Grimy

3119001 is a 1934 12-cyl, 139" wb chassis number. The historical file for this car in PAS records reads "assembled in Canada." There were only 1,740 1934 Pierces made including 3 different engines, 4 wheelbases, and 19 body styles. No wonder they went broke! That also makes it highly unlikely that any more than a few parts were manufactured in Canada.

The Seagrave 8 cyl (I have one) used a similar housing which, thankfully, used two of the Delco 662J distributors used by Pierce 1933-1936. Does anyone need that housing and the large cylinder (coolant expansion tank?)

The part number is 1111540 which is for a Seagrave 531 cid V-12. This MAY be compatible with Pierce V-12 from which the Seagrave was derived, @edinmass will know. Delco went to 7-digit part numbers about 1937-38.

Paul, the pictured car is one of the five *1933* Silver Arrows, three of which survive. All the 1933-vintage photos I've seen of those cars show blackwall tires. For 1934-35, Pierce produced about 50 (total of two years, vast majority in 1934) so-called "production" Silver Arrows which were 2-doors on a 144" wb in either an 8 or a V-12. and with or without sidemounts. The 1933 SAs were on a 139" wb. I am fortunate to have one of the 1934 SAs and it came with whitewalls and I replaced them with whitewalls (see photos).

@m-mman knows of which he speaks!

I'm in San Leandro and should have mentioned that 10 miles east across the hills (Orinda, Lafayette, WC) it's at least 10* hotter in summer and 10* colder in winter. My cars are garaged and even the uninsulated garage never gets below 40. The work garage is insulated and never drops below 55. I do carry EG antifreeze in trailer (last used at Truckee in mid-Oct 2019) and have some on hand at home for when temps are forecast for below freezing, but add only enough to cover that below freezing temp + a margin of safety. We need to use a radiator additive for anti-corrosion and water pump lube. For 20 years I've been using Pencool (formerly Nalcool 25-30 yrs ago), a big rig additive that also has anti-cavitation qualities. Initial dose is 1 oz per quart of cooling system capacity. Pencool "2000" is for no-antifreeze, Pencool "3000" is for using any amount of antifreeze. There's also a "4000" now for more modern cooling systems. I can't find it locally so buy from Amazon. I find the 64-oz jug is most convenient for me, probably $25 or so these days. I try to avoid antifreeze or minimize its concentration because (1) it doesn't take heat off as well as plain water and (2) unless it's low-silicate it will foam in unpressurized systems, displacing water out the overflow tube.

Yep, specifically the East Bay coastal area across from San Francisco. We all enjoy certain aspects, weather and otherwise, of our respective domiciles, and certainly there are trade-offs for cost of living, weather, and other amenities which include how old-car-friendly the local and state/provincial governments may be.

1975 and earlier are not subject to smog tests in California, and NO vehicle is subject to annual safety inspections (unfortunately...). Registration is about $130/yr per car including the flat $2 ad valorem on Horseless Carriage and Historic Vehicle plates. I don't need or use anti-freeze or home air conditioning. My summers are 75 degrees with no unpleasant humidity, and coldest winters are 35 degrees in the morning. If I want snow, it's 2-3 hours away but I don't have to shovel. There is a cost for that. When I graduated HS in 1960, Calif's population was just breaking 9 million; now it's 39.3M. So in my adult lifetime, there has been a 450% increase. In 1980, pop was 22M--a very good time. Y'all come and visit, but please don't move here! 🙂

For what it may be worth, the "STAR" designation was added for 1926 and newer, at least on Pierce-Arrows, and is said to indicate a change to the flutes/prisms of prior B&L headlights (for Pierce, 1920/21). The glass diameter is often marked on B&L lenses at the bottom (6 o'clock) but may be hidden by the retaining ring of the headlight (e.g., 9-1/4), again from Pierce experience.

Praying for you and your family, Terry, and for eventual inner peace for you and gratitude that you had each other for 45 years. George

Deepest condolences to Terry and family. Although I never met Terry or Barbara, Terry and I talked on the phone a couple of times and I've avidly followed his Buick adventures, in which Barbara was mentioned often.

As I recall from the shop manual, a 1934 Buick 90 series crank is 144 lbs--so there!

AJ, the chassis serial numbers are on top of the frame when you look down as if checking the oil level (dipstick is under filler cap) on the left side, and the prefixes of serial numbers are different 90 vs 75. I judged a few of those 30 years ago while owning a 1939 75 (frumpy ol') 7-p sedan for 42 years. There seemed to be a very heavy coating of paint on top the front frames on open cars, more so than on closed cars 🙂

A whole bunch of people thought of that about 40 years ago, George. As of about 25 years ago, reportedly there were more 1938-40 Cad V-16 *open* cars in the CLC roster than Cadillac ever built. Pretty much all except front sheet metal interchanges with Cadillac Series 75 (V8 engines) of the same years, so frumpy old V-16 sedans and limos gave up their engines, front sheet metal, horn buttons, and fender spears to Series 75 open cars which -- presto, change-o -- became Series 90 (V-16) open cars.

Indeed it is, a 66 from the heights of the radiator and of the top of the hood! One strange aspect is the lack of cowl lights and two longitudinal vents on the hood center, which were present through 1918 (early 1918 was the last 66 hp offered for open sale) but both cowl lights and hood vents were dropped for 1919-1920. Consider that the cowls were *cast* aluminum and varied by body style. Could it be a late 66 chassis with a newer cowl and hood built in 1919-1920? A factory custom for the White House?

Bring Terry back for a comparison!

I'll make the popcorn!

Hey, all you Paragons of Studliness who insist on floating the shifts as a regular practice, do it on your cars, not on mine. My view is that the clutch is there for a reason, and I use it for its intended purpose. My 1918, 1922, 1925, and 1930 cars all have crash boxes, and I am adept in their use, and so is my lady friend. The only time I was forced to float shifts was 40 years ago at the base of the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge in the evening rush hour when the clutch gave out in my DD 1975 Datsun pickup with a 4-speed--and on an upslope, no less. And I had 15 miles to home including 7 miles on that rush-hour bridge. At each of the frequent rush hour stops, I shut the engine off with a lurch as the clutch remained engaged. Started in first gear with a lurch for same reason. As traffic eventually eased, I was able to float 1-2 several times, then 1-2-3, then (finally) 1-2-3-4. It was not amusing under those circumstances.

"I think, therefore I am" -Rene Descartes But coming from you, Ed, I'll repeat the immortal words of Anton Chigurh, "I think that does not mean what you think it means."

Wrong. You got that right! Love ya, man! 🙂

I've had two of them, one 2-tone green and the other 2-tone brown (not as bad colors as you might think), both long gone. Fun tip: All the brakes, wheels, axles, etc are Chrysler 8-cyl except Crown Imperial. The hubcaps appear identical to the non-LWB DeS but have different-sized openings to attach to the wheels. The differential is Chrys 8-cyl, and the first one had the fastest gear set available (3.36, I believe) from a Chrys 8 3-window coupe, replacing the 3.9 or 4.1 standard and optional for the Suburban. The tall gears made it a 65+ mph cruiser, but one had to use low range to get it started from a full stop.

"R" (reverse) serves as "Park" when the engine is shut off on these early Hydramatics which did not have a separate "Park" position. When parking, shut the engine down and move the selector to R.

It does indeed look good and the price is favorable to the buyer **IF** (1) the overdrive works, (2) the engine runs well, (3) minimal if any rust (check floors and rockers), (4) there are decent top bows (precut replacement tops are available). Mechanical parts support is outstanding, but body parts are getting hard to find. That's a 1950 horn button, as it should have a different button with horn ring (standard in 1948-49). I've had at least one Jeepster in my stable since 1981. They are great fun to drive and get as much or more attention from the public than my Pierces! Best appearance is obtained with the original excessively large wide whitewalls standard on 1948-49 over red wheels. I run 6.70-15 tires rather than the original 5.90 and optional 6.40, but that means you have to drill and tap a hole to raise the spare tire mount. Rear axle is 4.88 and the OD is 30%. In direct drive there is plenty of around-town power and the OD means you can run it at 60 mph all day long, but the wind will drive you crazy and you'll have to use the kick-down under the accelerator on hills. There is some tricky stuff in these cars, including the clutch bellcrank tube which has interior components (spring, 2 felt discs, 2 "slugs") all of which are essential to proper operation of the clutch but are reproduced inexpensively (about $15 for the kit). The factory u-joints (Rzeppa, IIRC) are troublesome, so it's best to have a driveshaft made up with modern zerk-equipped u-joints. By the way, I'm looking for a square, black-face speedometer as used in 1948-49 Jeepsters.

If the valves are good, these engines really will idle exceptionally smoothly (I owned a 1939 75 for 42 years). As I recall, for standard transmission at least, the idle spec is 375 rpm. Smooth idle is essential when purchasing unless you're willing to do at least a valve job. About 20 years ago, I was looking at a 1948 offered for sale and was standing at the rear of the idling car, which was farting thru its exhaust pipe (don't we all!) when the owner said, "That's the famous Cadillac whispering exhaust." I replied, "It's whispering 'I need a valve job.'" Like flathead Fords, valve clearance is set by grinding the ends of the valve stems, a terrible pain when the block is in the chassis. Cadillac specified the use of their Tool J-1055 to set the clearance, which is nothing more than a piece of bar stock the length of a *collapsed* hydraulic valve lifter, with a fancy knurled handle at a 90* angle. A good machinist friend now long gone taught me to use two inside micrometers as "go / no-go" with the lengths set at (1) (collapsed lifter length) + 0.030 and (2) (collapsed lifter length) + 0.070. Factory spec for clearance is the pump-up range of 0.030-0.070. Somebody was reproducing the Tool J-1055 about 25 years ago but I don't know if they are still available. The two inside mics do the job even better.

Thought you said "early" cars....I'm showing my age. 🙂