detroitsoul

The car was originally purchased in Massachusetts. I have the documentation. Since I live in Michigan and I have a Michigan historical plate on the back to make it street legal, I thought it would be cool to have a 1938 Michigan plate on the front of the car.

Thank you Colin. This car was bought and owned in the USA according to all the paperwork I have. Although it is not impossible that there could be European parts on the car, it is highly unlikely. That is an excellent picture that you shared and I must say Bosch did a superb job.

Thank you for your response. Do you know if there is a part number on any of the trim pieces before I take it apart? That’s a good idea and one I hadn’t thought of. It is possible there could be Ford parts. I hadn’t realized how similar the Ford Deluxe was to the Zephyr until I saw one this past weekend at Greenfield Village’s Annual Motor Muster. The car has been in my family for fifty years but unfortunately my grandad isn’t around to ask him what he did. There were two other owners.

Nice lookin’ ride!

So, I originally had two glass headlight lenses when I started on my odyssey with my car five years ago. Unfortunately, when we took it on the initial test run, the glass lens on the passenger side fell out and broke. One of the guys here gave me a good deal on a new set of 1938 lenses and I thought I was all set. It appears though that the old lens (driver’s side) is from a 1939 by the part number. I left it on the car as it was nice and secure. When I put one of the new lenses in the trim of the broken one, it didn’t fit quite right. It was a little small. I think somehow all the trim (exterior lens trim ring, brackets, and cork ring) on my particular car maybe for 1939 lenses. Would the trim pieces for headlight lenses of a 1939 fit in the headlight cavity of a 1938 front fender? Is that possible? Chris from Boos-Harrell did try to help me with this. I also posted here about this issue as well. I am just wondering if I might have 1939 fenders on the front of my car somehow. I am starting to shop around for someone to do a full restoration and I’d like to get it sorted out. This car was originally purchased in Massachusetts and I am just wondering if the owner might have got some front end work done back in the day. Maybe, they could only get 1939 fenders. Maybe, I’ve got it all wrong. All I know is I’ve got two 1938 glass lenses (I checked the part numbers) that by all rights should fit in my fenders…and they don’t. I’m sure I’m missing something here. I am no mechanic by any stretch of the imagination. I would appreciate any help. I did post a picture but not here. I was so excited to get my new plate that I posted that separately. The picture in that post has a good closeup of the front of the car. I think you see the difference of fit in the two headlights. Thanks for reading!

My granddad had some old Massachusetts plates from the sixties from the original owner I would assume. I kept the plates he put on it not long after I was born too. If you look in the upper right hand corner of this picture, you can see both.

Finally got the license plate I was searching for courtesy of my wife as an early birthday present. Just what the old gal needed!

Anyone know a good mechanic?

Thank you. I would like to have the mechanical systems fully inspected but it does need a full restoration.

This winter in Michigan I have not been able to do much on my 1938 Zephyr sedan. She needs a lot of work and with the loss of my trusted mechanic I need to look at other options. I checked my latest edition of the TWOZ and the LZOC but I don’t see any restorers listed in my vicinity. Are there any reputable restorers in the Midwest that could do a complete overhaul of my vehicle? I live just outside of Detroit and I am willing to go a couple hours way to a good shop. Thank you.

What a magnificent car! Thank you for sharing your video.

Those seats look great but then so does the rest of the car.

What he said!

Those are beautiful!

Thank you for sharing your story.

Got the radiator back. Boiled it twice, welded two holes, and straightened the fins. No recore required. Is the brass piece the thermostat? Any suggestions to get that piece in? It seems like it wants to cross-thread.

I was crawling around tightening up some bolts and I noticed this. This probably not factory installed.

I pulled the radiator this past weekend with slightly cooler temperatures. I took it to a local shop and he is going to boil it and pressure test it. He said he can also recore it if needed. Thanks for all the help!

Thank you. I was going to figure out where that light went after this. I turned the center console on at night and it doesn’t seem to be a backlight for any of the instruments. The ashtray on the right was pulled out so we could monitor oil pressure digitally. Is it for the ashtray? I am going to tackle it tomorrow. It’s been awfully hot here!

I have not. I wanted to get in behind to see if anything obvious stuck out. Everything was working fine up until 2 weeks ago. Someone recommended making sure the cable sheath was still intact and it looks as though it is. The cables look okay but it is an 82 year old car. I am pretty sure they are original. I pulled the throttle out to see if the choke would go back in all the way and it is stuck out too. It seems like the slides for the choke and the throttle are getting jammed at a certain point like something might have dropped down. Could too much tension on the cables cause this? I guess I should go ahead and disconnect the cables and see what happens.

Still having a hard time figuring out what is going here so I took some pictures before I disconnect anything.

Thank you.

Thanks. I found a local shop that does it right. I just have to pull it now!

Currently, I am looking locally to find a shop to do a re-core. I did have Skip rebuild both water pumps. Thanks!

It looks like that might be the issue. It’s a nest of wires in there! Not to mention, it’s just about impossible for 6’6” guy to contort himself to where he can get at it!