Restorer32

If you got a quote of 50 grand for a 99 point restoration on a '31 Cadillac you must be dealing with a restorer who (A) works out of his garage for $8 hour or ( is so inexperienced that he has no idea how many hours labor it takes to actually restore a car. Do the math...tires and tubes, likely $700, rebuild the engine, $4500 minimum, cost of materials just to paint the thing, maybe $1500, labor to replace the wood at least $4500, chrome maybe $6000, the list goes on and on. Interior? Carpet? Dash refinishing? Wiring harness? Exhaust system? Running boards? You would certainly be looking at a minimum of 1000-1500 hours labor to do any kind of a quality restoration on virtually any Classic. All I'm saying is just be careful what you commit to and investigate the true cost of restoration before you let someone take your car apart. A significant part of our business is finishing restorations for folks who were fed a line by someone who said they could do it cheaply and realized after they had taken the car apart that they were in over their heads. I'm not trying to discourage you at all. Just be careful!

If this car has a 134" wheelbase it is a Series 355. Not particularly rare as Classics go but still lot of car. We've worked on these cars and even though I'm a dyed in the wool Packard guy you can't beat an early Cadillac for dependability and parts availability. A show restoration on this car would likely set you back 75-125 thou if it needs all of the wood replaced, which it likely does. Nice find. Was the guy smiling when he told you it was a golf tournament special?

For a '33 Cadillac 12 we need whatever connects the generator and the water pump. I assume it is a shaft with a rag joint but not sure. We have the generator and we have the water pump. Need everything in between. Thanks!

No offense meant or taken. I was just confused over the electronic clutch. "Electromatic" never came to mind. Once upon a time I may have been referred to as "erudite" but seldom anymore...lol

The hole in a 1/4" USS flat washer is actually closer to 5/16" and will almost always fit over a 5/16" stud.

What the heck is an electronic clutch ?????

Need the stainless trim piece that wraps from the top of the grill down the center of the grill. Ours is smashed beyond redemption. This is for a 40 series. Thanks!

In restorable condition. Don't mind having it turned. We have 3 correct ones and one oddball. Thanks!

I never understood why folks would look at the faded paint on a frame and conclude that it was originally semigloss yet look at the faded paint on the body and conclude that it was obviously gloss. Take that old frame and polish the paint a bit before you conclude that it was "chassis black". Obviously there are exceptions, but I'll wager there have been more frames painted "chassis black" that were originally gloss than vice versa.

I think you'll find that most frames in the '20s and '30s were more of a gloss finish than a semigloss. We're about to paint a '26 Kissel frame and the original finish was gloss. What many people mistake for "semi gloss" or "chassis black" (great marketing tool by the way) is in reality just gloss paint that was poorly applied at the factory. Think about it...would a manufacturer in the early days have specified a different finish for the frame than that used on the wheels and fenders? Very unlikely. For instance, Packard (and many others) had an option of chassis parts being painted colors other than black. The option is worded "standard black chassis parts painted other than black" with standard black chassis parts defined as including the fenders, splash aprons, etc. Fenders gloss, splash aprons gloss, frame gloss. Nowadays restorers like to use semigloss because it hides more flaws than gloss. Things change in the '50s of course.

I grew up in my Dad's tire recapping shop. This time of year he worked 24 hours a day capping snow tires. If I had a $ for every "Town and Country" snow tire I mounted I could retire in style.

Chuck lists virtually nothing pre war but thanks for trying!

Are you a PCS member?

Nope, same trans as auto chassis but speedo drive is off the jackshaft between transmision and regular driveshaft. The AA had a longer wheelbase than the car chassis and a wormdrive rear. This is actually under a Cretors Popcorn Wagon.

Need useable or rebuildable speedo cable. This is longer than the ones used on auto chassis. Can't seem to find a soure for a repro. Help! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Need useable/rebuildable speedo cable for a 1929 Ford AA truck. This cable is longer than the auto cable. Can't seem to find a source for a repr <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />o. Help!

Pauls Chrome Plating in Evans City, PA. We've never found anyone better at repairing and replating diecast. Pricey but as close to perfect work as you'll likely find.

How far are you from southern Lancaster County in PA ? If within driving distance I can give you an excellent source for smaller quantities. Look to pay anywhere from $2.50 to $4.50/bd ft for kiln dried ash. We have a hardwood supplier just next door to us here but they only sell in 1000 bd ft lots.

First car I ever completely rewooded was a '31 Chivvy Special See-dan. Lot of wood in that puppy. I think now there are several sources for ready made Chevy wood? Just finishing rewooding a '49 Bentley that I swear has a whole forest of wood inside and many complicated joints as well. I too especially enjoy seeing odd and unusual cars being restored. Bad wood stops many early cars, especially closed models, from being restored due to the expense involved in reproducing the wood. It's extremely time consuming and for the doors to all close properly the wood needs to be accurate to 3/16" or so. Hopefully your original wood is in good enough shape to be used as patterns.

Do the doors open and close with no sag? If si it is likely the sills are rotted. Of course it's not simply a matter of putting new wood into the body as all of the fasteners holding the wood together aere usually under the metal skin. The wood needs to be assembled first, then the metal skin is nailed on.

We have never found a plater better than Pauls Chrome Plating if price is not a concern. Also, they will have it finished when they say they will. The rivets holding the bezel latch will need to be removed along with the rivets holding the body to the post for the best job.

He'd better find the fellow that offered him 125K and kiss him right on the lips! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Remember, there are 12th Series Packards and 14th Series Packards but no 13th Series. Bad luck I guess.

What is a "Sport Coupe"?

Mostly ash, some oak. Wood seems to be of equal quality thruout the range from mass produced to custom built based on my experience rewooding 25 or so pre '49 cars and trucks. I'm sometimes amazed by the complexity of the wood framing in some of these cars. I've never seen any attempt at preserving the wood other than the normal overspray that occurs when painting. Top bows on convertibles were almost always oak, simply because it looks better stained than ash. Both can be steam bent equally well.