Grimy

You could write smaller, Bernie.... 🙂 I see you've succumbed to the "as long as it's open" temptation....

F-r-i-c-t-i-o-n is Ed's specialty! 🙂

But you asked a question....and I answered it!

Or a porcupine and a BMW... On porcupines and cacti, the pr*cks are on the outside!

My 1930 Pierce 8 has two coils, two condensers, and a 4-lobe cam (Delco 668-E distributor), and my 1934 and 1936 Pierces use 662-Js with one coil but two sets of points, one condenser, also 4-lobe cams. Some 20 years ago I found on ePay a Bear (made by Echlin) mechanical synchronizer set with 12 different degree discs and a test light. It has been awhile now, but I synch points with the dist head in the vise and use a 6V lantern battery to power the test light. I have the instructions on a pdf which I can't post here if anyone is interested (if so, pm me your email address). The chart showing which disc to use for which engine ends with 1934 applications.

Reproduction sandwich-style head gaskets with plastic rather than asbestos centers require at least five re-torques, in my experience, before all the potential "squish" is taken up. When available, I'm happy to pay the extra money for NOS asbestos-center gaskets which generally only require one or perhaps two re-torques.

Ouch!!! Good ol' wood-framed bodies don't afford much crash protection....

4-lobe cam in distributor?

My primary DD is a (late, with OBD-2) 1995 Mazda B-2300 4-cyl, 5 spd pickup, purchased 18 years ago with under 11k miles (paper bar code assembly line tags still on brake lines and diff) from an estate, now close to 100k miles. Only problem has been the fuel filler hose to tank which is apparently not available in ethanol-resistant form and thus needs replacing every 6 yrs for smog tests. My tow vehicle is a 1999 (purchased new May '98) F-350 DRW 7.3 diesel with 192k now, almost 150k of which has been towing. Still on original 4R100 trans likely due to Mag-Hytec deep pan and frequent changes. Magnificently dependable vehicle....

@30DodgePanel I *think* the McFarland meet is a re-creation of the Bakersfield pre-war only swap meet, but don't know for sure as I haven't signed up to be a vendor.

Yes. At Tulare we shared space with a "regular" swapmeet and, I believe, a tractor-oriented swap, but we (pre-war folks) were given our own corner of the grounds so that we could search away without tripping over mag wheels, SBC stuff, and racks of T-shirts and other stuff. I'm really not dissing the newer stuff, but am pointing out that it was far more efficient for pre-war folks to have their desired goods concentrated in one area rather than scattered throughout the large area.

I understand--I'm a fan of the one-year-only "regular" 1949 Buick body.

I believe that early 1949 Specials used the old body. The cowl tag will confirm the year.

The old Bakersfield swap meet moved to Tulare Ag Center for 2021 and 2022. In 2023 it was to have been at the Tulare County Fairgrounds but was canceled because the Fairgrounds were being used as a flood evacuation area. In 2024 the swap will be May 3-4 at Famoso dragstrip, McFarland CA Hwy 46 E of 99. See the HCCA website for more info.

This may be similar to the reserve fuel arrangement of the tanks on Pierce-Arrow series 80 and 81, 1925-28, which have a fore-and-aft divider inside the tank allowing three gallons on each side, each with its own pickup tube on either side of the divider. When you have six gallons left (of the original 18), one side draws down until empty. One thing to be aware of is which side contains the fuel level gauge (on those Pierces, external tank-mounted gauge) or sender. On the Pierces, only the 1925 cars had the fuel gauge on the left; the other years had it on the right. On my 1925, I have the lever positioned so that fuel draws from the gauge side and when the gauge reads low, it's time to refuel so that the car doesn't shudder to a stop for lack of fuel--even though there would be another 3 gallons available when the lever is repositioned.

The buyer will need to add a SUPERB set of side view mirrors.....

Those CT Naugas are all the tucked variety; the untucked ones are in the DuPont Forest which must be in Delaware 🙂

I thought that Naugas were only to be found in the DuPont Forest.....

Small nitpicks here: Pierce kept cast aluminum bodies through 1920 (the end of the RHD remote-trans chassis), and wood was used also to hold door latches as well as upholstery. During the 1921-1928 period, bodies were sheet aluminum over wooden framing as Rusty described, but fenders, hoods and aprons were steel. Beginning in 1929 through the Pierce end in 1938, all body metal was steel over a wooden frame.

Exactly! Even in my long ago youth I used a cherry picker hoist to remove and replace a Buick head.

Well, except for valve jobs (note that all my collector cars are flatheads). It was much easier for me to pull that Buick straight 8 head and take it in for cleaning and a valve job, and the price of sending it out was well worth it to me rather than having to lap valves in (never mind grinding seats) with the block in the car.

The Pierce appears to be a Model C, not a B, due to (1) louvered hood rather than doors, (2) no courtesy lights on the runningboard aprons, (3) white face instruments rather than black face on Models A & B, (4) single coil and different distributor (Models A & B had dual coils and the large-diameter Delco 668-E distributor). Check wheelbase to be sure: 132" for Model C, 134" for Model B open cars and coupe.

Automatic transmission, eh?

@nzcarnerd I learned to drive on a 1934 56S sport coupe w/rumbleseat and kept it for many years. As far as I was concerned, it was a 45 mph car on a good day. I remember the charts you mention as being in the factory shop manual which went with the car when I sold it. S50 tires were 700x16. I remember 3920 lbs as the real world weight on a scale.

Here's the applicable page from the 1995 Gates catalog: