Stooge

When I pulled the doors off of my '37 Century coupe, I unbolted the hinges from the body and left them attached to the door rather than knocking the pins out, but my doors also didn't have any door panels in them so I didn't have to get around that to unbolt the stoppers, but if your getting your doors blasted, wont the interior panels have to come off anyways? Might as well make like easier and pop them off to give you some extra access to the inside of the door.

I found some really nice condition plates for my '37 last year, and would like to use them when the Buick is on the road, but I can also see Massachusetts possibly being uncooperative to be able to use them and drive the car whenever, so if it seems like its going to be a pain, I will just use regular plates

I've been trying to put a list of the last few essential things im missing to have a complete driveline and a few other things so im not bothering him, but the front engine mount and if he has a pressure plate and clutch fork, seem like a good enough excuse to call him. Has anyone talked to him since all of this virus stuff came out?

Had to stop by my shop after work last night, and decided that since the new gas tank is on order, I should get to work and gave the frame a quick once over a degreaser and got to painting. I've become a fan of painting chassis parts and frames with tractor and implement paint, goes on easy and with the hardener, is extremely durable. There are a few crevices im going to go back through with a brush like the rear shock body pockets and stuff, but that was enough for an after work weeknight, and will give it enough time to dry before I start messing around mounting a tank and lines, etc. while im at it, im probably going to get the rear exhaust hangers in place and maybe buy a new set or parking brake cables since mine are in pretty rough shape and Bob's has them for $130 for the rear pair. 20200418_160210 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2020-04-21_09-05-29 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200420_202109 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200420_200747 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

Looking for a front engine mount plate for my 1937 Buick Century, as the 320 I have going into the car is a few years later and utilizes the engine cradle style mount. I've had a few potential ones fall through, and before I start cutting and reshaping the mounting plate that is on the engine now, I wanted to see if anyone has an extra stashed away. Thanks!

I used a New Port Engineering wiper set up in a truck I built, and was very happy with it, though I did change the knob from the cheesy plastic one, but hadn't even thought to see if they offered something for the '37. If this works with the 6volt wiring as Morgan said, i'll go that route as Im missing most of the stock vacuum stuff from this car.

Finally stopped dragging my feet a few nights ago, and started welding in the driver side tail panel, the big gap at the top was from when I made some changes after the first cuts were made. Just a first pass and still needs some clean up, and the small filler piece I had to make was giving me grief since there was some undiscovered brazing on the underside of the sheet metal where the 3 new pieces met the body, so I called it a night 20200415_175655 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200415_195458 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200415_201651 by Dan Haas, on Flickr I wanted to get the tail panel, most welded in so there wouldn't be any body panels flopping around, since Friday I recruited a buddy and we got the body off of the chassis and set on some stands 20200417_160454 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200417_161235 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200417_163038 by Dan Haas, on Flickr I had been planning on sending the frame out to be sandblasted as it looked pretty crusty, and honestly I was a little nervous about the condition of it before I started pulling the body apart. When I first pulled the nose off, and gave it a quick hit with a wire wheel, it cleaned up surprisingly easy, and with everyone being shut down, and in the interest of sacrificing a weekend to save some budget, I spent around 10hrs between Saturday and Sunday cleaning it up. I don't want to suggest that this was a good idea, a safe idea, or a good use of time, but no blood/ incidents, a few near misses when a wheel would grab something and bounce off suddenly, especially with all of the X frame structure and crevices. I am pretty happy with the results, it came out a lot better than i was expecting and really was a lot easier and went quicker than i was expecting. Im going to try and get it painted this week, order a gas tank, ( probably a nova tank from Tanks Inc, inexpensive since I will need to cut and modify it to reposition the filler neck), some fuel line and brake line, and try and run those lines while the body is off to make life a little easier for when Im actually close to needing to connect the brakes and fuel, but the body will be back on the chassis. 20200418_123032 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200418_143856 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200419_135728 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200419_135739 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Also, came across an ebay ad for a new old stock door panel for a 1937 Buick coupe a week or 2 ago for $100, so Wednesday or Thursday, i threw out a best offer of $50 and they accepted and was delivered sunday from fedex, which i didn't know they made deliveries on sundays. Looks stained in the picture, and im sure its a little faded, but really good condition. Not sure the history on this type of thing, if they were remanufactured for awhile afterwards, or if this has just been sitting in a box for 80+ yrs 2020-04-20_07-50-06 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Luxor Motor Sales ? Grand Rapids, MI 20200419_170813 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200419_170817 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

I remember last year, you posted/ started doing something that really stuck with me, about trying to take an active position and picked up a few cars, while maybe not the most popular, were very nicely done, running cars with the intent on selling them at quite reasonable prices that wouldn't scare off people trying to get into the car hobby and just get out and enjoy! I think this is as important as anything else, as a price under $15k or even $20k, really moves things into the realm of possibility for the average person with an interest, where they are more likely to see an auction on tv, where "everything" is going for big bucks, and don't realize, you can be out bopping around for not a big financial commitment or risk.

While at 32, im twice the age of your daughter, but being as much of a car person as I am, and knowing many other people around my age with pre- war and pre 90's cars, it does get a little old, constantly being reminded that my generation and I , have no interest in cars, when really i would imagine that the people saying that, just aren't around younger car people so they don't see it. Add to that, what different age demographics find fun and enjoyable, and what a 24yr old finds fun, and what a 65yr old finds fun, while still involving old cars, could vary. Honestly, the 2 things that stick out to me, and what i hear the most from people who have an interest in getting into cars, is spare money and the thought that for ANY cool car, your going to have to pony up a lot of money, which i don't think is true and i believe i am demonstrating with my 1937 Century build done on a budget, and, secondly, i think people feel like they are afraid of what they don't know and assume old cars are these very fragile, confusing, antiquated, complicated, pieces and just wouldn't know where to start.

That's a great write up, thanks! and since I am missing some of the headlight innards, I dont feel bad about retrofitting it I think I have a pile of parts kicking around my backroom from a 1964 Impala SS that I was working on. i'll have to check if I have the bulb cups, but if not, a quick ebay search seems like I wont have much trouble finding them.

I'll end up with a new harness as only the inside of one of the headlights had any sort of wiring in it, and that was in pretty bad shape an held together with duct tape, though I was planning on getting a complete car kit from either Rhode Island wiring or YNZ as that headlight bucket probably had the most wiring in it out of the entire car as it sits. I am keeping it 6volt and plan on taking it on some road trips so I want the headlights to be as good as they can be. I was reading about the benefits of the Uvira coating, as my reflectors look fairly tarnished, but haven't reached out to them yet, though I believe I need to send the reflectors out for nickel plating prior to sending them to Uvira. MCHinson, what did you use for the sealed beam conversion in your 1937? I was reading the 1998 Torque tube article on the headlights, but that seems to just be about disassembly/ assembly, etc. Unmasked the headlights the other day, and cleaned up the bezels a bit just for something to look at. im not happy with one of the edges for the ribbed trim piece, so they'll probably get painted again 20200411_111000 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

What year were the glass jar ones used? Where they the predecessor to the bladders/ bags? Last night, i was taking the inner fender off of a 1958 Edsel that I'm working on for someone, and it had the glass jar reservoir and bracket on the driver's side, but when i look it up, Edsel's used the jar, and similar yr Ford's were using a bag.

Thanks! I'm no professional painter, though I try to give it my best, but doing the whole body in black is going to be a challenge getting it right, but should be worth it in the end. Thanks! The only way I can afford it, is to do it all myself, and who doesn't like a big overwhelming project to slowly dig themselves out of?? Aside from working on the body lately, I've been trying to track down some of the still missing essential pieces to complete the driveline, and to make things easier, I've had the transmission at home in the corner so if I come across something, i have it right there to check. Looking to see if i had a retaining bolt for the reverse idler shaft last night, ended up in a mock up build of the transmission case, to really see what i was still missing, ( when i bought the transmission, it was blown apart, and the counter cluster and reverse idler gear were both significantly chipped but have since acquired 2 complete usable sets and a few extra pieces for the stash). Fortunately, it seems i have all of the parts now, im still missing the counter cluster support shaft, though I've found one this morning, but does anyone know of a vendor for the detent springs and the shaft retention bolts? i could only find one of the springs, have both ball bearings, but where im missing the cluster shaft, im also missing the retention bolt that holds it in place and threads in from the bottom of the case. i would imagine its the same style bolt as the reverse idler bolt, with a threaded shoulder and an a smooth/ soft pointed end. Just a mock up, the bearings aren't installed and im missing the lower support shaft so everything is a little out of place 20200407_200708 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

Thanks guys! im not sure if i'll try to make it fancy, or just keep it simple and drill a hole or 2, but there is some sort of drainage planned before I start prettying it all up. Im still working full time in the laboratory with all the virus stuff going around, so I didn't get the time off from a shutdown like we had been anticipating, but we do support a lot of major medical industry across various essential facets, so I get it, but I did have a lot of work planned for that time! I've been dragging my feet getting the rest of the tail panel welded in, but I've been trying to chip away at it. I had originally cut the body to match the new tailpanel, but made some changes, so that's why there was a triangular hole to fill; so poor planning rather than poor execution cutting it the first time 20200321_173444 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Just a first pass clean up, but not a million miles off 20200321_194302 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Then I started getting the nose/ radiator support and the headlight buckets cleaned up since they were the last of the removeable sheet metal that hadn't been stripped yet. The original remaining paint on the fenders and nose matched the body, but with the exception of a few dents and wrinkles in the fenders, they are in much better shape than the rest of the body and shouldn't take too much to get them finished. 20200403_200207 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200404_135944 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2020-04-06_07-45-48 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200404_142715 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200404_154704 by Dan Haas, on Flickr When I took apart the headlights to get them cleaned up, unsurprisingly, I seem to be missing a few pieces to have a complete assembly. where I've been a little nervous about some part of them getting damaged/ specifically the lenses and reflectors, I decided to get them painted so I could take them home to rebuild them and keep them out of the way while the rest of the car is being worked on. Trying to spray primer on 19" long light buckets, hanging from a hook was pretty clumsy, so I spent 2 minutes making a little paint stand out of some scrap panel and exhaust tubing 20200405_095023 by Dan Haas, on Flickr From the picture, it looks a little wavy while it was wet and I thought I screwed something up, but leveled out fine 20200405_123131 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200405_123256 by Dan Haas, on Flickr i'll going to get the lenses and chrome rings cleaned up a bit, and mock them together to have something to look at this week, I just painted the headlights yesterday so I haven't unmasked them yet. Also, tracked down the correct cigarette lighter and receptacle. not the biggest priority, but the hole in the dash was bothering me 20200327_162330 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

Cool! I didn't know you had a thread going on here, and I know your hamb one got nuked. Really cool engine, and with the Hillborn efi and tremec, should be a blast! before I found my 320, my choices were going to be dictated by what i found, and was either going to be a straight 8 that i have now, or a nailhead and Muncie. I like your doing it overkill sentiment, its a lot of fun to have a bit of fun and freedom, and would definitely say i went overkill on my last project c10 with every piece of the puzzle changed or modified, but that also sort of pushed my '37 century project in the opposite barebones direction, though there are a few deviations from the standard straight 8 that i am doing in regard to intake and exhaust. Keep it up, looking forward to seeing this come together!

i can definitely see kanter's farming that out, and there being a go-to shop for the conversion. The engine going in my 1937 is slightly newer, and came out of a running, driving, 44k mile 1947 roadmaster that was parted out for whhat i would assume was rust issues, given that it was just the next town over and Massachusetts is a rust state. There is a prominent vintage engine, as well as racing engine machine shop in the same building as my shop and brought up the 320 last weekend. he was saying expect a grand a cylinder/$8k atleast all in, but given the mileage, he said he would very apprehensive to open it up and rebuild it if he were me. Id like to take my Century on some extended 1000+ mile trips when its done, so not going through it doesnt exactly give me that warm confident feeling, but i see his reasoning, (he said he would obviously do the work, just giving me some advice to think over). What has me worried the most is the cooling/water passages. Seems every thread on here with rebuilding a straigjt 8, they are clogged with sediment, and cooling is what worries me the most with my cars. At minimum, id like to take it apart, clean and inspect/check for wear and nake a decision from there. Sorry to highjack the thread!

Do you mean the conversion from babbitted to inserts is only $450 from them? I was expecting it to be double that, and i think places that seem to advertise the process, like Kanter's, charges $100 a piece for converting them, so anything under $500 seems like a bargain.

Sunday's project, I wanted to get started on making a new repair piece for one of the front rocker/ fender mount area infront of the doors. I need to do both sides, and since I had the car pushed over to one side, and there was more space and light on the passenger side, I started on the passenger side. Both sides are pretty rotten, but the driver side is a little worse so I figured using the slightly better passenger side as a template/ reference to start made a little bit of sense. started out cutting a 14"x14" piece and a 9"x4" piece, though I didn't take many pictures of it since there wasn't much to see. 2020-03-16_08-16-28 by Dan Haas, on Flickr I still have a brace welded into the door frame. so that still needs to be cut out and the door better aligned before I cut out the weld and weld in the new. 20200315_101227 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200315_101309 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200315_101255 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Still need to map out where the new fender mounting threaded inserts will go, and tighten up/ clean up the edges and corners a bit better, but its a start 20200315_153526 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200315_153535 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200315_153705 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it! I didn't expect the trunk area to become as involved as it is, but after I cut out the outer skin and saw the state of the inner area, doing it right and cutting it all out was the only option. Im not looking forward to welding in the perimeter channel, and im especially not looking forward to grinding all those welds down and getting it cleaned up, but again, they are beyond repair and it needs to be done. With the front cowl/ rocker area, with the exception of the very front of the floor, and an area of the trunk that i am on the fence about replacing, (a good amount of brazing repairs, but are well done and solid and being in a unseen area of the car, i think it shows a bit of the car's history) almost the entire bottom 6 or 7 inches of the car will have been replaced, so hopefully that will stave off rust issues for the car's foreseeable future. 2020-03-13_07-15-12 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Also curious, if anyone knows what wheels i have. i always thought the rear offset looked off and that they seemed to stick out a bit but chalked that up to all of the missing weight of the engine and transmission, but then i came across a set of 1937 hubcaps that i was planning on buying, but then figured out that my current wheels are shaped different. Sort of looks like a late '40s/ early '50s full cap on there now, so im guessing someone just needed wheels that fit the bolt pattern and put them on at some point. Also has an 8.20-15 tire, and i believe the correct one is a 7.00-15? though the size differences are almost negligible. 2020-03-13_07-27-29 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2020-03-13_07-17-11 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

Thanks, I appreciate it! It really does look right at home in there, especially with the black dash, and it was some of the convincing to paint the dash black. Thanks again for sending it my way! 2020-03-11_12-42-48 by Dan Haas, on Flickr There have been a few other things along the way, and I've been trying to chip away at the pile of stuff that I am missing from when the car was blown apart and parted out. For the most part, this will effect the interior the most, which is fine since that isn't something that will keep the car from being drivable when it gets there, but I am still missing a few clutch related things. I have the flywheel, the correct transmission mounted pedal set and a rebuilt disc, but still need the clutch fork, pressure plate and throwout bearing. I've read on here about '80s jeep clutches working for the smaller engine cars, but not much definitive for the bigger engines as far as an easily obtainable, off the shelf clutch. I've been doing some reading, research, and have a few potentials that im going to try since I think it would be good info to put out there of what will fit/work. I had found a stock one on ebay that was a take out from a running car getting a late model engine and trans, but was outbid by someone with deeper pockets, so after that, i decided to refocus on an off the shelf one. Also found some fender lights 1 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2 by Dan Haas, on Flickr a rebuilt starter, though I still need the solenoid but they seem reasonably available 3 by Dan Haas, on Flickr And among other things that im forgetting, even found the missing bracket for the cowl vent 20200127_200929 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200127_195530 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200127_195523 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200127_202434 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200127_202539 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20180527_151046 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

Been awhile since an update, I lurk around here atleast once a day but progress has been semi consistent and pictures of sheet metal are sometimes not the most exciting. I've been trying to make sure I work on the Century a few days a week, though I am still in full metal repair mode, the end is sort of in sight and im planning on paint summer/ fall to pick up where I left off running boards done on the passenger side 20190623_125838 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20190623_131219 by Dan Haas, on Flickr While working on the body, I wanted something shiny to look at, while also start figuring out what flavor of black I was going to use for the exterior, so the dash got a bit of attention. Notice the tags in the first picture are from when a previous owner started parting this car out. I still would like to do a wood grain finish at some point, but I also like the simple black dash, but its just paint and can be changed. 9 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2020-03-11_12-43-09 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20190922_120118 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20190922_120126 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2020-03-11_12-42-48 by Dan Haas, on Flickr With the interior floor pretty wrapped up, I started to look at the rear tail panel and the weather stripping channel/ trunk perimeter that I knew was bad, but snowballed a bit. Several overlapping patches of varying ages brazed, pop riveted, and sheet metal screwed in place. it was also dimensionally wrong and the trunk and rear fenders hung out passed the panel 16 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 18 by Dan Haas, on Flickr the start of a new tail panel 2019-10-14_07-25-15 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 5 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 6 by Dan Haas, on Flickr With the patches cut out to fit the new piece, I decided to cut out the inner trunk recess/ flat area where the clamp for the spare tire is, as it was in pretty bad shape and full of old repairs. 3 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 4 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 6 by Dan Haas, on Flickr this was something that I couldn't really figure out a good way to copy the original with the resources I have, so I decided I just didn't want it to look glaringly out of place when the trunk was open. I am also not quite sure what the recess is for, other than that it seems to just kick down to clear the frame rails, maybe a tool kit area? Screenshot_20191229-171149_Gallery by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200105_120936 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200105_120941 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200126_121941 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200126_134553 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200126_113143 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200126_113131 by Dan Haas, on Flickr While doing this, I also started building the new weather stripping/ trunk perimeter channels 20191201_115237 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 4 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20191201_111252 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20191201_111311 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20191123_120223 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 4 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20191201_115826 by Dan Haas, on Flickr And started welding it all in. it was good to start looking like something. I left the sides un-welded since I am repairing some small sections of the wheel wells and wanted to just do it all as one piece 5 by Dan Haas, on Flickr A week or 2 ago, I decided it was time to finally pull it all apart so I can finish welding the body as well as get it ready to pull the body off of the frame to give it a clean up. 6 by Dan Haas, on Flickr I was a little worried about the condition of the frame as it was looking a bit crusty, and was planning on having it blasted, but out of curiosity, I hit it with a wire wheel, looked optimistic, and after about an hour, I had the front half cleaned up and everything looks solid 11 by Dan Haas, on Flickr I knew about the rot in the front rocker/ cowl area behind the front fenders, but didn't know to what extent. Passenger side looks a little better but with the brazing and old repairs, it will be a bigger job to repair over the driver side, which has more rot, but was left untouched. I am going to start making the new pieces this week but need to get some correct sized weld nuts for the fender mounting holes. 8 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 10 by Dan Haas, on Flickr The fenders, hood pieces and front radiator support piece all look surprisingly clean as far as any rust or rot, so im pretty happy to not have to do much with those 13 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 12 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 15 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 16 by Dan Haas, on Flickr I think it must have been bumped at some point in the it's life as there was the same issue on the passenger side with dents and wrinkles in the same area, but I massaged them out 20200301_161909 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200229_164415 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Some layout fluid to highlight the highs and lows 20200301_163231 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200301_164042 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200301_164949 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20200301_165804 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Spent the week sanding out any discoloration/ possible rust/ pits, and sprayed some high build on the fender and hood. There are a few more small dents to knock out in the fender, but having it a solid color instead of bare metal makes it alot easier for me to see where still needs work. 20200308_174037 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

A handsome car and as a semi young person, (just turned 32 this last week) with a prewar car, I think what you're doing is great! I meet plenty of people around my age who would love to get into the hobby, but are put off by all of the costs that get thrown around between costs of the car, potential repairs, paint and body work, and where something like this. where the cost to buy something like is in the low-mid teens, they can get in and drive it, tinker here and there and make repairs while being able to enjoy it, would seem a lot closer in reach than the high dollar cars what they may have seen on one of the televised auctions.

i had been going back and fourth with him a few months back about trying to buy some parts from him but ended up not panning out/ being worth it, but glad to see it moving on before he went through with one of his ideas of trying to put a turbo on it, add electronic steering, or using a late model straight 6 jeep wiring harness/ obd II on it Engine sounded to be stuck solid and the car had a problem with mice especially in the interior

I've always wanted a pre-war convertible and I really like this one. out of my budget for a project car,( though that is just my personal budget, not an opinion on what it is worth as I am not up on the market value of them) but underneath the mess, it actually looks like a pretty solid foundation. with the exception of the door bottoms that, if im looking at them right, appear to have been haphazardly patched, the front end of the door sills/ rockers look to be in alright shape. the front and rear fenders to be solid with a dent or 2, hood looks good, but what would have me most worried is the areas on the top of the body where the convertible top meets the sheet metal and the windshield mounting areas. with an open top, that seems like a great place for water to sit and rot and an areas like that make for difficult repairs.

A few more days of grinding, sanding and cleaning means priming the hood, roof, rear quarter, cowl, etc. Scarily almost starting to look like a real car again