Mark Huston

I attended the car show portion of the Pierce-Arrow Society meet in Minden, NV today. Here are some pictures of the wonderful Pierce-Arrows on display.

I agree with what has already been said, however, from personal experience (learned the hard way) I have one additional comment. Do you use anti-freeze/coolant in your radiator? Your coolant system in a 1928 is non-pressurized. If you add modern anti-freeze/coolant to your system it will cause the coolant to foam.

Positive ground.

I purchased a 1929 Studebaker President over the weekend. The car had this non-stock radiator cap (possibly an aftermarket generic cap?) In the attached pictures, the correct Studebaker cap is the one on the right with the wing. Does anyone know if the one on the left, with the knob on top, is for a specific make of car, or is it aftermarket?

Years ago, California passed laws preventing the DMV from being used to obtain any information about other drivers, or their cars. It was not uncommon to be able to walk into a DMV office and get the name and address of any car with just know the license plate number. The laws were changed because of stalkers and thieves. California's DMV will not provide any information. Your only chance is if the Ford Mustang club records the VIN numbers of member’s cars and is willing to pass it along to you.

You mentioned your 29 Commander has steal spoke rims (wire wheels?) which would indicate that your car has side mount fenders. You need to be aware that modern tires made for early cars are not exactly the same size as the tires made for our cars when they were new. My 29 President takes 19 X 6.50 tires. When I recently purchased 6 new tires for my car (I will not mention brand names to protect the AACA forum) the tires would not even begin to fit into the fender wells. I called the tire company and was told that “most old car owners like the look of a larger size tire and will keep the side mount tires flat and air them up when needed.” The tires I purchased have on the sidewall 19 X 6.50 however; they are much larger in width and height. Do your research and make sure you are buying tires that will fit your fender wells AND allow you to use your side mount locks.

Start the engine with the spark and throttle levers in the down position. When the engine catches advance the spark lever and throttle lever fully to the top position.

K8096 - Thank you for posting the pictures, I enjoyed seeing them. I wish this event had been closer to home so that I could have attended. We don't have many events like this in California.

I am do not know what the one on the left is, the right looks like a WWII Studebaker Weasel.

Location of the parts? East coast, west coast, or?

I know from experience that AAA will not assist you if the vehicle does not have current registration. The first thing they ask for (at least here in CA) is the vehicles registration and if it is not current they leave without rendering assistance.

I have been an owner, and driver, of 1929 Studebakers since the early 70s. In all of those years of driving I have never had problems with the engines running hot and vapor locking until recently. The cars are in good mechanical condition, and well maintained. The only variable that I have no control over is the fuel mixture sold at the pumps here in California. Everything that I have read points to Ethanol gas as the problem for both the running hot and vapor locking. My question is what am I supposed to do? Stop driving my car? Only drive when the temperature is cooler – which means leaving early in the morning and turning around and going home as soon as I arrive. The afternoons can get into the 90-100s here most of the year. I have heard of adding diesel fuel, 2-cyle oil, transmission fluid, airplane gas, and other home brews to the gas tank. Does anyone know if these really compensates for the Ethanol in the gas? Will unauthorized additives in the gas tank help with both the vapor locking and the engine running hotter? What additive is best? What is the ratio? How much per gallon of gas do you add to the tank? I want to keep driving my car year round, not just in the winter when it is cooler.

As long as the both engines have an engine number that starts with FD I do not think anyone would know the difference, or care. As 32Mod55 said, do not dispose of the original engine, by all means keep it. One area of concern, check your title, does it use the engine number as the VIN number? This is the one BIG problem you could encounter with an engine swap. Down the road, if the car changes hands, or there is an issue with the title, having the wrong engine in the car could cause you some big headaches – unless you get a new title with the new engine number as the VIN. Someone recently posted on the forum here about not being able to ship a car to Norway because the VIN is the engine number, and there had been an engine swap in the past, the title still has the old engine number as the VIN. You might not have any plans to sell the car; however, you never know that the future holds – make sure you’re not setting yourself up for future headaches.

I think this is a Gabriel Snubbers. Of course, I could be wrong.

I had to think long and hard about this question. Memory is getting foggy. I am sure I drove a few tractors, can’t recall make or model, or when. We did live in the country and had fields that require plowing and disking. The first car I can remember driving was in the parking lot behind the church after a Saturday night dance. When I was 15, my brother (who had a license) was entrusted with our parents brand-new 1972 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham to drive us, and a couple friends, to the church dance. After the dance was over, and the parking lot mostly empty, my brother gave everyone the opportunity of hot rodding the new Chrysler around the parking lot. There were plenty of near misses and some rubber burning.

Here is my 1929 Studebaker FE President Brougham.

Two poor quality pictures, brief description, and he is asking $4,000.00 I do not think it will be selling fast.

Steve Munts has sold his business a couple of years ago and is no longer making Studebaker parts. I have been told that someone in Missouri bought Steve out.

1924 Hispano-Suiza Model H6C “Tulipwood” Torpedo commissioned by Andre Dubonnet who was an aviator and racecar driver. The Hispano-Suiza was built at a cost of over $15,000 and is constructed of tulipwood and thousands of brass rivets. The car is on display at the Blackhawk Museum, Danville, CA.

This cap was not used in 1929. The Atalanta was used from 1927 to mid-year 1928 when it was replaced by winged cap. The early 1927 Atalanta had a threaded base, not the quick release that you have.

I had a similar problems a few years ago with my 1929 FE President. I had the carburetor rebuilt 3 times without success in correcting the lean running condition. The problem with my car was the UU2 carburetor is all pot metal and despite the best efforts of the carburetor shop (they specialized in older carburetors) they could not compensate for the pot metal swelling and distorting preventing proper adjustments. </SPAN> I solved my problem by acquiring a carburetor for a 1931 President and my car now runs perfectly. The carburetors used in the later Presidents were not made of pot metal and can be correctly adjusted and will keep those adjustments. </SPAN>

Koby, You sound a lot like me at 16 in 1974 when I bought my first collector car, a 1929 Studebaker. Back then, I read the classified ads of the newspaper everyday for any ad that was old car related. I also drove my parent’s nuts looking for an old car until they loaned me the money to buy the Studebaker. I really think they did it just to get me off their backs about getting an old car. When I bought my Studebaker I did not know anything about cars, clubs, swap meets, or even what a Studebaker was. I learned everything about the hobby after getting the car. The greatest source of information was other collector car owners. The key is to be a good listener. Ask questions, but be willing to take the time to listen. There is a vast source of knowledge in older members of this hobby that needs to be passed along to enthusiastic young members like you. In addition to asking questions and listening, read – books. There are thousands of good used old car related books out there that can be bought cheap. Start building your collection now. Read as many books as you can. There is more knowledge in old books than what you will find on the internet.

Another possibility is the battery is connected backwards. Some pre 50s cars had a positive ground unlike all of the cars of today. I do not know if a 1939 Buick is positive or negative ground. However, a battery connected backwards will cause the amp meter to constantly register a discharge until the battery terminals are reversed.

The radiator shell should be painted, and those wheels do not appear to be correct. The wheels look way over sized for that car. Given that the radiator was done incorrectly, and the wheels appear incorrect, I wonder what else was done wrong during the restoration. </SPAN>

Having only one door on the curb side would make this car very difficult for someone with a disability to enter and exit, especially with FDR’s disability. </SPAN>