CBoz

Yes, it should be sprung. It's possible the spring broke or rusted in the compressed position. I believe you can use the square head of a 3/8 drive to open up the bottom of it. Let us know what you find. If you want, I can dig mine up out of storage and take a look at it.

The information is available for both the Zephyrs and Continentals, but some of the info for the earlier cars was lost in a fire. For my '37, for example, all they could give me was a copy of the production ledger book which showed the VIN, assembly date, and options.

Copy the entire link below and paste it into your address bar. It'll take you to an earlier posting regarding this general topic: http://forums.aaca.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB35&Number=280169&Forum=,,,f35,,,&Words=Henry%20Ford%20museum&Searchpage=2&Limit=25&Main=254209&Search=true&where=bodysub&Name=&daterange=0&newerval=&newertype=&olderval=&oldertype=&bodyprev=#Post280169 Good luck with your new project!

The tab at the back of the distributor shaft and the cam slot are both slightly off-center. If you try to install it wrong, you will know because the distributor mounting bolts will not line up right. Hope this helps.

A few interesting auctions here. You can page down the auction list below to find the details. http://www.rmauctions.com/events/auctionresults.cfm?scode=MB05 $71,500 for a '39 3-window. $77k for a '37 coupe sedan. 66K for a '40 convertible. Hmmmmmm. They seem to have gotten a whole lot more expensive, don't you think?

'36 Zephyrs shared spindles with Fords (and a whole lot of other parts). I know for sure that '37 and '38 were distinct Zephyr parts. Not sure once the hydraulic brakes kicked in.

Hello - I have a couple of interior detail shots of a well-restored car at this website: http://www.mindspring.com/~bozarth/id4.html I am also posting a picture of an interior that looks mostly correct, except for the added gauges under the dash and the gear shift knob. Long story short: 1. The dash was body color. 2. Only the side window, back window, and windshield garnishes were woodgrained. 3. The steering wheel, hand brake, cowl vent handle, rearview mirror body, light switch, and overhead lamp bezel were a dark taupe color. 4. The horn button was a slightly lighter color. The guys at Color-ite have reformulated all the old paints, including the taupe color for the '37. You might talk to them about getting the paint you need: http://www.color-ite.com/ Hope this helps.

I would think the only difference would be in the mounting tab location. For example, is it in the middle, on the side, or somewhere else. I can't imagine there being any internal differences; they're just suppressors. But it's a good question. Anyone know for sure?

1936-8 brakes were self-energizing which basicaly means that the rotation of the drums is used to supplement the foot pressure. If I am correct, part of this involved different lining materials for the primary and secondary shoes. I would talk to George Trickett first -- he relines the shoes in the correct material and can tell you why the difference is important.

Here's a pic of a reproduction of the original KR Wilson hub puller, as well as the source: http://home.mindspring.com/~bozarth/id5.html There are other, cheaper versions of this tool that you can find if you look around. Hopefully, some of the other folks will chime in. Regarding your question about the brakes, it's hard to answer without knowing more about the system being retrofitted: Is it a vintage Ford hydraulic system or aftermarket? If aftermarket, can you find the parts? Also, what do you expect to do with the car and how important is originality to you? I guess the consensus is that the mechanical brakes are reliable, but are more difficult to adjust and require more effort to stop the car. It sounds to me like you're 3/4s of the way to having the hydraulic brakes done -- I'd be inclined to finish the job. The Columbia rear axle was a factory option starting (if I recall correctly)in 1937. The 1937 Zephyr could be ordered from the factory with a Columbia rear axle or it could have been fitted with one at the dealer. The major difference between the two setups is that the factory-installed system had a single, *very* long speedo cable that went all the way back to the rear axle, while the dealer-installed version used a shorter two-part cable setup that fed to the regular spot (driveshaft, just behind the tranny). The factory-installed Columbias are pretty rare from what I can tell. Hope this helps.

The single best source is the Authenticity Manual, which you can get from Earle Brown or possibly George Trickett in the "Sources" section of this website. That said, I've heard that the authenticity manual isn't 100% correct, so ask around. I'm restoring a '37 too, so I've picked up a few pointers as well that I'd be glad to share (check out my website to boot -- see below).

The Lincoln Zephyrs only had a single transverse spring up front, with around 14 (I think) leaves, so it is much different than what you have there. The only advice I can give you is to contact Eaton Detroit Spring. Supposedly, they have over 23K blueprints, so you might get lucky: http://www.eatonsprings.com/

If you can get by with 3 on a '48, you're lucky. I was looking at the radio installation guide for my '37. Here's what they recommend: * 2 on the distributor / coil * 1 on the oil pressure switch * 1 on the temp sending unit (on the radiator in '37 * 1 on the fuel sending unit * 1 on the generator That's six there, and I'm sure Ford and Philco engineers would have wanted two more in your ears. 'course, you wouldn't be able to hear *anything* then....

I sent him an email yesterday and he responded today, so he's there. Phil's probably right.

I don't know whether they do good work or not. All I know from looking at the pics on their site and the one above is now the backend looks fat, the front end looks like the car's rooting for truffles, and the whole car looks 2 tons heavier and a whole lot clumsier. And I think they did all this without modifying the sheetmetal -- quite a dubious accomplishment! Of course, that's one man's opinion, but I have a feeling Bob Gregorie had a better eye for style and balance.

I think the pics say it all, Phil. Who are the butchers?

I wouldn't say "caught up" Bill, more like, I know what needs to be done, just need to get around to it. Finally pulled out all the front-end today and am starting to look at what will need to be done. Still waiting on bodywork though ....

Thank goodness, because *no one* has brake hoses for my '37!!

Excellent post, Rolf. I was wondering about the caster and camber adjustments myself.

I've seen the serial number stamped into the body at two places: 1) on the driver's side "frame" in the engine bay near the radiator, and 2) on the back underneath the driver's side rear fender, near the bumper. In any case, I don't see what a title for another car will do you -- if necessary, you can get a salvage title and not break the law. No biggee.

This discussion about towing vehicles is pretty interesting to me, since I faced the same question last fall when I was looking at getting either an F-140 or F-250 Supercrew. The F-150 w/ 5.4L V8 had a tow capacity of 8500-9500 depending on the rear axle ratio. The F-250 went from 9500 all the way up to 12,500 for the diesel. I figured a closed trailer is going to run around 3000 lbs and my car is 3300 lbs, so adding in myself, luggage, etc., I'd be pushing toward 7500 lbs, still within the 8500 lb for the F-150. I knew I'd sacrifice some towing capability if I went with the F-150, and If I was planning on towing alot, no question I would have ponied and gotten the 250. But I might trailer once or twice a year and I needed to consider gas mileage and out of pocket costs (the diesel adds about $6K!). For those reasons, I went with the F-150. Time will tell if I'll live to regret the decision .

Yeah, who's crusty old Zephyr is that in the upper corner of the AACA Museum home page? And why couldn't they have gotten a pic of a *real* classic??

I kind of agree with V12Bill here.... You could put more into this car than it's worth to get it back to driveable, much less restored, condition. And my perception is that the market for "Full Classic" four-door sedans is very soft (check out Hemmings some time). Too bad, because this could have been a nice car if someone had taken even reasonable care of it.

Hello Rolf -- I know I speak for everyone in saying that, whatever it is, I hope it turns out ok.

Thanks, KRK. I was wondering where the screwdriver was. Now it makes sense. I'll keep my eye out for one.