your frustration but often some of the more obscure questions take the right person to come across the post.

I didn't really want the post to get into this discussion but you asked..... For most of my cars, whatever is on sale. I generally follow the OEM recommendations for viscosity. Most modern cars that I plan to hang on to, I stick with synthetics. Synthetics are really good oils but on my more vintage cars, I just don't put that many miles on them and like to change oil after the summer season before they sit for the winter so I just use mineral oils. Synthetics would be even better but the benefit vs cost curve is too flat for me. My 1968 Pontiac Tempest 350, 2 bbl, 2 speed automatic - off the shelf 10W30 If I still had my 1967 GTO, which had a higher lift cam, stronger aftermarket springs and higher compression (and I beat on it) - I would use Valvoline VR1 or equivalent with a bit higher ZDDP. I still volunteer at the RE Olds Museum and am exposed to a variety of years of cars that get driven. In general 1920s-1950s, I recommend using off the shelf oils and pick the weight on age and season. That stuff has plenty of zinc and phosphorus for all the flat tappet engines including the 303 four barrel Rocket Engine in the 1953 NASCAR they have or the 394 in their 1959 Super 88 convertible. 10W30 is a good all around oil. The really early stuff with a total loss system, I typically use SAE30. Also use SAE30 oil in some of the later cars, like their 1937 Olds Straight 8. I used to run SAE 30 in my 1939 LaSalle but I think I am going to run 20W50 in the future. That heavier weight keeps the oil pressure up a bit higher when hot and idling with that V8. There has been so much misinformation on ZDDP levels for a number of years that many people now think that any old car needs a specialty oil or an additive. When they reduced, not removed, the zinc and phosphorus in the oil additive package to help with catalytic converter life, the SAE worked to ensure the levels were still adequate to protect the high contact pressure areas for all the stuff still on the road. They did suggest that engines with with higher than normal contact pressures at the tappet to cam (race engines with high lift, increased spring pressures, high compression ratio, and high rpm) would want to stay with the higher levels of ZDDP. So, folks that "build" performance engines and those that race might want to run something like VR1. Increasing the zinc and phosphorus a bit higher than recommended caused pitting and spalling on various bearing surfaces so too much is a bad thing too, thus I don't recommend additives as there is no way for you to know the levels are within the tolerable range. If you choose to pay a premium price for a specialty oil, that's fine. It isn't going to hurt your car, only your pocket book but it is not needed for the 90% of us that aren't performance car owners and definitely not needed for any pre-war car owner. From the article, the diesel oils might not be a good choice for the performance car enthusiast but shouldn't have negative effects for lower rpm engines That's my two cents on the subject. Scott

It's a great looking car and will be a head turner everywhere you go and, unlike an original car, you can actually have fun driving the wheels off it. I would just focus on having things in good mechanical condition and start enjoying it. Great find!

Excellent! I was pretty sure you would find another axle with the vast resources of this forum and other social media outlets. I will be looking for you at the show. I'll be one of the volunteers working the show so not sure if I'll bring something or not.