edinmass

I’ll be at the Ocala meet and for me it will be a first. I have attended AACA meets since 1971, and almost every Hershey since then also, but this is the first time I will have ever showen a car of have it judged in his organization. I’m looking forward to having a car on the field and meeting some more forum members in person. 👍

Halon won’t touch paint. Recently a mid seven figure car burst into flame in the shop with a ruptured fuel line......(not our car) and I put the fuel fire out in a fraction of a seconed. The puddle of gas was on the floor, but did not reignite. Ask yourself this simple question, why does virtually every car on the field at Pebble Beach have Halon? Because it’s the best thing available.

West is right! Take everything off except the side mount covers. Go to blackwalls, and a darker red will look fantastic. Be sure to only order four tires for the ground, and see if thr covers will go over them......probably not, then you might need 650 or 700’s under the covers. All new tubes.......for safety. And with the money you save on radials you can still have six new hoops and be way under the cost of the others. It seems lately trim rings are getting very hard to find.......lots of people ask me if thr Pierce rings will fit a Lincoln.......and the answer is no.....we tried it twice in the last ten years just to be sure. We made 18 inch rings ten years ago, only had five people pre order sets, and made twenty sets just to make the production work. We sold them all off in less than a year. People are still calling. Lesson.......when you see them, buy them, as it isn’t going to get any easier. If you can find a spare wheel, I always buy one and keep it in the trailer, so I’m the event of a flat on tour, I don’t have to fight with covers and drive on a smaller tire.

Halon, Halon, Halon! Nothing else. There are more modern replacements, very similar, but I buy the units that are new with recycled gas. Nothing better. Do NOT use dry chemical extinguishers on a car, you will NEVER clean up the mess, and the damage to the surface can be extensive.

I am a BIG fan of do EVERYTHING right. DO NOT REMOVE THE BODY! Restoration creep is always a hazard and difficult to avoid. While I understand you don’t want to keep bleeding money, now is the fastest and easiest time to fix stuff.......and it’s also the least expensive while you have easy access to everything. My best guess is it will be lots more time than money. I would fix everything you see to the best of your ability. A wiring harness isn’t too expensive if you only get the one for thr front clip. The car has great lines, and are great drivers when sorted. A little extra time and effort now will pay off over many years. Car looks good.........I expect when your done all the bad memories will fade away. Best of luck in making progress and wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas! Ed

Most cars had the stamp on the glass early on. Many restoration shops have made duplicate stamps from the era. Here is a photo of a stamp from a 1932 Pierce Arrow that was on the stand at the New York Auto Show. The glass has turned yellow with age. This is the largest early stamp I have ever seen. Duplate.

Had to be better than the stock unit!

I agree. I think the 1932 Custom Dietrich Packard line was the best ever offered anywhere for style. They make most other one off customs look like a half hearted attempt at designing a car. The only fault I can find with them is they didn’t make enough of them.

Cadillac offered the stainless spoke covers in 30 & 31.

Interesting car, interesting history, and I agree, not a full CCCA Classic. But nowadays they let everything in, so I expect that it will make the cut.

Mike......the arrow is a left over from the original name of the car. It was going to be called “Pierce-Arrow II”, and it was changed at the last minute. The arrow through the logo remained. Hunter Engineering has extensive background in dealing with pre war and post war car and truck wheels. The are the premier equipment company for wheel balancing, alignment, and other chassis components. There isn’t anyone better in the business.

John, thr 836A I bought was never left outside. It was always garaged from new. As far as restoring a car to its factory look, if it’s possible to do, the current thought and trend is put it back exactly as it was when new down to the last minute detail. To be honest, I think most cars were well done in the day, and collectors today over restore, over color,(I’m guilty), and many put too much junk on the car........mirrors, wheel covers, lights, trunks, and assorted do dads. Currently the plane Jane look is what is taking home trophies, if that is what your thing is.

Mike .....all is well. No worries. I’m the most guilty party on this sight hijacking threads and changing subjects. Question on for you on your Avanti........do you know why the logo has an arrrow through it?

This is a PRE WAR radial discussion.

https://www.sema.org/files/attachments/WTC-2011-05-Bias-vs-Radial-Tire-Wheel-Fitment.pdf Try reading this on bias VS radial tires. Notice at the last page where it says some rims are NOT made to run radial tires. As for actual failure, I have seen a 1941 160 Series Packard with a failed rim, and a 1935 Pierce. Radial tires place higher loads on the rim, no question about it. I also have spoken to manufacturers of wheels about this issue. Just in the last few weeks I spoke to an engineer at Hunter Engineering on this topic. They make the most modern and sophisticated wheel and alignment equipment in the world. They specifically spoke about the poor quality of steel wheels built before World War II, and how they didn’t have good quaility control while manufacturing them. We spent the most time talking about Kelsey-Hayes wheels. We also covered run out, off center wheels, new tires that are manufactured out of round, static and computer balancing, and a bunch of other details. Ultimately radial tires on a pre war car is a solution in search of a problem. The last five world class collections I went to didn’t have any pre war cars with radial tires. Add it all up, with the cost, rim problems or possible problems, and running tubes in the radial tire, there just isn’t enough benefit in the final analysis.