Glen Andrews

I brought this back from the dead, twenty five years ago; and like all old vehicles it has many stories it could tell. One picture is in its' original appearance for AACA shows, and the other is with the extra set of whitewalls for fun, I also have trim rings but are not on in this picture.

I'm not trying to confuse this thread, but here goes. The 1937 Chevy truck that is trying to be registered sounds like a Reconstructed vehicle, Camaro subframe so I figure a late model V8 and other changes to make it a Custom or a Street Rod so it should get a Reconstructed title. I grew up in PA and in the early 50's my Dad took a Crosley pickup removed the roof and bed and made a 2 seat convertible out of it; he had to take it to the PA State Police (I think) and have it inspected, he made up a name for it (using my older brothers' and my first name) and it got a reconstructed title. For the past 50 years I have lived in NC, and for many years have owned a 1938 Chevy pickup that is an original NC vehicle. I have the original title and many registration cards from the 40's and 50's and on all those the Serial Number and the Engine Number are on those forms. In 1986 when my then Father-in-law registered it in my name the state of NC titled it to me and only used the Serial Number found on the plate on the cowl, vertical not horizontal as mentioned in this thread. The serial number starts with "14" which indicates the Baltimore assembly plant, next is "H" for 1938, then "C" for half ton trucks (pick ups, panels, suburbans) then a "0" (zero) and a "6" for June, then a space and four more digits that are the production sequence for half ton trucks at that plant. NOW in the case of the '37 pick up trying to get registered, the first number I believe is a "6" which stood for the Oakland assembly plant, then next should be "GC" and then the month in two digits with a Zero first for the months of J-F-M-A-M-J-J-A-S and would be a One first for the other months. So someone mentioned in a way the mental midgets at the PA DMV telling the guy he did not have a Zero in the Serial Number. The DMV's and the Inspectors seem to operate in a confused way. I have a friend here in NC who bought a (built in 2010) Street Rod last year with a Reconstructed California Title and had a CA issued serial number on it. The body is a '32 Ford (fiberglass)-'63 Buick engine-80ish GM 350 trans-70ish Ford 8" rearend, I was there when the Inspectors came out, they left confused apparently, he eventually received a NC issued serial number tag, and when he got the new title it indicates the vehicle is a "1932 Ford 2 door" and there is NO mention of it being a reconstructed vehicle/title! So it's like a roll of the dice as to what might happen when this guy registers his 1937 Chevy whatever. I hope he has Good Luck and all works out for him. I have also attached a photo of a 1937 Chevy truck that was built in Oakland in April of 1937; the other photo is of my engine and to the left of the distributor cap the pad with the engine number is partially visible; it starts K and an I (capital i and not a number one) and the numbers 803828. I believe that many states in the early days up to the early 60's used both the body serial number and the engine number on the titles/registration cards, but as engine swaps became commonplace things had to change, so the VIN took over which contained the engine information.

Good point about the compressed air, I guess I got lucky when I did my '76 Corvette. When I did my '38 Chevy pickup all the brake components were new so no need for compressed air. There are other good points brought up previously in this thread pertaining to bleeding procedure and the handling of the Dot 5 Silicone. Once fluid is in the system I start with gravity bleeding at the wheels, and then with an assistant to pumping the pedal but not with the force of a gorilla, and of course bench bleeding the master cylinder first. And pour the fluid slowly and if beforehand you drop the container of fluid then set it on the bench and wait a few days to let the bubbles work out and then get back to the brake job. As I said, you and several others in this thread know the characteristics of Silicone Dot 5, and if done correctly the brake job will work trouble free for many years; do it right and be done.

Basically you start all over with all new parts, any part that has rubber will need to be replaced if it has been exposed to DOT 3 or 4 brake fluid. It would be nice to also replace the steel lines, but if that is not possible then the lines need to be cleaned out, years ago on my '76 Corvette I used denatured alcohol and ran that through the lines a couple of times, blew them out, then put in some silicone DOT 5 in the lines and blew that out, let them sit overnight (in the garage). The wheel cylinders and M/Cyl don't have to be replaced but the rubber seals and such, also brake hoses, need to be replaced.

In 1991 I put silicone dot 5 in my 1976 Corvette after replacing everything, brakes worked fine, sold the car in 2008. In 1995 I put silicone fluid in my 1938 Chevrolet pickup, of course after replacing everything, 27 years later and still doing fine. One problem though was with the original type hydraulic brake light switch, it took a lot of pressure on the pedal until it would activate the brake light, so I rigged up a mechanical switch. A couple of months ago here on the Forum there was a thread about the original type hydraulic switch and that problem, and someone mentioned a switch that operated with less pedal pressure. One was a Harley Davidson part and the other one was from Ron Francis Wiring. I got the one from Ron Francis, installed it, and it does activate the brake light a lot quicker than the original type; and, the mechanical one I rigged up is history. There's a lot of great information and knowledge contained on these Forums.

Yes, seems to be a good buy for money as some of you have noted. The car seems to be pretty well "sorted out" and for a definition of that term refer to the General Forum; most of us have probably already read that thread! Just kidding, sorted out means whatever it means to you, along with the amount of time and money one wants to put into their car. So someone mentioned the carpet and the speedo, I would also get rid of the red plastic ends on the negative wire from the coil to the distributor, and maybe some new spark plug wires. Overall it appears to be a good deal, just wish I had the funds and space for it.

About 15 years ago the Wake County (Raleigh, NC) Sheriff Department seized a current model year Corvette in a drug raid, left it unmarked and used it to catch speeders. Our Corvette club, Corvettes International, of course invited the Sheriff to a meeting and made him and the car an honorary member.

Seems to be a mid-late 60's 230" or 250" (Chevy)engine. One thing interesting to me is the cable system on the firewall, apparently the cables work the windshield wipers. If so then that's another neat idea engineered back then; also the ID plate is cool by indicating "all steel construction." Can't use that phrase in the present.

Okay, so 25 years ago I put Silicone Dot 5 brake fluid in my '38 Chevy pickup, I installed a new switch and needed to really press on the brake pedal in order to get the light to come on, so several years ago I installed a mechanical switch which was adjusted to come on with just a little pedal movement, but sometime the pedal would not retract all the way and the light would stay on. About 2 weeks ago after reading the posts in this thread I ordered SW-32 brake light switch from Ron Francis Wiring. I just finished installing it this afternoon and it works with just a little pressure; so thanks for suggestion. I got the new one in maybe a thread or two and waited for some brake fluid to ooze out from the threads, tightened it up, and cleaned up the excess fluid, and the brake pedal is fine, didn't have to bleed out any air.

It was mentioned six posts above this one.

My last company car was a 2008 Chrysler 300, the third brake light stopped working so I figured it was a bulb and I would just replace the bulb; after about thirty minutes I figured out that the rear seat back and a side seat bolster had to come out so I decided it was going to the dealer. A young hotshot "technician" told me he'd have it done in fifteen minutes to which I told him more like an hour at least; so an hour and a half later it was done, and the entire third brake light assembly had to be replaced since it was a sealed unit, at a list price of around $135 and an hour and a half labor which the entire bill as I remember was around $300; thank goodness it was a company car. Unfortunately cars are not designed to be worked on, they are designed to be put together in the factory and get them out the door, and then those engineers are done. Then another group has to figure out how to do the repairs. With the work I have done on cars, as well as the rest of us that do repairs, I often thought that these engineers should be required to work in the field doing repairs for a minimum of two years before they can even start designing anything on a car.

Yes, good idea, much better than a chisel and hammer; will be a tight fit though trying to get in there. I forgot about a grinder, I have one tucked away in my tool box and have used it to do similar projects.

Just thought of something else but it's going to be a job and I would try it only after the other ideas are expended; I realize that the backing plate nuts won't come loose and the bolts turn, since you don't have an acetylene torch to cut the nuts off, a chisel and hammer may be the last resort. Once again, good luck. Glen

gggagnon: Yes you have quite a project on your hands, as you know the shoe hold down pins do not come through the backing plate, they are not nails as used on newer vehicles. I too have cut the nail heads off and then wrestled to get the drum off and so on. It is possible that the brakes on this vehicle were run until there was no friction material remaining and the car was still driven to the point where the drum was worn thinner and there is a ridge along the drum on the inside edge, and as the car sat the bare shoes rusted to the inside of the drum. So soak it good and let it sit a day or two and try some of the ideas presented in the above posts. You might try taking off the spindle nut and outer wheel bearing, this may give you enough room to get a pry bar in along the outer edge of the drum and pry against the shoes or whatever. The drum may be damaged or not usable once off, but if you're planning to replace everything on the inside you may as well replace the drum too, and make it a complete job. Good luck, Glen

There's also a piece of 4x4 wood on the front part of the trailer, probably the piece they used to put on the ground under the jack. Loose battery and chunk of wood that could easily slip off and become a serious road hazard, I'll not comment further on whoever loaded this and is driving the tow vehicle.

I take it you mean the boards, they too were painted primer black, as well as the nuts & other hardware on the bottom that hold the skid strips in place. The carriage bolts and attaching hardware that hold the bed to the frame remain natural, silver, or galvanized appearance. As I indicated, my boards (top & bottom) and skid strips are gloss black, which is considered over restored, but is okay for AACA. Last April, 2021, in Charlotte, there was a guy with a beautiful 1953 Chevy pickup that had stained and varnished wood. The owner told me that the lumber came from the family farm, and he was not going to paint it due to sentimentality. Obviously his choice, I don't know how many points were deducted. So there ya go.Later, Glen

Rayz: I'm not positive about the 1936 high cab, I have a 1938 (low roof) Chevrolet pick up. I know the 1937-1938 and for a few more years, the beds were made by an outside vendor and were shipped to the Chevrolet assembly plants and were already painted in black primer when they arrived, the wood was Oak and was also painted black primer, the bed skid strips and hold own bolts were also primer black. At the assembly plants the the tailgate and bed panels were painted to match the body color, leaving the boards and skid strips primer black. The bed was attached to the frame with carriage bolts that were silver and were not painted. So correct color could/should be flat black; my boards and skid strips are gloss black so they are okay for AACA judging (my truck has a Senior Grand National) . Stained & varnish wasn't done at the assembly plants: tar and creosote probably was not done either, more than likely the owner of the truck back in the day added tar or creosote to protect the wood boards and to extend the life of the wood so he didn't have to spend $ to replace the boards. Try a company called Mack Products in Moberly, Missouri; they do beds and parts for old trucks, they list Oak boards for 1934-1938, which includes the Chevrolet high roof cabs. They may know if Oak was used for the bed of your truck. Good luck, Glen

Well I guess I have a collection! And I was just curious about the AC 46-5 plugs; so now I'll have to start searching old catalogs to see when that plug was listed, that's okay, I needed something else to do. Again I reviewed this thread and all the interesting and unique spark plugs that exist, thanks to you and others that posted the pictures. I would like to hear your seminar on spark plugs, however I don't believe I will be at the National Convention. Take care, Glen.

Okay, well thanks for the replies. The Firestone plugs with the pink tinted porcelain are different for sure, and the large Champion plug was interesting to me when I cleaned it and found the brass top. The green lettered 46-5 plugs must be a slightly hotter range, just wondering if it was ever cataloged by AC; and the blue 48's must be a hotter plug yet. I don't have a collection of spark plugs but I'll hang on to these in the photos just for the heck of it; I do have a collection of the green ringed AC46 plugs since those are the ones I use in my engine, I still have about 45 of them tucked away in a tote. And thanks again for the replies; Glen

Well, I have an antifreeze tester that I've had for at least 45 years or so; it's not real unique,it's survived several moves, and I used it recently after changing the coolant (and hoses) in my 2006 Toyota Solara, thus the pink colored coolant.

Larry: attached, hopefully, are three pictures; one has the blue lettered 48's with green lettered 46-5; another has blue lettered 44's with an extended screw type top, and an AC46 green stripe that I use in my '38 Chevy pickup. A third picture has a Champion "C-4 s" with a brass top that I suspect might have been from a 1924 Buick, also in the picture are two Firestone plugs, a white one with F-80 on it, and a pink one (I have two of the pink ones) that has F-80-F and the word Polonium. I think they could have been used in a two cylinder air cooled Wisconsin engine. I looked up the word Polonium: a radioactive chemical element formed by the disintegration of radium; don't let the EPA know I have them! I also had a bunch of C44 plugs, some with the word commercial on them. I didn't realize that the old Champion plug had a brass top until this morning when I cleaned it up. Okay, what you think? Later, Glen

Larry: I packed the blue AC 48's away, I'll get them out tomorrow, and the 46-5 plugs and take some pictures and get them posted tomorrow (Tuesday.) Thanks, Glen

Larry, thanks for the reply; I was trying to find out more about the smooth porcelain green lettered AC 46-5 plugs that I found. I used a fine piece of wire to measure the depth of the firing pin and compared it to some AC 44, AC 45, and AC 46 plugs that I have, the 46-5 was slightly deeper (hotter.) My pickup truck was used and abused by a water well drilling outfit, so my guess is that once the engine was beat and tired they used hotter plugs to keep it running due to oil blow by and so on. All the used plugs I found were probably pre-1955. Just curious about the 46-5; and, the smooth porcelain blue letter AC 48's that I found. As a side note relating to spark plugs, in 1941 my Mother(at 16 years old) worked for Bowers Battery and Spark Plug manufacturing in Reading, PA; she put spark plugs together, they made several brands there, she remembered mainly making the Bowers brand and Champion Spark plugs. Thanks again, Glen

Also, winter of 1969 into '70 while in college, Millersville State near Lancaster, PA, four of us put the top down on my TR3, piled in and drove around in the snow, at night taking turns hanging onto the rear bumperettes sliding along on just shoes which worked fine until going over a manhole cover where the snow had not quite stuck yet, so I'd have to stop and go back and get whoever lost grip, (no alcohol involved, yeah right.)

YES! I grew up in Reading, PA, near the airport, my Dad had a Crosley that he converted into a convertible sports type car, tied a rope to the rear bumper and towed myself and my older brother on one of our sleds around the neighborhood usually at night and of course in the snow; that was in the mid 50's. Wow did this bring back some good memories.