Tom Boehm

Doug Carr died over a year ago. I don't know if his business is still open. This thread isn't going well for you.

After studying this carefully I think now it is a 1939 Pontiac. No other car from this era looks as close as the '39 Pontiac. I think the hood that is ajar and the poor picture quality kept me from seeing it.

Could it be that hood is not the correct hood for the car? The hood could be from a 1939 Pontiac but the front of the car does not match. On a 1939/1940 Cadillac, the grill casting forms the entire front point of the car. There is no sheetmetal behind it.

Late 30's Lincoln Continentals and Zephyrs had headlights in the fenders unlike the mystery car.

The mystery car has no "catwalk". In other words there is no horizontal panel between the fenders and the center grill point. The 1939 Pontiac has this panel with chrome grill openings that the mystery car does not. The mystery car has to have chrome center grill castings to fit in the openings in the center point. The 1939 Pontiac has steel grill louvers.

This car is very interesting to me because I use gold leaf in my work as a painter. 23k gold leaf is real gold that is beaten into a very thin foil. It comes in little squares and is glued to the surface. There appears to be a clearcoat over the leaf. That is necessary because a metal leaf finish is vulnerable to abrasion. True 23K gold leaf will stand up to weather on the torch of the statue of liberty just fine but it does not stand up to touching and abrasion. The gold leaf costs less than you might think because it is so thin. I would bet the cost of the materials to paint the car would be more than the cost of the gold leaf. Labor not included.

Good guess but not 1939 Cadillac. 1939 Cadillac had a central grill and side grills. Also Lincoln Zephyrs had headlights in the fenders. Identifying this one is a challenge. Note the suicide doors and what appears to be a headlight loose on the fender.

You can put regular hardware store satin or semi gloss polyurethane over 1015 if you sand it first with 220 grit. That is most likely to come in a small can. Pettit makes a V-975 satin Captains interior varnish but only in quarts.

In my neighborhood is one of those properties where the piles of junk in the yard hide the house. Think Sanford and Son. A 1939 Mercury 4 door sedan could be seen at a certain angle behind and between the piles. I stopped and inquired about it about 10 years ago. He gave a ridiculous price. One day I passed and the doors to one of the buildings was open and the Mercury was inside. I guess they finally got tired of inquiries and moved it. The additional accumulation of junk now hides the house and all the buildings. I wonder if they still have the Mercury. I really like that car but I'm still working on my 1940 Lasalle.

I don't know the answer to your question, but I'm not sure anybody does. The advice 46 woodie gave above is good if you care about authenticity. The only way to find out what was original is to find someone with an unrestored 41 international woodie in good shape. If that doesn't pan out, here is my opinion. I have to make this choice on my 'one of two' 1940 Lasalle woodie. The other one has been restored twice and such original details were not retained. I imagined something like bedsheet fabric in an off white or light tan color. Something that goes with the golden brown color of the wood slats. White would be too much of a contrast and would show dirt. I think black would be too much of a contrast also and look like stripes on the ceiling. There is no right answer here and that was just my opinion. If you like black then use black. It would not be wrong. You could use a color to match the upholstery color.

Hello dcaddick, I'm sorry you did not get any responses to your question. Unfortunately It seems there are only about 5 people who regularly post on this woodie section and I don't think any of them have a 1949 Ford/Mercury woodie. Your inquiry would get more exposure if you posted in the Ford section or the buy/sell section. Is this piece you are looking for particular to the station wagon? Is the Mercury part different from the Ford part?

I know a lot about varnishing and furniture refinishing through experience but I don't know everything. I think you should look into a final coat of a lower sheen varnish rather than sanding. If you sand, even with with wetsand paper 600 or even 1200 grit it will only dull the high spots in the wood grain. You would have to sand it completely glass smooth to get an even sheen. Sanding with coarser paper will avoid this but will leave scratch marks. 0000 steel wool might work. Overall, my gut tells me any kind of sanding will obscure the grain and color showing through the haze. My suggestion would be a final coat of satin varnish or perhaps some furniture polish or wax that dries satin.

I'm not mad if you did. I just want to learn more about how this forum works. I was just ranting/blowing off steam about a high toll bill I got from my Hershey trip. I think the last count was about 40 responses in less than 24 hours. I wish I could get that response when I try to start conversations about old car topics. Actually I'm glad you deleted the thread (if you did) because it started to veer away from the original intent. Is there a way I could do that voluntarily on my end?

These tips have been mentioned above but they are worth repeating. On a 6 volt system make sure all the battery cable and ground strap connections are free of rust and paint. It helps a lot to have the proper thickness of battery cable also. These may or may not be your immediate problem but these tips will help your starter spin faster and start the car faster. I think it helped on my car to clean off the paint and rust on the faces between the starter and the bell housing. And the bolts too.

Henry J is named after Henry J. Kaiser, part owner of Kaiser- Frazer Corporation, manufacturer of the car. This is unusual in that his first name was used. Edsel and Mercedes were first names also.

St. Regis was also a Jesuit Catholic Priest like Marquette. St. Claire was a catholic nun in the middle ages. It is a possibility that these cars were not named after saints directly. The Dodge St. Regis was probably named after the hotel and the Wills Sainte Claire could have been named after the St. Clair River or Lake St. Clair in Michigan.

Good one. Had to look it up. Gaspar Portola, explorer and first governor of Spanish California.

I find The Marquette name interesting. Like Lasalle, Cadillac, and Desoto, Marquette was a French explorer of North America. He was also a missionary. This is probably the only car named after a Catholic Priest ! Along those lines, There is also the Wills Sainte Claire and the Dodge St. Regis to include in the above list.

I like this topic so here is all the names mentioned in this thread so far: These are cars named after a celebrity who did not have anything to do with founding the company or designing the car. Most are pre WWII. A few like Mercedes and Goggomobile are not well known celebrities but relatives of the founder. I included Edsel. Edsel Ford was dead by the time the car came out and they named it in his honor. Was Louis Chevrolet involved in founding the company or did Durant just use his name? Rockne, Roosevelt, Lincoln, Rickenbacker, Mercedes, Washington, Grant, Lasalle, Cadillac, Marquette, Lafayette, Pontiac, Tesla, Sinatra Edition Chrysler, Edsel, Eddie Bauer Ford trucks, Daniel Boone, Daimler Docker, Goggomobile. Diana, Mercury, and Minerva are Greek/Roman gods/goddesses.

Good topic! Lasalle, Cadillac, Desoto, Marquette, Lafayette, Pontiac, Lincoln, Tesla, Chrysler had a Frank Sinatra trim package in the 80's, Mercury is fictional. All named after people who were not the founder of the company. Edsel fits this category. Franklin was named after the founder

Join the Cadillac and Lasalle Club and network with as many 38-61 owners as you can.

One difference between 1940 Cadillacs and Packards is Packard offered optional overdrive. Have any of you out there driven both 1940 cars? Does the overdrive make a difference? Why did Packard offer overdrive and Cadillac did not? The senior Cadillacs with high differential ratios could use it on modern roads and highways.

Very ambitious project. I'm restoring a 1940 Lasalle now that was about the same condition. If I ever restore another car, a 1940 Packard 120 is on my short list. So is a 1940/41 Lincoln Zephyr and a 1940 Cadillac. The 1940 Cadillac Series 90 V-16 had 185 horsepower. Only 61 of those were made so I see your point. I did not know the top of the line 1940 Packard had 160 HP. The 1940 Cadillac Series 75 V8 had 140 HP. I'll be watching for your updates. Good luck

Does burning used motor oil create more air pollution (outdoors) than conventional natural gas furnaces? How does it compare to a wood stove? I had never heard of burning used motor oil for indoor heat.

I found out there is a tool available to keep the piston centered while bleeding the system. It replaces the electric switch while bleeding the system. It is shaped just like the switch but the post does not move so as to keep the piston centered. I may still have to take the whole thing apart to re-center the piston and then re-bleed the system anyway.