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kevinsrods

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Everything posted by kevinsrods

  1. Hello, I am making progress on the restoration of the 1942 Darrin Lincoln Continental Cabriolet. The question I have as I begin to work on the power window operation of this vehicle is if there is anyone knowledgeable and/or servicing the vacuum parts for the power windows. I do have all of the parts including spares that came with the parts car that I purchased but am wondering who might be able to restore or if there are ways to test the operation before going through the cosmetic restoration of said parts? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Kevin
  2. Oh and one other item worth noting. A question perhaps. Could this be the last car Darrin put his touch on pre-war. Again, not a betting man, however, I do not know of another. Interesting!
  3. I realize this is an old thread but thought I would bring those participating up to date. The Darrin Lincoln is currently being completely restored by myself. I own and operate Kevin's Restoration's in Vancouver. I was able to pick up this car from Chris I believe in 2014. The car has been completely disassembled and all of the body parts and body/frame have been dipped. To answer some of the mysteries that have been mentioned here in particular the difference in the body side panel I was able to contact the woman who was the last registered owner on the title. When I first spoke with this sweet lady(the daughter of the woman mentioned in the article of the discover of the car in the Way of the Zephyr) she immediately remembered when her "uncle Bud" drove this car out there to the Chicago area from California(Yes it does contradict her own mothers recollection, however, she is adamant that is how the car came to the Chicago area). She said it was this awful green color and that he had bought it from the movie studios. She mentioned that it had been wrecked and that he had to make some of the parts because you could not buy them(obviously referring to the side panels). Let me take a moment to note that in the teardown of the car you could notice a complete difference in the quality of the workmanship of the current side panels compared to the extension of the fenders and the seam work on the door(note the photo, amazing!). In speaking with the daughter of "uncle Bud" whos real name is Folkey Linderholm she mentioned that he was a bodyman and would often purchase damaged cars and repair them to sell. She mentioned that for whatever reason he decided to keep this one. That is until it was sold to his sister and her husband(Helen Linderholm). She also noted that he loved black cars with white tops. The car was then given to their daughter whom I spoke with. She had the car painted baby blue with a white top. Apparently those were her horse colors. It is interesting as you take down the layers of paint that all of those colors show up in certain areas. See attached photo to see the full ring of colors. Also note the photo of the dipped area of the door that has no original color under the green color. Suggesting that it was first painted green after customizing by Darrin. A complete match to the story. I doubt very much that there were two cars built. This car was specially built for Vladimir de Rachevsky and was either built at Coachcraft(comprised of past employees of Darrin of Paris) or possibly even Sayers and Scoville in Cincinnati. They were handling the building of the last of the Darrin Packards along with the fact that the car was purchased by Mr. Rachevsky in January in New York and would have been on his way out to Beverly Hills where he made his home. Mr. Rachevsky had met Dutch in Paris and apparently became quite acquainted with his work. It would all come down to where Dutch was at in early 1942. If he were in California then I would suggest that it was Coachcraft doing the work as they did continue to work with Dutch and his designs. If he were in Cincinnati overseeing the last of the Packards I would suggest that Sayer and Scovilee did the customizing. It would have been a matter of Mr. Rachevsky's access to Dutch. If I was a betting man I would put my money on Coachcraft as the the shop utilized for the build as I believe Dutch's involvement with the Canadian Aviation Bureau recruiting office in Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel would have placed him in California. There is a small photo of the car taken from a rear view that appears in Dutch's article "My American Safari" Automobile Quarterly. The photo was chosen by Dutch for use in his article taken from his collection. The interesting thing to note about that photo is the lack of the side molding. Further evidence of the paint rings indicate that the molding was likely removed and areas of the car repainted. It was suggested by Mr. Robert Knee that contrary to one caption of the car stating that the stripe down the side of the car were of gold plated brass the stripe could have been merely painted on. Further inspection of the photos in the actual publications do acknowledge that possibility or that it was of a very thin material. The way the stripe curl's around the edges of the skirts tells a lot. I have a theory that it was something Mr. Rachevsky wanted on the car, however, when Dutch got the car back it was removed as you will not see anything like that in any Darrin design previously. I am on the fence as to include it on the car or to bypass it as more of what Dutch's desire would have been. Open to suggestions. So that is where we are to date. I was able to purchase a LIncoln Continental sedan as a parts/donor car and it has been invaluable in providing some good solid sheet metal in the floor area as the Chicago area had gotten the best of the Darrin car. This car is going to be as perfect as you will find any Lincoln Continental both top and bottom. Can't wait for it's completion! Patience
  4. Hello, I have purchased the 1942 Lincoln Continental that Dutch Darrin customized when new. I have been able to document through multiple resources it's authenticity. There are just some great guys out there. My intention is to restore the vehicle back to when Darrin had customized it for Vladimir de Rachevsky. Down to the last detail. I am excited about it, however, I am in need of some parts or even a good parts car. In particular the v-12 has been removed and replaced with a flathead 8. It does need to be a 1942 engine as it is one year only. Like I said I want this car to be 100% authentic. Any help with that and any other parts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Kevin
  5. Thank you, It is funny how I happened to stumble upon this post in the Jalopy shortly after posting this. It was a huge help. Mission accomplished.
  6. Hello, I am in the assembly process of a 1939 Mercury convertible. We are at the stage where we are setting up the convertible top bows. They have been somewhat taken apart. I have looked at a friends '40 and apparently there is a difference. Does anyone have any photos of how they are supposed to look when assembled properly. This is what I am dealing with. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
  7. O.K. lets talk about the running gear a bit. I know I will be absolutely crucified for this, however, you must realize as this project began we were building it for a customer and decisions were made that I had no control over. So there was a time when I did not care what the powerplant was. And in some cases that still holds true. Understand that this project was began back in 2001. The late model hemi's were not available at that time. The car that we started with had a small block Chev in it and the customer was very happy with the way it performed in the car. He is not necessarily a Mopar car but just a guy who wanted a cool hot rod. Believe me I tried my hardest to talk him into running some sort of Mopar powerplant in this car as I knew we would catch havoc for it. Needless to say I was unsuccessful it achieving my want and had to surrender to the wants of my customer. I did tell him, however, that I do not want a small block Chevrolet staring at us in the face when we pop the hood open and that I was going to come up with a design that would disguise his choice of powerplant. This is what we came up with. Please be kind. I will also say that in my eyes this does not effect what the car is recognized as being
  8. I am actually not offended, I actually appreciate the positive comments about the car. I am just trying to drive home the fact of what this car is. It is a modified 1936 Dodge D3 touring sedan. I did not start with a stack of sheet metal and create this car from scratch. I merely took something that I viewed as great potential and made the necessary modifications to achieve the design that we were striving for. Its just that simple. Let's be clear that when someone is viewing a car it is the exterior that they attach the identification to not patents on a chassis or drivetrain. When we in the custom car world discuss different cars the usage of patents do not become part of our dialog. I realize that it might be so when on this forum. It is just not in my eyes or most car enthusiast that I know something that identifies a particular vehicle. Here are some examples. Can you tell me the year make and model of these cars:
  9. O.K. so I have come to the conclusion that what we are dealing with here are simply different perspectives on vehicles serial numbers. I was raised up by my father who grew up in the '50's hot rod scene. My whole life has been influenced by that. When you think about it. It is not much different than the coach builders of the day. Were they not taking a chassis from lets say a Mercedes or maybe a Packard here in the states. They would then coachbuild a body. for that chassis. I would bet that what the title had on it was the chassis number. Case in point. I own a 1942 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet. I had custom coachwork done by Dutch Darrin when it was a brand new car to the point that it no longer looks like a 1942 Lincoln with the exception of the front and rear. A 1942 Lincoln has an integrated chassis. Guess what the title has on it still to this day. That it is a 1942 Lincoln with the proper serial number for the car in which the number is still stamped in the frame rail. So the actual facts of the matter are that a 1936 Dodge did not have a serial number stamped on the frame as a Ford would have had. It had the serial number on the passenger side hinge pillar obviously as has been established in this forum. If a coachbuilder could take a chassis and build a body to fit onto that chassis and have it titled as to the chassis then why would we today not be able to do the opposite. Use a body which has a clear serial number posted on it and create a new chassis for it and still have it considered a Dodge. Let's be perfectly honest. When I have the car sitting at a show and they are wondering what kind of car they are viewing it is not "Oh, this must be a 2014 Kevin B." What I hear is "Wow it is a Dodge" "Wow" I have never seen one done like this before. "How Cool". In other words it is still recognizable by almost everyone as a Dodge. Now if you took a coachbuilt Fernandez and Darrin Mercedes would you hear people say "What a cool Mercedes". No, even though it is probably titled as a Mercedes. I could be wrong about that, but to my knowledge that is how those cars were registered. How about all of the Darrin Packards. Are they not still Packards? How many more 1932 Fords are there today(and I am not just talking about the fiberglass ones)than were ever produced with a majority of those cars titled as 1932 Fords. The bottom line is that I appreciate all of you out there who are the purists. preserving the pastime of the automobile. I enjoy doing the same when I have the opportunity. They are some of my favorite cars to look at whenever I attend any kind of show. What you guys have to understand, however, it that the true facts are what they are. By the State of Washington and for that matter any state in this country, along with any country out there where this car could end up, this car is a Dodge and it has serial number 9318017. It is clearly stated as so by the State of Washington. I never started this post with the serial number of this car in question. Only that an auction company was questioning the validity of the tag itself. I believe that we have established that it is valid and I thank you all for your help in that. I would be an absolute fool to title it as anything else as then it would be up for all kinds of emission control issues. Why would I do that. It is as though you are offended that it carries a Dodge serial number and I do not understand that. Never will. Its is as though you would have rather had this car be sent to the crusher or simply left to rot in a field that to have anything done to it at all. But again I guess that it is a matter of perspective. Mine is open to see a vehicle for what it is whether it is restored, customized or otherwise, also considering where the car came from. What was the canvas in which the builder started. Believe it or not, not every canvas is blank when you start something. I have to give credit where credit is due. I have to give credit to the Dodge Brothers for creating a canvas for me to start with that included some beautiful pieces as well as very tasteful lines.
  10. Ok. So I suppose that I could get a little bent out of shape here but I am not going to.. I do understand your point to some degree. The funny thing is that as radically modified as the car appears it actually is a combination of subtle modifications. The wheelbase is stock. The fenders are pretty much stock. The quarter panels are stock. The top has not even been chopped. The deck lid is exactly the same as stock. Yes it has a complete new hood and new running boards. The rear area below the trunk lid is also new. Those are the only panels that are not the originals. It is also funny how the most common response when we have had it at the shows is how we were simply able to improve on the original design element of the car without deviating to far from what it is. I realize that those comments are from different perspectives. Let me just say that I am a car nut. I love all of them. I love restored cars, hot rods, customs, muscle cars, most especially the coachbuilt cars of the 20's and 30's. There are certain cars a person comes across that would be a crime to turn into a hot rod. I understand that. This was not one of those cars. It had a scabbed up modified frame that I would not dare take out on the road. The floor was pretty much gone. The rear panel below the trunk lid was completely rusted. The way I see it we were able to save this car and turn it into something that I believe the Dodge brothers would have said wow to. At some point we have to realize why it is that we are where we are in the automotive industry. There is a reason that a '37 Dodge is different than a '36. It is because the designers were constant pushing forward. Pushing the envelope if you will. If we are going to go by your viewpoint the vast majority of classic cars today would have to have their own unique serial number as most of them have been modified. What you are saying is that a beautifully chopped 50 merc sled would no longer be a merc. Or a totally cool original bodied 1932 Ford hot rod could no longer wear the blue oval. I apologize but I am going to maintain the serial number tag that grew on this car. Yes it is modified but it is still a Dodge. Always has been and always will be. I do want to again thank you all for the help in solidifying the authenticity of my serial number. Kevin
  11. Thank you 1936 D2. As we began the design aspect of this car. One of our goals was to get people scratching theirs heads a bit. There are elements of the original car that we just did not want to lose. One major aspect was the grille. As I'm sure you are very well aware it is not easy to restore a stock grille. We opted to create one from scratch that came as close as possible to the original. Believe it or not we did not change the grille opening. You could actually bolt in a stock grille. I really wanted to run the stock '36 grille emblem as well. We also used a '37 trunk emblem on the deck lid. Karla Maxwell did an outstanding job of restoring them. The other element of the car that I did not want to change was the general shape of the fenders. Of all of the 30's era cars the fenders on the Dodges and Plymouths are my favorite. They just have great lines. We simply extended the inner portion of the front fenders to level them out. Now getting back to the serial number. So I obviously have a Canadian manufactured 1936 Dodge. It has a serial number tag with the said serial number. I have a good clear Washington state title with that same serial number that the DOL has reinforced is good. You are correct in saying that it is a D3. As it was mentioned in one of the posts that the export cars and those manufactured in Canada were designated as so. It also coincided with a document that I have with all of the serial numbers and models. I mention all of this to question you in regards to your statement that this serial number is no more. What exactly do you mean by that?
  12. OK so the cats out of the bag. That is it. I would like to inform the purists among you that we were able to help out a local restorer who has a coupe, a four door sedan and a two door sedan with some much needed parts that we were not using. Thank you for the positive comment.
  13. Hello all, This is just simply awesome. The photos that have come up here have been a huge help. It will be no problem convincing the auction company that this is legit. Regarding the 3 font on the tags, all of them that I have seen on these tags are consistent with what I have which is not flat on the top. It is just a rounded three similar to the font here '3' as are most of the other numerals. I know the Ford numbers are flat on the top. It would still be nice to see a Canadian body tag to see what they look like. Just in case anyone has one. By the way all of the photos of the cars are incredible. Owning and operating a restoration shop I understand the amount of time and effort that goes into these cars. I would love to post a photo of my car, however, I fear that I would be crucified because of the changes that were made. I will say that if you would like to see it simply google 2014 Goodguys America's Most Beautiful Street Rod. Let me just say in my defense that I do have a great appreciation for the stock restored cars that I see here on this forum. We are currently restoring a '29 buick and will be starting the Dutch Darrin '42 Lincoln this winter. Again thank you to all who have replied. Kevin
  14. Thank you that is very helpful. I believe that the Canadian built models had "manufactured in Canada" on the body tag on the firewall. If anyone has a photo of that plate it would be awesome.
  15. Hello, I have a 1936 dodge that I am working on consigning with an auction company. I am getting negative feedback from them about my serial number tag that is located on the passenger side hinge pillar. It is a basic tag with serial number written on it and the serial number stamped in it. The gentleman from the auction company says that because it is a Canadian built car that it should say on the tag "manufactured in Canada". He also says that the font of the number is not correct for the time. I am trying to obtain as many photos of serial number tags off of original cars of that era. Dodge, Plymouth etc. that would help solidify some of the information I have already obtained. Thank you 1936 D2. Anyone with photos of their serial number tags out there? I realize that you may not want to post or send the entire number. Partial would be fine, especially if you could include a number 3 as that seems to be one of the numbers with the font in question. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
  16. Hello, thank you for the reply. I would love to start a new thread, however, I am new to this forum and I do not see the option anywhere to do so. I am supposed to be able to see a box with a +create a new post. I do not have that.
  17. Anyone have any photos of the original serial number tag on the pass door hinge pillar on a 1936 Dodge?
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